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History’s Most Viewed Event
Of all my cogitating on Bible prophecy, the thought just never struck.
I’m partner with Todd Strandberg in raptureready.com. I’ve written hundreds of articles on the subject. I’ve authored entire books devoted just to the topic. Yet I’ve never even thought, much less written about, one particular aspect of the matter. Some might correct me on that, but that is my memory—or failure thereof—on this thing specifically involved.
The topic, the subject, is the Rapture—that stupendous instant when Jesus Christ steps out on the clouds of glory and shouts with the last trump and the voice of an archangel, “Come up here!”
We believe that it will happen in an atomos of time—quicker than it takes for light traveling at 186,000 miles per second to enter the eye and strike the retina. That’s much faster than the eye can blink, I’m told.
Again, we believe that millions of all born-again believers who are alive will vanish in that instant. It will happen all over the world, but perhaps in no place on earth will the great event be witnessed by more people than in America. And, I’m not meaning that this is because there are more Christians—true believers—in the United States than in any other place on the planet. That might be the case, but that isn’t why I state it.
The thought, as I said above, had not crossed my mind until an epiphany came in the form of an email by a Christian sister, whom I presume is a long-time family member of our Rapture Ready website.
Although I won’t mention her name, I will relate a part of her email that struck deeply into my prophecy-watcher alert center:
Terry: Concerning the Rapture discussion about whether or not people will see us leaving when we are caught up. They will certainly see SOMETHING, because there are cameras everywhere constantly filming everybody.
So, if I’m out in the middle of the street talking to one of my neighbors when Jesus suddenly calls me up into the clouds, at least three of my neighbors’ security cameras are going to record my disappearance. (Where did she go? She was standing right there talking to Dave and then she just disappeared!”).
Whether we just disappear or can be seen rising up after we are transformed, the cameras at the grocery store, the bank, the jam-cam on I-10, the neighbor’s security camera or doorbell ring camera, all those cameras recording everybody everywhere all over the world are going to capture it all.
Again, this is just an idea that never struck me. But it will surely happen just as she describes, barring an unforeseen EMP attack or other phenomenon that shuts down all cameras in the nation.
Anyone who has watched forensic shows that record crimes in every possible location knows that we’re under constant surveillance. There is no way we can escape the cameras looking down on us from telephone poles, building roofs, or wherever.
Even drones now circle overhead and record every movement we make, both for law enforcement and commercial purposes. Private drones now keep track of us just for amusement and entertainment.
But it’s the cellphone and other devices held by individuals in every town in the country that make the emailer’s observation of special, prophetic significance.
People are literally filming on their phones every moment of every day and night, especially in America, where so many people have smart devices. There is no doubt that the disappearance of people around towns all over America will be captured in that staggering instant.
The news-gathering entities around the US will be soliciting every video they can find. Social media venues will go crazy with quantities of footage that will likely almost melt down many websites. It will be the most filmed event in history!
Many of those video recorders will still be going when they hit the ground, having been dropped by Christians doing the filming. These, too, will give credence to the message of those of us who have been teaching the truth of the pre-Trib Rapture.
Perhaps it is the many such videos that will convince a great number of people who have heard our message. The message? That Jesus has called believers to Himself. Those who see and are thus convinced might then seek earnestly all information left behind that forewarns of what they have just witnessed.
My thanks to my emailer friend who stimulated the thought about history’s most viewed event!
Derision in Microcosm
When witnessing things going on in the American political world over the past months, one can but come to one conclusion: The Lord is at work directing all things into eschatological channels of His own design.
Those who adamantly oppose godliness are mostly on the side of one political party. They are for everything the Lord in Heaven says He is against. God is making that opposition clear by confusing them for all the world to see.
This opposition party to God’s desires for human conduct adheres to going against the Lord’s key principles of life: They are for murder of the unborn and even those just born—i.e., they are for abortion under the guise of giving the woman the right to choose. They are champions of men having sexual relations with other men and women having sexual relations with other women.
This is happening even under the auspices of the so-called clergy who approve of this unbiblical activity. They define marriage as being, basically, anything one wants it to be—a man can marry another man or a woman another woman. Even more insanely, some have been given the go-ahead by these anti-God adherents to marry their animals or even inanimate objects of their affection.
In earlier times, reports of things going on under this “progressive” mindset would have defied logic. But now, the abnormal—even abhorrent—activity is seen by these anti-God forces as not only okay, but as more mainstream in propriety than the formerly truly normal human activity.
I refer, for example, to the views that have been developing regarding pedophilia. Even courses in academia at the university level now hold that including children in sexual activity with adults is to be “normed”—not considered psychological dysfunction or criminal activity, but just an alternate way of looking at things.
As we’ve looked at before in these commentaries, people are now perfectly “normal” if they consider themselves to be a gender other than what their birth certificate shows. By this, they’re saying that the Creator didn’t know what He was doing. He has no right to declare who is man, who is woman, or whatsoever else they want to be, I guess.
Grade-school children and even younger are being subjected to transvestites who try to lure them into becoming such as themselves. Parents are considered by the “progressive” mindset as being the haters and evil holdouts to human advancement if they oppose having their children inculcated in such a manner.
The party of choice among these anti-God forces applauds and holds up as icons of the new wave of society and culture a presidential candidate who kisses his “husband” on stage at political rallies. The mainstream news and entertainment media embrace this as normal and even preferable. By this, they applaud shaking off the bonds of godly restraint as put forth in God’s Holy Word.
Democrat candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg, an avowed homosexual married to another male, has voiced the “progressive” thinking in wishing to throw off godly restraints as America moves forward in history.
