Matthew 24:42 Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.
God's plan for the end of the world and the Second Coming of Christ is revealed throughout the Bible in the form of Biblical prophecy. Since the time of the early Christians, believers have asked themselves if they will be the generation to see the return of Christ. No one knows for certain when Christ will return, but Christians are not left to wonder without understanding or aim. Recognizable signs are to precede Jesus' return and Biblical prophecy sets forth a clear roadmap designed to give believers advance warning of the advent of the Great Tribulation.
The goal of this forum is to allow all Christians, from prophecy neophytes to sophisticated theologians, to recognize and understand those key prophecy signs that will confirm if and when we are living in the End Times (aka Daniel's 70th week).
Are we the generation?
I believe specific prophecy signs are being fulfilled before our very own eyes.
Below are some current news articles that relate to the 20 Key Prophecy Signs. If you would like to read any archived articles, click on '20 Key Prophecy Signs'.
My Thoughts -- May 19, 2012 "Who may go up to the Mountain of God?"
The Temple Institute reprinted an intriguing article from the Jerusalem Post on the rebuilding of the temple on the Temple Mount. The following are a few excerpts...
For Jews, it is the holiest place on Earth, from where the world was created, the site of the Binding of Isaac and the location of the First and Second Temples.
"The time has come for the government to exercise its sovereignty over the holiest spot in the Jewish religion…"
Other groups, such as the Temple Mount Faithful, led by Gershon Salomon, are clearer about their ultimate goals. This organization says unabashedly that its goals include "the building of the Third Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in our lifetime in accordance with the Word of God and all the Hebrew prophets" as well as "the liberation of the Temple Mount from Arab (Islamic) occupation."
The homepage of the Temple Institute website currently bears a line from the well-known movie Field of Dreams: "if you build it, he will come." The longterm goal, as stated on the website, is to do "all in our limited power to bring about the building of the Holy Temple in our time."
Prophecy is very clear when it comes to the key events that we are to look for in order to confirm that Daniel's 70th week has begun. Rebuilding the Jewish Temple is at the top of the list, along with the signing of a seven year covenant.
For some thought provoking End Times reading, I encourage you to visit The End-Time Pilgrim website. This site represents a Post-Tribulation view of the Rapture and will cause you to examine and ponder your End Times chronology!
I also want to bring to your attention some other significant stories:
Israel has formed a New Coalition Unity Government, which paves the way for an attack on Iran.
Egypt is calling for a Muslim Caliphate with an end goal of a Unites States of Arabs.
Also check out Four GCC Members Plan to Form Core of Superstate. Not sure if this has anything to do with the genesis of the antichrist's 10 nation kingdom prophesied by the books of Daniel and Revelation, but at the very least it appears to be the beginnings of an Arab/Muslim nation military association within the Middle East. These Middle East nations are terrified of Iran and her growing militant threat in the region. This might be a watcher to see if it will grow into a 10-Muslim/Arab nation military confederacy. If nothing else, it certainly passes the "smell" test on first whiff and time will tell if it is anything biblically significant.
Greece is experiencing total chaos. One of the more scary stories of the week is the Golden Dawn of the Neo Nazi Party. The Nazis captured 7% of the vote and secured 21 of 300 seats in the Greek parliament. Let that sink in for a moment.
All that to say, the Church in America needs to wake up! We are destined to play a significant role in Daniel's seventieth week (the final seven years of the times of the gentiles) and our witness and testimony concerning Jesus Christ needs to be sharp. Our insight into prophecy and what will befall Israel and the Church in the last days will be critical.
Daniel 11:33-35
[33] "And those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many; yet they will fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder, for many days.
[34] "Now when they fall they will be granted a little help, and many will join with them in hypocrisy.
[35] "And some of those who have insight will fall, in order to refine, purge, and make them pure, until the end time; because it is still to come at the appointed time.
Are you getting ready? Time could be short.
Thanks for reading!
Donnie
My Thoughts -- April 20, 2012
I listened to a few inspiring videos this week...
