Prophecy Line

Damascus: Alternative Thoughts

Like so many signals of these being the last days of the fleeting Church Age, the destruction of Damascus, Syria, is a matter we see blazing across hourly headlines.

Again, Isaiah the prophet said the following:

The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. (Isaiah 17:1)

Every day, news of military action and diplomatic maneuverings comes from Syria, the oldest occupied city of recorded history. It is the city on the road to which Saul of Tarsus had his life-changing encounter with the ascended Jesus Christ. The location is steeped in biblically prophetic importance.

One recent news item demonstrates the significance of Damascus in the ongoing Middle East machinations that are leading to Armageddon and Christ’s Second Advent.

Israeli aircraft have reportedly attacked a location on the outskirts of the Syrian capital of Damascus late Thursday (local), a security source told Reuters.

Widely circulating images have emerged on social media showing plumes of smoke rising high over buildings which were struck. Syrian state media subsequently said that eight army soldiers were injured in the attack.

The fresh Israeli aggression could be another targeted assassination operation against Iranian generals or IRGC officers, and certainly would also be intended to signal Israel remains undeterred by Iran’s April 13th attack, which was in retaliation for the prior Israeli attack on Iran’s embassy in Damascus…

This new attack demonstrates also that Iran-Israel tensions which last month nearly led to a major regional war are not over. (“Israeli Warplanes Strike Damascus as Iran Tensions Still on Edge,” Tyler Durden, ZeroHedge, May 2, 2024)

To write that the tensions that nearly led to war are not over is a profound understatement when thinking in terms of Bible prophecy. Damascus has become central in those tensions as the stage is being set for the Gog-Magog war of Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39.

Bible prophecy watchers, including the great scholars, have most often thought the destruction of this ancient city in its modern form will be nuclear in nature. This makes sense to those who observe from the view of biblical prophecy, because it indicates the city will not be habitable again. I have held to this understanding that the destruction of Damascus will be due to a nuclear weapon of some sort being used.

This brings me to the “alternative thoughts” mentioned in the title of this commentary.

A long-time fellow watchman on the wall who is a frequent visitor to Raptureready.com emailed this past week his alternative view of the Isaiah 17:1 prophecy. I find it compelling, thus will share it with you here in its entirety.

Dear Terry James,

I do very much enjoy the rich bounty of articles you provide, yet I feel compelled to address a common error being touted by several scholars in regards to the destruction of Damascus.

Many scholars today have speculated that the destruction of Damascus as a ruinous heap will be the result of an Israeli nuclear weapon. For a city the size of Damascus that would make sense in committing such devastation in a short period of time. The problem with such speculation, however, is verse 2 of Isaiah 17: “The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.” It is assured that flocks will not graze on soil contaminated with nuclear radiation.

When examining this prophecy in full, we can also identify that it is the hand of God that brings Damascus to a ruinous heap for His glory: “At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 17:7). In addition, we see within the context of this prophecy the presence of a confederation that is rebuked by the hand of God in verses 12–14 of Isaiah 17.

I often wondered, who is the “he” of Isaiah 17:14? “And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.” It is, therefore, my personal opinion that this “he” is Gog of Ezekiel 38–39. We know from examining the prophecy of Gog/Magog that it is the hand of God that gathers this mighty confederation from the north against Israel for His glory.

It is clear as prophesied Gog/Magog comes from the north against the borders of Israel; there is little doubt that they will assemble in southern Syria along the Golan frontier. In Ezekiel 39:5, we are informed that this confederation will fall upon the open field or plain. In southern Syria, there is a vast plain known as the Plain of Hauran adjacent to Damascus and the Golan Heights. This fertile plain also happens to be a volcanic plateau with many dormant volcanic cones. Interesting, when we consider the fire and brimstone brought upon this confederation by the hand of God as detailed in Ezekiel 38:22.

One of the key elements scholars miss today is the great earthquake of Ezekiel 38:19, 20 that shakes the land of Israel. It is my belief that this great earthquake’s epicenter will be directed against the main contingent of the Gog/Magog confederation assembled in southern Syria. I further believe it is this great earthquake that brings Damascus and surrounding cities to a ruinous heap in fulfillment of Isaiah 17:1.