He said recently that he condemned Vice President Mike Pence’s view of morality and Christianity. He declared that America must change from its narrow definition of morality by saying it’s time to move on from that old mode, to something that is more “inclusive” and “humane.”
By this it means he is unhappy with those who are against the lifestyle of the LGBTQ (and P for pedophile) community because of narrow-minded belief in biblical precepts for godly living.
That he is in favor of throwing off all these moralistic bands that inhibit people from doing what is right in their own eyes is the message.
Mayor Buttigieg is but one of many within today’s Democrat Party who expresses opposition to God’s way of conducting life. We remember recent comments by one of the campaign planners for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. He declared, in a video secretively obtained by the Veritas organization, that if Sanders and associates are elected, he will immediately and summarily kill some who oppose them. He will then make sure, he said, that others are sent to retraining camps to get their minds right. Still others would be locked away in labor camp gulags, never again to interfere with progressive movement.
Make no mistake, the evil that inspired the Nazi thugs of Hitler’s time continues to interact with the would-be diabolists of these troubled times. If given the chance, they would do exactly what this campaign associate of one of the leading Democrat candidates promises. This is not to say that all who are in that political party are of the same mindset as this campaign worker. But, neither were many in 1930s Germany of the same mindset as the Nazis and their Fuhrer.
The mindset just described as growing in our time is a reminder of just where this generation stands on God’s prophetic timeline. The Lord had something to say about the ultimate outcome of such rebellion.
His Word begins with a question, then gives a devastating answer to all who would throw off the moral restraints He has prescribed.
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. (Psalms 2:1–7)
The one who will judge this rebellious world is none other than the person God declares to be His Son in this prophecy.
We have watched God have the opposition political party in almost complete derision this past week and even in earlier times. It is but a foretaste of things to come when, at the end of this age, the Lord Jesus Christ will judge all whom He calls “earth dwellers”—those who are in rebellion against Him.
Perdition’s Propagandists Prep School
It has been taking place for decades, even longer. The American and world public have become anesthetized, or at the very least numbed, to the effects. At least half of this nation’s population seems to be in a near-comatose state, in consideration of what is right and wrong in terms of what the founding fathers meant in establishing a constitutional republic.
I refer to the incessant propagandizing of the people by a news conglomerate that mimics in most every way the Big Brother news leviathan of George Orwell’s novel 1984. The author invented the term “doublespeak,” defined as language that deliberately disguises, distorts, or reverses meaning to further an agenda, often by governments, corporations, marketers, or other power structures.
The novel tells of a socially stratified, post-nuclear war world ruled by three superstates—Oceania, Eastasia, and Eurasia. The ruling elite keep the “proles” under their oppressive governmental thumb. These are the worker bees who are given just enough entertainment and mind-altering things to imbibe to keep their noses to the grindstone of serving the state and to keep their minds off the machinations of those who govern them.
We have, since the late 1950s, and even before then, been victims of the emergence of Orwell’s 1949 vision of a dystopian, news-propaganda monster. It appears that perhaps two-thirds of the American populace has fallen into Orwell’s “prole” category within today’s political process.
Perhaps this figure is a bit of an exaggeration, but the astonishing disconnect is troubling. According to reactions I see in the matter of people understanding whether information they get is reality or propaganda, no other conclusion can be reached. Millions are falling for the lies that they should be allowed to do what is right in their own eyes. Anyone who holds up biblical or even constitutional founding principles as the way we should comport ourselves is met with angry protestation.
Those of us who believe abortion, homosexuality, use of illicit drugs, pornography, fornication, adultery, and other such evils are wrong, are seen by a vast section of the nation’s population as the evil side of American society and culture.
We have witnessed the Orwellian-like news organizations of our day in action. These join that vast number in pigeonholing Christians and “moralists,” as they would have it, into a corner they call “hate-mongering.”
A campaign planner of one political party’s candidates recently called all who oppose the leftist-agenda Nazis. He then proceeded to, in Hitler-Aryan fashion, tell those around him what he will do to that opposition once his party wins. He said he would summarily kill some and put others in gulag. The rest would go into reeducation camps to get their minds right. The mainstream, Orwellian news media, so far as I can determine, said nothing to condemn this campaign planner’s rhetoric.
Evil doesn’t change. The rhetoric, under the right conditions, will become murderous implementation when opportunity arises.
There are still those with satanic-controlled minds who would perpetrate on Americans the same sort of atrocities the Nazi beasts inflicted upon the Jews and other victims of those days.
There is coming a time, God’s Word foretells, when people will fall totally for the doublespeak and newspeak of those horrendous times. The ultimate Big Brother will forge a regime so powerful and evil in influence that no one, in human terms, can resist. He will have the consummate propaganda machine to brainwash and reinforce his dictatorship’s absolute control. His minions are now being prepared, in my view, to carry out his inculcation of the “proles” of that Tribulation time. They will be all who are left behind because of their unbelief when Christ calls believers in the Rapture.
Today’s mainstream news organizations are acting as a prep school for inflicting the future lies of the son of perdition. So it is not too far-fetched to see a bit into the future and apply prophetic Scripture, based upon what we see developing at present. The nation and world are being prepared for the ultimate manifestation of the Orwellian world the author forecast with the release of his 1949 novel.
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition…Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:3, 9–12)
You don’t have to be among the “proles.” Accept Christ right this moment. You will go instantaneously to be with Jesus Christ in an atomos of time—faster than the eye can blink—when He says “Come up here!” (Revelation 4:1).
To hear Him when He calls, follow the Apostle Paul’s soul-saving instruction:
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9–10)
Prophetic Pandemic?