Revelation 12:10-11
[10] And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night.
[11] "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death.
"That's My King" Dr. S.M. Lockridge
Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus
Enjoy!
Donnie
My Thoughts -- March 3, 2012
My thoughts this week...
I have a growing concern that most mainline churches are intentionally ignoring or coolly indifferent to Eschatology (the study of End Times). Why do so many pastors shy away from teaching prophecy or even talking about the end of the age?
Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32 are the two passages that pastors use to justify why they prefer not to spend time on End Times.
Matthew 24:36 (NIV)
[36] "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
Mark 13:32 (NASB77)
[32] "But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
I do agree that inaccurate date projections are a legitimate issue of concern as these verses say we would not know the day or the hour. But have you noticed the context of these passages? It comes after the very specific signs and wonders that Jesus told us to watch for. My take on this: nobody can know the exact time of the Second Coming, but that does not mean we won’t have any clue. We won’t know the day or the hour, but I believe that we can, and should, know the season of His return. There is a huge difference between setting a firm date and talking about the likely season of the Second Coming of the Messiah.
Other reasons often given by the church for not talking about Eschatology are that it is too controversial, and will just cause disharmony and division. But with sound Bible teaching from godly men and women, all these potential pitfalls can be avoided and the Holy Spirit can be experienced in a powerful way.
For every 25 verses in the New Testament, one of them will have something to do with the End Times. As a lover of God's word, I challenge my readers to ask their pastors what their church is going to do to educate and proactively prepare its believers for the final seven years left in Daniel's 70 Weeks. The fulfillment of End Time biblical prophecies is drawing near. This is the most prophesied period in the entire Bible and to ignore it leaves churches compromised and unprepared for tough times ahead.
On Monday, Netanyahu and Obama will meet again, and no doubt the grave threat surrounding Iran and its ongoing call for Israel's destruction will dominate the conversation. I hope I am wrong, but I do not anticipate strong support for Israel from the President. My fear is that this Administration will leave Israel to fend for itself. That would be a very big mistake for the future of our country.
Zechariah 12:9 (NIV)
[9] On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.
Good read: NEW CZAR RISING: Russia's election on March 4 may prove a bigger deal than our own.
Blessings,
Donnie
My Thoughts -- February 24, 2012
My thoughts this week...
RUSSIA WARNS ISRAEL NOT TO ATTACK IRAN: Prophetic implications?
Is Putin the Antichrist? I do not think Putin is the Antichrist. He is certainly Gog-esque, but he does not fit the description given by Daniel. Antichrist, in the initial stages, will be a "little horn." Putin is one bad dude and in every sense of the word, he is "a big horn" with lots of power.
I think war may be imminent for Israel. A nuclear Iran will result in a catastrophe. Gas masks have been distributed, missile defense mounted in Tel Aviv, and the White House has scheduled a meeting with Netanyahu on March 5. Annihilation of the Jews is Iran's goal and if they possess nuclear weapons, they could do in seconds what it took Hitler to do in years, kill 3 million Jews.
Muslims Stone Police on Temple Mount
The protesters were reacting to reports that a group of right-wing Jews bent on destroying the mosques and building the Third Temple on the site planned to ascend to the Temple Mount. The violence in Jerusalem is escalating. Wow! It always gets interesting around the Jewish holidays. Sacrifices on the horizon? They must be re-instituted before the Antichrist reveals himself.
Here is a great read from Calvary Prophecy: Is This The Last Generation Or Just One Big Coincidence?
Thanks for reading,
Donnie
A Seven Year Covenant between Israel and the one who is to come
Allow me to share a FUTURE headline with you today: “Israel signs a 7 year covenant assuring the nation's peace and safety.” This landmark story will fulfill one of the key prophecy signs marking the start of the End Times.
The 7-year tribulation (Daniel’s 70th week) commences with the confirmation of a seven year covenant between Israel and the Antichrist. It is a key sign that believers are told to watch for and we can piece together the details of this covenant as many clues are revealed in both the Old and New Testament to help us understand the true nature of this peace treaty.
