The Things to Come

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

By Hal Lindsey

The Iranian announcement came on the heels of a surprise announcement by the government of Israel confirming it had entered into third-party peace talks with Syria’s Bashar Assad. The surprising confirmation on Wednesday was the first acknowledged contact between the two parties in eight years, which will be mediated by Turkey. Equally surprising was a statement from the United States saying it had no objection to the talks. Previously, the U.S. had rejected any peace overtures toward Syria as long as it was sponsoring Hezbollah and Hamas. In fact, President Bush seemed to have been blindsided by the news. According to transcripts of an interview he granted to the Jerusalem Post, Bush responded to the news by stammering; “I expect an explanation, but I’m – he made a decision that he made – or no decisions have been made, except the idea of trying to get some dialogue moving, which is – and I know him well, and know that he is as concerned about Israeli security as any other person that’s ever been the prime minister of Israel. And so I presume the decision is made.”

Despite the White House’s official welcome of the news, privately, officials were furious. The New York Times quoted an “anonymous” (of course) “administration official” who called Israel’s unilateral move “a slap in the face.”

While Damascus and Jerusalem talk peace, Iranian-backed Hezbollah consolidated the gains it made in fighting against government forces in the streets of Beirut and elsewhere.

After six days of mediation between Hezbollah and the Lebanese government, Hezbollah emerged a clear winner in a settlement agreement in which Hezbollah was granted veto rights over the government, affirming its stature as “the preponderant military actor and the super political power in Lebanon,” according to political scientist Hilal Khashan of the American University of Beirut. Khashan told the AFP that “it was an excellent deal for the Hezbollah-led opposition and a major defeat for the U.S.-backed government.”

The deal was brokered by the Qatari government. The Arab League played a major part in securing the deal, with both Syria and Iran declaring their support for Hezbollah’s victory. Under the arrangement, Parliament will elect as president the current head of the Lebanese Army, Gen. Michel Suleiman. Gen. Suleiman will then appoint a new government – one in which Hezbollah holds enough seats to veto any decisions it doesn’t like – such as disarming Hezbollah.

Meanwhile, Israeli military sources say that Iran is continuing to ship weapons and ammunition, via Hezbollah, to the Hamas-occupied Gaza Strip, including rockets, missiles and rocket launchers. According to the Mossad, these shipments have been stepped up in recent months, reaching a peak in March-April. Using fishing boats, Iran has successfully smuggled Iranian-made 120 mm mortars with a range of up to six miles. The Mossad says that the smuggling operation is overseen by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard using Syrian ports and Hezbollah operatives.

Meanwhile, back in Israel, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is fighting desperately to keep his job while he is under investigation by police on charges of obtaining money by fraud, breach of trust, money laundering and tax offenses, according to Haartez. And fears are rampant within Israeli circles that Olmert may be considering trading the Golan Heights in exchange for a peace deal he can trumpet to deflect attention away from his legal problems.

If one sits down and connects the dots, one ends up with a very different picture than the one being presented by the mainstream media suggesting the Syrian-Israeli talks are representative of a major breakthrough.

It is worth remembering that it was the Persians who invented chess, and Ahmadinejad seems to be controlling all the pieces. In the first place, Ahmadinejad knows that Israel will attack its reactor the moment that they take it on line. He’s been arming and training Hamas to serve as its proxy in the event of war, to harass the IDF on its flanks. To the north in Lebanon, Ahmadinejad has succeeded in rearming and re-equipping Hezbollah since the Lebanon War in 2006. The Mossad estimates Hezbollah is stronger now than it was before Israel invaded. Hezbollah has succeeded, for all intents and purposes, in taking over the Lebanese government.

Hamas controls all of the Gaza Strip. Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority barely has a handle on the West Bank – and in any event, would turn on Israel the second the opportunity presented itself.

Syria’s insistence on the return of the Golan Heights as a precondition for peace is a Trojan Horse – particularly considering the timing. It was only last September that Israel destroyed a Syrian nuclear reactor that was only weeks from being operational. Syria has built one of the most formidable arsenals of missiles and rockets in the region, all of them aimed at Israel. From the Golan Heights, Syria would control much of northern Israel, as it did prior to losing the Golan to Israel in the Six Days War.

Israel is therefore surrounded with Hezbollah and Syria to the north, Hamas on both flanks, with al-Qaida sympathizers flooding in through Egypt and Jordan. Everything is in place for war except the pretext to start things off.

Starting up a nuclear reactor will do nicely.

In 1948, as Europe was emerging from two devastating wars, they quickly found themselves faced with two urgent security threats: possible German re-armament, and the start of the Cold War. And so in response to immediate defense and economic needs, on March 17, 1948, The Brussels Treaty was signed, creating a common market consisting of Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the UK, commonly called ‘Bene-Lux’ – but it’s official name is the Western European Union, or WEU.

