Saturday, May 30, 2015

Prophetic Significance of Tony Blair Quitting U.N. QUARTET

Tony Blair at the U.N.
Photo by Ken Raggio
Tony Blair has resigned as the spokesman for the United Nations Middle East "Quartet" - the chief negotiators in the Middle East since 2002. Blair has been a primary figure in the process for the past eight years. In THE DANIEL PROPHECIES, I show how the Quartet was a manifestation of the Four Beasts in Daniel 7: the British Lion with U.S. Eagle's Wings, the Russian Bear, the European Leopard and the United Nations Dreadful Beast. ALL of those parties provided representatives to the Quartet, and their mission was to establish the "two-state" solution, that is, to create the State of Palestine, and by default, take away an enormous part of the Holy Land from the State of Israel.

Now that the mouth of the British lion has resigned, it will be interesting to see what the Quartet will do. It is said that the Palestinians had become distrusting of Blair for his Jewish sympathies. I strongly suspect that Blair is happy to leave, and that he is probably privy to an upcoming United Nations Security Council Resolution to a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian State, so he is bowing out, so as not to be a part of it. But that is merely my speculation.

Get ready for Palestinian Statehood, which will require Israel to forfeit its sovereignty over Gaza, Judea, Hebron, Bethlehem, Nablus, Ramallah, Jericho, Jenin, and more of the Holy Land; worst of all - East Jerusalem. Forty percent of the West Bank is occupied by Jewish settlers who will all be forced out when the prophesied Assyrian Man of Sin (Daniel 11; Isaiah 14:24-27; Micah 5:5; 2 Thessalonians 2:3) commits the Abomination of Desolation in the middle of those seven years.

Magnificent prophetic fulfillments are underway. Daniel's Seventieth Week could begin at any time now. I strongly suspect that the United Nations Security Council Resolution will be the "Covenant with many" that the Roman Catholic Pope, the prophesied prince of Rome (Daniel 9:25-28) will CONFIRM - especially if there is any clause in it that calls for a seven-year pull-out by Israel. If that is a correct assessment, then there is an extremely high possibility that we could be in the final seven years leading to Armageddon by the end of this year. Wait and see. But say your prayers. It's going to be a rough ride.

- - -


For thousands of pages of FREE Bible Studies on every subject, including PROPHECIES about the last days, visit kenraggio.com now!

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

How To Study The Bible

Bible study is not rocket science. You do not have to be an intellectual or an academic to study the Bible. You do not have to be a theologian or a minister to understand the Bible. In fact, most of the intellectuals and theologians I have met have a warped perception of the Bible and its teachings.

The Bible is meant to be taken at face value. It is any man's book. What you see is what you get. If you can read, you can know God through the pages of the Bible.

That does not mean that I am suggesting that it is easy. It is not easy. It is a chore. Real, bona fide knowledge and understanding of the Bible does not come easily, but considering that the eternal rewards that come with knowing, understanding and obeying the Word of God are inestimable, the effort that you make to understand the scriptures is the most worthy investment you could ever make, and worth more than anyone can possibly imagine.

First of all, if you are an English-speaking person, you must have the right translation of the Bible. If you were fluent in Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic, you could read the Bible in its original texts. But almost nobody is qualified to do that. Therefore, you must ascertain that the English translation you study is the most reliable and accurate version available. (Actually, this is true in ANY language. Every translation of the Bible is a potentially hazardous resource, depending on the authenticity and accuracy employed in its translation process.)

I won't take the time here to explain all the multitudinous reasons why I insist on using the King James Version as my primary source for Bible study. But you can read my explanations here if you have a problem with that. I am quite adamant that no other English version can compare with the KJV, and I insist on clinging to the KJV as the primary study resource for English-speaking people. Other English versions are simply NOT to be trusted!