In conclusion, I will say that there is little doubt that the “he” of Isaiah 17:14 is none other than “Gog” of Ezekiel 38:2. And that day of Isaiah 17:7 is the same day of Ezekiel 39:8, 13.  Thank you for your time and the opportunity to address these things.

In Christ alone,

Rodney Dezar

It is heartening to know others are observing these times so near our Lord’s call to us in the Rapture. Recognizing the stage-setting for the Damascus prophecy fulfillment, to those who obey Christ’s command to “watch” (Mark 13: 37), means they are looking for “the blessed hope” (Titus 2:13).

Again, Jesus said:

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)     

Pre-Trib Trigger Points

Many within the Pre-Trib Rapture belief camp understand that the Rapture is dealt with in Jesus’ Olivet Discourse. My dear friend, the late Dave Hunt, gave an excellent session on the subject, which he was assigned to address at a conference.

However, in his uncompromising, straight-ahead way of exposition, Dave changed the title of that session early on the morning of December, 1998, at the Pre-Trib Study Group gathering in Dallas from “Is the Rapture in the Olivet Discourse?” to “The Rapture Is in the Olivet Discourse.” He told us who were in attendance that he just couldn’t see how the Rapture of the Church was not in that tremendous prophetic teaching the Lord Himself gave as an answer to His disciples’ question: “What will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the world [age]?”

I have both the transcript and the audio of that session; they are treasures I pull out every once in a while to bolster my understanding of God’s Holy Word on the profound matters involved in the pre-Trib Rapture of believers.

Jesus, in the discourse, gave a number of signals that would be prevalent at the time of His return to earth in the Second Coming. Mixed within His description of coming back in the Second Advent was the first phase of that return to the earth.

The first things He said to look for were deception and deceiversHe went on to say there would be great upheaval among the populations of earth. There would be, He said, great ethnic strife.

He further said there would be signs in the sun, moon, and stars. There would be pestilences and an increase of earthquakes in many places, He said; eventually, these terrible things going on would get so frightening that people’s hearts would fail them when they look at what is coming their way.

He stated that the entire world of rebels against God and His order would increasingly come to hate both the disciples—who, of course, were Christians by this time—and the Jewish people. The people with reprobate minds (Romans 1:28) would think to kill both classes of those who are associated with God. For unbelieving Israel, the Jews of the seven-year Tribulation era, persecution by the one who will become Antichrist, the world’s final great dictator, would eventuate in the most terrible time in human history. It would be the same for those, both Jews and Gentiles, who will have accepted Christ for salvation during that horrendous time. Most of these would be martyred—many beheaded—for their belief. For those accepting Antichrist’s satanic mark (Revelation 13:16–18), the wrath and judgment of God would be even worse than for the martyred saints.

So we come to Luke 21:28. Jesus commanded all who are alive when these signals become obvious to do the following:

And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

With this great commandment by the Lord Himself to look for these signals of His return in the first phase of His Second Advent–that is, when they begin to come to pass—we must consider whether we’re now witnessing the pre-Trib trigger points to the Rapture of the Church.

The things we’ve seen “coming to pass” for quite some time include the following:

  • Deception in every direction we look. Just the political deception alone is in our faces daily. But the lies coming even from governmental institutions, attempting to change America into anti-God mindset, cannot be missed.
  • The seas of humanity are roaring; there is great ethnic upheaval. Protests are no longer peaceful, but are turning into physical battles, especially among the young on the campuses of higher education. Much of this turmoil is being fomented by the very professors who are supposed to be teaching the young.
  • The hatred of the Jews is on the rise as it was in the late 1930s of Nazi Germany, bringing to mind our Lord telling about the hatred that would eventuate. Zechariah’s words (Zechariah chapter 12) are being borne out. Israel and Jerusalem are becoming a “cup of trembling” and a “burdensome stone” for the entire world.
  • Additionally, we see the stage being set for Antichrist controls once the Rapture takes the Church to Glory. Artificial intelligence, fused with demonically inspired acumen, will give Satan’s man of sin godlike powers in the eyes of those left behind on earth to suffer under Antichrist’s rule.
  • And, of course, there is the unmistakable pre-Trib trigger point of looming globalism storming upon the world scene in preparation for that son of perdition. Antichrist will take over when the Restrainer resident within the Christians who are with the Lord in the Rapture no longer holds back evil. Antichrist’s dictatorship is even now in its late stage of development, as the following analysis indicates.

