A Beautiful Girl

A Beautiful Girl.

A beautiful girl died today
a conversationalist, rightly so
a modest girl, an intellectual
although she didn’t really know.

A joy to engage and converse
good times we had shooting the breeze
God blessed me with this Sister-in-Law
memories are made of times like these.

Her pain and suffering at an end
reunited with long past kin,
an endless time of peace and joy
helps us all find comfort within.

Death has no power over the soul
only the flesh grows weak and old
eternal life is what lies beyond
In the scriptures, stated so bold.

So many tears, a river cried
so many hearts stricken with pain
such a cruel fate for all to bare
Beautiful Girl, I know we’ll meet again.

D Marsden 2019©

lewis

LEWIS
The kingdom of heaven
we are told is within
your love was so great
for your friends and your kin.

A head full of pain
a heart full of joy
a lifetime of torment
too much for one boy.

No-one can help
a mind to set free
the pain and despair
only goodness we see.

But you gave out much love
you got lots in return
a place of joy you now dwell
the hearts left behind yearn.

One day you’ll re-unite
with family and friends
no suffering or pain
just joy without end.

The time is not yet
the world must turn more
but when the day comes
you’ll be there at the door.

Buddy

What a time
a time of grief
a life is taken
like a thief
fifteen years melt away
so quick in disbelief.

He could not stay
my loyal friend
we said goodbye
time now to mend
to heal and rest
pain at an end.

Endless walks, Clumber Park
a ten mile trip
to Hardwick Village
even with a damaged hip
didn’t bother him at all
he’d just run and skip.

Roamed through woods
in dim moonlight
or on the black
and darkest night
chasing rabbits
in full flight.

Chasing golf balls
just for fun
golfers scorned
and cursed him some
come on Buddy
time to run.

Roamed valleys and fields
tow paths, plains and woods
swam rivers, lakes, canals
and seas when he could
when waters were in recline
he’d wallow in the mud.

The country walks were his joy
The Lakes, Cornwall and more
Somerset, Yorkshire Moors and Dales
Norfolk Broads and Exmoor
put some mileage on those legs
before constant pain and sore.

His last few months
he couldn’t stand
about three barks
was his command
he knew we’d come
with helping hand.

The pain became too much
for Buddy to endure
his life ground to a halt
his joy became no more
but now he’s free to run
just as he did before.

A place on the lawn
his favourite spot
he’d lay in the sun
when the weather was hot
now we’ve named it
Buddy’s Plot.


D. Marsden ©

The ten lost tribes of Israel

The Ten Lost Tribes of Israel         

This story goes back to the times of the Israelites taken into captivity by Assyria in 721 BC. This relates to the 10 northern tribes who settled in Halah and Habor (2 Kings 17:6).

Note: all bible quotes are from the kjv unless otherwise stated.

The Twelve Tribes of Israel

The twelve tribes were from the descendants of Abraham. In 1868 BC, Abraham had a son named Isaac by his wife, Sarah. In 1807 BC Isaac and his wife Rebekah had twins, Esau and Jacob. Between 1723-1710 BC, Jacob (God later changed his name to Israel) had twelve sons. Eleven of these sons, along with his son Joseph’s son, Ephraim, Moses appointed land to after conquering Canaan. These became the 12 tribes of Israel. Ephraim, adopted by Jacob, became one of the 12 tribes. Ephraim became a powerful leader and head of the northern tribes. This led to the adoption of the name Ephraim to represent the northern tribes.

Now that makes 13 tribes in all. But the Levites didn`t get a portion of land. Moses appointed them the priesthood of the tribes.

The Levites gained cities. They lived among all the tribes of Israel. They also gained the city of Jerusalem and authority over the holy temple.

The southern kingdom (known of as the House of Judah) comprised Judah and Benjamin and part of the Levites. Noted as the two tribes of Judah, or just Judah.

The northern kingdom was The House of Israel or Ephraim. This comprised the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Issachar, Asher, Zebulun, Joseph and Levi.

They separated into two nations after the death of king Solomon. Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, became king, and the northern tribes didn`t follow the harsh rule he imposed over them. This caused the nation to split into two separate states. Rehoboam, the king of Judah, planned to war against the northern state. To bring all the tribes under one leadership, but God relayed a message to him not to fight, and he backed off.

The bible describes the event:

ll Chronicles 11: 1-4

1 And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he gathered of the house of Judah and Benjamin and a hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against Israel, that he might bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam.

