THE FINAL 7 YEARS
BLOOD MOONS AND THE LAST DAYS
By John Cook
There are a lot of disturbing events going on in the world right now that are showing signs of a ‘prophetic clock or timer’ that has been waiting to start for nearly 2000 years, and is about to begin it’s final countdown. That clock is the final 7 years of history (as we know it), also known as ‘Daniel’s 70th week’ (Daniel 9:27).
The things that we must look at or take heed to will have a tendency to produce fear, but we must keep in mind, as we study these things, that God is in control – so much so that He foretold these things thousands of years ago. We must remember such promises like the one found in John 14:1-3 which encourages us to “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me (Jesus). In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
He also spoke ‘Peace’, and to not be afraid, or ‘Fear not’ when He appeared to his disciples after His resurrection, knowing that fear is our first inclination. In the opening of the book of Revelation we read in chapter 1 verse 3 (Revelation 1:3) “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” We learn from this verse that there is a blessing tied to studying prophecy, especially in light of Revelation 19:10 “for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy”. This verse declares that it is not possible to separate Jesus from prophecy for it speaks of His glorious return. There would come a day when that phrase ‘for the time is at hand’ would be true for a particular generation – I believe we are that generation, and it is my hope that God will use this booklet to help you see this.
Two other portions of scripture that are noteworthy and must be considered in light of my belief that we are fast approaching the final 7 years of history as we know it, are Revelation 22:10 and Daniel 12:9. The first verse is interesting in light of what I just quoted from Revelation 1:3 (the time is at hand), in Revelation 22:10 it says “And he said unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.” Or in other words, when that time comes, these prophecies would be ‘unsealed’. Then in Daniel 12:9 it states, while the prophet was asking the Lord in verse 8, “I don’t understand, what shall be the end of these things?” He asked this question in light of the great prophecy found in Daniel chapter 11 which has to do with the last days, but was told in Daniel 12:9 “And He said, Go your way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end.” So these two verses become extremely relevant if we are indeed approaching ‘those days’ due to the fact that God promised to ‘unseal’ important details concerning those ‘last days’ that would “instruct many” (Daniel 11:33), and many of these details would not be ‘unsealed’ until that time. I say this with respect in reference to the many trusted bible commentaries and books written by tremendous men of God that have done their very best to present to the body of Christ what would befall us in the latter days. However, many of these ‘things’ would only be ‘unsealed’, God said, at the time of the end, so however great these commentaries may be, and they are, they are limited in the sense that particular portions of scripture relating to prophecy would only be ‘unsealed’ in the final days.
There is another phrase found repeatedly in the book of Daniel that references the last days, and it is: “the time appointed”, as if God has a timetable He is sticking to…..and I believe He does. The things we will be looking at in this writing I hope will encourage you to see that we are living in the days and in the generation that will see the return of Jesus our Lord who is coming back to be king. Many will scoff at this as the bible predicted in 2 Peter 3:3,4 “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” and often use verse 10 as a defense which says that “the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night”, but it is my hope that this writing will not only be used to encourage unbelievers to take a closer look at Jesus, but also to help the church to see that we are quickly approaching those days and to take another look at the portions of scripture that pertain to the rapture and the last days.
In Ezekiel Chapter 12:22 – 28 we read: (compare with 2 Peter 3:3-12)
“Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision fails? Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect (fulfillment) of every vision. For there shall be no more any vain (false) vision nor flattering divination (taken from a hebrew word meaning false prophets associated with false gods especially baal worship) within the house of Israel. For I am the LORD: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house (Israel, God’s people, would have to be back in their land, which they have been since 1948), I will say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord GOD. Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he sees is for many days to come, and he prophesies of the times that are far off. Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; There shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord GOD.”
NO MATTER HOW DARK IT LOOKS, REMEMBER: GOD IS IN CONTROL
One such scripture that helps remind me that God is in control are the words that king Nebuchadnezzar spoke after he was humbled by God for his pride found in Daniel 4:34,35 which reads “ And at the end of the days (of his humbling), I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou (or what do you think you’re doing)?”
THE HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BLOOD MOONS (TETRADS) AND THE SHEMITAH
There has been much discussion recently concerning a phenomena known as ‘the blood moons’ and what they might have been pointing to, as well as the historical significance that they have held in the past. A blood moon is a lunar eclipse, which itself is not rare, but if a total Lunar Eclipse occurs two times in one year and then two times the next year, it is called a Tetrad, and that is rare. From year 1 until 2010 there have been 54 Tetrads. The years 2014-2015 will be the 55th Tetrad (I’m personally encouraged by this number – 5 being the number for grace, and by it appearing twice, I believe there will be a double portion of grace for the days ahead, and I believe we’re going to need it).
Tetrads are rare, but falling on Jewish feast days are very rare – the last 3 times (1493-94, 1949-50, 1967-68) had major significance for the Jewish people. In 1492 not only was Columbus discovering America, but the Jewish people, under tremendous persecution, were being expelled from Spain during ‘The Spanish Inquisition’. In 1948 the nation of Israel was reborn after not having a nation for nearly 2000 years. Then in 1967 Jerusalem was captured in ‘The Six Day War’ and became the capital once again of Israel. According to Mark Blitz (author of ‘Blood Moons’) this is only the ninth time in 2000 years that this has happened where a Tetrad has all four Blood Moons occurring on Jewish feast days. The number “Nine” in Hebrew conveys the sense of ‘coming judgement’. The dates of the recent ‘blood moons’ were: April 15; October 8, 2014; April 4; September 28, 2015. The last Blood Moon of this Tetrad was also a Super Moon appearing larger than usual, and the eclipsed moon set over Jerusalem on a feast day. This particular cycle 2014-15 was the first time in 2000 years that it occurred also on a Shemitah year! Jonathan Cahn who is the author of “The Harbinger”, also recently wrote a book on “The Mystery of the Shemitah”.
The Shemitah year (occurs every 7 years) waives all outstanding debts between Jewish debtors and creditors. It had also to do with agricultural practices in the Old Testament and letting the land rest – many major events have happened during Shemitah years:
The following was taken from http://shemitah-blood-moons.net/
1917- America rises to power ending World War I; The rising of the Communist State of the Soviet Union.
1917- The defeat of Germany; The fall of the Czar of Russia; The fall the Austrian-Hungarian Empire; The fall of the Turkish-Ottoman Empire.
1938- German Nazis attacked Jewish businesses and burn Jewish Synagogues on Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass.)
1945- Nazi Germany is defeated; The Atomic bomb is dropped on Japan thus ending World War II; Japan signs peace treaty the same week of the end of the Shemitah year.
1945- The United States becomes a military superpower; The U.S. dollar becomes the world’s standard currency; The United States is the richest country in the world, and the world’s largest lender nation.
1973- The United States Supreme Court declares that it is now legal for American’s to kill their unborn babies.
1973- The World Trade Center is completed which is a symbol of America’s economic strength.
1973- America loses its first war to Vietnam. Nixon takes America off the Gold standard. This sets in motion the decline of the U.S. dollar.