Planetary Emergency

Over the last couple years, the phrase “planetary emergency” has become increasingly used by the United Nations and aligned organizations to describe their belief that the planet is passing from various states of crisis to emergencies from which humanity might not return, unless drastic action is taken. We have even seen the release of opinion pieces calling for “a formal declaration of a ‘planetary emergency’ by the UN General Assembly at the Summit of the Future in September and the activation of an ‘emergency platform.’”

The calls for declaration of an emergency have also reached the White House. Last week, Bloomberg reported the Biden administration is considering declaring a climate emergency.

“White House officials have renewed discussions about potentially declaring a national climate emergency, an unprecedented step that could unlock federal powers to stifle oil development,” Bloomberg wrote.

White House spokesperson Angelo Fernandez Hernandez told Bloomberg that Biden “has treated the climate crisis as an emergency since day one.” (“UN 2.0 Coming This Fall—Setting the Stage for Global Government,” Derrick Broze, Activist Post, May 1, 2024)

All we must do is observe the anti-Semitism—the growing, worldwide hatred of Jews—to know we are very late in the final hours of this Age of Grace. I believe that soon Jews in America will become so fearful as to want to move to Israel, where God’s Word says all of Israel will eventually accept their Messiah. Now, of course, that means only the prophesied remnant of Israel will believe and be saved to go into the Millennium under the King of all kings. But the things that are coming against Jews of America at this very moment look to be something that will only grow worse in the prophetic sense. Likely this movement to Israel in total won’t happen until all Christians have gone to be with Christ. Few defenders of Israel will be left once the Rapture happens. And all the pre-Trib trigger points seem to be in place for that to occur very, very soon.

Whether Jew or Gentile, here is how to go to the Lord Jesus Christ when He calls all believers to Himself, thus fulfilling His promise of Revelation 3:10:

That if you will confess with your mouth the lord Jesus, and will 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. (Romans 10:9–10)

Terry James interview with Pastor Happy Caldwell on VTN

Terry and Pastor Caldwell explore the ominous prophetic import wrapped up in the swiftly developing technology known as AI. Artificial Intelligence can also be consider as Antichrist Intelligence. Learn about matters in this regard through this program.

The Middle East Crisis in Biblical Perspective | Dr. David Reagan

The Middle East Crisis in Biblical Perspective | Dr. David Reagan

Here is the direct link if you have trouble opening the video:  https://vimeo.com/942857575/e5b7de7d41?share=copy

Terry James and Jonathan Brentner interview – SkyWatch TV

CHRISTIANS ARE UNINFORMED ABOUT THE END TIMES? | Terry James & Jonathan Brentner Pt 1
WHAT WILL IT BE LIKE IN HEAVEN? | Terry James & Jonathan Brentner Pt 2

Profound Changes Indeed!

I wrote an article in 2020 with the title: Profound Changes Must Come. I’ve included a large block of that article here.

Like the current article’s title indicates, those changes, and they are profound, have indeed happened. Here is the gist of that 2020 commentary and my current take on what it all might mean moving forward.

(From the 2020 article)

While we investigate constantly the many signals that future Bible prophecy is on the verge of fulfillment, there remains the truth of the matters involved: Tremendous change must take place in order for that fulfillment to actually transpire.

The United States of America, for example, must fade from view. It is far from that prospect at present; in fact, our nation is front and center at every level of international interaction.

Under the Trump administration, the nation has become that much more at the center of world affairs. The US president is a powerful force, with a personal presence and personality that when other leaders are in his company, they are changed from their otherwise contrarian demeanors.