Secondly, good-quality Bible study need not be complicated. Here are the things you need:
  1. A place to study - with a comfortable chair and good lighting. This goes along with my previous teachings about having "A Place to PRAY." If you are serious about your Christian living, you need a proper place to PRAY, and a proper place to READ and STUDY GOD'S WORD.
  2. A good-quality KJV Bible. I suggest the Thompson Chain Reference Study Bible. It has a unique reference system that will enable you to begin at any place in the Bible and follow that particular subject from Genesis to Revelation. For instance, if the subject is "jealousy," the Thompson Chain Reference will lead you from one verse to the next on the subject of "jealousy" until you have gone through the entire Bible on that subject. It also contains many other valuable charts, graphs, and encylopedic-type helps in the back of the Bible.
  3. A notebook. Buy whatever kind of notebook that suits you well. I suggest a spiral-bound notebook, or a writing-tablet on a clipboard. Many of my earliest handwritten Bible studies were kept in a 3-ring notebook. I wrote hundreds and hundreds of pages of handwritten notes in my early days. A 3-ring notebook is large and cumbersome, but it is logical if you intend to add to or re-arrange your notes eventually. If you are high-tech, keep your laptop nearby with a note-taking program like EVERNOTE open at all times. Evernote is a free program. You can keep a separate file open for each topic you are studying.
  4. A Concordance. A Strong's Concordance or Young's Concordance will enable you to look up any word in the Bible and see the original Hebrew, Greek or Aramic word. It will show you all the possible meanings of that word. If you are online, you can search the online versions of Strong's Concordance.
  5. A good Dictionary. Keep a good quality dictionary nearby to provide word definitions for difficult words.
  6. A good Bible Dictionary (or a search-engine on the Internet). Smith's Bible Dictionary is an old Bible Dictionary that is now in the public domain, and it will provide many valuable helps, such as telling you all about cities, people, objects, etc. in the Bible. A Smith's Bible Dictionary is a great Bible study aid. A free online version of Smith's Dictionary is readily available, too.
Third, your Bible Study should be systematic. That means you should start in the Book of Genesis and continue methodically all the way to the Book of Revelation. Read for meaning. Do not get in a hurry. You do not have to read the entire Bible in one year. It is more important that you read for meaning. Read the first chapter of Genesis and take notes. If something stumps you, look it up and get enough information to satisfy your confusion, then return to the place you left off. AVOID SPURIOUS WEBSITES or exotic theories!! There are tons of bizarre theories on just about any subject in the Bible. Keep carefully to Oneness, Apostolic, Acts 2:38, Pentecostal, Holiness sources. Trinitarian viewpoints will often mislead you, and you won't even realize it.

As you study through the Bible, you will inevitably run off on a lot of tangents. Every time you find a subject that baffles you, or intrigues you, or confuses you, you should take a little time to satisfy the need to understand. But DON'T GET LOST! If you cannot come to a satisfactory understanding of a particular subject, SKIP IT FOR A WHILE, and go back to your original point where you left off. Don't be in a big hurry to understand complicated subjects! Get a cursory understanding at first, and leave the heavy research until later. Many of the hard subjects will become easier as you go through the entire Bible. Subjects that you did not understand six months ago will suddenly become plain.

After you have studied the ENTIRE BIBLE, your second pass will be MUCH EASIER to understand!! Don't get bogged down! Keep moving. Move at a nice, comfortable pace. Read slowly enough to understand what you just read, but fast enough to keep moving.

Once you find a comfortable study pace, you can study the entire Bible for the rest of your life in that manner. Within a few years, you will begin to experience a great deal of mastery on all the subjects of the Bible.

LAST, I heartily recommend MY DAILY BIBLE COMPANION to you. It is my own personal Bible Commentary. I spent 5 years and 4 months writing four mini-lessons every single day, from Genesis to Revelation. I stopped at virtually every talking point in the Bible and explained the meaning of that segment of the Bible. MY DAILY BIBLE COMPANION comes in two volumes. Volume 1 contains lessons from the Old Testament. Volume 2 contains lessons from the New Testament. I encourage people to keep Volume 1 by their bedside, and Volume 2 by their favorite chair. That way, you can study the Bible day and night!