On May 7, 1948, Winston Churchill opened the first session of the European Congress at the Hague in the Netherlands, laying the course for the economic and political integration of Europe. Did he know that nearly 2600 years prior, the prophet Daniel laid out in detail the history of the world’s great empires before they ever existed, ending with the vision of a future unified and powerful Europe that would rise out of the ashes of the old Roman Empire, and be the final global power before Jesus returns to set up His kingdom? Here we are in May of 2008. The European Union is 60 years old this month.

On May 14, 1948, only one week after the birth of modern Europe, the most significant prophetic fulfillment of modern times came to pass, the re-birth of the nation of Israel. Nearly 2700 years ago, the prophet Isaiah posed this question: “Can a nation be born in a day?” In natural history, national sovereignty is usually accomplished through a prolonged time of military struggles and political maneuverings for independence. But Israel’s story is not one of natural history, but super-natural – and the answer to Isaiah’s question of course is a resounding “yes!”: The modern nation of Israel is 60 years old this month.

I find it more than a little interesting that the very month that Israel became a nation again, the seeds of a future European powerhouse were germinating on the world scene, running a parallel course as God works out His plan not only for Israel, but for the Gentile nations as well.

Out of this revived Roman federation will come the one they call the antichrist, who will demand to be worshiped as god before he leads the nations to judgment; Out of tiny Israel came the true Christ who will return to judge the nations, redeem Israel, and usher in His everlasting Kingdom.

It is exciting beyond measure to live in the days when we can actually see the players lining up and the stage being set for the greatest spiritual battle of all time. My hope is that as you see the big picture unfold and get excited about the things to come, we would all live according to the knowledge that time is short.

In Daniel Chapter 2, King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a large metallic image symbolizing 4 successive earthly kingdoms to come is one of the most vivid prophecies in the Bible. It had a head of gold, representing the kingdom of Babylon, chest and arms of silver representing the Medo-Persian empire, belly and thighs of brass, representing Greece, and finally the Roman Empire, represented by the two legs of iron. Each of these kingdoms did successively conquer the previous one, just as prophesied. There is much that could be said about the first three kingdoms even just from a historical perspective – but for our intents here, we will focus on those legs and feet.

Prophecy teachers generally agree that the legs signify a divided Roman kingdom. We know from history that the old Roman Empire was divided into Eastern and Western rule; the West being centered in Rome, dominating the kingdoms of Western Europe for centuries. Additionally, every single nation of our Western Hemisphere was settled by one of the nations of the Roman Empire during the Age of Exploration lead by Christopher Columbus and others. The British Empire had holdings on nearly every continent, creating the boundaries of such relatively new nations such as Iran and Iraq within the last 100 years.

Our western lifestyle today – from our republican form of government, to our military and court systems – has been brought to you by a conquering and colonizing Roman Empire that never really ceased to exist completely. While we may no longer have Caesars or Kaisers, today’s Holy Roman ruler is simply called ‘The Pope’, as billions of Catholics around the world have looked to Rome for eternal guidance for over 1500 years.

The Eastern leg of the Empire was centered in Constantinople, and out of this came the Eastern Orthodox church and the Byzantine Empire, stretching it’s influence into Russia, Persia, Greece, and the Balkans. Instead of the Western Caesars and Kaisers, in the East we find the Russian word for Caesar – “Czar”. Both legs of the Empire buckled at the dawn of the 20th century, the East with the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, wiping out the last of the Czars, and in the West, the fall of the monarchies. The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, one of the last of the monarchs, was the match that lit WW1. With these events, the entire world order was turned upside-down, leading to a vast geo-political dismantling and re-configuration, out of which arose a new reformulated European powerhouse, and a Jewish Homeland, bringing us right back to 1948.

We may not think of World Wars 1 and 2 as birth pangs, but with these events I believe God’s last days timeclock, centered around Israel and today’s EU, began to count down the last of the last days, and taking us from those legs of iron to those feet and toes. I tell you all this so you can see God’s hand in the affairs of men, and get a fresh perspective on today’s headlines. Today’s newspaper is thrown in the trash; CNN will move on to the next story, but the real stories are tucked in between the pages of your Bible, and that is why every believer needs a working knowledge of Bible prophecy.

Let’s continue to build on this foundation:
Daniel then tells us that while the legs were solid iron, at the very bottom of this statue are 10 toes, made up of a mixture of iron and clay, so while it is still the Roman Empire, there is a change in its character.

Daniel 2:40-42 says that the kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle, generally thought to symbolize an inability to work together as a unit. Now, any builder will tell you that iron and clay do not mix, and anyone who would combine such diverse materials should not expect their creation to hold together, especially at the base. Iron is strong and unyielding; clay is moldable and pliable, and common, and weak. While there have been several interesting theories over the years as to what might be the significance or symbolism of the iron and the clay, bible teacher Ray Stedman, in his article, “The Last Act”, gives what I think is a very timely and well-thought out scenario considering today’s headlines. (See http://www.raystedman.org/daniel/0362.html for the entire article.)