This is not to just laud Mr. Trump. It is fact. Even the Chinese dictator, Xi Jinping, when in the direct presence of Mr. Trump, has been almost acquiescent in past meetings in Florida and other places. The president has proven “stage presence,” which seems, at the very least, to impress and, in some instances, to intimidate.

In major meetings with other world leaders, America is front and center in determining the direction of those gatherings because Donald J. Trump is there and seems to personally take charge. The other leaders—at least those of the Western world—seem to acquiesce to his suggestions and proposals. Of course, their demeanors often change once they’re no longer face to face with the president. In many cases, they go back to their contradictory ways.

The point is that America is in a stronger position for leadership in the world than it’s been in many, many years. This cannot stand from the standpoint of Bible prophecy.

As we’ve looked at many times, America is found by name nowhere in Scripture. We concede it could be there by implication, like when we infer that the “young lions” said to be among the nations who protest the Gog-Magog invasion (Ezekiel chapter 38) could refer to America as an offspring of England. But that is a weak position in trying to make the point that America is in Bible prophecy for certain.

So there must be a radical change in this matter alone. America, the most powerful nation ever to have existed in terms of economic, technological, and military achievements in the history of mankind, must suffer profound diminishment, at the very least.

And Mr. Trump and America are at the heart of another significant change that must take place. It involves history’s most important nation from Heaven’s perspective—Israel.

Israel, in its own right, stands as the most powerful nation among its Middle Eastern counterparts. It has nuclear weaponry and technological capability to engage in war, the likes of which none among the diplomatic world can fully know—i.e., the weaponry that the Israeli military possesses is a highly protected secret.

On top of that, Israel is now, under the Trump administration, backed up by the world’s only superpower, the United States of America.

This is perhaps the greatest factor that must undergo dramatic change. The change must take place in the most astonishing way possible because Israeli political and military leadership, regardless of whether conservative or liberal, hawkish or dovish, are in agreement. They know they are surrounded by those who hate the nation and who don’t want the Jewish state to exist. Therefore, Israel must never give up its vigilance against this surrounding enemy. It must always have the very best defensive and even offensive capability in order to avoid annihilation.

Iran, of course, is Israel’s number-one threat. The ayatollahs are constantly promising to wipe the Jewish state from the Middle East map.

Israel will, it’s stated by those in the know, immediately introduce the so-called Samson Option if it’s ever about to lose in a military conflict. To start war with Israel would likely be to light the fuse that will ignite World War III…

Just considering Israel and America’s positions in current issues and events brings us to conclude that major changes are coming. America must fall or be diminished from its superpower status. Israel must somehow give up its great defensive and offensive military capabilities in order to meet prophetic pronouncements by the prophet Ezekiel.

Ezekiel said Israel will be in “unwalled villages” at the time of the Gog-Magog attack from its north. This means the Jewish state will not be capable of defending itself. Ezekiel says that God promises to do the defending of His chosen people. And it will be an offensive show of power unlike any in history prior to Armageddon itself.

Almost certainly, the Rapture of the Church will bring about the conditions for these profound changes that must take place. Those changes could be initiated…well…in the “twinkling of an eye.”

(Back to today May of 2024)

Need I remind anyone who has kept up with these matters and who read our column articles that the phrase “profound change” is a tremendous understatement? That is, the changes that have taken place since President Trump left office are monumental –to say the least.

America has transformed from a nation of sound mind and sound national body to something people who died prior to 2020 and beyond would, I’m convinced, scarcely recognize.

The orchestration of America’s moving down the road of Prophetic Progression, as my partner in Raptureready.com, Todd Strandberg, has coined the term, has come as from an unseen, supernatural Maestro. The conductor, I have tried to point out through many articles and books, is none other than the leader of the Ephesians 6:12 cabal of wickedness in high places.

Large in Satan’s orchestration and direction was the COVID so-called pandemic that picked up steam just as the November presidential election came. Lockdowns, not only nationally but worldwide, were unlike anything ever seen in human history. The effects on American life were profound. But the effects on the electoral process for the 2020 presidential election were profound indeed. COVID-engendered stay-at-home voting and other things that, in my opinion, led to cheating on a massive scale, brought into the Oval Office in January of 2021 the most destructive administration imaginable –even more destructive than that of Mr. Obama, who promised before his election to “fundamentally transform America.”