In addition to MY DAILY BIBLE COMPANION, I urge you to get my prophecy book, THE DANIEL PROPHECIES - GOD'S PLAN FOR THE LAST DAYS. It contains 726 pages, 175 photos, and hundreds of footnotes on virtually all of the major prophecies of the Bible. You will not find a single book anywhere else in the world that is more thorough or comprehensive on Bible prophecies for the Last Days. THE DANIEL PROPHECIES will help you attain to real mastery of Bible prophecies. You will understand prophecies better than 99% of all Christians when you are done.

Follow these suggestions, and you will become a great, great student of God's Word. Don't be surprised when you begin to feel the urge to preach or teach the Word to everybody you know!

God bless you!
Ken Raggio



- - -


For thousands of pages of FREE Bible Studies on every subject, including PROPHECIES about the last days, visit kenraggio.com now!


Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Modesty In Dress

MODESTY IN DRESS is the mindset you have when you realize that your nakedness is the private domain of yourself and your spouse. You have neither willingness nor desire to expose yourself in public to anyone or everyone who sees you.

You cover yourself in clothing because it is the decent and appropriate thing to do. Your necklines, sleeve lengths and hemlines all provide full coverage of body parts that other people simply do not need to see. You are not embarrassed or ashamed to be covered, but are in fact committed to contradict social styles that endlessly tease, titillate, and evoke lustful interests.

A MODEST PERSON sets their standard of dress higher than his/her peers, sadly aware that society at large has lost its sense of modesty and decency, and that conforming to their standards or styles is a shameful insult to one's self.

A MODEST MAN or WOMAN is resolutely determined not to march to the world's drum, but to dress according to centuries-old definitions of decorum and propriety. A modest man is not ashamed to wear full length trousers, a shirt with sleeves, a hairstyle that is well-trimmed and conservative in appearance, and even shoes that reflect dignity and sobriety. A modest women does not hesitate to wear a neckline that does not expose herself, sleeves that are longer than most, and a dress or skirt with a hemline that prevents her from ever being embarrassed or immodest.

When professing Christians start dressing immodestly, there is a spirit of lust at work. Often, there are also spirits of fornication, adultery and whoredoms at work. The true Christian must be modest and abstain from all appearance of evil, in Jesus' name.

There is simply no justification for the wearing of immodest apparel among professing Christians. If you claim to be consecrated to truth, righteousness and holiness, do not contradict yourself by fanning the flames of the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the pride of life by unnecessarily exposing any more of your body than is absolutely necessary. Let MODEST people rise up and show the world how things really ought to be, in Jesus' name.

Please share.




For thousands of pages of FREE Bible Studies on every subject, including PROPHECIES about the last days, visit kenraggio.com now!

Thursday, May 14, 2015

New Vatican Treaty: CONFIRMATION OF THE COVENANT?

Pope Francis with Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas
The Prophet Daniel foretold the day when the Prince of Rome would "confirm a covenant with many for one week," (Daniel 9:27). The week will be a week of years, or seven years. A seven-year covenant will be confirmed "with many" by the Prince of Rome. (For explanation, see Daniel's Seventy Weeks).

That Covenant will trigger the final seven years of prophesied events before the battle of Armageddon. It will include the rebuilding of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, the Abomination of Desolation (when the Assyrian Man of Sin will stand in the Holy Temple and cause it to be vacated for 42 months), the Mark of the Beast, the Great Tribulation, the Sixth Trumpet War, the sealing of the 144,000 chosen Jews, the Seven Vials of God's Wrath, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, the First Resurrection and Rapture of the Church, the great and final Battle of Armageddon, and the inauguration of the 1,000-year Kingdom of Jesus Christ on earth in Jerusalem.