The entire world is on high alert because of the coronavirus that is spreading quickly. More than six hundred have died from the disease as of this writing. China, the country from which it emanates, has millions of people under quarantine.
There is no known cure, and experts report that it will possibly take years to develop a vaccine to cure or prevent its spread. Agencies responsible for controlling the virus fear a pandemic—a worldwide spread of the deadly disease.
Air travel makes the spread of the virus almost impossible to curtail. American Airlines is reportedly being sued by its employees in order to prevent the company from sending crews around the world, placing them at risk for exposure.
The fear generated by the spread of coronavirus affected not only the worldwide medical industry, but also the global economy.
Friday, January 31, the Dow Jones Industrial Averages closed down around 600 points. This generated anxiety among some who are already predicting any-moment global financial collapse. It caused one observer to weigh in with increased forewarnings. The day before the 600-point decline, he wrote:
In the light of the Coronavirus, which is spreading with no end in sight, more people are feeling compelled to ask the question, will the global economy fail? Some are predicting that the global economy, including the US economy will fail due to the introduction of new factors such as the Coronavirus…
Before the introduction of the Coronavirus, the global economy was already in deep trouble. What people should know is that back in December of 2019, before the Coronavirus went active, the global economy was on the verge of collapse…
Many economists that I have spoken to are concerned that the global economy will continue to decline as a result of the Coronavirus. Do these fears have merit? It does not matter. Perception drives reality. If the people on this planet believe that their health is threatened by this virus, the global economy, already on thin ice, will collapse. (Dave Hodges, “Will the Coronavirus Cause a Global Economic Collapse? The BDI Says Yes!” January 30, 2020)
The economy snapped back in an almost flabbergasting way this week. It seems even this world-wide threat can’t hold back the tremendous perception that a profound economic boom is still on the upswing.
It is my belief more intensely than ever that the Rapture will occur in the midst of just such an economic boom as is presently perceived.
To some prophecy watchers, this newest of the threats to millions around the world is yet another of the converging signs that the end of the age is at hand. It ranks up there with earthquakes taking place daily, like the one a couple of weeks ago so powerful that it was felt strongly in Miami.
Bible prophecy, of course, tells that such virulent diseases will be prevalent during the Tribulation, the last seven years preceding Christ’s Second Advent. Jesus briefed His disciples about this coming assault as He sat on the Mount of Olives just before His crucifixion:
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:7, 8)
My friend Chuck Missler, one of the great prophecy teachers, spoke about this passage. I remember listening with fascination while he waxed eloquent on what he thought the word “pestilence” in Jesus’ foretelling might mean. He equated the term to one found in another prophetic Scripture:
I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.(Revelation 6: 8)
Chuck, as I recall, postulated that the word “pestilence” in Jesus’ Olivet Discourse might be the same as the words “wild beasts” in the Revelation 6: 8 passage about the four horsemen of the Apocalypse.
He put forth the thought that “wild beasts” could well mean what he termed “micro-beasts”—i.e., not necessarily only literal, four-footed animals like lions and bears, but perhaps voracious, flesh-eating and destroying entities that can be seen only under powerful microscopes. He suggested the term might indicate microbes—germs—of such virulence that they could not be detected or destroyed before they have done their deadly work.
Missler wrote:
There was a time not long ago when the medical profession felt they had most of the major diseases licked, and for the rest it was just a matter of time.
Now that former optimism appears tragically premature. Many of the previously “defeated” diseases are making a comeback, in hardier strains which are resisting our former treatments.…
The rapidity with which diseases, emergent or deliberate, can pass through our “global village” is terrifyingly real.
With modern air travel and global commerce, as well as our present understanding of modern biotechnology, the Biblical predictions now seem frighteningly imminent. (“Emergent and Deliberate Diseases,” Koinonia House, February 1, 1998)
The world’s top biological scientists and medical professionals have done much to defeat new and mutating bacteria and viruses since Missler wrote about these matters years ago. However, rather than stopping the progress of these “micro-beasts,” all efforts have been ineffective. for the most part. The ”beasts” are proliferating and are becoming more virulent.
Daniel’s prophecy about exponential travel (Daniel 12: 4) is now on an ever-increasing pathway to fulfillment, greatly escalating the ability of the micro-beasts to invade new human hosts around the globe. Yet, we haven’t reached that time of Tribulation forewarned by Jesus while He answered the disciple’s questions about what the future holds.
Nonetheless, the coronavirus is certainly an indicator to add to all the other signals of that time just ahead, about which Jesus declared:
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. (Matthew 24:21)
Australia and Anti-Semitism
A friend in New York City emailed with a fascinating perspective. Chris is, like those of us at Rapture Ready, a watchman of issues and events as they might relate to prophetic stage-setting. He, like many others in the RR audience/family, helps keep us abreast of significant developments in these times so near the end of the Church Age.
New York City, itself, is experiencing an uptick in cases of anti-Semitism, as are other major cities across the US. So it is with an elevated degree of observational credence that my friend made a strong case for Bible truth.
The truth:
The Lord said to Abraham, And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (Genesis 12:2–3)
I also have some good friends in Australia who are part of the RR audience/family. They, too, keep us informed of things going on in their part of the world from time to time.
So it is with some twinge of regret that I feel compelled to use that region as an example in a somewhat negative light. I mean no disrespect to the people of Australia in general. Particularly, I intend to cast no aspersions on my dear friends who live there.
However, the case presented that there could well be a connection between things taking place in Australia and God’s displeasure—even judgment—is powerful. It is so strong that the example needs to be pointed to as proof of God’s Genesis 12:2–3 promises always being fulfilled. Anti-Semitism is a tremendously egregious matter in God’s holy eyes—and America, in allowing its spread, must be warned to take notice.