As I’ve written before, a portal from the nether regions seems to have been opened and is opening wider by the day. Evil is gushing into our once-blessed nation at a rate that again can only be called Profound.

How else is explainable the woke insanity that has even public school administrators trying to change the gender of young school children by turning them over to those who would think to try to change boys into girls and girls into boys through drugs and even mutilations? And this while, through legal processes, trying to keep parents from interfering?

How else is it explained that LGBTQ-plus entities, only a small percentage of the American culture, are now dictating much of how this society must adhere to Sodom-like ungodliness –or face governmental punitive action? And the symbolic love for Sodom-like wickedness now allowed to be displayed by turning the rainbow colors of the LGBTQ movement upon the White House blatantly demonstrates in dramatic fashion how this once great republic is on the verge of going the way of that wicked, doomed region of Lot’s day.

Those changes I feared were coming are here. I’m not prescient and deserve no credit for predicting what we see has now transpired. It is all in God’s Prophetic Word. That’s why it is important for pastors to preach and teach it to their congregants. That is why it is vital for believers to read and study the Prophetic Word as well as other parts of God’s Word.

The Bible is the only Truth that can tell you and me exactly where we stand on God’s Prophetic Timeline. –Because Jesus Christ is the Word –John 1:1.

Jesus is the Way, Truth and Life. He is the Blessed Hope –the Redeemer– Who is coming to rescue believers from the destruction that is coming upon this nation and world that is filling each and every hour with anti-God evil.

You don’t want to be here when the Lord must Judge and destroy in preparation for His Second Coming. Here is how to be a part of that pre-Tribulation Rescue (Luke 21:28).

“That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and will 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” (Romans 10:9-10).

Assessing the Antichrist Spirit

Radio talk show host Dan Bongino, as of late, has been declaring something to the effect: “There’s a spirit of some kind active in the world. I don’t know… Can’t say what it is… But it’s evil and has the world in turmoil…”

Bongino goes through all that’s going on daily, dealing mostly with politics but including deep dives into cultural issues and the insanity he sees happening. He attributes it to some spirit –a zeitgeist of this strange time– in which everything is upside-down – filled with evil.

He has claimed many times on air to know Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and Lord, all the while a Catholic. And I don’t doubt he is a true believer. This is not to judge him in this matter but rather to point to the fact that he does seem to have at least some insight into what the evil might entail that he and others believe they observe and sense is going on in this world.

Bongino says consistently that many express to him they sense the same existent of an evil spiritual influence that is taking humanity down a destructive pathway. And this is what I would like to try to address in this commentary –thus the title Assessing the Antichrist spirit.

John, the apostle who was perhaps closest to Jesus in brotherly relationship while the Lord was in physical flesh on Earth, was inspired to write the following.

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world” (1 John 4:1-3).

That evil spirit that concerns Mr. Bongino and many of his friends and colleagues is made manifest by John’s Holy Spirit-inspired revelation. The spirit of Antichrist is as prevalent as in the apostle’s time of writing about it.

Bongino says that wickedness he senses is “spiritual.” I don’t believe he knows that it is of the same “spirit” or spirituality of which John forewarned, however. Like so many secularists, he sees it as some spirit of the age, a zeitgeist ideological force from the human intellect that bubbles up from time to time to come against human rationality and interaction.

The evil within humanity, I think he and others of the non-Holy-Spirit-influenced mind believe, is born out of those among us who want all others to come under their self-centered control. These seem to think it is out of some form of mental illness –a psychosis of some inexplicable description—that sets in motion the insanity that desires to inflict authoritarian madness.

They are not far from wrong about it being an illness. It is a spiritual illness, the same disease that its first infected carrier deliberately accepted in place of God’s Perfect Order. Lucifer’s 5 “I wills” of Isaiah chapter 14 have brought forth the iniquity infecting and affecting the human race since he looked admiringly at himself into that mirror of iniquity.

Here are a few news excerpts of proof that the Antichrist spirit wafts wickedly as ever among today’s inhabitants of Earth.