1980- The U.S. Supreme Court bans the posting of the Ten Commandments in Public Schools. Thus God is now completely banned from our public schools in America.
2001- The World Trade Center buildings (the symbols of America’s economic strength) are destroyed by an Islamic terrorist attack. One week later Wall Street has one of its greatest collapses on the last day of the Jewish Shemitah Year.
2008- Exactly seven years later, Wall Street suffered its largest decline. America is now the world’s largest debtor nation.
SO WHAT WAS THE RECENT CYCLE OF ‘BLOOD MOONS’ POINTING TO?
There has been much talk about what the recent cycle of ‘blood moons’ could have been pointing to, and it is my deepest convictions that they were pointing to the beginning of Daniel’s 70th week or the final 7 years of history as we know it beginning in the very near future. Daniel’s 70 week prophecy is found in Daniel chapter 9 and it begins in verse 24 which reads “Seventy weeks (shabuwa` or heptad, which is a Hebrew word meaning a period of seven, or weeks of years – periods of seven years – or 70 multiplied by seven which would equal 490 years) are determined upon thy people (the Jewish people) and upon thy holy city (Jerusalem), to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy” (Jesus or Yahshua to the Jewish people)(this will be fulfilled when Jesus comes back and removes the veil that has covered His people’s eyes for the last 2000 years and sets up a millennial kingdom on the earth for 1000 years where He will rule and reign from Jerusalem). This prophecy is why Israel, and Jerusalem in particular, are so greatly opposed, and will become more and more so in the coming days.
Verse 25 is a wonderful fulfillment of prophecy about the Messiah (Jesus) coming the first time which started with the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem which was fulfilled when Artaxerxes king of Persia gave the decree in Ezra chapter 7 to go and rebuild Jerusalem and would run until the Messiah (Jesus) came, which would be 7 weeks and 62 weeks added together (69 weeks), then multiply 69 by 7 and it gives us 483 years. Artaxerxes gave the commandment in the year 457 B.C., and if we add 483 years to that we come to the year 26 A.D., the very year Jesus was baptized and began His earthly ministry! This is what makes prophecy so exciting! Verse 26 goes on to describe how Messiah (Jesus) is “cut off, but not for himself”, (this was fulfilled when Jesus came the first time and shed His blood on the cross to remove our sins) He died for our sins.
The only portion of this prophecy that remains to be fulfilled is verse 27. It is a period of seven years – to make it otherwise would violate the principle or precedent already set forth in the preceding portion of the prophecy. ‘The times of the Gentiles’ or ‘church age’ as some would call it, which runs from verse 26-27 and has lasted around 2000 years, was the time period in which God would reach out to the Gentiles, “until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in”, become children of God, get saved (Romans 11:25), and now we are ready to enter what I would describe as ‘the great transition’. This is where God at the end of the final 7 year period will once again turn back to His people (the Jewish people) and take the veil off of their eyes to show them that Jesus (Yahshua) really is their Messiah, thus fulfilling John 10:16 “And other sheep I have (the Gentiles), which are not of this fold (Israel): them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” This will also fulfill Ephesians 2:14-18; Ephesians 3:1-11; and Romans chapters 9-11.
THE COMING PEACE DEAL AND THE BEGINNING OF THE FINAL 7 YEARS
So this final 7 year period will be, according to many scholars of which I am in agreement, a ‘peace deal’ between the Israelis and Palestinians that has been elusive for so many years and that many have thought is impossible. This period is begun when the ‘he’ in Daniel 9:27 which is the anti-Christ, and who will appear to be a man of peace, confirms the covenant (peace deal) with many countries that will be adding their support to the new peace deal. It says also in verse 27 that in the middle of the 7 years (3 ½ year mark) that he will cause the sacrifices to cease. This is when the great tribulation starts, but two things are noteworthy. First, he stops the sacrifices, so that assumes that they have started again recently. Second, as we shall see later in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 he will also sit in the temple proclaiming to be God, thereby requiring a temple. So these two important points should serve as safeguards so that if we see a peace deal get done soon, we know that we must also see sacrifices started and the temple rebuilt (or at least started in a relatively short period of time) in order for this to be ‘the peace deal’ that we are looking for. These two points or portions of scripture should have also served as a warning that the return of Jesus could not have happened at any time in the last 2000 years, because the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. and the Jewish people did not have a homeland again until 1948 and still don’t have a temple or sacrifices.
SO WHERE DOES AMERICA FIT INTO ALL OF THIS?
Since the rebirth of Israel in 1948, America has been the biggest supporter of God’s people and the nation of Israel. However, something started to change in the fall of 1991, as it relates to our relationship with Israel, and it involved the peace process. The U.S., no matter which political party was in office (Republican or Democrat), began to apply undue pressure to Israel to concede to the Palestinians, to basically give up ‘land for peace’. That might be fine in any other country, but we are talking about God’s land here, and as you can see from the following facts pulled off of the website: http://www.wildolive.co.uk/national.htm, it is not something we as a nation should be pursuing. The most disturbing to me of these events, that I will interject after doing my own research, and what I believe was a major turning point for our country, happened on May 19, 2011 when president Obama, who became the first sitting president and the visible leader of this country, called for Israel to go back to pre-1967 lines for its national borders. This would of course include the dividing of Jerusalem. Only 3 days later on May 22, the costliest and one of the deadliest tornadoes to ever hit the U.S. struck Joplin, MO with winds at some estimates over 250 mph causing massive casualties and damage. I sincerely believe that we turned a corner in this country on the day of that speech that we would never recover from (at least not on this side of our Lord’s return). When one considers the events that have transpired in this once great country since that ominous declaration by the president, it is both deeply sad and sobering. When one also considers the way president Obama treated prime minister Netanyahu after winning the election in Israel and threatened to reevaluate our relationship with Israel, including not supporting them at the United Nations at upcoming security council votes, it is beyond sobering – it is scary! Below are definite warning signs of where we are headed as a country. To quote the French historian Alexis de Tocqueville: “America is great because America is good. When America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
Much of the following facts were gathered from: http://www.wildolive.co.uk/national.htm
October 30, 1991 As President George Bush (senior) is opening the Madrid Conference to consider “Land for Peace” in Israel’s Middle East role, the “Perfect Storm” develops in the North Atlantic, creating the largest waves ever recorded in that region. The storm travels 1000 miles from East to West (instead of the normal West to East pattern) and crashes into the New England coast. Thirty five foot waves crash into Kennebunkport, home of then President Bush.
August 23, 1992 When the Madrid Conference moves to Washington DC and the Peace Talks resume. Hurricane Andrew, the worst natural disaster ever to hit America comes ashore, producing an estimated $30 billion in damage and leaving 108,000 homeless in Florida.
January 16, 1994 President Bill Clinton meets with Syria’s President Hafez el-Assad in Geneva. They talk about a peace agreement with Israel that includes giving up the Golan Heights. Within 24 hours a powerful (6.9 on the Richter scale) earthquake rocks Southern California. The Northridge, earthquake becomes the second most destructive natural disaster to hit the United States, behind Hurricane Andrew.