Rather than write in-depth on the matter of anti-Semitism in profiling its horrific infliction of hatred upon the Jewish race within Australian society and culture, I will present links to stories of what is happening there. Again, thanks to my friend Chris in New York City for compiling these links.
- “Confronting Reality: Anti-Semitism in Australia Today,” Jewish Political Studies Review 16:3–4 (Fall 2004); https://www.jcpa.org/phas/phas-jones-f04.htm
- “Israel Arrests Woman Wanted on Child Sex Abuse Charges at Melbourne Jewish School,” (February 13, 2018); https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/israel-arrests-malka-leifer-woman-wanted-on-child-sex-abuse-charges-at-australian-jewish-school-1.458662
- “Australian Jewish Leader Condemns Senator’s Speech Calling for ‘Final Solution,’” (August 15, 2018); https://www.thejc.com/news/world/australian-jewish-leader-condemn-senator-fraser-anning-speech-calling-for-final-solution-1.468332
- “Anti-Semitic Attacks of Boys Who Were Called ‘Jewish ape’ and ‘dirty Jew’ Shock Australia,” (October 3, 2019); https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.foxnews.com/world/anti-semitic-bullying-australia.amp
- “Australian Teenager Charged Over Making Jewish Boy Kiss Another Student’s Shoes,” (October 25, 2019); https://www.thejc.com/news/world/australian-teenager-charged-for-making-jewish-boy-kiss-another-student-s-shoes-1.490685
- “We Cannot Let Anti-Semitism Spread Here,” (November 21, 2019); https://www.cis.org.au/commentary/articles/we-cannot-let-anti-semitism-spread-here/
- “Report Shows Anti-Semitism on the Rise Following Outrage Over ‘Party Nazis,’” (Mon November 25, 2019); https://10daily.com.au/news/australia/a191124hsgly/report-shows-anti-semitism-on-the-rise-following-outrage-over-party-nazis-20191125?&utm_medium=paid-search&utm_source=10daily&utm_campaign=digital:na&utm_term=google&utm_content=dsa&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0IzskZOa5wIVi5yzCh2pawFPEAMYASAAEgLDbPD_BwE
- Antisemitic Assaults and Threats up by 30 Percent in Australia, New Report Finds,” (November 26, 2019); https://www.thejc.com/news/world/antisemitic-assaults-and-threats-up-by-30-per-cent-in-australia-new-report-finds-1.493612
- Australia Sees 30 Percent Increase in Anti-Semitic Incidents,” (November 26, 2019); https://wwwgoogle.com/amp/s/www.jta.org/quick-reads/australia-sees-30-percent-increase-in-anti-semitic-incidents/amp
- “Toxic Left-Wing Anti-Semitism: Australia, UK and the USA,” (December 19, 2019); http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/24901
- “Global Anti-Semitism: Select Incidents in 2019,” (December, 2019); https://www.adl.org/resources/reports/global-anti-semitism-select-incidents-in-2019
- “Australian Jewish Survivors Recount How the Fire Swept into Their Home in 45 Minutes,” (January 9, 2020); https://www.thejc.com/news/world/australian-jewish-survivors-recount-how-the-fire-swept-into-their-home-in-45-minutes-1.495182
- “Holocaust Survivor ‘Suffering Flashbacks’ after Nazi Flag Flown Metres away from His Australian Home,” (January 17, 2020); https://www.thejc.com/news/world/holocaust-survivor-suffering-flashbacks-after-nazi-flag-flown-metres-away-beulah-australian-home-1.495548
- “The BBC Has Shamed Itself with Orla Guerin’s Holocaust Report,” (January 33, 2020); https://www.thejc.com/comment/comment/the-bbc-has-shamed-itself-with-orla-guerin-s-holocaust-report-1.495792
I can’t look into the high councils of the third heaven and know the rendering of judgmental edicts. I can, however, look at God’s Word of condemnation and examine evidence to get a pretty clear understanding of what that evidence points to. You can do the same. Does the God of Israel keep His promises? You be the judge.
While anti-Semitism rages in the continent down under, so do the geophysical elements. Australia has in the past weeks experienced plague-like affliction almost biblical in proportion.
In the midst of raging wildfires, hailstones the size of baseballs pounded Australia in a mix of elemental opposites echoing the Egyptian plague. As if that reminder of the Exodus were not enough, a massive dust storm turned day into night. These and other phenomena created a pre-Messiah show of wonders in the hard-hit continent down under conspicuously timed to coincide with the week when Jews around the world read the section of the Torah relating the story of the plagues in Egypt.
While the northern hemisphere hunkers down for winter, Australia enters its dry summer. This year, a stark drought brought on devastating wildfires that have, so far, burned an estimated 46 million acres of land. The fires destroyed over 5,900 buildings including approximately 2,683 homes, and killed at least 30 people. An estimated one billion animals were also killed and some endangered species may be driven to extinction. (Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz, “Australia Slammed with Hail, Pestilence, Darkness Plagues in One Week,” Breaking Israel News, Latest News. Biblical Perspective, January 22, 2020)
In a strange, horrifying mixture that can only be described as a biblical-type plague, hail the size of baseballs fell following catastrophic fire that ravaged the region (see https://t.co/0jmjbKmRnz).
The article further explains the devastating phenomena.
As if a Biblical plague of hail was not enough, a massive dust storm engulfed the town of Narromine, some 250 miles northwest of Sydney. The 186-mile wide cloud of red dust was carried by wind gusts up to 66 miles per hour. The huge storm quickly plunged the area into darkness so complete the weather service described it as “Day turns into night!”