Haiti warlord ‘Barbecue’ orders gangs to ‘burn every house you find’ & storm presidential palace amid bloody coup fears. HAITI’S capital has been rocked by a fresh wave of violence as warlord Barbecue ordered his thug army to “burn every house you find.”…

Ben Bergquam Reports: Columbia Professors Come Out in Force to Support of Anti-Israel Protesters – Refuse to Condemn Hamas Killers…

Pro-Palestinian, Anti-Israel Protests Spread to Yale, UMichigan, NYU, and Across America. Several days of protests, assaults on Jewish students, and chaos at Columbia University in New York City have now spread to other American college campuses…

‘This Is 1938’: Dozens Arrested At Yale, Columbia Pauses In-person Classes Amid Rising Anti-Semitism…

PARENTAL WARNING: Popular Kids TV Show Introducing “Lesbian Moms.” If you’re a parent or grandparent, you probably know about the kids TV show “Bluey”… Since its debut in 2018, Bluey has become a critically acclaimed show, gaining popularity worldwide after its addition to Disney+ in 2019. So what do you do when you’re widely loved by parents and children alike? You use that fame to push the LGBTQ agenda, of course!…

WATCH: Houston Police Union Issues Warning That the Texas City is ‘Not Safe’ as ‘Many Suspected Murderers’ Are Walking the Streets. The Houston Police Officers’ Union has issued a warning that the Texas city is “not safe” and “many suspected murderers and capital murderers” are walking the streets on bonds.

The spirit of Antichrist is most observable at this moment through rising anti-Semitism. Satan’s hatred for the people God calls “chosen” is an Ephesians 6:12 globalist agenda thrust from every direction upon the horizon of Prophetic progression. The so-called intellectual institutions of America –the elite higher education institutions– are particularly a collective focal point in considering just how powerfully influential is that spirit that will ultimately eventuate in the worst tyrant of all human history inflicting death and destruction upon humanity of the Tribulation era.

Assessing the spirit of Antichrist at this moment leaves no other conclusion. The world is on the very edge of that man of sin, the son of perdition, the Antichrist himself being almost ready to step from the shadows of obscurity and onto the stage of man’s final years leading to Christ’s Second Coming.

You can avoid facing that hideous creature from the Abyss by doing the following –thus going to Jesus Christ when He calls believers to Himself in the Rapture.

“That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and will 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” (Romans 10:9-10).

–Terry

Pakistan Ministry Update

Dear Brother Terry & all supporters,

Good Morning!

 I am writing to you with a heart full of gratitude and thanks, not only to you but to all our beloved brothers and sisters who have generously contributed their financial gifts to print and distribute “Prophecy Power” in Urdu language.

This unwavering support and dedication to spreading the message of faith and hope have been a source of inspiration for me and countless others. Your commitment to this project has truly made an unbelievable difference in the lives of many, and I am deeply grateful for your partnership in this endeavor.

I cannot express enough how much your generosity means to me. Your willingness to give of your time, energy, and finances to ensure that the message of “Prophecy Power” reaches souls in Urdu-speaking communities is a testament to your love for our Lord Jesus Christ and your passion for His kingdom.

I also want to extend my heartfelt thanks to all our beloved Pastors, Evangelists as well as all brothers and sisters who have contributed their gifts to make this project possible. Your generosity has made it possible for us to print and distribute “Prophecy Power” in Urdu, a language that holds great significance for many souls longing to hear the prophetic message of our Lord’s imminent return.

Indeed, this message is preparing souls for the glorious day when our Lord Jesus Christ will return to this planet earth to collect His Blood-bought people from every corner of the earth. Your support in printing and distributing this message in Urdu is playing a vital role in fulfilling the Great Commission and bringing hope to those who are eagerly awaiting His return.

As we continue to work together in spreading the message of faith and prophecy, may the Lord bless you all abundantly for your selfless dedication and may He use “Prophecy Power” in Urdu to touch the hearts and souls of many, leading them into a deeper relationship with Him.