January 21, 1998 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with President Clinton at the White House and is coldly received. Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright refuse to have lunch with him. Shortly afterwards on that day, the Monica Lewinski scandal breaks into the mass media and begins to occupy a major portion of Clinton’s time.
September 28, 1998 Secretary of State Albright works on the final details of an agreement in which Israel would give up 13% of Judea and Samaria. Hurricane George slams into the United States Gulf Coast. Winds of 110 MPH and gusting up to 175 MPH. Hurricane George stalls. Clinton meets with Arafat and Netanyahu at the White House to finalize this land deal. Later Arafat addresses the United Nations about declaring an independent Palestinian state by May 1999. Hurricane George pounds the Gulf Coast causing $1 billion in damage. At the exact time Arafat departs the country, the storm starts to dissipate.
October 15-22, 1998 Arafat and Netanyahu meet at the Wye River Plantation in Maryland. The talks are scheduled to last five days with a focus on Israel giving up 13% of Judea and Samaria. The talks are extended and conclude on October 23rd. On October 17th, awesome rains and tornadoes hit Southern Texas. The rain and flooding in Texas continued until October 22nd and then subside. The floods ravage 25% of Texas and leave over $1 billion in damage. On October 21, Clinton declares this section of Texas a major disaster area.
November 30, 1998 Arafat comes to Washington again to meet with President Clinton to raise money for a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the capital. A total of 42 other nations were represented in Washington. All agreed to give Arafat $3 billion in aid Clinton promised $400 million and the European nations $1.7 billion. On the same day, the Dow Jones average drops 216 points, and on December 1, the European Market had its worst day in history. Hundreds of billions of market capitalization were wiped out in U.S. and Europe.
December 12, 1998 Clinton lands in the Palestinian-controlled section of Israel to discuss the “land for peace” process. The House of Representatives votes four articles of impeachment against Clinton.
May 3, 1999 The day Yasser Arafat is scheduled to declare a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. The most powerful tornado storm system ever to hit the United States sweeps across Oklahoma and Kansas. Winds are clocked at 316 mph, the fastest wind speed ever recorded. The declaration is postponed to December 1999 at the request of Clinton, whose letter to Arafat encourages him in his “aspirations for his own land”. He also writes that the Palestinians have a right to “determine their own future on their own land” and that they deserve to “live free today, tomorrow and forever.”
October 11 1999 Jewish settlers in 15 “West Bank” (Israeli) settlements are evicted from the covenant land in Israel. Dow Jones financial averages lose 5.7% in the worst week since October 1989. On October 15 the Dow lost 266 points. A hurricane slams into North Carolina. Next morning, October 16, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake rocks the Southwest in the fifth most powerful earthquake in the 20th century. The earthquake was centered in the California desert and did little damage but it was felt in three states.
August 2005 Jewish families were evicted from their homes in the Gaza communities as part of Ariel Sharon’s “Disengagement” plan. This disengagement was a response to the American Foreign Policy pressure being exerted by Condoleezza Rice. As the world watched the Jews being removed from their homes, a weather system was forming in the Atlantic. This storm became Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed New Orleans, Louisiana – an area the size of Britain, rendering thousands of Americans homeless and leaving thousands dead.
August September 2008 – The United States has been participating in “behind the scenes” peace negotiations on the future boundaries of a Palestinian state and the city of Jerusalem and a letter that would bind the next US Administration to an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.
During this time period the US has had record rains from Tropical Storm Fay, an intense Hurricane Gustav which cost multi-billions of dollars and disrupted life in Louisiana, and later, massive Hurricane Ike would become the third costliest hurricane in US history being blamed for 195 deaths and over 37 billion dollars in damage.
2013-2014
Secretary of State John Kerry was very busy starting in July 2013 until April 2014 trying to make progress on the peace process. Much pressure was brought to bear on Israel by the U.S. to try and finalize a deal during this time frame. As a result 2013-2014 was a time of great trials in the U.S. including:
Record freezing temperatures caused by a ‘polar vortex’ that gripped the entire US, including Hawaii, as major winter storms hit the country. The alarming weather brought ice and heavy snowfall and the temperatures often plunged to twenty below zero or colder in some areas. Many cities came to a standstill across the US Midwest. The storm will cost the economy billions of dollars. It is also noteworthy that after this record cold winter, that the language changed with people involved in the environmentalist movement from the catchphrase of ‘global warming’ to ‘climate change’.
The 2012–15 North American Drought is on track to exceed the costliest natural disaster in US history.
2014 California wildfires – By mid-May, fire officials said they had already dealt with 1,400 wildfires in California in 2014 – twice the normal amount for that time of year – and a spokesman for CAL FIRE described the conditions as “unprecedented.” A total of 5,620 wildfires ignited throughout the year, which burned at least 631,434 acres (2,555.32 km2) of land. The wildfires caused a total of 146 injuries and 2 fatalities, in addition to causing at least $184.02 million (2014 USD) in damage.
2020 The Beginning of Sorrows
Now fast forward 7 years to 2020 and take a look at a blog post on my website 777theend.com and see that we are approaching a climax:
Much has changed over the last year, in our world, and especially here in the United States that would lead me to believe that we have turned a corner and entered a period of time known in the Bible as ‘the beginning of sorrows’ found in Matthew chapter 24:8. But what was the precipitating factor or ‘trigger’ that seemed to unleash the anger of God not only on the world, but especially here in America? Many prophetic events have been speeding up in the last 10 years or so, but it seems as though a ‘switch has been flipped’ in a sense ever since the spring of 2020. Being called to the prophetic, it is my pattern to not only look at major upheavals such as the riots triggered after the George Floyd incident, and also the lockdowns and economic crippling of our nation along with many other nations around the world with the release of COVID, but to also ask WHY? Why now?
A little over a year ago, as I opened my eyes on the morning of January 1, 2020, the Lord spoke to my heart, “You will not see the end of this decade before the final 42 months have begun”. Now this was not an audible voice, but rather He spoke to my heart. Again, being called to the prophetic things of God and believing He has gifted me in these areas, I knew what this meant. The 42 months is a reference to the final 3 1/2 years of history as we know it, or the period known as ‘the great tribulation’ (the second half of the final 7 years found in Daniel 9:27). So this would mean that the final 7 years will start sometimes in the next few years, and no, I’m not picking dates of the Lord’s return, for it says in Matthew 24:36 that no man knows that specific hour and day. Well it was not long after that, I found myself waiting for the release of President Trump’s Middle East peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians that was to be released on January 28, 2020. I watched the whole press conference (on t.v.) live from the White House. I was looking for something in particular concerning Jerusalem. He said in the press conference, something to the effect of, that Jerusalem would remain undivided and the sovereign capital of Israel. Well that confused me because I knew from scripture (Zechariah 1:16) that Jerusalem will be divided and a third temple will be built during that final time period. So I knew that if this was going to be the peace deal that would bring about the final 7 years it would need to include the dividing of Jerusalem. The subject of the temple would have to be eventually brought up, but there is language in the proposal that eludes to it, “People of every faith should be permitted to pray on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, in a manner that is fully respectful to their religion”(for the Jewish people that would mean a temple). After being troubled about this, I decided to look at the proposal under the heading ‘Political status of Jerusalem’, and on page 17 it reads: “We believe that returning to a divided Jerusalem, and in particular having two separate security forces in one of the most sensitive areas on earth, would be a grave mistake.