He suggests that clay represents the common man, the voice of the people, perhaps people who get their view of life from CNN or the internet, and are often very moldable in their opinions, easily swayed by popular thought and political rhetoric. We understand this well in an election year. Clay could also could represent the type of grassroots, democratic movements we see a lot of today as different ethnic groups struggle to find an independent place among the nations. Perhaps the clay represents democracy, which really is a very weak form of government because while the masses can easily birth a political movement virtually overnight and vote for whomever they wish, they are also free, in a democracy, to empower a Hitler – because if they get to the point of simply being so easily molded, they will think what they are told to think. In fragile democracies, it’s a very short trip from anarchy, to monarchy, to dictatorship.

Iron, on the other hand, might be symbolized by an imperialistic attitude or form of big brother government that seeks to rule by brute force and strength. A goodexample is Nazi Germany – the people were collectively influenced, persuaded and incited under Hitler until the iron fist of dictatorship came down and nearly destroyed Germany, the Jewish people, and the very soul of Europe 60 years ago.

Political movements may be birthed on the internet, or in Tiananman Square, or in a monastery in the mountains of Tibet, but when it comes down to it, the will of the people will eventually hit a wall. Those with the power will eventually bring their will to bear. The iron will of big government, and the common clay of basic human rights never seem to adhere to one another. Daniel tells us that the kingdom of iron will be the most brutal of all.

Chapter 2 also tells us that the 10 toes of the image represent 10 kings who will rule this final empire. Back in the early ‘80s when I began to study these things, there were 10 nations in the EU and it was pretty exciting to see that in place. But then as more and more nations joined over time, a lot of prophecy students began to ask, will the 10 toes be 10 European nations, or some other configuration? There are 27 nations in the EU today.

But remember that original union that formed back in 1948 called the WEU? What you may not be aware of is that despite this alliance of 27 that is still growing, the WEU remains an elite group of 10 who are the only permanent members of the EU. Most of Europe’s military planning is in the hands of the WEU. Bottom line, according to Hal Lindsey: “there exists, at this point in human history, a 10-core nation European defense collective consisting of the richest and most powerful nations in Europe” (http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41959)

Another 10-toed scenario:
Back in 1973, the Club of Rome outlined a plan to divide the world into 10 regional trade blocs, built on the EU economic model, which would simply create 10 borderless regions of the world around a vast consumer-based economy. This is very much a possibility in our multi-national corporate world, and with the makings of NAFTA in North America, and other trade blocs in the works such as a Mediterranean bloc, Asian bloc, African bloc, we keep an eye on that scenario as well.

With that much background, let’s look at the latest attempt at European unity: the Treaty of Lisbon.

Over the years, we’ve looked at the various treaties that have been passed to bring Europe into full economic unity. Through these treaties, they’ve worked through everything from border issues to how to label consumer products, to the more significant unity issues like a common currency, in this case, the “Euro”. The Treaty of Rome, Treaty of Maastricht, the Amsterdam Treaty, the Nice Treaty, each have progressively extended the power of the Union one layer of economic reform at a time. And then there was, 3 years ago this Spring, an EU constitution that was to have brought legal and political unity as well, but to the great disappointment of the architects of Europe, it was rejected by the people.

Now you would think rejecting a critical and binding document like a Constitution would have dealt a death blow to final integration, since a continent-wide constitution is not a just a mere technicality, but in reality it is the birth certificate for a new Empire, and to the student of the book of Daniel, the key to the fulfillment of some major prophecies. Here is where it gets interesting.

I can’t imagine that the ever-resourceful Eurocrats who feel called to make Europe a powerful global presence are going to let all their hard work in bringing things this far be for nothing. The blueprint for this grand plan was drawn up over 60 years ago, from an earthly perspective, much longer ago from a spiritual perspective – and going half-way makes no sense even from an economic perspective.

But it seems that the people are not on the same page as the policy-makers – so, what’s a Eurocrat to do? Put the brakes on? Get out that iron fist? Or just sell it harder? Plan B appears to be to simply take the rejected document and label it “new and improved” like a box of cookies – and then you can just bring that superstate in by the back door. And, we’ll give it name that makes people think it’s just another in a series of treaties signed in a trendy European city, and they will never know that we’re feeding them the same old constitution they rejected 3 years ago, only in easier to swallow caplet form.

And to make sure that those ungrateful clay-pot-constituents don’t get an opportunity to vote on it and derail us again, we will make it so that it is signed and approved by parliaments only. They call it the Treaty of Lisbon. I call it, “The Empire Strikes Back”.

In December of ‘07, 27 European ministers all signed the Lisbon Treaty. It has some very interesting features and – one potential glitch.

The Brussels Journal has an article called, “These Boots are Gonna Walk All Over You” (http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/2773) and this article addresses the most significant aspects of this Treaty, and this is just a summary:

It establishes a legally new European Union in the constitutional form of a European state. By amending 2 existing treaties, the Treaty on European Union from 1992, and the Treaty of Rome from 1957 and tucking an identical constitution in between the lines, just like that, a couple of early treaties officially become the Union’s constitution.

