This Articles page is proud to serve up links to the house specialties that were on offer at Chez ALS back in the year 2023.
Each entry below contains a "hook" that suggests what the article deals with (an hors d'oeuvre), the first several paragraphs (an appetizer), plus a link to the full article (the main course). If you just want to scan over a list of the titles of all the articles on this site, you can save time by grabbin' a burger at the Article Index page. Bon appétit!
If you want to look for a specific topic, use the search function in the sidebar. Use the menu below to go to similar pages for previous years.
JAN '23: Rules and the Rapture
Buried within God's basic dispensational program lies a simple pattern that puts a padlock on the pre-trib Rapture...and somehow I never saw it coming.
Rules and the Rapture
I don't go searching for these things, I swear.
I'm really not someone who is constantly going off snooping around, digging through God's Word looking for even more creative ways to prove the Rapture absolutely must occur prior to the beginning of the Tribulation. I mean, it's not as if we needed more of them—we've already got way more than we could ever need or ask for.
But God just keeps dropping these things in my lap. What am I supposed to do? Ignore them? Keep them to myself?
I'm being facetious, of course—it's certainly not as if I minded. It's just that I was slam in the middle of working on a different topic when He did so...and the Holy Spirit promptly informed me of a change of plans. It happens. To be perfectly honest, I start licking my chops every time He does that because it's always something g-o-o-d. And I pray that by the time you finish reading this article, you will agree that this one is no exception.
FEB '23: The Two Witnesses
In the book of Revelation, the Antichrist wows the world by slaying these two fire-breathing characters—who are they and what do they do?
The Two Witnesses
Last month I wrote an article about the dispensations, and in it I discuss the fact that after each dispensation God only releases judgment on the part of mankind that failed to obey the ruling principle of a given dispensation and also extends an offer of grace in some manner. I mentioned that after the Age of Grace ends at the Rapture, God releases judgment on the world (an unsaved world that logically cannot include the saved Church) in the form of the Tribulation and its associated judgments (thus offering strong support for a pre-trib Rapture).
I also mentioned that He extends grace in the form of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists who take the gospel to the post-Rapture world and bring a huge number of people into the kingdom, both Jewish remnant believers and Gentile Tribulation saints. He also protects the Jewish remnant in the wilderness until the bloody end of the Great Tribulation so they can be ushered alive into the kingdom following the Second Coming.
A few days after I posted that article, I got an email from a nice gentleman whom I will refer to as G, and in it he politely expressed his opinion that perhaps the ministry of the Two Witnesses of Revelation 11 should be included in that offer of grace...
MAR '23: Dropping Hints
Around 40 years before the temple was destroyed in AD 70, some strange events began occurring. God was dropping hints—but about what?
Dropping Hints
I read something about this a few years ago, but recently I dug into it in a little greater depth and detail. The Talmud discusses four unusual events that occurred around the time of Christ's death (or at least around the time of His ministry)—things that stopped happening or began happening about 40 years before the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70, or about AD 30.
The Talmud is a huge collection of Jewish writings generally focused on the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament) and the Tanach (basically the entire Old Testament), and these writings comprise a massive compendium of teaching, opinions, and interpretation pertaining to both, as well as other aspects of Judaism. These writings began to be compiled in earnest in the aftermath of the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70, since prior to that such teachings had primarily been passed down orally within a relatively closed Jewish society. But after the temple was destroyed at the hands of the Romans and the Jewish people were scattered to the nations of the world, such oral traditions became far more difficult to maintain and pass on.
Plus, after AD 70, Jewish scholars had their work cut out for them. The challenge? Invent a version of Judaism that could function in the absence of a temple—which, if you count the original tabernacle in the days of Moses, had been the heart and soul of Jewish life for 1,500 years.
APR '23: The Parables of Matthew 25
Hmmm...who could all these wise virgins, foolish virgins, faithful and slothful servants, sheep, and goats be? Let's put on our thinking caps...
The Parables of Matthew 25
In this article, I want to deal with a topic that has nipped at my heels for as long as I can remember. Like many believers out there, I have long struggled to properly sort out some of the details of certain aspects of the Olivet Discourse, arguably the premier teaching on the end times that Jesus delivered to four of His disciples during the last week of His earthly ministry.
