Attack on Syria

Finally, President Barak Obama has decided to attack ISIS in Syria. His objective is not to topple the Assad regime as was originally contemplated; but  instead to ‘degrade and destroy’ ISIS whom he and his coalition perceives as a material threat to their existence. With the high visibility of discussions surrounding the attack’s potentially catastrophic results, speculation on end-time prophesies focusing on tensions in the Middle East, is intensifying at an alarming rate. Many, however, completely miss the most poignant declaration of apocalyptic events recorded in Scripture. It is not about an attack on ISIS, Syria or any other conflict in the Middle East; but rather, it is an attack on the word of God. John the Revelator puts it this way, “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ (Revelation 12:17).

What God’s servant is revealing to us is that the devil, through human and institutional agencies, will wage relentless war, in these end times, on those who are committed to keeping all of God’s commandments and hold fast to the prophetic and historic utterances of His word. Those commandments include the Sabbath commandment which reads, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:  For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it (Exodus 20:8-11).

The controversy over God’s Sabbath commandment is  intensifying exponentially . The call for Sunday sacredness, in opposition to God’s command to honor Him by obeying His Sabbath commandment is swiftly gaining momentum. Pope Francis is leading the charge. The Associated Press recently reported, “Pope Francis lamented the abandoning of the traditionally Christian practice of not working on Sundays, saying it has a negative impact on families and friendships. … He says that spending Sundays with family and friends is an ‘ethical choice’ for faithful and non-faithful alike.” He later declared, “Preserving the special character of Sunday as the Lord’s Day — even civilly where possible.”

These are very powerful words indeed which echo similar pronouncement of his predecessor, John Paul 11, ” Christians will naturally strive to ensure that civil legislation respect their duty to keep Sabbath (Sunday) holy” (Dies Domini, Section 66). The late pontiff also stated in the same Encyclical,  “When, through the centuries, she has made laws concerning Sunday rest, the Church has had in mind above all the work of servants and workers, certainly not because this work was any less worthy when compared to the spiritual requirements of Sunday observance, but rather because it needed greater regulation to lighten its burden and thus enable everyone to keep the Lord’s Day holy. In this matter, my predecessor Pope Leo XIII in his Encyclical Rerum Novarum spoke of Sunday rest as a worker’s right which the State must guarantee” (Pope John Paul 11, Dies Domini, Section 66). These declarations are not only a blatant attack on God’s word; but also the greatest threat to Religious Liberty we face today.

It is abundantly clear that the Papacy’s objective is to have Sunday sacredness, its mark of authority, enforced by civil legislation.  It declares, “Sunday is our mark of authority…the church is above the Bible, and the transference of Sabbath is proof of that fact.” (Catholic Record, Sept 1, 1923).  Herein lies the conflict to which John the Revelator referred  (Revelation 12:17, Revelation 13). Not only do most so-called Protestants follow in the foot steps of the Papacy to honor Sunday; but through organizations such as the European Sunday Alliance, National Back to Church Sunday, the Lord’s Day Alliance, and others, millions are persuaded to disobey the God of creation who has already given us a day of rest (Genesis 2:2-3; Exodus 20:8-11).  Every person on planet earth will have to make a decision in this the final battle of the Conflict of the Ages. What will yours be? Who will you choose: the son of perdition or the God of creation?

The only way to be sure that you are on God’s side in this conflict is to follow our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He declares, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6). The Apostle Peter reminds us, “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps” (1 Peter 2:21).

God is not so much interested in the attack on Syria or ISIS as He is deeply concerned about our salvation, obtainable only through Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12)(1 John 2:21). Whilst many are focused on and trying to interpret end-time prophecy based on events in the Middle East, they are oblivious to the attack on the word of God. Jesus warned His disciples, and us today, about the greatest danger that would exist just before He returns. That danger is deception (Matthew 24:5,11,24). Are you being deceived by focusing on events in the Middle East rather than on the Prince of Peace?

Are you following Jesus in keeping all of God’s commandments; or are you adhering to the traditions of learned men so-called and the pronouncements of ecclesiastical councils? Which side are you on? Jesus’, with the ones that follow the Bible and keep all of God’s commandments, including His Sabbath commandment; or the Papacy that follows human tradition, seeks to universally legislate Sunday sacredness, and makes war upon the faithful? There is no middle ground.