It also means – and this is a key point – post-Lisbon Europe will be an entirely new political entity on the world scene. This EU effectively succeeds the European Community. Look at it this way: the current European Community is a union or community of individual nations – but the post-Lisbon EU would be a state which supercedes the authority of individual nations. For the first time ever, Federal EU law will be supreme, separate from and superior to its member states in the same way our federal law is separate from and superior to the state of Wisconsin.

It establishes a state that can now conduct itself as any other state in the international community. Before Lisbon, “Europe” is not a legal entity in the world, it is a con-federation. Example: “Africa” does not do business as a continent, but individual nation-states conduct international affairs. After Lisbon, Europe will have a diplomatic corps; a UN seat; a foreign minister; and it will be a federation.

European Citizenship. Since the EU has never been a legal state up until now, no individual could be a member of “it”. But Lisbon transforms the meaning of citizenship by giving 500 million inhabitants of the EU a citizenship that superior to their own national citizenship. In a way, this effectively ends the nation-state as it has been known in Europe. The Roman Empire invented the nation-state; Lisbon ends it. The new Union will also be able to force it’s citizens and member nations to go to war against their will.

And this new powerful State will be created on paper, virtually overnight, without one single shot being fired and simply through the will of some obviously very powerful leaders. An amazing chapter of world history is unfolding and the world is rolling over and going back to sleep. What strange and unique days.

Finally, Lisbon creates the Office of European President. Now, they don’t have a name for the high official yet – but already behind the scenes those in power are in the process of narrowing down their choices of who will lead this new State. And lest you think that this process will resemble the American system of choosing a president, let me say it will be nothing like that. In fact, one EU official said it will be rather like choosing a Pope, in that it will be done behind closed doors, and the people will have nothing to say about who this individual is. Tony Blair recently announced that he would like to be a candidate for the position. Mr. Sarkozy of France said Blair disqualified himself by announcing his candidacy, and the one they choose will not be allowed something so distasteful as campaigning for himself. So we are talking here an elite and brokered position, one that will be held for anywhere from 2.5 years to 5 years according to the treaty.

Also, and this is very interesting: because Europe would now be an international power, they would now be legally able to sign treaties with other nations. Apparently, in order for a European leader to sign a treaty with Israel, and/or any number of nations, the Lisbon Treaty or something like it has to be in legally in place in order for that to be binding. The Bible indicates that such a treaty is coming and will signal the start of the tribulation period. Are we seeing in this Treaty another of the finer details of prophecy coming to light that only our generation could see?

One final comment in this article really caught my attention: Besides a supreme leader, the new Union will also continue to have heads of state/prime ministers that will still rule over the individual European nations. The article goes on to say that there is no precedent in the international community for a federal union, or even a continent, to have a supreme leader, while individual national heads/prime ministers/kings beneath him come and go. It would be similar to North America having a sovereign ruler, but Canada, the US, and Mexico each having their own prime minister. Now, some of you well-versed prophecy students may already know where I am going with this: The Bible says three times in Daniel 7 and four times in Revelation 17 that the final Gentile power will be governed by 10 kings, and out of those 10 will arise an 11th king over them. There may be no precedent for a king ruling over other kings in an empire, but the Bible clearly says it will take place. Imagine that.

Now, as I said earlier, there a kink in the hose of the Lisbon treaty, or so it would seem. It remains to be ratified by the individual parliaments, I can see that happening easily. But one nation, Ireland, has a legal precedent for demanding a national referendum where the Irish people get to decide if they accept it. If they vote NO, it will not come into force at all, anywhere, period. So far, the Irish seem to be in favor of the treaty, but there are some there who feel it is nothing more than a constitution for dictatorship. One article I read says that this treaty should be called, “Leviathan’s Birth Certificate”,(http://newcitizenship.blogspot.com/2007/12/leviathans-birth-certificate-treaty-of.html) named after a famous book from the 16th century that calls for a dominating Europe to rule the masses, also implying that creating a European superstate is something akin to creating a great earthly dragon-beast, which of course, is eerily prophetically dead on.

But even if Ireland votes “no” on June 12, I do not see Europe changing course or even blinking at such a setback. I can’t see Federal Europe going away, any more than I can see NAFTA being overturned because maybe Rhode Island doesn’t like it. It will take place, it is prophesied to take place.

I predict that the powers that be in Europe will put some not-so-subtle pressure on Ireland to vote ‘yes’. Europe is the only voluntary multinational democracy in human history. Nations are free to join, nations are free to leave. As deep as their economic integration is, options will become limited: vote yes, and a world market economy will stay open to them. Vote no, they risk global isolation. It’s that simple. So, we will watch this story; If it goes through, Lisbon takes effect January 1 of ‘09, with parliamentary elections one year from now. The world could change pretty radically in the next 12 months.

Inlooking at the Daniel 2 image, knowing what we know, it would seem that the majority of world history has passed and gone. Can anyone confidently say, “we’re on the edge of history” ? Yet, once you get to the toes, you run out of real estate real quick. And judging by today’s headlines, with so many signs of the times converging at once, it would seem that the kingdoms of this world don’t have a lot of time left. Daniel 2:44 says, in speaking of the final federation of kings, “in the days of these kings, the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, [but] it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” Are we approaching the days of those kings?