While a physical division of the city must be avoided, a security barrier currently exists that does not follow the municipal boundary and that already separates Arab neighborhoods (i.e., Kafr Aqab, and the eastern part of Shuafat) in Jerusalem from the rest of the neighborhoods in the city.
This physical barrier should remain in place and should serve as a border between the capitals of the two parties.
Jerusalem will remain the sovereign capital of the State of Israel, and it should remain an undivided city. The sovereign capital of the State of Palestine should be in the section of East Jerusalem located in all areas east and north of the existing security barrier, including Kafr Aqab, the eastern part of Shuafat and Abu Dis, and could be named Al Quds or another name as determined by the State of Palestine.”
Well I knew this was ‘double speak’, it’s saying two different things at the same time. If you search pictures of the security barrier in Jerusalem you will see that it already is divided. It’s one thing for it to be there, very bad, it’s another thing entirely for a sitting US President to declare that ‘that’ barrier will serve as a border for the future Palestinian capital of their future state. This will anger God for it is the only city in the world that He has chosen to put His name in. It is the only place on earth we are not supposed to ‘touch’. Psalm 132:13,14 “For the LORD has chosen Zion (Mount Zion/Temple Mount) He has desired it for His habitation. This is My rest forever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.” On top of that and more importantly, it would mean that once it’s confirmed or agreed to, the Holy Temple Mount would reside in East Jerusalem and the Palestinians new state. Well if you want to get God really angry, then carry on. I shuddered when I read this, fearing what would be coming upon the US now that it had been officially released.
This disturbing trend of wanting to divide Jerusalem in an upcoming peace deal started under President Obama when on May 19, 2011, he became the first sitting President to call for Israel to go back to pre-1967 lines for its national borders. This would include the dividing of Jerusalem. 3 days later on May 22, the costliest (26.5 billion) and one of the deadliest tornadoes to ever hit the US struck Joplin, MO
I knew intuitively that God was going to remove His protective hand even more than He previously had and something ominous was coming. Well, as we all know, that something was COVID, which would include shutting down and devastating our economy. Well this devastation of economies was repeated in all the major countries of the world with the exception of one, China, their GDP grew. All the while other countries were suffering financially, China’s GDP not only grew, but they also used this time to fast track their new digital currency (DCEP – digital currency electronic payment) which they are expecting the world will switch to as the new reserve currency when the dollar collapses (and I predict will be the ‘currency’ when the ‘Mark of the Beast’ is implemented). All of this, I’m convinced, has much to do with ‘The Great Reset’ that has been launched this last year (2020).
Add to this the uptick in natural disasters worldwide this past year like the Australian bushfires that destroyed over 13 million acres killing over 400 people (one estimate), and harming or killing millions of animals, a record breaking Atlantic hurricane season, flash floods, earthquakes and who can forget about the locust plagues just to name a few.
Although President Trump wasn’t sworn in for a second term, what he accomplished concerning Israel and the Middle East is unprecedented. Moving the embassy to Jerusalem, I believe, fulfilled the 70 year prophecy in Zechariah 1:12 and bringing several countries into the ‘Abraham Accords’ has started something, I believe, that cannot be stopped. The following is also a quote from Trump’s peace plan, a thrust that the Biden administration will no doubt look to continue. “It is also the hope of the United States that Arab nations within the region that have yet to achieve peace with the State of Israel will immediately begin to normalize relations with Israel and eventually negotiate peace agreements with Israel”. Abbas and the Palestinians are ready to come back to the peace negotiations table now that Biden has been sworn in and several other countries are waiting in the wings to enter the ‘Abraham Accords’ that ultimately will make up the ‘10 nations’ that along with other nations will come against Israel on that dreadful day (the middle of the final 7 years). In a previous blog I talked about the humbling of Syria that is nearing its 10th anniversary of its beginning. I do believe this is a precursor, and meant to serve as a warning that the final 7 years will begin soon.
All of these events that I’ve discussed in this writing are meant to serve as a warning to prepare (physically and spiritually). The final seven years will begin soon and will include a humbling of America. What we are seeing unfold is just the beginning. The King (Jesus) is coming! Seek Him while there is time.
DISCUSSION OF ‘LAST DAYS EVENTS’ INEVITABLY BRINGS UP THE SUBJECT OF THE RAPTURE AND DOES IT HAPPEN PRE OR POST (BEFORE OR AFTER) THE GREAT TRIBULATION?
After all, if we aren’t going to be here to go through all of this, then why worry about it, why discuss it? Aren’t there scriptures that would indicate that ‘the church’ won’t be here to have to endure these troubles that will be coming on the world? There are usually just a handful of scriptures that people use to support the belief in a pre-tribulation rapture event. Such verses like Revelation 4:1 where Jesus calls to the apostle John to “Come up here”, and the word ‘church’ is not used again until the end of the book; or the day of the Lord coming as a ‘thief in the night’ found in 1Thessalonians 5:2 and 2 Peter 3:10.1 Thessalonians 5:9 which says that “God has not appointed us to wrath”; or Revelation 3:10 which says “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth”.
We know; however, that the word of God does not contradict itself, so as we explore the many other verses that relate to the last days along with the rapture, may we be open to a fuller understanding of God’s word as it relates to these matters. It is my prayer also, that God will use messages like this to open the eyes of the church so that this sleeping giant might be stirred and in due time awaken to seek God for the promised great outpouring of His Spirit that has been promised for these days (Zechariah 10:1), and thereby be empowered by the Holy Spirit to fulfill our calling for the days ahead “to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God (Ephesians 3:10)” as it pertains to these days, in which, when the final trumpet, or ‘last trump’ 1 Corinthians 15:52, which is described as beginning in Revelation 10:7 and picks up again in Revelation 11:15-19, sounds, ‘the mystery of God will be finished’ (Revelation 10:7), and “The kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ” (Revelation 11:15). These glorious verses along with 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 (which speak of the rapture) happen at the last trumpet, at the end of the great tribulation, or at the end of the final 7 years.
We also live in a day and time that as one would try and speak with some Christians about current events and the disturbing trends that are happening around the world, including such things as the increase in natural disasters, earthquakes and cosmic activity, the common reply is ‘well, no man knows the day or the hour’, which is a quote from Matthew 24:36. However, that verse is preceded by a question from the disciples to Jesus in verse 3 which says “Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world (age)?” Notice, His reply was not ‘none of your business’, but He began to give specific things to look for, to those who would be around during those days. He also made a specific reference to the time in question in verse 21, “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” He then goes on to describe when this event that He is speaking of (which clearly is the rapture) takes place. In verses 29-31 it says “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, (the last trumpet 1 Corinthians 15:51-53) and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
The apostle Paul had to deal with a problem that had risen in the church in his day that the return of Jesus could happen any day or at any time. This came about after he wrote to the Thessalonians where we read in 1 Thessalonians 4:13 – 5:5 “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep (a term used of believers in Jesus Christ that have passed away), that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God (the last trumpet, 1 Corinthians 15:52, Revelation 10:7; 11:15) and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” Continuing on in chapter 5:1 “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.”