Therefore, the Confirmation of the Covenant in Daniel 9:27 will be an EPIC event! It will be the most pivotal event in human history heretofore. It will affect every man, woman, boy and girl on planet earth. That Covenant will announce the beginning of THE END - the last seven years before Jesus Christ appears.

Has that COVENANT just been CONFIRMED? Or, is it right now in the process? 

We need to know!!

On May 14, 2015, the Vatican Press Office, and "The Bilateral Commission of the Holy See and the State of Palestine" announced that the text of a formal agreement between the Vatican and the (officially non-existent) State of Palestine has been finalized and that  "the work of the Commission on the text of the Agreement has concluded." A Plenary Session, held at the Vatican, brought together the principal delegates of both the Holy See and the Palestinians.

An epic "treaty" is being sealed between the Vatican and the Palestinians.

The Agreement "deals with essential aspects of the life and activity of the Catholic Church in Palestine." The Roman Catholic "Church" has an enormous stake in all political developments in the Holy Land, whether it is under Israeli or Palestinian controls, because the R.C.C. owns and operates countless ancient, historical and modern properties in that land, as well as a significant constituency of Roman Catholics. Virtually all of the holy sites in Israel, especially those mentioned in the New Testament are owned and operated by the Roman Catholic "Church." Therefore, it is imperative that the R.C.C. protect its interests in advance of any potential political upheavals or changing-of-hands. Above all else, the Roman Catholic Church must not lose its hegemony in that part of the world. It is impossible that the R.C.C. will consider the interests of Israel ahead of its own interests, especially in matters of self-preservation.

The Holy See has been always been intensely concerned about the Middle East Peace Process, and ordinarily works as much as possible with all parties involved. But with decades of negotiations failing to resolve long-standing animosities between Israel and the Palestinians, the Roman Catholic Church at last found it necessary to preempt other international policymakers and force the situation to move in a direction that would protect Vatican interests in the region.

The Holy See and the Palestinians first came to a "Basic Agreement" in February, 2000, and last met officially at the Palestinian headquarters at Ramallah in February, 2014.

This new bilateral treaty is the Vatican's strongest yet defacto recognition that actually NAMES the non-existent State of Palestine. Previous Vatican documents addressed the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which had been led by the late terrorist Yassar Arafat, so this is the first bilateral treaty with the so-called "State of Palestine."

By this treaty, the Roman Catholic Church is doing an end run around the United Nations, Israel, the United States, and all other interested parties to be among the first to officially recognize the State of Palestine as a legitimate entity. It also serves as the defacto terminus of all previous peace processes, including the multilateral negotiations led by the U.N. Quartet ( E.U., Russia, U.N, U.S., led by Britain).

The Vatican has effectively taken the lead in disregarding multilateral negotiations, which focused on fostering bilateral talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The Catholic initiative effectively delegitimizes the stalled U.N.-sponsored peace process, the State of Israel, Israel's claims to Jerusalem as its undivided capital, Israel's claims to Judea (the so-called West Bank), and the huge Jewish population living in the "disputed" territories. The actual, self-serving Roman treaty with the Palestinians greatly intimidates all governments in the world to follow suit and recognize the State of Palestine.

At the United Nations, the State of Palestine has not been legally or officially declared. On November 29, 2012,  United Nations General Assembly resolution 67/19 was passed, granting  the Palestine Liberation Organization "non-member observer state" status.

Therefore, the Vatican's recognition is arguably the largest, most valuable, and most potent endorsement Palestine has ever received.

But now to the million-dollar questions:

Is the Vatican Treaty with the State of Palestine the prophesied COVENANT of Daniel 9:27?

Is the Vatican right now Confirming the Covenant that will trigger the final seven yeras of Daniel's prophecies?

"And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease..." Daniel 9:27.

There are at least THREE SPECIFIC CRITERIA for the Confirming of the Covenant.

1. It must be confirmed by the Prince of Rome (Romans were "the people of the prince that shall come" who destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD, partially fulfilling Daniel's prophecy.)