And in this case, the heel-nipping of which I speak pertains to the three parables that appear at the beginning of Matthew 25:
1. The Parable of the 10 Virgins (Matt. 25:1–13)
2. The Parable of the Talents (Matt. 25:14–30)
3. The Sheep and Goat Judgment (Matt. 25:31–46)
MAY '23: A Salvation Primer
I've been asked many times about the nature of salvation, especially as it pertains to periods before and after the Church Age. Here's my answer.
A Salvation Primer
The idea for this article has actually been gnawing at me for a long time, but I finally got the clear sense that it was time to go ahead and pull the trigger on this one. As the title suggests, we're going to be talking about salvation. And as the title also suggests, it is intended to be a primer of sorts, or a short, informative introduction to some particular subject.
Straight up: There's really not a lot that's "new" in this article. As I have done in the past on occasion, I wrote this primarily to have a full answer at the ready to respond to people's questions about a particular topic—in this case, the nature of salvation, especially as it applies to different periods of time. I have touched on many of these issues in various articles over the years, but I just felt led to bring it all together into one package.
To that end, we will discuss the following:
1. Pre-Church salvation
2. Church Age salvation
3. Post-Church salvation
JUN '23: Disclosure
A couple of items pertaining to UFOs got my attention recently, and they got me thinking about how it all plays into the end-time scenario.
Disclosure
For a number of years, I have been the type of person who pays attention to news items about UFOs. As such, it has not escaped my notice that some type of UFO-related story typically appears in most mainstream media outlets at least once every month or two. Nothing major—someone reports seeing some kind of strange object in the sky, or a pilot reports spotting some unusual aerial activity of some kind, stuff like that. Just enough to keep images of those little green men (gray men?) percolating in the back of people's minds.
This past month, however, a couple of UFO-related news items came to my attention that took things to a new level. And not to sprain my elbow patting myself on the back or anything, but these are more or less the kind of stories I have been quietly anticipating for the last several years.
JUL '23: End-Time Imitation
In the end times, the Antichrist tries to imitate and replace Christ. But recently I realized that Satan's end-time imitation of God goes well beyond that.
End-Time Imitation
The Bible contains a number of names for Satan, such as Beelzebub ("lord of the flies"), the adversary, the god of this world, the prince of the power of the air, the father of lies, the accuser of the brethren, and a number of others. My own personal favorite has long been the Great Wannabe.
During the Tribulation, however, another one of Satan's devious attributes will be on full display, and that is his propensity to imitate whatever God does—so much so that I am tempted to add "the Great Imitator" to the list. As I have pointed out on a few occasions in the past, Satan may possess superhuman intelligence, but it strikes me that he's not all that creative. Many of the things that Satan does are in fact little more than lame attempts to imitate things that God has already done to world-shaking perfection.
AUG '23: Déjà Vu All Over Again
YouTube is ablaze with videos about how the UN's September SDG agreement will launch the Tribulation. That's weird—I feel like I've seen this before.
Déjà Vu All Over Again
I'm quite sure that many of you recall what transpired in the several years leading up to the REV12 sign back in 2017. Starting in about 2011 or 2012, a burgeoning tidal wave of articles and YouTube videos steadily began to pick up steam in regard to the stunning stellar-planetary alignment of September 23, 2017 that confirmed the first of two "great signs" that John saw in Revelation 12:1–6, with the first sign described in verses 1–2.
What far too many people overlook, however, is that most of those who studied and wrote about the sign in a scripturally competent manner seldom failed to dutifully point out that there was no biblical reason to pin the Rapture to that exact day. Rather, they saw it as an exciting prelude to the Rapture—a sign that we were finally entering the season of the catching away of the body of Christ. That's because the Rapture isn't prefigured until verse 5 and so would likely follow the REV12 sign by an unspecified length of time.
SEP '23: The Night Before
Two angels got Lot and his family out of Sodom before judgment fell. But is there a prophetic message in what the men of Sodom did the night before?
The Night Before
If you're someone who keeps up with news from the world of archaeology (unlike me, generally speaking), you might be aware that in the last decade or so the ancient biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah have finally been located with a high degree of confidence and have been excavated and studied by a team of archaeologists led by Dr. Steven Collins, Dean of the College of Archaeology at Trinity Southwest University in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
And to the horror of secular scientists who go into apoplectic convulsions whenever someone claims to have made a discovery that supports anything in what they claim is an error-riddled collection of ancient myths and legends, their discoveries clearly confirm many aspects of the biblical account.
OCT '23: Where Is This Going?