As I said in my opening comments, the stage is being set for a great final spiritual battle between the god of this world and the one true living God. As we get closer to that Day, the world will enter a perilous season of transition as we move from the kingdoms and rule of man to the kingdom and rule of Jesus Christ. It’s the tough final stage, but it must take place, so keep your perspective, and keep your eyes on the Kingdom to come.

Mary Danielsen

BETWEEN THE LINES
Exclusive: Joseph Farah sees Solomon story as analogy for rending Jewish state

By Joseph Farah

It can be found in 1 Kings 3.

The young king Solomon dreams of a conversation with the Lord in which he asks for wisdom to judge God’s people. God grants the desires of Solomon’s heart as well as bestowing upon him a long life, great riches and honor.

Immediately after Solomon claims this promise with sacrifices, peace offerings and a feast to all his servants, he gets to judge the most famous case of his life.

Two harlots come before him – each claiming a baby as their own.

“And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house. And this woman’s child died in the night; because she overlaid it. And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear.

“And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king.

“Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living. And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.

“Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.

“Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.

“And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.”

That’s the story everyone knows. But is there special meaning for today in these words? Could this story relate directly to the two-state solution being planned by the internationalist busybodies who seek to split Israel in half? Is it possible that this familiar old Bible story actually contains a prophecy yet to be fulfilled?

Assume for the moment that King Solomon in this story represents the King of all creation, the Lord of the universe. The first woman in the story represents the Jewish people. Her baby represents Israel. Let’s further assume the second mother represents the Arabs.

Notice the second woman had her baby three days after the first woman. The Jewish state was first created 3,000 years ago. The Arabs are trying, 3,000 years later, to create an Arab Palestinian state where none has previously existed.

The Bible tells us in both the Old Testament and the New Testament that one day is like a thousand years to God. There is the reference in Psalms 90:4: “For a thousand years in Thy sight are like yesterday when it passes by.” And there is the reference in 2 Peter 3:8: “But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

So, three days, or 3,000 years, ago the Jewish people gave birth to the nation of Israel. Today, three days, or 3,000 years, later, Palestinian Arabs who are mostly recent migrants to the land with no established history there and no prior national claim arrive and try to steal the baby.

It’s also worth noting that a tactic used by the Arabs is to sacrifice their own children as suicide bombers in their effort to “liberate” the land.

Further, did they not, perhaps even unknowingly, kill their own baby when they rejected a state of their own with the 1947 partition plan?

Like the first mother, haven’t the Jewish people expressed a willingness to give up half the land in a division plan just to keep their precious baby alive?

And haven’t the Arabs, like the bitter second mother, agreed to the division plan – the splitting of the child in two, knowing it would result only in the death of the baby.

If my analogy is true, though, it’s not going to happen. The baby will not be killed. Because like King Solomon, God Almighty has already decided the baby belongs to the Jews.

Back in 1890, a baby girl named Magdalena was born to a young couple living in New York City. Her German immigrant parents were, like most young parents at the time, living hand to mouth, both working hard to carve out a new life in the overcrowded and under-regulated city that New York was in those days. In the late 19th century our nation in general, and the East coast more specifically, was being swept away in a flood of cultural, economic, and technological changes as we moved from a society built on manual labor centered around farming and construction, to one dominated by industry and machine manufacture.

Inventions designed to make our lives easier were springing up at record pace. Things like the sewing machine, the telephone, the washing machine, moving pictures, the light bulb, cameras, internal combustion engines, and a host of other things we take for granted were expanding employment opportunities exponentially for those who lived in cities large enough to build mills and mass-produce products. The end of the 19th, and the entire 20th century was one of great changes in lifestyle and perspective, as I’m sure we all comprehend to one degree or another regardless of which generation we were born into. The modern age and the potential for mass consumerism and materialism was about to change the world forever.

Sad to say, little Magdalena did not find the world very welcoming, and instead of growing up in a loving stable home with her own birth family, she soon became part of a growing social problem in New York. One particularly tragic by-product of this new social and economic order was a generation of children who were considered property. An increase in problems such as alcoholism and it’s destructive effect on the family order, unregulated hours in factories by both mothers and fathers, and a lack of really any extended family among immigrants resulted in minors being left to fend for themselves on the streets, resorting to begging, joining street gangs, and – often at the tender age of 5 – selling things like matches and sometimes stolen items in order to survive. Basically, they were tossed aside for apparently more pressing priorities than parenthood. Law enforcement was at it’s wit’s end as to how to deal with so many unprotected and deserted children. So, along with tens of thousands of other children of her generation, she was released to a fledgling social system that was struggling to find a way to give these children some kind of life. Did God see their plight? Oh, yes. Did He have a plan for these precious kids? Again, yes indeed.

The sweeping changes that took place all those years ago make up a portion of American history that is generally completely ignored by the history books. Because of this, most Americans have never looked into it of it but many may actually be who they are because of it. More about Magdalena and her place in history in a moment.