2 But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

3 Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, King of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying,

4 Thus saith the LORD, ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren: return every man to his house: for this thing is done of me, And they obeyed the words of the Lord, and returned from going against Jeroboam.

1 Kings 12:24

Thus saith the Lord, ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is of me. So they hearkened unto the word of the Lord, and returned and went their way, according to the word of the Lord.

As we see above, this was part of God’s plan.

The northern tribes conquered

Assyria conquered Israel in 721 BC. Israel comprised two nations. Split into a nation of the ten-tribe house of Israel (Ephraim) and the two-tribe house of Judah.

The northern nation of Israel became captive. The House referred to as the Jews, a separation that still lasts until today. They parted from Judah, later referred to as the lost tribes of Israel.

When the Assyrian kingdom fell into decline, the ten tribes then migrated. They started their long and arduous migration, which took several hundred years. In the passage below, we see God told them to mark their way.

Jeremiah 31:21

Set thee up way-marks, make the guide-posts: set thine heart toward the high way. Even the way by which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to thee thy cities.

Archaeology can attest to the Israelites’ migration during this period. The landmarks and cultural artefacts unearthed. The various forms of written stone records discovered. These all relate to the period, thus providing evidence.

In Genesis 48, we see Jacob speak to Ephraim, the leader of the ten northern tribes. He tells him he will become a nation, consisting of a series of nations whose people will be so vast that it would be difficult to number.

Genesis 48: 17-19

And when Joseph saw his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head. And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put the right hand upon his head. And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: howbeit his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.

In this passage, the ten lost tribes migrate and become many nations somewhere in the world. They have not disappeared from existence. Instead, they have grown into a mighty nation or group of nations related.

Babylon the new world empire

Some years later, in 612 BC, Babylon became the next world empire. In 597 BC, the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, conquered Jerusalem. He plundered and destroyed the temple. The Jews went off into Babylonian captivity.

The Persian Empire

In 538 BC, Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians. The Persian Empire became the second great empire in the ancient world. During this period, Cyrus, the king of Persia, let the Jews go back to their homeland. This was to rebuild their temple in Jerusalem that the Babylonians destroyed. The period of exile was 70 years from the destruction to the start of rebuilding the temple. (Jeremiah 29:10)

But the bible states that the returning exiled Jews comprised only descendants of the southern tribes. The house of Judah. Nothing mentioned of descendants of the ten northern tribes, the house of Israel. The returning Jews were of the house of Judah only. The number of the returnees was 42360. (See Ezra 2:64 and Nehemiah 7:66).

What became of the house of Israel?

Hosea gives some specific information on the matter.

Hosea 1: 6-11

6, She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, call her name Lo-ruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel, that should in any wise pardon them.

7, But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God, and I will not save them by bow nor by sword nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.

8, Now when she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son.

9, And the Lord said, Call his name Lo-ammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.

10, Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass that, in the place where it was said unto them, ye are not my people, it shall be said unto them, ye are the sons of the living God.

11, And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint themselves one head, and shall go up from the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Ezekiel and the northern kingdom?

Ezekiel chapter 37: 11, 16, 17, 21, 22, 26.

Verse 11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.

Verse 16 And thou, Son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions.

Verse 17 And join them for thee one to another into one stick, that they may become one in thine hand.

Verse 21: And say unto them. Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:

Verse 22: And I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.

Verse 26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them: it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.

Ezekiel is proof that the ten lost tribes of Israel exist by the fact of their unification again at the end times. The dry bones represent the nation of Israel.

The two sticks clearly show that God is referring to the whole twelve tribes of Israel. Two divided nations that again come together as one.

They gather the children of Israel from all the nations. They will come home to the holy land.

The house of Judah came home in 1948, three years after the second world war ended. In that year, David Ben Gurion, the future prime minister of Israel, declared a new state of the house of Judah, entitled the state of Israel. (More information on this later).

The house of Israel (the ten lost tribes) is yet to come home. A union with the two southern tribes.

In the future, this will happen and they will have one king, or one prime minister, rule over them. Ezekiel verse 22 above states: they shall become one nation again and never again divided into two nations. This refers to the end times because they shall become one nation again forever.

Another interesting point to make is in verse 26 above. God says he will set his sanctuary (temple) amid the Jewish community forevermore. Solomon’s temple must rise again, for a third time, in the holy city of Jerusalem.

God makes a new covenant.