Once again, from the depths of my heart, thank you, Terry, my dear friend and most loving brother, and thank you to all our beloved brothers and sisters, for your incredible generosity and support. May the Lord continue to guide and bless you in all your endeavors.

In Christ’s unfailing love,

Rev. Anil Jasper

The Two-Minute Warning :: By Jan Markell

Have you ever been betrayed? Maybe you have more than once. Maybe many times. I bet you find it hard to trust anyone now.

You see, the Jews didn’t take things seriously in Germany in the 1930s. It wouldn’t get all that bad. They were comfortable and assimilated back then. Whatever was happening would blow over. The Jews had contributed in so many positive ways to European society. The warning signs had to be false alarms!

They were betrayed in Europe, and it is happening again, and now they are reading the handwriting on the wall! The messages of warning are everywhere! This time they are paying attention. They’ve gotten the message that now it is the two-minute warning! Here’s why.

  • Their 75-year ally, America, is chastising, marginalizing, scolding, and telling them to lose their war. Don’t retaliate when attacked. Their long-time friend favors Iran.
  • Politicians who are “one of them” have turned on them. Can you say, Chuck Schumer?
  • The media has betrayed them—even the conservative media. Can you say “Tucker Carlson?”
  • Parts of the church are hostile due to Replacement Theology. Others don’t want to make waves or wade into controversy.
  • Every global outfit from the U.N. to the W.E.F. to the I.C.C. to the E.U. laments the plight of the so-called Palestinians. In fact, most of the world feels the Jews are the oppressors and the Palestinians are the oppressed. They support Hamas. They have sympathy for barbarians. That’s hard to imagine.

So, someone is waiting in the wings who is the ultimate betrayer and he will fool them, too. Because they are in a state of fear and anxiety, they will be open to his cunning message. This global mover and shaker may be inconsequential right now, but he is rehearsing how he will play into their insecurities. He’s in the shadows now.

The Jews will eagerly listen to him. Wouldn’t you if people were shouting at you to “go back into the ovens!” “There is only one solution—Intifada, revolution!” “Long live Hamas!” “Death to Jews!”

Wouldn’t you be receptive if you saw nearly every prominent college campus writhing with Jew hatred? Then threats are issued, saying, “The 7th of October is going to be every day for you!”

These radicals want to murder your babies and other loved ones, burn your homes, and even take more hostages! Is this the predicted “love growing cold”? How can human hearts be this cruel? What has infected a huge number of those under the age of 25?

In 1938, Germany was not their home, but in 2024 neither is America, or Australia, or Canada, or France, or the UK, or South Africa.

They only have one home, and that is Israel. Israel will do their best to protect the Jews. At Columbia, and Yale, and MIT, and dozens more, Jews are on their own. No one has their back.

But this smooth-talking man called the Antichrist will be on their side—for a short season.

This is the classic set-up right now! A charismatic man is waiting in the wings. He will seduce the “left behind” world, but he will mesmerize many Jews because they are being primed to be told that a benevolent dictator is their best friend and will never betray them–ever. Those days are behind.

They will relax for three and one-half years, secure in his promises that include no betrayal, and then he will stab them in the back even worse than all previous betrayers. That peace treaty he signed will be shredded. That third temple he allowed will be defiled. How can this be? He promised. He was convincing. He told them what they wanted to hear.

It was all a lie. They will have to flee to the hills called Petra. This will be the classic betrayal.

Then Jesus Christ enters the picture. He will never betray. You can count on it! Their anxiety will actually turn to tears. But the betrayal will finally be over!

“And on that day, I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour out on the house of David, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of pleading, so that they will look at Me whom they pierced; and they will mourn for Him, like one mourning for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn” (Zechariah 12:9-10).

Come to think of it, maybe it’s the two-minute warning for the whole world!

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Rapture Delayed

Author’s note: This article was posted originally on Raptureready.com on March 7, 2016. It is re-posted here because some of the same concerns as back then are being expressed through emails and in other ways. My response remains the same because God’s Plan in regard to the Rapture hasn’t changed.

We have looked a number of times in this column at those who mock the end-times message and the Rapture in particular. Because those who scoff have been of the abrasive, unbelieving variety for the most part, there is a standard Bible verse reply I’ve usually employed in response.