Let’s switch gears utterly and take a brief look at Galatians 4:1-7. Stay with me, I am going somewhere with this.

1 Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all,
2 but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father.
3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.
4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”
7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

These few verses are loaded application for the believer, and application means we allow God to make His Word real to us as we live out our lives in the real world, becoming master weavers at His hand and bringing two trains of thought together. This is what we are about to do.

If you have given your life to Christ and are living for Him, and filled with His Spirit, the first thing you might see in these verses is grace.

I say that because of the simple concept expressed here of, ‘this is who you were, and this is what God did’. Any time you see a Scripture defining the human condition, followed by, ‘but God’, you know what follows will be something marvelous to think about. “Even so” (vs 3);”But when” (vs 4);”and because” (vs 6).

Grace is simply God’s unmerited favor on our lives regardless of what we have done, simply by virtue of the sacrifice of His Son Jesus on the cross as payment for our sins. We don’t deserve it, we can’t conjure it up, and it’s not related to our worthiness. “Grace” is often defined with the acronym God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense: G.R.A.C.E. And since Romans says we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s eternal glory, we are all on equal footing before Him.

Once we give our lives to Him, things change radically. Whereas we were once part of a worldly lifestyle, a worldly family, and prone to live for the flesh, making many mistakes and in some cases acting in a self-destructive manner, or perhaps relying on religious tradition to save us, now in Christ we have a new family, a new destiny, a new way to live by His power. We are no longer children of this world, and tossed about by the lies and deceptions of the world – we have a completely new heart, new perspective, and new goals, and are awaiting our redemption, even as our bodies are subject to corruption. All we have to do is walk in this newness of life.

So, it’s all about grace. The longer I walk with Jesus, and compare His infinite grace with my own characteristic failings, the more I am persuaded that I have hardly begun to plumb the depths of His grace and mercy, and how badly I want to model that grace and mercy in my own life so I can better reflect Him to people. Because of my upbringing, I admit that the concept of grace has been the hardest thing for me to grab hold of. Why is that true for so many of us? Because in our pride we are works-oriented and want to think we had something to do with our own redemption, that there is something worthy about us, deserving of His approval. It is very hard on us humans to think otherwise, but the Word runs contrary to our flesh every time.

Maybe you were taught as a child that if you are a good person, you might hope for heaven when you die. Even if you weren’t the least bit religious as a child, maybe you found that pleasing the adults in your life was a requirement if you wanted good things out of life. The fact of the matter is, the world does teach us that if you do good, you will get good in return. If you are bad, you will have a life filled with negative consequences. Some call it “karma” – the idea is, ’what goes around, comes around’. And in a sense, that is what our text is saying to us – this is what the Bible teaches when we read about reaping and sowing – but I am getting ahead of myself. Put your thinking caps on and let’s dive in.

Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all
but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father.

Think for a moment about what it would be like to be a child whose father is a king; or at the very least, a very wealthy man. This child may stand to inherit untold wealth and a vast kingdom; is a royal heir and the sky is the limit on the scope of his or her wealth wealth – or, it will be – someday. This child may be a child of royalty, but this child is not going to access their inheritance as a mere child, as there is a future date of inheritance, a period of maturity and waiting involved. No man of great wealth would let a child administer his estate, it’s just not done for obvious reasons; they won’t be writing checks, paying bills, or making decisions for the empire, even though it is every bit theirs by birthright and inheritance. This is what this verse is taking about. Master of all, and an heir; born without choice into a family because God ordered it…yet on par with a slave? (vs 1)

This child, though he be a future king, would be under the authority of servants who are given the right to discipline this child like any other child. A king’s servants, or a child’s governess, can spank the royal behind as they see fit and are obligated to raise the child though he were just any child. He is, as vs 2 says, ‘under guardians and stewards.’ Jesus was born under the Law; Jesus did what his earthly parents said; Jesus was willing, though He was God, to take on the form of a servant.

Back to little Magdalena. This adorable little three-year-old, because of her birth situation, has nothing of any value except her life. She didn’t ask to be born, but here she is, and someone has to take responsibility for her. In our day, maybe her parents would have decided to terminate her life before she had seen the light of day, a selfish and murderous act. But the reality is, her parents could find neither the will nor resources to raise her, so she, like many others, was turned over to the ‘authorities’; in this case, the staff of one of two large child welfare institutions in New York, the Children’s Foundling Hospital, which was Catholic, and the Children’s Aid Society, which was Protestant.

They were set up to see to the welfare and needs of thousands of abandoned children, a huge and difficult undertaking. Officially rejected by her parents, Magdalena was turned over to the New York Foundling Hospital. They then, under the authority of the State of New York, made the decisions necessary to make sure that kids like her could have a chance at real life in a new setting. Historical writings and records indicate that the goal of the administrators of these two charitable organizations was to give them to ‘Christian homes’ where they could have siblings, discipline, hot meals, learn their ABCs and 10 commandments and a chance to hopefully become contributing members of society.