As Israel responds forcefully to the recent terrorist attack by Hamas, it has many prophetically minded believers asking the obvious question.
Where Is This Going?
As everyone knows, on Saturday, October 7, Gaza-based terrorist group Hamas struck Israeli territory with a barrage of about 3,000 missiles, thanks in large part to a temporary and suspiciously ill-timed failure of their Iron Dome air defense system. At the same time, waves of Hamas terrorists penetrated Israeli territory, killing over 1,300 innocent civilians (with a documented focus on young children, women, and the elderly), and taking over 200 hostages alive back to Gaza.
The next day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu officially declared the nation of Israel to be at war with Hamas. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) called up 300,000 reserves and swiftly cleared Israeli territory of all terrorists, and began launching airstrikes on Gaza. In addition, Israeli ground troops are preparing to move into Gaza to attack terrorists and rescue hostages.
NOV '23: The Harpazo Express
It appears we've embarked on a sequence of events that will culminate in Gog-Magog, but are there other things that confirm our train is on the horizon?
The Harpazo Express
In my last article, I laid out some reasons why I think what we are seeing play out in the Middle East is in fact a sequence of events that will ultimately lead us straight into the arms of the attack of Ezekiel 38–39, or Gog-Magog. Naturally, I emphasized that no one can say how long it may take for us to get there or what manner of geopolitical gyrations may occur before God intervenes to save Israel from the existential attack involving Russia, Iran, Turkey, and several Northern African nations that the prophet Ezekiel describes.
As one of the small fry in the watchman world, however, I admit that it's reassuring for me to see that my assessment is in general agreement with what a number of other Bible teachers I hold in great respect have been saying recently. Many are focused on the attempted annihilation of Israel in Ezekiel's prophecy, and are convinced that's where this furball is ultimately headed.
DEC '23: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Prophetic statements in close proximity in Scripture can have fulfillments separated by unstated gaps of time—and understanding this matters today.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
When Jesus was ready to begin His public ministry, the first thing He did was get baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. After "fulfilling all righteousness" by allowing John to baptize Him, He promptly went out into the wilderness to fast for 40 days. As you may recall, Satan came to Jesus three times to tempt Him into doing something satisfying to the flesh but contrary to the will of His Father, and each time the Lord used the Word to put the Adversary to silence with a scriptural smackdown (Matt. 4:1–11).
After completing this 40-day period of testing, Jesus began preaching in the region of Galilee—and it wasn't long before He made His way back to His hometown of Nazareth, approximately 15 miles southwest from the Sea of Galilee. Back on home turf, Jesus went to the local synagogue on the Sabbath, just as I'm sure He had done countless times growing up.
But this time was different.
1. Adapted from Sunset Over Grass Field © AOosthuizen at Can Stock Photo
2. Butler With Tray © NewAfrica at Depositphotos
3. Adapted from Infinity Symbol on Blackboard © PixelsAway at Can Stock Photo
4. Adapted from Hand-Drawn Olive Tree © Liubou at Can Stock Photo
5. Hints with Magnifier © novelo at Can Stock Photo
6. Adapted from 6a–6c:
6a. Old Brass Magic Lamp © Radnatt at Can Stock Photo
6b. Money Bag With Dollar Sign © ADragan at Can Stock Photo
6c. Goat in a Flock of Sheep © edomor at Can Stock Photo
7. Adapted from Book © Colour59 at Can Stock Photo
8. UFO Flying Saucer © Ant at Can Stock Photo
9. Adapted from 9a–9c:
9a. Devil With Horns and Tail © Sylverarts at Can Stock Photo
9b. Moses © LironPeer at Can Stock Photo
9c. Mirror © lereen at Can Stock Photo
10. Man Frustrated With His Laptop © VladimirFloyd at Fotosearch
11. Adapted from Sodom and Gomorrah by John Martin artist QS:P170,Q937096, marked as public domain [PD], more details on Wikimedia Commons
12. Adapted from Operation Breaking Dawn IX © IDF Spokesperson's Unit (resized, cropped, recolored, text added) [CC BY-SA 3.0]
13. Adapted from AI-Generated Steam Locomotive by Franz26 (cropped, resized, text added) via Pixabay
14. Silhouette of a Man and Telescope Under the Starry Skies © milangucci at Depositphotos
Scripture Quotations:
All Scripture is taken from the World English Bible, unless specifically annotated as the King James Version (KJV) or the American King James Version (AKJV).