Again, this isn’t just to pick on our good friends in Australia. The evidence, however, contrasting anti-Semitism’s assault to the very elements crying out in such fury must be noted in observing these end times. “America, take notice” is the message. That goes for the rest of the world as well.
God’s chosen people—chosen nation—are front and center as the number-one sign of where we stand on God’s prophetic timeline. Although modern Israel is as evil in comportment as the nations of the rest of the world in many ways, its God neither slumbers nor sleeps. He has declared His absolute love and protection over this place he calls“the apple of my eye.”
This is what the Lord says, “He who appoints the sun to shine by day, Who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the Lord Almighty is His Name; Only if these ordinances vanish from My sight,” declares the Lord, “will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before Me.” (Jeremiah 31:35–36)
Temple Mount Tension Mounts
This commentary is written as the Trump administration’s long-awaited peace plan in the Middle East apparently is on its way. As a result, tensions on Mt. Moriah—the Temple Mount—are building.
President Trump said Thursday, January 23, 2020, that he will likely announce the plan before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz’s visit to the US on Tuesday, January 28.
He told reporters while on a flight to Florida that the announcement would come “sometime prior to that…probably, we’ll release it a little bit prior to [the Israelis’ visit].”
He later walked back the statement, tweeting that the timeline was purely speculative at this point.
If those plans are ultimately carried through, however, it will be not only a significant event for what’s going on politically in America, but, more importantly in terms of heaven’s considerations, something that will rivet the attention of those who watch for prophetic stage-setting.
The Muslim world in particular is already up in arms, emotionally at least. Israel, of course, is at the center of rage and volatility.
Tensions were high on the Temple Mount amid calls for mass attendance at Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque and reports that the Trump Administration’s Deal of the Century peace plan would be released within the week.
Israeli security forces arrested multiple Palestinian activists in Jerusalem and dispersed worshipers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, as Palestinians continued to call for mass attendance at Friday dawn prayers at holy sites throughout the West Bank and Gaza. At least two people were injured on the Temple Mount as police used stun grenades and rubber bullets, according to the Palestinian Quds news. One worshiper was arrested. (“Tensions High on Temple Mount Amid Peace Plan Reports,” Jerusalem Post, Rapture Ready News, January 24, 2020)
The Deal of the Century, as it has become known, has long been on the Trump administration’s agenda. The Israel-hating Muslim world and the overwhelmingly anti-Israel forces prevalent in the UN know that this president follows up on promises. This has doubly ratcheted up tensions surrounding Trump’s comment to reporters.
Indications are strong that something is indeed in the making, because actions to prepare for probable troubles began well in advance of the president’s remark.
Preparations for possible clashes began even before initial reports about the possible imminent release of the Deal of the Century. Israel Police signed orders to keep Palestinian activists from the site due to fears that clashes could break out similarly to last week, when similar calls were made for mass attendance for Friday prayers at the mosque. Police have been instructed to disperse any disturbances by force. (Ibid.)
Hamas called for the world of Islam to come to alert. In a press release, the organization declared:
The Israeli occupation’s attempts to judaize Jerusalem and holy sites are an alarming sign that must prompt our Arab and Islamic Ummah (community), along with the free people of the world to intervene immediately. We call for similar Fajr prayers to be organized in all Arab and Islamic capitals for the sake of Al-Aqsa and holy places in Palestine.
As any Middle East observer knows, when it comes to the Muslim world, the actions taken rarely stay within the boundaries of “prayers.” Any action by the president in conjunction with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government will be met with elevated hostility. In the matter of laying out the areas surrounding the Temple Mount, there is a potential for war, bringing the millions of the Muslim world into the fray.
This is the fear of UN diplomats and the geopoliticians. However, it is not the fear of students of Bible prophecy. All-out war will not occur—at least, not in the sense of world-rending calamity.
A peace of sorts will be made, the “false peace” of Daniel 9:26–27. It will indeed bring on all-out war, the war called Armageddon.
And this is what we who are prophecy students and observers of world issues and events must caution: That “false peace” will initiate man’s greatest of all wars.
Joel, the prophet, gave the lethal formula that will produce this final war of the age. We’ve looked at it many times:
I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land. (Joel 3:2)
We who observe end-times issues and events in light of God’s Word must urge President Trump about the deadly folly of “parting” God’s chosen land to try to make peace in the region. We hope the president listens to voices like Dr. Robert Jefress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas. These, we hope, will inform the president in explicit terms. Don’t be complicit in setting the stage for producing the deadly “peace” predicted by Daniel the prophet.
Building toward Rapture
Listening to the news as I began my morning, the host of the morning program was lauding the Trump administration’s amazing accomplishments—despite the fact that President Trump is in the middle of only the third impeachment trial in the history of the nation.
The “wins” just keep coming for this president, the show’s host was saying. —Thus while he has faced the bitterest of attacks during his first three years since his inauguration.
Always, of course, I look at news while keeping in mind Bible prophecy. That’s what being a ”watchman on the wall” is all about.
The host said, after going through the many hate-filled, angry rages Mr. Trump has endured, “Construction is at a thirteen-year high.”
The declaration punched my “prophetic-observer” button. The Scripture recording what the Lord, Himself, gave about the very day of His next catastrophic intervention into the affairs of fallen man echoed in my still-awakening brain.
Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. (Luke 17:2–-30)
The word “builded” in the KJV, combined with the host’s word “construction,” is what triggered my thinking on the title of the commentary.
