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<GLEANINGS-FOR-THE-DAY>
<23 November 2002>

Contents:
----------
1) <Devotional> "Thinking with the eye" - Ravi Zacharias
2) <Bible-Study> "The unholy alliance" (Pt-15)- Charles Wigg
3) <Prophecy> "The Redeemer's Return" (Pt-87)- A.W.Pink


1)  <DEVOTIONAL> <SLICE-OF-INFINITY>
"THINKING WITH THE EYE"
Ravi Zacharias

Some years ago ABC news anchor Ted Koppel delivered the commencement address 
at Duke University. There he made a pointed reference to America's 
diminishing capacity to think, glaringly reflected in the heroes our nation 
creates. Incidentally, he also conceded, with embarrassment, that his own 
profession—television, of course—was the principal culprit in producing an 
unthinking generation.

To make his point, Koppel coined a new word—"Vannatized"—and then proceeded 
to speak of the Vannatization of America, referring to the popularity of 
game-show sidekick Vanna White. Ms. White has done a masterful job, said 
Koppel, of turning letters of the alphabet when they light up. She looks 
utterly enthralled to be doing it, creating such an aura about her in this 
cerebrally minimal activity that it has brought her a cultic following of 
national proportions. Her published autobiography sold so quickly it went 
into a second edition.

I should make it clear that it is not my intention to cast any unkindness on 
this obviously charismatic person. But can we deny that it is a befuddling 
phenomenon—that an activity as minuscule as that should make one a national 
figure to be so adulated?  I suspect she herself must marvel.

It seems that critical thinking has become just about as popular as 
low-speed internet access. Listen to the horrendous illogic that sounds 
forth from the gatekeepers of our culture. The argumentative capacity of 
some on the airwaves who make moral pronouncements against morality is 
exceeded only by a pathetic inability to build a sound argument. The leap 
from unsubstantiated premises to invalid deductions consistently colors 
faulty thinking, and what is worse, the same fallacies get transmitted to 
uncritical hearers. Assertions claiming truth frequently go uncorroborated, 
and the arguments offered show a complete disregard for the simple laws of 
logic. One can only be chagrined at how mushy our reasoning has become. The 
science and art of critical thinking have been humiliated in a generation 
that thinks with its eyes.

The poet William Blake warned of the peril of the eye. He wrote: "This 
life's dim windows of the soul, distorts the heavens from pole to pole, and 
goads you to believe a lie, when you see with and not through the eye. "That 
is, we are intended by God to see through the eye, but with the faculties of 
conscience and reason. Now we see with the eye, devoid of a conscience. No 
wonder the soul of our nation is in trouble.
---
Copyright (p)(c) 2001 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). 
Reprinted with permission. A Slice of Infinity is a radio ministry of Ravi 
Zacharias International Ministries.

_______________________________________________________________________

2)  <BIBLE-STUDY>
"THE UNHOLY ALLIANCE" (PART-16)
Charles E. Wigg
....
However Mesha the king of Moab, who had paid heavy taxes each year to 
support the grandeur of Ahab’s kingdom, rebelled against Jehoram, and 
refused to pay the taxes. This king could not bear to have his finances 
reduced, neither can those that are like him today bear to be deprived of 
their life of luxury Their ‘hip pocket nerve’ is very sensitive indeed. Thus 
he decided to try to regain his lost revenues, and to do so entered into an 
unholy alliance with two other kings, Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, and the 
King of Edom. The King of Judah was a good king, and walked in the ways of 
his godly father. However he made the terrible mistake of marrying the 
daughter of Ahab. He allowed his natural love to becloud his judgment, and 
began to love those that hated Jehovah. When invited to assist the son of 
Jezebel in recovering his lost revenues, he responded whole-heartedly, 
gladly committing the lives of his own soldiers to such a doubtful 
endeavour. He stands as a warning to us in this respect. There are some 
today that will encourage believers to join hands with, nominal 
‘Christians’, and others that are heretical in nature, and that teach and 
practice things that are contrary to the word of God. Emphasizing that we 
Christians must present a ‘united front’ to the world. We must join with 
homosexuals, Roman Catholics, and all comers in public marches, like 
“Marchers for Jesus” etc. Let us beware!

The name of the King of Edom is not mentioned, but he and his army were 
considered to be the weakest point in this unholy alliance, by the King of 
Moab. There had never been any fellowship between the descendants of Esau, 
and the descendants of Jacob, ever since the time that Esau had chosen the 
wrong path, and entered into marriages with the wrong people. But now 
through the instrumentality of the son of Jezebel, we see them in fellowship 
with those wicked people. No doubt buoyed up by the prospect of expected 
victory, and with a carnal self-confidence, they failed to observe even the 
basic needs of such a vast army, the need of a supply of water. When they 
discovered this terrible oversight, and the possibility of their joint 
armies’ destruction; only then did they think of seeking help from a higher 
power. It was Jehoshaphat that thought of calling upon Jehovah the lord of 
Heaven and Earth. He asked “is there not here a prophet of Jehovah?” and one 
said, “Here is Elisha,…who poured water on the hands of Elijah”. The 
response of the King of Judah was to say, “The word of Jehovah is with him!” 
So those three Kings were compelled to humble themselves before Jehovah’s 
servant, they ‘went down’ to Elisha. The sight of these three kings, joined 
in such an unholy alliance, filled the soul of Elisha with  indignation. He 
was angry that the son of Jezebel should turn to Jehovah now that he was in 
a situation of crisis, brought about by his own stupidity.