Jeremiah 31: 31-34

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Jeremiah is about the end times here, when all the tribes of Israel will come together. No need for preaching anymore. This event takes place after the tribulation. The entire world will witness proof of who God is. There will be no doubt.

Hebrews 8: 10-12

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”

Here in Hebrews, we see the same prophecy repeated. It’s understood that the apostle Paul wrote the book on AD 67, around 700 years after Jeremiah first prophesied. Paul was reiterating what was to come in future events. It relates to the future when this prophecy reaches fulfilment.

Where are the lost tribes now?

From 721 BC, when the Assyrians took the northern tribes of Israel into captivity, until the present day (2020), there are 2741 years.

So, where are they now? We know they are still around because the scriptures tell us they will reunite at a later time in history, a time not yet reached. The scriptures also tell us they will have grown so vast that they are too many to number and that they will comprise many nations.

From the point of migration, after the fall of Assyria, they verged West. They settled in various countries.: Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, North Africa and other parts of western Europe.

As these nations grew, they migrated to various places, including America. The British Commonwealth formed and expanded. It took in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and many other countries. This correlates to them becoming many nations. Too difficult to number because of their masses.

Modern day Israel

On the 14th of May 1948, in Tel Aviv, David Ben-Gurion declared a Jewish state known as the State of Israel.

The years that followed saw Jews gathered from around the world, those that had kept their identity as being from the southern tribes, the nation of Judah.

There was much debate about the use of a name. They suggested Judea instead of Israel. They rejected it because it referred to the territory that was not covered in the treaty. Even though Judea was the original birthplace of the Jews. The name Jew became accepted as a recognizable name for the nation that survived even when in exile.

The State of Israel once again jumped out of the history books and came back into existence after almost 2000 years, even without the lost northern tribes. Maybe the name Israel is for future times when all tribes are united under one leader.

D. Marsden © 2020

Gargoyles

Gargoyles

Gargoyles are architectural structures. Made of stone, protruding from buildings and monuments of historical interest. Built with a channel of some type formed along the top and through the head to divert rainwater from the building. Thus protecting the mortar joints and masonry from erosion.

Gargoyles protrude outward, sending the water spouting away from the face of the building, from the mouth of the mythical creature the gargoyle represents.

The famous Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris has many gargoyles. All seen protruding from the roof area. Or at least this was the case before fire ravaged it in 2019.

The medieval churches are the principal residences of these stone artefacts. Much work went into these buildings, in such forms as their stone carvings. The elaborate columns, pillars and lintels. The intricate shapes and aesthetics of the buildings are an appreciation. As are the wooden structures. Such as vaulted ceilings and internal ornate corbels, stone corbels that the timber roof structure sat upon. The vaulted ceilings lay open and engineered to carry the heavy load and stresses. Designed to please the eye, so also incorporated much craftsmanship into their making and appearance. Glance up inside any church and you’ll see the results.

Gargoyles have many variations. A lion’s head with its mouth open was a common feature. They varied from cathedral to cathedral. Many took on a distorted form. Later, gargoyles became a mix match of many creatures and forms. In medieval times, their appearances morphed into many forms. They always had a sinister or terrifying presence.

Another form of gargoyle is the chimera. Its purpose is not for diverting water from the building, but strictly ornamental. Referred to as grotesques but classed as gargoyles because of certain similarities.

The authentic form of a chimera comes from the description in Greek mythology:

· Chimera: a monster from Greek mythology that is fire breathing, has a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a snake’s tale.

In ancient Greek mythology, they fear the chimera as a bad omen when sighted. The term “chimera” came to symbolise any mythical creature with two or more mixed body parts of various animals.

Gargoyles often lent themselves to the chimera or variations of that form.

· Some carvings of gargoyles take on the image of mixed animals (chimeras). Some carved as half human and half animal.

Apart from diverting water away from a building, they also supported another purpose: to ward off evil.

It is odd to think that a grotesque figure could do this. When the figure itself seems to err on the side of evil.

With their unusual shape and contortions, their unnatural hybrid configuration, and their medieval demonic looks that some gargoyles portray, it’s easy to think of them as threatening. With so many despotic looking stone statuettes staring down at the congregation from high above their heads, it’s a wonder they didn’t refuse to enter the churches of that era.

Church hierarchy of the time sort various ways to coerce their flock into repenting. The church building offered spiritual security for those seeking it. Outside the church lurked temptation and sin. Religion and the church represented a sanctuary to the masses, a haven.