As I’ve written before and continue to believe, Jesus was, in this Luke passage (as well as in the Matthew 24:36–42 account of “the days of Noah and days of Lot” prophecy), foretelling an unusually robust economy at the time of His next intervention into this fallen world. That will be the Rapture of the Church, the calling of all believers of this Church Age into His presence.
After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. (Revelation 4:1)
Every economic indicator suggests that the nation is at the moment in record territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average continues to build toward 30,000, having just the past couple of weeks hit the 29,000 mark.
Construction—building—is at a thirteen-year high, as the program’s host informed. Trade deals and other phenomenal economic trends, such as a coming explosion in agricultural exports (can you say “extraordinary planting”?) is in the offing. The economic uptick is stunning in its movement toward…toward what?
The escalation in the markets and most every other stratum of fiscal indicators continues. This is happening even though the underlying structure of the tremendous uptick is fatally flawed. The undergirding simply cannot, if reality prevails, support the weight of the multiple trillions of dollars that can never be found to match what is needed to resolve the debt that’s been accumulated.
So, what is the outcome? Toward what end is this untenable rising economy building?
A number of experts in finance and economy say there will soon be a reset, an adjustment of disastrous proportion. The great, economic structure being built will collapse under its own weight, bringing on a depression worse than that of the 1930s.
However, the highest-profile economic gurus—those seen on the most noted broadcast and cable networks—see no end to the build toward…again, toward what?
The facts about economic circumstance are like so many things in today’s daily news; they are both true and false. They are based upon perception and spin in many cases. This is because we live in a world where people would rather believe a lie than face truth.
When Jesus spoke about truth to Pontius Pilate just before the crucifixion, He elicited the answer that fallen mankind prefers: “What is truth?”
Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all. (John 18:38–39, emphasis added)
The sudden return of Jesus Christ is the truth about where this building economic bubble is leading. His return is truth that even many among professing believers in Christ deny to varying extents. I refer to those who mock the pre-Trib Rapture. They say, in effect, “Where is the promise of His coming?”
Again, about the prophesied economic uptick, Jesus said:
But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. (Luke 17:29–30)
Can it be that the unprecedented boom, at least in perception, means we’re building toward that stupendous moment of Rapture?
And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. (Luke 21:28)
Satan’s Wrath, God’s Wrath
Today’s article came about as a most profound heavenly influence. Because it involves matters deeply personal in terms of family relationships, I must include details in an oblique way.
In beginning the search for a subject to address, I settled on the topic you see above: “Satan’s Wrath, God’s Wrath.” My thought was to contrast the two kinds of anger and their methods of imposition upon humanity.
No sooner had I settled on how to begin, the heavenly influence I mentioned made it clear why I was prompted to choose the topic I had already chosen.
A message from a family member that was disturbing immediately sent me into the position of prayer to address the Father about the matter at hand. By the time my prayer was finished, the impression that I received was forthcoming. I knew instantly that the assault causing the problem was from our ever-present enemy; Satan and his minions were at work.
The old serpent is working his nefarious evil to circumvent God’s protection over me, personally. Satan, for God’s own reasons, can’t directly get at me for the moment, so he is attacking those I love with all my heart.
I’m not one who claims to hear the literal voice of God or have constant, ecstatic experiences or heavenly interventions. As a matter of fact, I think I’m too much the other way. I’ve expressed on many occasions that the Good Friday 2011 clinical death I experienced after a widow-maker heart attack and the subsequent visit to the heavenly environs was something that went against my stodgy, Baptist sensibility.
But, it is a flawed sensibility, I now know. The Lord does indeed intervene—sometimes in dramatic, even spectacular, ways. I’m still wary—I believe properly so—about claims of supernatural experiences, but God does intervene.
He did so in the genesis of this commentary, as I’ve said.
The thrust of this article was and is to point out the evil within Satan’s wrath and the absolute purity and goodness of God’s wrath.
As many who read these articles know, I believe we’ve been witnessing, through the political goings-on in America before and after the 2016 presidential elections, Satan’s wrath. The old serpent’s plans to build the platform for his so-called New World Order have been disrupted. The installing of a man in the office of president who believes in national borders and sticking to constitutional principles has taken Satan off his game plan.
The result is infectious rage. It has metastasized within the US and world populations to great extent, driving those who mostly oppose godly principles of personal and governmental conduct into a reprobate mindset. They call good evil, and evil good. Satan’s wrath is thus manifest for all to observe.
It is directed at all who oppose his desire to completely do away with anything godly. This is why anti-Semitism is again underway and growing. It will reach levels that even will exceed Hitler’s hatred for God’s chosen people.
Satan’s wrath is why hatred against Christians is progressing geometrically. The following news item illustrates:
Shortly before President Trump signed phase one of the historic trade deal with China, a Chinese pastor described the fear and intimidation believers are enduring under the Communist government.
“The Chinese government has now placed severe restrictions and policies on the house churches asking neighbors to spy on one another, pressuring school teachers and college professors to betray and sign a statement to denounce their own faith as well to do the same to students,” Pastor Jean Zhu said.
Zhu described the Chinese government’s alarming actions as Christian persecution has continued to spread around the world…
Some 260 million Christians have been living in areas of high persecution — that’s one in eight believers worldwide — an increase of 10 percent compared to last year, according to the watchdog group Open Doors USA’s 2020 World Watch List.