The scriptural reply has most often been intended to let those mocking know that they are, in actuality, fulfilling Bible prophecy.

“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” (2 Peter 3:3-4).

As of late, however, such a reply doesn’t quite fit that which should compose an appropriate response. That is because the questions are coming weekly from genuine believers in the Pre-Trib Rapture of the Church. These Christians are worried–some very worried.

These look around them, and on every side they see and feel the satanic pressures from this fallen sphere closing in. Issues and events –the very ambience in which they find their lives engulfed–generate thoughts that their circumstance is beginning to look much like the Bible’s description of the Tribulation itself.

To illustrate the growing angst, I’ve chosen the email of one such Christian brother who wrote this past week. His words pretty much get right to the point of the many other emails expressing like emotion. Here it is in its entirety:

Why is the Lord delaying the rapture? It should have happened years ago. We would be in the millennium now enjoying true peace and prosperity without the suffering. I don’t get it. It’s God’s call, of course, but 58 million aborted babies in the US since 1973, Christians tortured and murdered worldwide, people who believe in Jesus longing for his return suffering immensely. I don’t get it. Where is our Lord and Savior?

The emailer didn’t use any soft nuances of greetings or any other niceties. He just laid his spirit-distressed emotions right out there.

You don’t answer such gut-wrenching concern with the apostle Peter’s prophecy, as given above. This child of God is worried. He is puzzled; he is perplexed. It’s the kind of questioning I’ve heard in my own kids’ anxieties when they were young and felt disappointed for one of my failures or the other to keep a promise. “Dad should never let me down like that” is the tone.

Only this perceived unkept promise isn’t from an imperfect human father. I say “perceived unkept promise” because the promise isn’t unbroken whatsoever. The error is in the question of the imperfect child asking it. His Perfect Father will, as always, be one hundred percent faithful to keep every promise made.

The Lord Jesus, Himself, in His ascended position, said the following to John the Revelator:

“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” (Revelation 3:10).

Jesus said it, and that means the Heavenly Father said it–promised it! Jesus said that He and the Father are One. They are inseparable–one and the same–the first and second Persons of the Godhead–the Trinity.

God cannot lie, the Scripture tells us. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. God keeps His promises. So, this brother in Christ, like all the other believers who look to the “blessed hope” of Titus 2:13, who are in fear and worry while watching this fallen world closing in, need an answer from the Word of God.

The Heavenly Father gave the answer to Peter to pass along to us, just a bit farther on in Scripture. The answer to why the Rapture hasn’t occurred as soon as almost all of us wish it would occur is, at least in part, wrapped up in the following:

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

The Tribulation that will follow this Age of Grace will be filled with horrors that even John, under divine inspiration, had trouble describing. The Lord wants to provide every moment possible during this present dispensation for those lost in their sin to come safely into the shelter who is His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. God wants this for the lost because, following the Rapture, making the decision to accept Christ for salvation will be more difficult by a multiple of factors. Facing beheading is but one of those factors!

That is the reason–or at least a primary reason–the Rapture hasn’t yet occurred in this generation, according to God’s Word.

That said, I must take notable exception with the emailer’s contention that God is “delaying” the Rapture. You can take this to the bank–well, to the banks the way they used to be–God is not delaying the Rapture. It will happen precisely in the twinkling of the eye at the moment the Father has determined.

Jesus said: “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Matthew 24:36).

God knows exactly the instant He will send His Son to get His Bride, make no mistake. There is no delay.

On that note, issues and events closing in on us show that we are almost certainly very near that exhilarating moment of instantaneously finding ourselves face to face with the Lord Jesus. Just how near we are to the Rapture–if we could indeed know–would likely allay all fears.

I’m excited to tell you that my new book, Rapture Ready … Or Not: 15 Reasons This Is the Generation That Will Be Left Behind, is at present being prepared within the publishing process. Because of the lateness of the prophetic hour, I sense to a degree never experienced before that this is a book I’ve been commissioned to write. We will be able to tell you more soon, Lord willing.

Authors note: That book, published in 2016, is available on Amazon.

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