He later had to address this with a second letter to the Thessalonians because some, apparently, had started to say that the return of Jesus was imminent or could happen at any time, or had already happened. So, in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 we read: “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him (the rapture), That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand (could happen at any time). Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day (The Rapture) shall not come, except there come a falling away first! I’m convinced that the Covid lockdowns, including churches, in the spring of 2020 was the beginning of ‘the great falling away’. Many church goers, after the lockdowns were lifted, never returned to church, and church attendance is running at a fraction of what it was before Covid. Add to this the ecumenical activities of the current Pope (Francis) with his signing of the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together signed in 2019 in Abu Dhabi by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad Al-Tayyib along with the new and upcoming “Abrahamic Family House that will be a collection of three religious places of worship: a mosque, a synagogue and a church, all of which will sit upon a secular visitor pavilion. … The fourth space — not affiliated with any specific religion — will serve as a center for all people of goodwill to come together as one” taken from their website forhumanfraternity.org, and you can begin to see the rising of the ‘one world religion’. This will, no doubt, be the pattern they try to replicate on the Temple Mount after the coming peace deal is signed. Could this be a foreshadowing or type leading up to the ultimate fulfillment of 2 Thess. 2:1-7 that will take place at the middle of the final 7 years when Satin is expelled from heaven and thrust down to earth thus fulfilling Rev. 12 and the man of sin is inhabited by Satin revealing himself to be the antiChrist and the dreadful ‘Mark of the Beast is forced upon mankind? My answer, YES, I believe it is.
Now concerning the ‘Mark of the Beast’, I’m convinced, as I see things unfolding that it will be a combination of digital health passes (on your phone) which will prove you’re up to date on the latest vaccines, the coming digital currency from China (DCEP), and some sort of implantable device in your right hand or forehead similar to what Microsoft is allegedly working on which is an implantable chip that will link to phones or computers (through Bluetooth I’m sure) that will enable you to make money as you complete tasks and that ironically has a patent number of ‘060606’. If one does a simple search on ‘Youtube’ for implantable microchips, or RFID chips, there are many videos from various sources that are indicating we are fast approaching this time ‘when no man might buy or sell’ unless you have the ‘mark’ Rev. 13:17), and that man of sin be revealed (this happens at the middle of Daniel’s 70th week when ‘the great tribulation starts), the son of perdition; Who opposes and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God (there has to be a temple for this to happen), showing himself that he is God (by lying signs and wonders, miracles: 2 Thessalonians 2:9).” For the man of sin, or antichrist is killed right before this happens, and is raised up by Satan himself, and becomes literally ‘Satan in the flesh’. This event coincides with Revelation 12:7-9 / Daniel 12:1 when Satan and the demons that follow him are kicked out of heaven and down to earth; when he (Satan) is thrown down to earth, he takes up residence in the antichrist. This interpretation would shed new light on 2 Thessalonians 2:6,7 which reads “And now ye know what withholdeth (to hold back or restrain) that he (antichrist) might be revealed in his time.
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth (same Greek word as withholdeth – to hold back or restrain) will let (hold back), until he be taken out of the way.” So this is not the Holy Spirit as some have thought, but Satan who is the great resistor of God’s people and purposes. After he is taken out of the way or kicked out of the place where he has wreaked havoc as the ‘prince of the power of the air’ (Ephesians 2:2), there is jubilation and celebration in heaven as we read in Revelation 12:10 “10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.” I highlighted the words ‘strength’ and ‘power of his Christ’ for a reason. The picture that the bible paints of us having to go through the tribulation is not all doom and gloom, but will be accompanied by a great outpouring of His Holy Spirit during those days which will empower the church not merely to just ‘get through’ those times, but to do so victoriously! Now add to this the tremendous amount of activity by God’s holy angels that will be happening during this time period fulfilling what, I believe, Jesus was talking about in John 18:36 where “Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now (for now) is my kingdom not from here.” Also, the greatest number of souls to get saved or turn to God in world history comes out of this time according to Revelation 7:9-17, and that could only be accomplished by a church that has been empowered by the Holy Spirit. Imagine reading the book of Acts, only it’s not from long ago, but from our time, and it’s a story about you doing exploits and miracles by God’s Spirit and for His glory to lead multitudes to Jesus! These are not days to be drawing or shrinking back, but to begin to seek God together for this great mercy and blessing, which He has promised, that being the final days outpouring of His Spirit.
THE COMING OUTPOURING OF GOD’S SPIRIT
It says in Zechariah 10:1 “ask ye of the LORD rain, in the time of the latter rain”. This is a reference to the great move of God that is coming by the outpouring of His Holy Spirit that will empower His people to be an effective witness in the last days. This witness will be needed to not only win many to Christ and fulfill Rev. 7:9-14, but to be the witness and protection that God’s original people (the Jewish people) will need as they are in flight from persecution worldwide, the greatest number of these being here in America and in Israel, of which, at the end of this 3 ½ year period known as Jacob’s Trouble, “all of Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:26) when they “look upon Him whom they have pierced” (Zech. 12:10) as the rapture of the church takes place, confirming to them once and for all that this Jesus / Yahshua whom we preach is not only our Savior, but their Messiah as well (Acts 17:3). This happens no doubt due to the holy ‘seeds’ planted in them by the church during this time of flight and refuge.
There are several other passages of scripture that we will look at that point to this life changing event. The passage above instructs us to ask, and so I believe the time has come for the church to start to come together just as the early church did at Jerusalem on Pentecost, and start to cry out to God for this power that the early church walked in which will propel us through the days ahead in His power that we might bring glory to Him! James 5:7,8 is another portion that refers to this topic which says “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord (notice the context here – the return of Jesus). Behold, the husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draws nigh.” In these verses, in the context of the return of the Lord, it talks about the ‘early and latter rain’, which I am saying is a reference to not only the outpouring of God’s Spirit at Pentecost, but is a clue or hint of another great event like that one coming in the near future. In Acts 3:19-21, as we continue to look at this great subject, it says “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” Here the apostle Peter in the first sermon he preached after the first miracle he performed spoke of ‘times of refreshing’ coming from the presence of the Lord in the context of the return of Jesus (vs. 20,21); this is another reference to this great outpouring of God’s Spirit at the end of days.