Gargoyles reminded them of the evil in the outside world. Sending out the message, it is better to be inside the sanctuary of the church rather than on the outside, where temptation, sin and wickedness lie. A means to sway the pagans over to Christianity.

A ploy adopted by the Christian church in medieval times to put fear into the hearts of the people in the hope of them attending church en-mass.

Gargoyles go back long before Christianity, though.

In Olympus, in ancient Greece, The Temple of Zeus has many lion shaped water spouts. The ancient Egyptians build and carved many gargoyles as lions.

Built between 470 BC – 456 BC, the Temple of Zeus comprised limestone and had much marble used also to incorporate the finer finishes. Many sculptures of marble included its 102 lion – headed gargoyles.

The ancient Egyptians preferred the lion form also, although they constructed other forms. Such were as hooded snakes and demon types. The Egyptian gargoyles were to keep their temples safe from Seth, a god of chaos. They were not for diverting rainwater from the buildings. This would have been less important in a desert climate.

More modern gargoyles, seen in our churches and such, came into being round about the 12th century AD.

Noise of water rushing through the gargoyle resembles a gargling sound.

The word gargoyle is from the French word Gargouille, which means throat.

If someone throws their head back, their mouth represents the shape of a funnel. Then, if they blow air from their lungs through a liquid at the back of their throat. What they are doing is gargling. Hence the word gargoyle.

D. Marsden © 2020

Nuclear War in the Bible

The scriptures give a reference to a nuclear war several times. I take the quotes in this story from the King James Version (KJV) of the Holy Bible. Some bible passages can tax your brain trying to understand them. But they become clearer after years of reading and studying them.

Is God using his power and bringing the elements of nature into play? We know he often does so, or is God letting man use his own destructive power?

The first reference I’ll talk about is in the book of Zechariah. This describes the “end times” when the Jews are back in their homeland.

Zechariah 14: 12-15

12, And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples that wage war against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. 13, And on that day a great panic from the Lord shall fall on them, so that each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of the one will be raised against the hand of the other. 14, Even Judah will fight at Jerusalem. And the wealth of all the surrounding nations shall be collected, gold, silver, and garments in great abundance. 15, And a plague like this plague shall fall on the horses, the mules, the camels, the donkeys, and whatever beasts may be in those camps.

Here is an interesting passage from Zechariah. “Their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.”

What does humankind possess that would cause such a horrific effect? This will happen while the armies in question (The enemies of Israel) remain standing. This means before their skeleton hits the ground. A nuclear explosion would cause this effect. Zechariah states that all the animals in and around the area will perish likewise. Nothing escapes a nuclear explosion.

Take Hiroshima as an example. The city destroyed with one bomb and thousands of people killed in an instant. Today’s nuclear warheads are many times more powerful.

Israel has had the atom bomb since the 1950s, although not publicised to the world. Certain friendly and allied countries know this, but avoid the issue. At present, they are the only country in the middle East with nuclear capabilities.

When did Zechariah write these predictions of the future?

In the book of Zechariah, chapter 7, verse 1, king Darius is in his fourth year. This places the date at 519/518 BC. Chapters 9 — 14 have no specific reference to date. But since it was in Zachariah’s lifetime, it is around 40 years later in 480 BC. Thus, he wrote this prophecy around 2500 years ago. The usual weapons a soldier had to fight with then were swords. Zechariah must have found this vision from God strange and frightening. He must have found it hard to contemplate. Hence the unusual description. Try to imagine someone from that era in ancient times describing a view of a future nuclear war.

Let us look at what Isaiah said.

(Isaiah lived around 700 years before Christ).

Isaiah

13: 9-11

Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. 9, For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light. 11, I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.

This verse speaks of the earth not receiving any light. Science understands the implications of a world plunged into a global nuclear war. The world would be in darkness or semidarkness. A lack of sunlight could last for up to two years according to science. This would cause a type of temporary ice age (nuclear winter). The effect of dust clouds on the atmosphere is what makes this condition happen. Clouds created by the “mushroom” effect. All from many nuclear explosions blocking out the sunlight.

What about Damascus?

17: 1-3 An oracle concerning Damascus.

Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city and will become a heap of ruins. 2, The cities of Aroer are deserted; they will be for flocks, which will lie down, and none will make them afraid. 3, The fortress will disappear from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Syria will be like the glory of the children of Israel, declares the Lord of hosts.

Damascus goes back to a time before recording history. Many scholars believe it is the oldest city in existence. A city inhabited from ancient times to the modern day. Aroer is a town east of the Dead Sea, on the bank of the River Arnon, in present day Jordan. In biblical times occupied by the Moabites.