“The drivers of persecution are still very significantly entrenched. Islamic extremism is spreading in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia,” David Curry, the president and CEO of Open Doors USA, told Fox News. “Then you add this rise of surveillance Every year, Open Doors USA, a bipartisan grassroots organization, has released a list of the 50 most dangerous countries for Christians. North Korea topped the list for the 19th year in a row, but China became the focus this year because of its forced labor camps and oppression of Uighur Muslims that’s expected to spread and worsen. (Caleb Parke, “Christians see ‘alarming’ trend worldwide as China builds ‘blueprint of persecution’,” Fox News, January 18, 2020)
Satan’s rage is also seen in every direction in America one looks. Businesses are boycotted and have lawsuits filed against them because of “hate crimes”—for example, bakeries that refuse to prepare wedding cakes displaying that the marriage is same-sex suffer public obloquy. Restaurants are sued because their owners support biblical precepts when it comes to homosexuality or right-to-life issues contrary to abortion activists’ demands. The anti-Christian forces display, with increasing vigor, Satan’s hatred and wrath.
God’s Word warns of that rage and wrath:
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8)
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:12–13)
Satan’s wrath sits heavily upon humanity because he wants to destroy God’s creation called mankind. His wrath is steeped totally in hatred. God’s wrath, by contrast, is the ultimate expression of His absolute love for mankind.
He so loved us that He poured out His wrath on His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He did so while Jesus hung on that old, rugged cross and took on all the past, present, and future sin of the world. God did this so that anyone who accepts Christ’s substitutionary, sin-death sacrifice as His grace gift for salvation will be saved—once and forever.
God—Jesus Christ, Himself—will one eternal day do away with sin and rebellion forever at the “Great White Throne,” where God’s mighty judgment and wrath will express His perfect love. There will be no more sin and death—forever.
He has promised that ultimate expression of His love through His Holy Word. John wrote the following:
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. (Revelation 21:5-7)
God Is Still Awake!
A recent article in The Washington Post inadvertently mentioned it through an attributed quotation. Evidence forthcoming from the elimination of Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Quds Force, the division of Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), seems to validate it. As a matter of fact, every breaking-news story seems alive with it. Yet we who “watch” the unfolding of issues and events already know it in the deepest reaches of our spiritual hearts and minds.
The Word of God says it all: “Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4).
The Washington Post article said in part:
But as conflict in the Middle East intensified and natural disasters struck, some voices are taking the opportunity to offer biblical interpretations. Religious teachers and authors, especially some conservative Christians, often draw on these kinds of current events as examples of how various predictions and descriptions in the Old and New Testaments could be coming true.
Many of these religious leaders view actions in Iran, a Muslim-majority country, as playing a special role in these predictions, which usually focus on the apocalypse, or the end of days.
California-based prophecy writer Bill Salus told viewers this week on the show “Prophecy Watchers” that “Iran is the elephant in the room in the Middle East … he’s the bully.” Salus suggested on the show that God is angry with the current Iranian leadership and that Christians should watch recent events as likely to fulfill biblical prophecies.
“I really do believe this is going to lead to other things,” Salus said. “This is number one on my radar.” (Sarah Bulliam Baily, “Iran tensions could fulfill apocalyptic biblical prophecies, some religious teachers say,” by Sarah Bulliam Baily, Washington Post, January 10, 2020)
Bill Salus does seem to have a point that the evidence validates—at least to us who believe Israel’s God neither sleeps nor slumbers. God is awake and looks to be angry with the leadership of Iran.
The tragic, mistaken shooting-down of the Ukrainian 737 at the time of the missiles roaring toward Iraq in the attack on American assets certainly seems more than just coincidence. Some believe God’s hand is in the tragedy.
This begs the question: Is God a capricious God?
Does He look down from His heavenly throne room and say, “This will show them I AM’s anger?” Is He a volatile, mercurial, unstable, erratic being that acts in such ways?
Absolutely not. But, does He allow acts that bring to light the evil of earthly actors? Yes, absolutely.
The Almighty performed such enlightenment, some prophecy watchers believe, by allowing the world to see the Iranian regime’s dealings with the deaths of those many people aboard the commercial passenger jet. First, they tried to portray it as a probable mechanical failure, then as pilot error, and finally as caused by the American president for his killing of their second in command.
This, incidentally, is the same thing many within the Democrat party’s presidential candidates and much of mainstream news media held—that it was President Trump’s ordering the elimination of Soleimani that caused the accidental shooting-down of the airliner, ultimately.
The lie didn’t work, just like most of the Democrat Party and mainstream news media’s lies haven’t worked.
The Iranian people arose in great numbers, showing they believe the oppressive, Iranian masters who rule over them were and are responsible for the ongoing problems they’re suffering.
It seems that Heaven is making certain truth is told through the evil being perpetrated.
Another signal that this is the case is, I think, wrapped up in Iran’s avaricious determination to develop nuclear weapons so they can have total hegemony over all the Middle East, particularly Israel. —Also so they can threaten the rest of the world, if opposed in their evil doings.
It is more than interesting that at the time the missiles were being launched toward American assets in Iraq and the airliner was mistakenly shot down, the very region of Iran’s nuclear-development facilities we’ve been mentioning was shaken by earthquakes.
An earthquake struck Iran near the Islamic Regime’s Bushehr nuclear plant on Wednesday according to reports. The event happened as missiles were launched at Iraqi bases housing US troops.
A USGS quake map published two separate graphs southest of Borzajan — one at 7.50 am IST (10 km SE, magnitude 4.9) and another at 8:49 am IST (17 km SE, magnitude 4.5).
The chart reveals the respective locations of the earthquake’s epicentre and the town of Bushehr, which is close to the site of Tehran’s nuclear power plant. (David Sidman, “ Magnitude 5 Earthquake Near Iran’s Nuclear Facility,” January 8, 2020, Rapture Ready News, January 11, 2020)
It is the second 5.0 magnitude earthquake in the area in recent months.