Then in Hosea 6:1-3 we find an extraordinary promise related to this coming blessing combined with a time reference of when it will happen. It reads “Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.” Here is a promise of the restoration of Israel that will come in these days…our days! I base this on numerous passages along with the evidence I set forth in this booklet. Such passages like Israel being the ‘fig tree’ Jesus talked about in Matthew 24:32-34 becoming a nation again in 1948, and this generation (a biblical generation being 70 or 80 years – Psalm 90:10) not passing away until all these things are fulfilled. Then in Psalm 90:4 it states that a thousand years in God’s eyes are like a day, and in verse 13 the psalmist asks “how long o LORD before you return?” The apostle Peter picks up on this theme in his second epistle where we read in 2 Peter 3:4-10 starting with a reference of the beginning of creation, then in verse 8 that one day is with the Lord as thousand years, and a thousand years as one day; this he said in the context of the last days and the return of the Lord going through verse 10. Now if we go by the creation model that God created all things in six days and on the seventh day He rested and relate it to the above information, we could say that six thousand years are given to man and after that would come the millennium (1000 year rest and reign of Christ on the earth). Now if we go back to the Hosea 6 reference and look at verse 2 it says after two days (2000 years) will He revive us (the Jewish people): in the third day (1000 year millennial reign of Christ) He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight. That is after 2000 years of being blinded while God reached out to the Gentiles (Romans 11:25), He would in these days turn back to His people and take the veil off of their eyes. His people (the Jewish people) will be saved at the end of the period known as ‘Jacob’s Trouble’ (Jeremiah 30:7) which runs parallel to the time known as ‘The Great Tribulation’ – the final 3 ½ years of the final 7 years, and they shall rule and reign on the earth with Christ for a thousand years. While all of this is important, the topic here is the coming great outpouring of God’s Spirit. If we look at Hosea 6:3 we find that this ‘latter rain’ is mentioned again, only this time it is worded a bit different. It says ‘He shall come to us as the rain, as the latter and former rain’, but notice the order. He lists the latter first and combines the latter and former, as if to say there will not only be an outpouring like in the early days, but it will be a greater or double portion of His Spirit (like Elisha received 2 Kings 2:9-11) which will be congruous or appropriate to meet the perilous and dark days at hand that Jesus Himself said would be the most challenging times the world has ever seen (Matthew 24:21).
Moving on to Joel 2:23 we read “Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain (Pentecost) moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain (here we have another reference to an increased or doubled portion) in the first month (taken from the Hebrew word ri’shown which means as it happened before, or in other words, as it was in the early days, yet in greater intensity).” Then, verses 28-32 clarify what this event being talked about here is, “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD (Jesus) shall be delivered (saved): for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.”
Many would recognize this passage as the proclamation the apostle Peter gave in Acts 2:14-21, but upon closer examination it becomes clear that verses 19-20 as with Joel 2:30,31 would clearly apply to the last days or ‘the day of the Lord’ (synonymous with the final 3 ½ years, which is the great tribulation). This would mean it has a double fulfillment – one for the opening of the ‘church age / age of the Gentiles’ and one for the close of it – but also having application for Israel as the context of Joel 2 points out, leading into the millennium, that will truly unite us by His Spirit as the ‘one new man’ (Ephesians 2:15).
This dual fulfillment happens in another place, in Luke 4:16-19 at the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, He went into the synagogue and stood to read from Isaiah 61:1-2, but He stopped at ‘the acceptable year of the LORD’, and didn’t finish the sentence, ‘and the day of vengeance of our God’ was left out because it has its application in the end of days. These ‘days of vengeance’ that Luke also talks about in Luke 21:22 are synonymous with ‘the day of the Lord’, final 3 ½ years, or the days of great tribulation. On a positive note, found in the same chapter of Luke in 21:17,18 it is said that ‘we shall be hated of all men for His name’s sake. But there shall not a hair of your head perish’. In other words, nothing can happen to you even during this troublesome time without God allowing it and making provision for it (empowering you to go through it in an overcoming fashion) – He is in control! We can trust Him.
With the introduction of the pre-tribulation rapture teaching which came about in the late 1800’s and has grown in popularity in the last 100 years or so, it seems to have had the effect of ‘lulling the church to sleep’, and because of this many in the church do not deem it necessary to even read the portions of the bible relegated to prophecy, which make up about 27% of the scriptures. This is tragic because the church is missing a great opportunity to witness to unbelievers using current events and prophecy. With the rise of natural disasters many unbelievers are paying attention to world events and are not only disturbed by them, but are looking for answers.
The words of Jesus in Luke 12:54-56 ring ever so true today where He rebuked those He was talking to about how they were able to discern when a storm was coming because of clouds gathering in the West, or when it was going to be hot because of a prevailing south wind, and went on to say: “ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?” True, no man knows the day or the hour, not even Jesus (Mark 13:32), but we are called to know the time and season (1 Thess. 5:1,4) and are commanded to WATCH! (Mt.24:42; Mk 13:37; Lk. 21:36).
“THE BEGINNING OF SORROWS”, JUST BEFORE THE LAST DAYS BEGIN
The above phrase, which is taken from Matthew 24:8,9 which reads “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers (various or different) places. All these are the beginning of sorrows”, is a reference to the increase in wars, famines, pestilences (diseases), and earthquakes that will be markedly higher in number just before ‘the last days’.
INCREASE IN WARS
The following website has some interesting facts on the increase in wars. http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/wars_steadily_increase/
“The number of conflicts between pairs of states rose steadily from 6 per year on average between 1870 and 1913 to 17 per year in the period of the two World Wars, 31 per year in the Cold War, and 36 per year in the 1990’s.” The article is dated June 2011, so the statistics would actually be much higher, especially since the beginning of the ‘Arab Spring’, and with all of the countries in the middle east that have had tremendous upheaval since the beginning of that ‘movement’ along with the removal of some of the most brutal dictators in key countries in the middle east such as the recent crises in Yemen, Hussein of Iraq, Mubarak in Egypt, Gaddafi in Libya, and soon to be Assad in Syria, I believe. The US has special forces either fighting or training factions to fight in 134 countries.
One doesn’t have to look very far for evidence that wars have increased, along with the threat of a possible global war that many fear could start especially with the behavior of Putin in Russia that parallels what Hitler of Germany did just before WWII (taking Crimea, basically taking over Syria, and moving into Libya) along with the behavior of China’s aggression in the South China Sea and toward Taiwan. It is also noteworthy that anti-Semitism is rising dramatically around the world, and yes, even in the United States, just as it did before WWII.
FAMINES
Concerning global famines, the USGS reported that 27 major world famines occurred during the 19th century while that number increased to 37 during the 20th century. According to mapreport.com, 61 major famines have already occurred throughout the world during the current century which is only in its 13th year (article was from 2013). If the trend continues, the 21st century will experience the most famines of any century in world history. http://www.mapreport.com/subtopics/d/0.html
PESTILENCES (DISEASES)
The burden of chronic diseases (pestilences) is rapidly increasing worldwide. It has been calculated that, in 2001, chronic diseases contributed approximately 60% of the 56.5 million total reported deaths in the world and approximately 46% of the global burden of disease (1). The proportion of the burden of chronic deaths is expected to increase to 57% by 2020. Almost half of the total chronic disease deaths are attributable to cardiovascular diseases; obesity and diabetes are also showing worrying trends, not only because they already affect a large proportion of the population, but also because they have started to appear earlier in life. These statistics don’t even include the recent Measles, Bird flu, and Ebola scares. In looking at ‘Aids’ alone which started around 1980, over 39 million people have died. http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/2_background/en/
When I started this booklet around the times of the four blood moons of 2014-2015, I had no idea what was around the corner and awaiting us in 2020/21. Extremely sobering. I now firmly believe that 2020, with the start of COVID-19 was the official start of the ‘beginning of sorrows’ talked about in Matthew 24:8, with the other facts that I have mentioned being the precursor. It’s like we have had a seven year period to warn us of the approaching ‘final 7 years’. That final 7 year period could very well begin this year, 2021, time will tell, at any rate, we are CLOSE.