The city of Damascus has seen much destruction throughout history, right up to today. Indeed, the modern Syrian civil war has seen vast swathes of the city destroyed by bombing. Damascus is still a city despite being uninhabitable. This being the case, the prophecy relates to a future event.

17: 14

At evening time, behold, terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us, and the lot of those who plunder us.

This verse shows a swift incident, in less than a full day. Destruction before the next day arrives. Israel’s enemies destroyed in such a short time.

66:15-16 Final Judgement and Glory of the Lord

For behold, the Lord will come in fire, and his chariots like the whirlwind, to render his anger in fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire will the Lord enter into judgement, and by his sword, with all flesh; and those slain by the Lord shall be many.

That element “fire” keeps repeating itself in the scriptures. A destructive force used in the end times.

 What Jeremiah says:

Jeremiah

(Jeremiah began prophesying in 627 BC).

25:31-33

31, The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth, for the Lord has an indictment against the nations; he is entering into judgement with all flesh, and the wicked he will put to the sword, declares the Lord. 32, Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, disaster is going forth from nation to nation, and a great tempest is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth! 33, And those pierced by the Lord on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground.

Jeremiah mentions many nations, from one end of the earth to the other. The whole earth is at war, not just a particular area or continent. The number of dead will be so great, and in such a short time, that mourning and burying will be impossible. Bodies are left to rot in the open.

49: 23-27Judgment on Damascus

Concerning Damascus: “Hamath and Arpad are confounded, for they have heard bad news; they melt in fear, they are troubled like the sea that cannot be quiet. 24, Damascus has become feeble, she turned to flee, and panic seized her; anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in labor. 25, How is the famous city not forsaken, the city of my joy? 26, Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed in that day, declares the Lord of hosts. 27, And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad.”

We have the “fire” element again on Damascus. To destroy a city by fire in an instant would take a mighty force. Nuclear warheads are that fiery force.

Ben-Hadad was the title of hadada, the Armenian king in ancient times. Later claimed as a title for further kings. The Aram kings had attacked Israel during biblical times. A judgement brought on to the Israelites. But a reversal of judgement came from God and He punished Israel’s enemies by “fire.”

Ben-Hadad became a title for a leader of a deity, just as Pharaoh for Egyptian rulers. Ben-Hadad: ruler of Damascus.

Now for the prophesies of the NT

Matthew 24: 21-22

21, For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22, And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.

Mark 13: 19-20

19, For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be. 20, And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days.

Enter Jesus

I take these two passages for Matthew and Mark. They are of Jesus talking to his disciples of the end times, referred to as the tribulation in the bible.

Jesus is speaking of a disaster not seen before, even greater than the two world wars. One so great that the world won’t see again. Another world war, but this time using nuclear weapons. This time, the world is heading towards total annihilation.

Jesus says if he doesn’t intervene, then all human life will end, humanity will wipe itself out. But there is hope for humankind. Jesus says that “I will shorten those days” before the end comes. The only one who can stop this destruction is Jesus himself. He is speaking of his second coming. He will return to earth at the height of a nuclear war before it’s too late.

Revelation

The book of Revelation is an entire book of twenty-two chapters about the end times. The world’s destruction in the stages leading up to the return of Christ. Satan, the Antichrist, and the false prophet’s imprisonment and destruction. Another world set up by God, judgement day and a new beginning.

It is a book written symbolically and can be difficult to understand. Much study and careful judgement needs implying. The more time spent studying the book, the clearer it becomes. We should read it along with the book of Daniel. In Daniel lies the key to understanding the prophesies in Revelation. The book of Revelation is a separate subject for coverage at a later date.

D. Marsden © 2020

Nightingales

The front line is fighting hard
Nightingales every one
tending to the sick
not knowing when time’s done
braving every day the enemy
until the day will come,

when we’ll rejoice
and thank them every one
the Nightingales on the wards
in homes and all, bar none
we’ll thank them for their valour
by them the war is won.

we owe them everything
those that risk their life
their selfless acts for strangers
saving, child, man and wife
they have but one focus
keeping us well is their drive.

Pin the medals on their chests
for they had no orders
they did their lot willingly
they went past the borders
gave so much love and care
nothing did they hoarder

Indebted to them, so many
volunteers every one
left their homes to fight
a light of love they shone
we pray God keeps them safe
till the nightingales have won.

©D Marsden 2020