As a minor child, Magdalena was under the guardians and stewards of the state of New York; we could say that she was under the Law. The law gave them the right to do with these kids what they thought was best for them, and for their future; but for now the children had to comply with whatever those laws determined was right. Perhaps the method was unorthodox, and we know they would never by law get away with this methodology today, but they did for a season what constitutes a unique time in America’s history: they placed the children on trains bound for the Midwest. The remedy that was decided upon to take these kids from a state of abandonment to one of inheritance was called THE ORPHAN TRAIN MOVEMENT. Between 1854 and 1939, over 150,000 children of all ages from primarily these two charitable organizations in New York City to nearly every state in the Midwest was really the beginning of the Foster Care program. Those who gave their time and resources to help them did so because they were moved with pity by the plight of these children and by their wanderings, knowing what awaited them in a world in which they had no home or place.

Even at the tender age of three, Magdalena may have sensed that her life was in a state of flux; that she was not in control of any decisions made for her. Children were treated as property in those days, and they were told that if they were sent out, they were to cut all ties to their origin, whether name or identity, even if that meant never seeing any siblings or birth parents again..

How long would her state of being unwanted and unclaimed last? Would there come a day when her status would change, would she ever have an identity or a people of her own? Only when one who had the authority to claim her, to adopt her, to give her a name and an inheritance would there be a change in her status as one under the bondage of the laws of the State of New York.

Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

As I said earlier, as citizens of this world, we start out in bondage under the elements of the world. The elements of the world, that cause-and-effect layer of law that society is built upon, is what society needs to function. We soon learn that our actions have re-actions; whether we behave and abide by the cause and effect elements of law, or rebel and are disciplined by the law, we learn quickly in life that there are rules; there is sowing and reaping, and there are consequences of our actions, at least in a just society built on the basics of Law.

In a loving family, a spanking tells a rebellious toddler that there are certain behavioral expectations of them. As we get older, every circle we travel in has rules; schools have rules, home has rules, jobs have rules. As we grow in a loving family, we are given more authority and latitude, but rules remain.

Say you have two children, raised in the same way in the same house under the same rules. One is Miss Compliant, never gives you a day of grief. The other is always challenging authority, always looking to push boundaries. And as a parent you sense this early on. What trips up a lot of parents is trying, and naturally so, to keep Hellraising Jr. on a short leash, and possibly keep him from making mistakes that would push the envelope of legal trouble. They might make more rules for Junior, which of course he sees as an opportunity to rebel even more. Or worse, they cover for him, they bail him out, they don’t discipline, wishing to avoid a nuclear meltdown; nothing is working and everyone is at their wit’s end. So, we do our best to teach right from wrong and the laws of cause and effect; and of course, we just don’t want anyone to get hurt because of Junior’s foolishness.

But think this through with me in light of Galatians 4:
It says here that we are under the law until the time determined by the Father. What is that time? How do we approach this with our own kids? Well, the law says that at 18, or in some cases 21, our little darlings are ‘of age’- they are ‘adults’ and ‘ grown-ups’ with certain rights. But are they? With some kids, 21 is just another number, they pass the mark quietly. Other times, 21 is just another year to rebel. The world has an arbitrary age limit on immaturity; the Lord does not. Only He knows when your kids are accountable eternally and understand the concept of walking with Him, as he works in their lives, deals with them, disciplines them, and He is as long-suffering and patient as He needs to be. The Bible tells us that the Law is put into place to show us our sinful nature and allow us to see our need for the Lord – and hopefully bring us to repentance.

But: here’s Junior, maybe he or she is 22 or older and still working through that cause-and-effect thing. They just don’t seem to grasp the concept that they are accountable for what they do, that if they operate outside the Law, that they will pay. The Law is STILL their tutor, their schoolmaster. Gee, some 40-year-olds don’t get that.
Our society is in deep trouble for a lot of reasons, one of which is that criminals today are often seen as simply victims; that they can’t help what they do because of a dysfunctional upbringing, and so they need their hands held and an excuse to continue on in their foolishness. Personal responsibility has taken a back seat to protecting self-esteem. But this kind of nonsense of mass victimhood nullifies the Law and keeps it from doing its work. A society that goes soft on justice will eventually descend into anarchy because it refuses to draw clear lines between right and wrong and nullifies accountability.

So, Junior is just not listening to his parents, let alone the Holy Spirit as Mom and Dad would prefer, (or maybe mom and dad aren’t even believers) so God gave us the law to set the standard of righteousness and hopefully bring conviction. But how long does the law need to tutor us? Until the time set aside by the Father….as long as it takes, whatever it takes. Don’t we pray that for the rebellious ones in our lives? If you are praying this, be prepared to stand strong for righteousness, and be prepared to have to follow behind that rebellious one and pick up the pieces that fall off. This is part of the parental job description.

If this is your child, if you are dealing with a rebellious one who is in trouble and being disciplined by the law of the land, by God’s spiritual laws, be encouraged! The universe is spinning just as God designed it to. When your kids rebel and just don’t seem to get it, be glad that the Law does exactly what it was designed to do, bring us to the end of ourselves and into the loving arms of a Saviour who wills that none should perish, but that all would come to a saving knowledge of Jesus. Stop and think before bailing that rebellious one out, so that the Law can do it’s work.