Nothing takes place without Heaven’s notice. God is not an existential Creator. He is awake and aware. Let us, as “watchmen on the wall,” be the same in these closing days of the Age of Grace. Let us watch and forewarn.
And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch. (Mark 13:37)
Coming Economic Crash
The state of the economic condition of America and the world is often the subject of conversation in and around my office environs. One of our financial “experts,” whose name you would recognize, consistently voices our collective amazement. The comment goes something like: “The economy being in this building bubble for so long, without a massive correction, is unprecedented.”
We all agree that is true, and that the fact has to go far beyond the natural world of fiscal reality. The economy is propped up, we conjecture, held up by supernatural rather than natural forces.
By this, we who are in our ”conflab” sessions (yes, I know the word is confab, not conflab) mean we believe the holdup of the crash that is inevitable, according to all that is part of reality, has some heavenly determined purpose.
Again, I wrote of this as far back as 2010. I wrote that I was convinced–and remain so—that neither the United States nor the world would experience a crash of catastrophic dimension, at least not during this dispensation—the dispensation of grace (Church Age).
Those who emailed during 2010–2011 expressed that some in secular media as well as high-profile prophecy teachers were predicting any-day financial collapse. We would one morning awaken to a world like in that of the Dark Ages, economically speaking, the emailers feared.
My series at the time, “Scanning a Fearful Future,” involved ten articles on Rapture Ready that painted a different picture. I believe I was impressed by the Holy Spirit that such a collapse was not going to occur—at least not at that time.
I’m still impressed that such a dire situation is not in the offing—not yet, at least.
A recent opinion piece shed some light on the matters I believe are involved in consideration of the economy and biblical perspective. The article sets the stage for prophetic eventuality.
Financial writer and book author John Rubino sees the world careening toward a debt reset at an increasing pace.
Rubino explains, “The coming monetary reset and what that means for gold and what that means for the rest of the global financial system, you don’t need a war to bring that about because we are making enough financial mistakes that will get us there in no time flat now without geopolitical turmoil….”
“If you add a big war in the Middle East into the equation, then anything can happen. A scenario right now that is very, very feasible is we start shooting in the Middle East and Russia and China is on the other side of this in one way or another. They help Iran, and we have our allies helping us, and we start using these next generation weapons that are breathtakingly powerful. Nobody has any idea what’s going to happen when we start throwing these things at each other…. Oil spikes to $100—$150 per barrel, and that tips the already extremely fragile global financial system over the edge. So, we get the ‘Greater Depression’ or the monetary reset or a hyperinflation or whatever we get sooner rather than later. It’s a disaster for everybody when it happens that way.” (Tyler Durden, “The End Stage Has Begun,” Rubino Warns “We’re Past The Point Of No Return” Zero Hedge, Rapture Ready News, January 10, 2020)
The writer is correct. Such a scenario—or scenarios—would, it seems, bring American and world economies into an era that would likely eclipse, in disastrous ramifications, the Great Depression of the 1930s.
World debt is at an astronomical high—one absolutely unfathomable back in 2010–-2011, when I wrote ”Scanning a Fearful Future.” The tremendous fiscal gravity should have long ago brought the great adjustment the writer claims as necessary and inevitable.
In that series, I explained why I believe that crash, that great “reset,” won’t happen during this dispensation. For America and the world to experience a total economic collapse—or even a collapse of tremendous, if not catastrophic, proportion—would mean the world situation would take years, if not decades, to recover. That is, the world would not be anything like Jesus, Himself, prophesied for the time of His next catastrophic intervention into the affairs of fallen mankind.
The Lord said that when He next intervenes, there would be buying, selling, marrying, giving in marriage, building, and planting—i.e., business would be going along just fine, like in the days of Lot, when Sodom was perking right along when the fire and brimstone began to fall.
As a matter of fact, I am convinced the Lord was prophesying that a great, economic boom will be in place when He next intervenes. A great, economic boom is what the economic experts are telling us we are having at present. The Dow Jones Industrials went over 29,000 points on Friday, January 10—something not thought anywhere near likely before the Trump presidency.
Jesus, in giving the “days of Lot” prophecy, wasn’t talking about the time of His Second Advent as given in Revelation 19:11. At that time, two-thirds to three-fourths of mankind will have been killed through the twenty-one specific judgments of God’s wrath upon a rebellious world. It will not be business as usual at that terrible time in human history.
“So what!?” you say. “So what if the world collapses, then takes all that time to recover? The Rapture could be that far off in the future.”
That, of course, is possible. We can’t name the timing of that blessed hope’s intervention. But, we are told to determine the times and seasons—the general time frame of that great event. We are told to “look up and lift our heads” when we “see all these things begin to come to pass.”
What things? What are we to be looking for that will tip us off as to the nearness to “our redemption drawing near”?
“Convergence” is the word we hear most often in prophetic terms. At least, it is the term we who are of the pre-Trib view of the Rapture use. It means the coming together of all the signs Jesus and the prophets gave in the Olivet Discourse and throughout God’s Word, signals that indicate we’re at the very end of this dispensation and near the beginning of the Tribulation, the last seven years of human history before Christ’s Second Coming. We are seeing these many signals proliferating on a daily basis!
Jesus forewarned that judgment would begin falling the very day He is next revealed. That will be when the whole world will know something of unprecedented, world-shaking import has occurred. That will be the moment when Jesus will say “Come up here!”
All believers will vanish from this judgment-bound planet and appear with their Lord and Bridegroom.
The collapse is coming. But first, I believe, so will the Lord Jesus Christ.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
…
Terry James Prophecy Line 