He did not hesitate to rebuke Israel’s king with these words. “What have I 
to do with thee? Get thee unto the prophets of thy father, and thy mother”. 
The King of Israel now was compelled to admit the powerless nature of the 
gods that his parents served, and also of their prophets. He meekly 
acknowledged that the hand of Jehovah had used his own folly to bring about 
this situation of tragedy. Elisha then acknowledged the presence of the King 
of Judah, and said that it was only because of him, that he would grant 
their request, and that it was only because of him that he would even see or 
speak to Israel’s King.

We might ask the question ‘why was Elisha there at all?’ It seems that 
Elijah would never be present to give credence by his presence, to such an 
unholy alliance. The ultra separationists, the ‘exclusive’ people of our 
day, would surely condemn him, and regard him as being in a position of 
compromise. However by his presence Elisha was not endorsing, approving, or 
giving credence to this sad alliance. He was present, yet separate from all 
that was going on, and he did not hesitate to fearlessly condemn the son of 
Ahab, or to expose the folly and wickedness of the whole idolatrous system 
of Jezebel. His presence led to the salvation of numerous lives, the 
punishment and ruination of the Moabite kingdom, and yet the dashing of the 
hopes of the wicked son of Ahab.  [To be concluded]
---
[Reproduced with permission]
_____________________________________________________________________

3)  <PROPHECY>
"THE REDEEMER'S RETURN" (PART-87)
THE REVELATION AND CAREER OF THE ANTI-CHRIST 3/9
WHO IS ANTI-CHRIST?
Arthur W. Pink
....
Now let us see how Scripture connects the Anti-christ with Judas and shows 
that they are one and the same person. In the first place, as we have 
already pointed out, the first reference to "the Beast" (the Anti-christ) in 
the Revelation is 11:7, where we read of "the beast that ascendeth out of 
the Bottomless Pit." We asked, How and when did he go there? And we 
answered, at the death of Judas. Have we any Scripture which supports this 
assertion? We believe so. Mark the language used in Acts 1:25, "That he may 
take part of this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression 
fell, that he might go to his own place." Of no one else in all the Bible is 
it said that at death he went "to his own place." Put these two Scriptures 
together--Judas went "to his own place," the Beast ascends out of the Abyss. 
Again, in Rev. 17:8 we read, "The Beast that thou sawest was, and is not; 
and shall ascend out of the Bottomless Pit, and go into perdition." This 
verse is generally understood to refer to the revived Roman Empire and with 
this interpretation we are in accord, but we believe it is a mistake to 
limit it to this. In the Apocalypse, the Roman Empire and its final and 
Satanic Emperor are very closely connected, so much so, that at times it is 
difficult to distinguish between them. But in Rev. 17 they are 
distinguishable. In verse 8 we are told that the Beast "shall ascend out of 
the Bottomless Pit," and that he shall "go into perdition" In verse 11 we 
are told, "And the Beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is 
of the seven, and goeth into perdition." Now nearly all expositors are 
agreed that the Beast of verse 11--"the eighth (head, and form of government 
of the Roman Empire) is the Anti-christ himself; then why not admit the same 
of verse 8? In both, the designation is the same--the Beast; and in both, we 
are told he "goeth into perdition." We take it, then, that what is 
predicated of "the Beast" in 17:8 is true of both the Roman Empire and of 
its last head or Emperor (the Anti-christ)--of the former, in the sense that 
it is infernal in its character. Viewing it now as a declaration of the 
Anti-christ, what does it tell us about him? Four things. First, he "was." 
Second, he "is not." Third, he shall "ascend out of the Bottomless Pit." 
Fourth, he shall "go into perdition." The various time marks here concern 
the Beast in his relation to the earth. First, he "was" i.e., on the earth. 
Second, he "is not" i.e. now on the earth (cf. Gen. 5:24, "Enoch was not for 
God took him," i.e. "was not," any longer on the earth). Third, he shall 
"ascend out of the Bottomless Pit" (where he now is) which agrees with 11:7. 
Fourth, he shall "go into perdition." We learn then from this Scripture that 
at the time the Apocalypse was written that the Beast "was not" then on the 
earth, but that he had been on it formerly. Further, we learn that in John's 
day the Beast was then in the Bottomless Pit but should yet ascend out of 
it. Here then is further evidence that the Anti-christ who is yet to appear 
has been on earth before! If this is not sufficient to prove that the 
Anti-christ will be a reincarnation of Judas our next Scripture ought to 
decide the matter. As we have seen in John 17:12 Christ termed Judas "the 
Son of Perdition" and in 2 Thess. 2:3 we find that the Man of Sin is 
similarly designated--"that Man of Sin be revealed, the Son of Perdition." 
These are the only two places in all the Bible where this name occurs, is it 
not clear then that Judas and the Man of Sin are one and the same person? 
What other conclusion can a simple and unprejudiced reader of the Bible come 
to?

Who is the Anti-christ? We have dwelt upon his mysterious person, and we 
would now call attention to a number of passages in Scriptures (which the 
reader will do will to look up and prayerfully study) in which he is 
variously denominated and described. He is the "bloody and deceitful man" of 
Ps. 5:6. He is the "man of the earth" of Ps 10:18. He is the "Head over many 
countries" of Ps. 110:7. He is the "little horn" of Dan. 7:20-27. He is the 
"vile person" of Dan. 11:21. He is the "proud man" of Hab. 2:5. He is the 
rider on the four horses in Rev. 6. He is the "fallen star" of Rev. 9:1. He 
is the "Beast" of Rev. 13:1-8. He is the "Lawless One" of 2 Thess. 2:8, 9.  
[To be concluded]

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