EARTHQUAKES
“We have recently experienced a period that has had one of the highest rates of great earthquakes ever recorded,” said lead study author Tom Parsons, a research geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Menlo Park, California.
http://www.livescience.com/46576-more-earthquakes-still-random-process.html
Volcanic Activity and Earthquakes Have Increased Enormously Worldwide
If we look at earthquake activity in parts of the US like Oklahoma (which environmentalists are trying to blame on ‘fracking’), the picture would become clear. In the 30 years prior to 2009, Oklahoma averaged about 50 earthquakes a year. In total there were 183 quakes in Oklahoma between October 2013 and April 14, 2014.
On April 25, 2015 an earthquake which ranged in magnitude from 7.8 to 8.1 struck Nepal and took the lives of over 8,000 people at the time of this writing, with over 19,000 injured.
METEORITES
Luke 21:25 “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring”
Although meteorite activity isn’t one of the events mentioned in Matthew 24:8,9 as mentioned before, I believe from this verse they are relevant and just one more sign that we are in those days (Luke 21 along with Matt. 24, and Mk. 13 deal with the last days). Also of note, the ‘climate change’ camp tries to attribute these disasters to global warming while not giving thought to the idea that maybe God is trying to give us a wake up call. Well that’s pretty hard to do with meteorites. If one goes to the American Meteor Society’s website at http://www.amsmeteors.org/, and clicks on ‘fireball logs’, and then does a search by year of activity for the last 10-15 years, it adds a shocking amount of proof that we are fast approaching ‘the time’ that Jesus warned about.
From 4 events logged in the year 2000 – to 455 events in 2005 – 924 events in 2010 – 1625 events in 2011 – 2150 events in 2012 – 3563 events in 2013 (notice the jump) – 3744 events in 2014 – 4214 events in 2014 – over 4200 events in 2015 – 5344 events in 2016!
These dramatic increases in the various events I’ve listed should serve to encourage us (although very sobering), that Jesus is coming very soon!
Luke 21:28 says “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption is drawing near.”
TWO PROPHETICALLY SIGNIFICANT DATES
Earlier in this writing I mentioned what I believe to be a very important or significant date, in relation to a prophecy that is going to be fulfilled in the near future. I’m referring to Zechariah 1:16 which says that, in addition to a temple being built again for the Jewish people, that “a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem”, that line will be a ‘dividing line’ to split Jerusalem in half with the Eastern half going to the Palestinians for the capital of their new state in the coming ‘peace deal’ between Israel and the Palestinians. When the president gave the speech on May 19, 2011 concerning the middle east peace process, he declared that Israel needed to go back to its pre-1967 borders, which would include giving up the West bank and half of Jerusalem to the Palestinians. Well, in terms of monumental and prophetically charged dates, I would like to include the following: that being March 18, 2014 when Russia took back Crimea from Ukraine.
While this may seem insignificant to most people, even most Christians, what I will now try and show is how prophetically significant this event was, and how the recent military alliance between Russia and China are forming into what I believe makes up two of the animals (the Bear/Russia and the Leopard/China) found in the composite beast of Revelation chapter 13 along with Daniel chapter 7, which will make up the strongest parts of the anti-Christ’s armies during the fast approaching ‘last days’.
For this discussion, we need to look at Ezekiel 38:2,3 and it reads “Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:” The hebrew word for ‘the chief’ from the phrase ‘the chief prince’ is Rosh, and this name, many of the trusted bible commentators agree is where the Russians derived their name.
It is also, as the great commentator John Gill points out, associated with the Scythian or Tauri people that settled in the area of Crimea! “and Josephus Antiquity l. 1. c. 6. sect. 1. says that the posterity of Magog are called Scythians, and these inhabited Tartary;” (again, these people have always been associated with the area of Crimea!).
Keil & Delitzsch say it this way in their “Commentary on the Old Testament”:
“Preparation of Gog and his army for the invasion of the restored land of Israel. –Ezekiel 38:1. And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, Ezekiel 38:2. Son of man, set thy face toward Gog in the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, Ezekiel 38:3. And say, Thus saith the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I will deal with thee, Gog, thou prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal,
The Byzantine and Arabic writers frequently mention a people called ̔Ρῶς , Arab.(Ru=sdwelling in the country of the Taurus, and reckoned among the Scythian tribes (for the passages, see Ges. Thesaurus, p. 1253), so that there is no reason to question the existence of a people known by the name of Rosh;… that the name of the Russians is connected with this”
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible – A one-volume commentary prepared by Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown. It was published in 1871.
“the chief prince — rather, “prince of Rosh,” or “{Rhos}” [Septuagint]. The Scythian Tauri in the Crimea were so called. The Araxes also was called “Rhos.” The modern Russians may have hence assumed their name, as Moscow and Tobolsk from Meshech and Tubal, “Magog was Gog‘s original kingdom, though he acquired also Meshech and Tubal, so as to be called their chief prince.”
Then in “Scofield’s Reference Notes”, he says: “That the primary reference is to the northern (European) powers, headed up by Russia, all agree. “Gog” is the prince, “Magog,” his land. The reference to Meshech and Tubal (Moscow and Tobolsk) is a clear mark of identification (that it is Russia that is in view here).”
So, why am I saying all of this, and why did I include all of this information? To sum it all up, I am trying to show that the phrase “the chief prince” as I stated before, is taken from a hebrew word ‘Rosh’ which although seemingly insignificant, has inextricable ties to the people of Crimea, as well as the names Meshech and Tubal which clearly in today’s language are the cities of Moscow and Tobolsk. These names clearly point to Russia which is an integral part of these two prophetically important chapters (Ezekiel 38,39), for our days, and they also describe Russia as the head (guard Eze. 38:7) of a group of nations that will go against Israel, under the command of the anti-Christ in the near future. The nations included in this rebellion are Persia (Iran), Ethiopia, Libya, Gomer (Germany) and Togarmah (Turkey) Eze. 38:5,6.
The timing of Russia taking back Crimea is incredibly significant, prophetically speaking, in light of the following history: After a period of political unrest in Crimea, Russia violated the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (1774) and annexed the Crimean Khanate in 1783. Crimea was a part of Russia until after WWII, when in 1954 Nikita Khrushchev gave it to Ukraine as a gift. So, the bottom line of all of this is, as long as Crimea was not under Russian control (or part of Russia), Eze. 38,39 could not be fulfilled. Yet now it is, and with it, one more piece of the end time puzzle has been put in place, and God in His sovereignty is ‘setting the stage’ for the fulfillment of all that pertains to Daniel’s 70th week (the final 7 years). On March 17, 2014 the Crimean parliament officially declared its independence from Ukraine and requested to join the Russian Federation. On March 18, 2014 President Putin declared Crimea as part of Russia! Thus setting the stage for Ezekiel 38 and 39 to be fulfilled.