If by some reason our loved ones don’t choose to repent in life, after death then, the Law will be their judge; they will be judged by their works, whether good or bad, which is what they chose over life and peace in Christ. As our young people grow up, they are becoming autonomous adults accountable to God and Him alone until the day of their death; it is all part of the cycle of life we all experience.

Frankly, I would much rather be under grace than the law; if it weren’t for grace, we would all be under judgment of His perfect law; but thanks be to God for His amazing gift of Jesus Christ.

But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

At God’s chosen time, he sent Jesus to set us free from the Law. Since the law could never make anyone a son of God, God sent Jesus to make a way for us to be adopted as sons and daughters.

So, Magdalena, who probably had no other siblings, was one of those chosen to be a part of this great migration west, to get on an Orphan Train in 1893 in search of a family to adopt her. Knowing no one, with probably only a change of clothes to carry, and with no destination or guarantee, the one they called Lena faced a very frightening situation indeed.

Once the trains set out, the placement process into a family was casual at best. Handbills and posters were distributed ahead of time in a community on the train’s route. Once in a while, a church would be contacted as to the arrival schedule so as to give families who might consider adopting a child to be there at the appointed time.

As a train would pull into town, youngsters were cleaned up and paraded in front of potential families. One can only imagine the confusion and humiliation these kids suffered upon inspection, and often rejection, by potential parents who may be looking more on the outward instead of the inward. And some of these kids, having not been parented at all, were pretty ill-mannered and undisciplined, a self-defeating situation for those too immature to understand what was really at stake!

Results of the effort were mixed: many were placed into loving homes with every advantage and right, fully adopted as sons and daughters. Some were placed into farm families and literally indentured as laborers, never adopted.
Never able to inherit, they remained under the law, so to speak, for their entire lives, living with a stigma that many chose to never discuss or disclose to any successive generations. Some rebelled against their placement and became unruly or ran away; others simply endured and never entertained self-pity. Some found their place in society, whether it be politics or the work world; others never quite recovered from this rocky start in life. But they all had something in common; they were never allowed to communicate with their past and were forced into circumstances that had the power to make or break their lives.

Although little is known about Lena’s trip West or how many stops along the way her train made, it IS known that at one point, perhaps when she was most weary of that endless ride, she got off at a scheduled stop and walked up to a young couple, looked at the man and said, ‘Daddy!’ as if by that proclamation it became so. That bold little girl got her wish, because “Daddy” he became to her.

She had come to the end of the line, and had no where to look but up.

And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”

Why Abba? This is not an English word, obviously; why did the Bible translators leave this word untranslated and what does it mean? Conventional wisdom from many sources on this is that “ABBA” is such an intimate word, such an affectionate title for our Heavenly Father that they did not want to even hint at any irreverance for God by translating it to English as the word, “Daddy”; but in essence, that is what it means. Personally, I cringe when I hear someone refer to God as Daddy on what sounds like a superficial level, but on a deeply personal level, I know this is accurate; I would never verbalize it. However, as we draw nearer and nearer to Christ in our walk with Him, as we grow in our trust in and devotion to Him by spending time in His presence, we do experience an intimacy, and devotion to him as our Dad, One we can go to for every need, and even more so, just to love and worship Him.
Our approach as believers to God should be one of reverence, yes, but one of affection and joy as well; having a childlike heart of devotion for Him. Some people may think they need to approach Him with big words and formality, hoping He will hear them because of their lofty approach, when if you truly understand the concept of Him as Abba, you can just delight in spending time with him, being yourself, just like you would with an earthly father whom you both love and reverence.

Romans 8:15-17 is the mirror verse of Galatians 4:
“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.”

This is only one passage we can look to for a glimpse into who He is to be to us, and what He has done. In light of His nature and His grace, we can now study how he deals with Israel, and the land He has promised to them and see it all in light of His irrevocable promises.

So what happened to Lena? Lena grew up in a loving home, on a small farm just north of Appleton. She had other brothers and sisters who loved her as though she was born with the same last name. She became what we call a genuine “Daddy’s Girl”, a phrase that suggests someone who makes her Father proud, who puts the gleam in his eye, the spring in his step, who is loved and fussed over and given every advantage of a natural child.

Her father gave her a new name, and her old life was just a vague memory. Lena, now Helen, married a local man, Edward, in 1910, and they had 7 sons and 5 daughters. Her middle daughter was named Olive. Olive had a daughter named Mary, who married Tim and had a daughter named Holly, whose story is just being written. God in His mercy has redeemed the last three generations that we know of and He alone deserves the glory, including determining that little Lena should live in Appleton, because I would not be writing this today without His divine guidance in all things.

Finally, Galatians 4:7 says:

Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

As a slave of the world, we served other gods.
As a child of God, we serve the living God and Him alone, and look forward to an inheritance that is incorruptible, eternal in the heavens. Glory!