2. The Pope/Vatican must confirm the covenant for SEVEN YEARS. In order for any treaty/resolution/covenant to qualify as the Confirmation of the Covenant, it must contain a seven-year statute of some kind. In the middle of the week (after 3.5 years), he will "cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease." (That indicates that the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church will be the power behind the Assyrian Man of Sin [Daniel 11:21-45; Isaiah 14:24-27; Micah 5:5] standing in the Third Temple, committing the prophesied Abomination of Desolation [Matthew 24:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4].) Jesus will come at the end of the seven years to destroy Lucifer and the Man of Sin (Isaiah 14:13; Ezekiel 28:16;Revelation 20:1-3).

(The leader of the European World Government BEAST and the Roman False Prophet Pope will be cast into a burning fire: 
 "And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone," Revelation 19:20.

The Assyrian Man of Sin will be destroyed on the Temple Mount:
"The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand: That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations," Isaiah 14:24-26.)

3. The Prince of Rome must confirm the covenant "with many." This act will not be unilateral or bilateral. It must be multilateral. Many countries will likely be involved. That sounds like a covenant with the United Nations. The United Nations Security Council is likely to draft a final resolution declaring the State of Palestine.  Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk has recently said that it is time for the United Nations to force the Palestinian State issue. (See this article: Martin Indyk: Friend or Foe of Israel?). I expect Martin Indyk to be a player in this final scenario. I also expect to see FRANCE - symbolized by the French Rooster - (the Wings of a Fowl in Daniel 7:6) to be a major force alongside Martin Indyk to FORCE A U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION  declaring the State of Palestine. All throughout Europe, and especially in FRANCE, Islamists are taking over. Massive immigration of Muslims is turning one European country after another into anti-Semitic enemies of Israel. Now that the U.S. President Obama has turned the U.S. into an enemy of Israel, the U.N. Resolution is likely to appear for a vote in the near future.

When you and I see this upcoming U.N. Security Council Resolution, I expect to see the Vatican quickly issue a formal R.C.C. endorsement of the Covenant which I believe will probably demand that Israel vacate the West Bank within SEVEN YEARS.

SUCH AN ENDORSEMENT BY THE VATICAN of a new or rewritten U.N. Security Council Resolution will very possibly qualify as the Confirmation of the Covenant. I have no doubts that all truly born-again students of Bible prophecy will quickly and easily recognize that we are seeing the long-prophesied Confirmation of the Covenant.

At THAT moment, we will realize that the SEVEN-YEAR CLOCK IS TICKING, and that we are 3.5 years from the Mark of the Beast and the Great Tribulation, and seven years from Armageddon.

*******

ADDENDUM: (Added 5/21/15)

According to Russian news agency sputniknews.com, the Palestinian Ambassador to Russia, Fayed Mustafa said,"The importance of the Vatican recognition of Palestine goes beyond the political or legal aspects as it encourages the Catholic countries across the world to recognize the independent state of Palestine." Therefore, by recognizing the State of Palestine, Pope Francis is effectually giving orders to Catholics around the world to recognize the State of Palestine. That naturally reaches into the statehouses and political capitals of the world via Roman Catholic politicians and heads of government.

In a separate sputnik.com article, Mustafa was quoted saying, "Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Morocco, Jordan, Egypt, Kuwait are the six countries that have been tasked with drafting a new resolution and setting the deadline for its submission. ...We told the French there was an Arab commission working on it, and invited France to coordinate its efforts with its members."


Read more: http://sputniknews.com/politics/20150520/1022357883.html#ixzz3amil3rpT

*******

For more details, please browse my many prophecy articles at kenraggio.com.

This article specifically outlines the upcoming events in Daniel's Seventieth Week.

Other articles of interest include:
Antichrist Rising: Will A Powerful Islamist Become the Next U.N. Secretary-General?
The Swelling of Jordan and the Dividing of Israel





For thousands of pages of FREE Bible Studies on every subject, including PROPHECIES about the last days, visit kenraggio.com now!