THE BEASTS OF REVELATION 13 AND DANIEL 7
At the beginning of this section I alluded to two of the animals that will make up parts of the composite beast found in Revelation chapter 13 and Daniel chapter 7. These two animals I’m referring to are the Bear (Russia) and the Leopard (China) that have been, in the last few years, becoming closely aligned both economically and militarily speaking. Economically speaking, they have been trading, just in the last few years, between their own countries, using their own currencies and have stopped using the US dollar, which has been the standard currency around the world for some time now. This has put added pressure on an already weakened dollar. The United States’ decision to apply sanctions on Russia after they took over Crimea had the negative effect of forcing Russia and China closer together economically speaking, if for nothing else than the mere survival of their countries. Not only this, but Russia and China have been amassing massive amounts of gold in their countries as insurance for where they see the future heading in respect to the U.S. dollar and a possible future economic collapse. Add to this, China’s development of their new digital currency (DCEP) that they fast tracked during the Covid lockdowns, and are planning on becoming the world’s new ‘reserve currency’ once the dollar collapses under ‘The Great Reset’.
But the tensions between the U.S. and the Russian / Chinese governments have had a much graver consequence, that is the recent and massive buildup of their militaries, not only in numbers of military equipment, in both offensive and defensive weapon systems, but more importantly, in regards to technological advances in the areas of space, submarines, ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missiles), fighter jets, EMP’s (electromagnetic pulse bombs), missile defense systems (shields), and the recent unveiling of China’s new ASBM’s (anti-ship ballistic missiles) DF-21D and the DF-26, a first of their kind, which are ‘game changers’ and have pentagon officials very nervous. Under the Obama administration in 2011, budget caps were put in place in the Budget Control Act, known as sequestration, R&D (research and development), probably the most important facet of any military in today’s day and age, was drastically cut. Which when Russia and China learned of this, they took advantage of this opening and have since surpassed us in terms of newer and more advanced weapon systems and equipment. Our military, (which has been operating on outdated bombers and naval ships, some that date back as far as WWII) has been hollowed out from the inside. The articles I have compiled and read over the last few years on these subjects are staggering. The military was revived to an extent under President Trump, but will no doubt be neglected again under the Biden/Harris administration due to many believing that this will be like having a third Obama administration, or Obama 2.0.
In regards to the Chinese ASBM’s (anti-ship ballistic missiles), China can quickly neutralize our navy’s carriers and battleships, (they travel at speeds up to mach 10 and our radar systems would have a lot of trouble even picking them up, much less defending against them). China also has developed EMP’s (Electromagnetic Pulse Bombs) that can cripple cities’ and regions’ electrical grids. When the latest version of ‘Red Dawn’ the movie was set to come out, it was reported that China put pressure on our government to stop the showing of the movie, due to the original version depicting China as the invading force on our country. The movie starts by an EMP being detonated over our country, cutting off our power to give the invading army a tactical advantage as they take over our cities. China was able to apply enough pressure to delay the movie from being released for a time so they could remake the fight scenes, this time using North Korean uniforms. This in light of the fact that China has been smuggling out of our own country large quantities of radiation hardened microchips which can be used for the purpose of keeping their military operational when they set off an EMP over another country, is more than a little suspicious in my opinion. For a very sobering update on this possibility, see the article from the Wall Street Journal, “The Threat to Melt the Electric Grid” dated 4-30-15: http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-threat-to-melt-the-electric-grid-1430436
THE RECENT SPIKE IN ANTI-SEMITISM
“Almost 90 per cent of American Jews currently deem anti-Semitism to be a scourge in the United States, with some hesitant to display openly their religious and cultural affiliation. A European Union survey showed the same percentage of Jews expressing the belief that anti-Semitism has very recently increased in their respective countries.”
“In 2017, anti-Semitism began its latest easily visible upsurge, with Germany, France, the United States and Canada witnessing a troubling climb in violent anti-Semitic episodes the next year.”
These are quotes from ‘The Conversation’ website in an article titled “Anti-Semitism is on the rise, 75 years after the end of the Holocaust and Secong World War” from 8-3-2020.
In a different vein, Christian author Michael Brown was interviewed by Christianpost.com on his recent book “Christian Antisemitism”, in which he documents a new resurgence of anti-Semitism within American churches, which would include “the rise of replacement theology, the notion that the Church has replaced Israel as the new chosen people, with God no longer having any plans for modern Jews”.
One of the questions the interviewer asks is important and bears remembering: “Why do you believe there has been an uptick in Christian anti-Semitism within the past couple of years? Was it always there, but just dormant? Or is it fresh? Brown: There’s several factors. One, it never goes away. On a certain level, Jew-hatred is a default attitude of fallen human beings. It’s just part of the way things are because of God’s choosing of the Jewish people for a purpose (Romans 9-11). Obviously, we’ve often fallen short of that purpose, but choosing us for a purpose means that there will be a demonic hatred against the Jewish people, just like there is a demonic default hatred against the followers of Jesus (Revelation 12).
Thus, the rise in global anti-Semitism is another sign that we are approaching the end, and the Church should prepare, not just spiritually but physically, and not only for themselves, but for the Jewish people that will be in flight and trying to escape the coming persecution.
IN CONCLUSION
As I finish this booklet, I somehow hope that God is able to convey to you, dear reader, my conviction that the recent set of ‘blood moons’ (2014-2015) along with the massive increase in ‘natural’ disasters, cosmic events (meteorite activity) and national upheavals around the world, and especially the Covid crisis / Great Reset are pointing to the final 7 years beginning just over the horizon, which will culminate with the return of the Lord of glory – Jesus! To quote a part of a song by East to West (This Time Around), “this time around, there will be no speculation, the King will wear His crown”. He’s not coming this time as a baby, but as a King, not as a Lamb, but as a Lion (the Lion of the tribe of Judah) to take back what He purchased with His own blood (the blood of God the Son) when he gave Himself on the cross 2000 years ago as God’s ultimate sacrifice for our sins to make ‘the way’ back to our heavenly Father. So, if you are a Christian already, please begin to seek God like never before, and start to cry out to Him for this great outpouring of His Spirit that I spoke about earlier in this writing, of which we will desperately need for what’s coming on the earth, and that He has promised for the days ahead. If you are reading this and have not yet called on Jesus to save you from your sins, I plead with you to do so now. This will put you in a right relationship with the Father, for He (Jesus) is the only way to the Father (John 14:6). Get your hands on a bible and start in the book of John (fourth book in the new testament). Get to know this wonderful Savior that foretold all of this a long time ago, for it says in Romans 10:9,10 “That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
Blessings to you dear reader, please pass it on.
John Paul Cook
777theend.com
777theend.com 