I promise you there will be some wrong thinking and outright ignorance about the negative implications of this future covenant, especially among those who are not looking for the signs surrounding the Second Coming. In fact, most of the unsaved will be unprepared, totally surprised and deluded into thinking the peace treaty will be a very good thing for the world. But informed believers will not be caught off guard or surprised by this agreement and they will know it will result in total disaster for Israel.
In that future day, Israel will think that the 7 year peace agreement they are making will bring them protection from the surrounding nations. In reality, it will be a death pact with the Antichrist. Instead of trusting God for their promised deliverance, many in the nation will trust the ultimate deceiver. It will be Israel's prophesied great apostasy.
Don’t let anyone tell you prophecy is too difficult to understand. God delights in arming you with Biblical knowledge and revealing these prophetic mysteries in His Word. There are many clear illustrations of this event in the Bible. Let’s look at some of them in the following passages.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-4
[1] Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him,
[2] that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. (I believe the Day of the Lord refers to a period of time in the last half of Daniel’s 70th week when God pours out His wrath on the unbelieving world.)
[3] Let no one in any way deceive you, for it (The Day of the Lord) will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
[4] who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
Paul places two conspicuous events, the apostasy and the revealing of the Antichrist, as the key indicators that the Day of the Lord has begun. Regarding “the apostasy” I believe Paul is speaking of many Jews, who, during the Seventieth Week of Daniel, will totally abandon the God of their fathers and the Messianic hope in favor of the false messiah, the Antichrist. Many will reject their messianic expectation of a Jewish deliverer and instead embrace a Gentile pagan Antichrist. I
This End Times scenario had a forerunner in the second century B.C. when the Jewish temple was defiled under a Syrian ruler named Antiochus Epiphanes. (You can read about this historical event in Daniel 11, 12 and in the historical book of Maccabees 1, 2.) Antiochus Epiphanes came to the throne in 175 B.C and he is called despicable because of his blasphemies. He came to the throne with a program of peace. In 168 B.C. he placed a statue of the Greek god Zeus in the Jerusalem Temple and required everyone to worship it on the pain of death. This is called “the Abomination of Desolation.” The future Antichrist will come to power in the same way. The Antichrist will introduce Daniel’s 70th week with a seven year covenant. And he will proclaim to be God in the Jewish Temple. The people of the world will think they are entering the Millennium, when they are really entering the Great Tribulation period.
Daniel 8:9-11
[9] And out of one of them came forth a rather small horn (In the beginning of his rise to power Antichrist will be inconspicuous, a “little horn”, but he will become a big horn.) which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Beautiful Land (Israel).
[10] And it grew up to the host of heaven and caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it trampled them down (Revelation 12 describes the details of this event).
[11] It even magnified itself to be equal with the Commander of the host (He will proclaim himself God in the Temple); and it removed the regular sacrifice from Him, and the place of His sanctuary was thrown down.
Daniel 11:21
[21] "And in his place a despicable person will arise, on whom the honor of kingship has not been conferred, but he will come in a time of tranquility and seize the kingdom by intrigue.
Daniel 11:36
[36] "Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god, and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done.
Daniel 12:11
[11] "And from the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.
Daniel lived during the time of the captivity of the Jews in Babylon. His book speaks of the Jews' daily sacrifices being cut off in the end time. Much of Daniel's revelation of the future focuses on the seventieth week, the time of the end.
Daniel 9:27
[27] "And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate."
The first public act of the Antichrist is to confirm a 7 year treaty with Israel. In the middle of the seven years, the Antichrist will break the seven year covenant, pollute the newly built temple, take away the daily sacrifice, set up his image in the temple, and proclaim himself God. At this point the entire nation of Israel will realize his true character and identity... but it will be too late as the worst of nightmares will have begun. The Great Tribulation will ensue, and these events will dramatically impact the entire world. They will clearly signal the soon coming of Israel's true Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Zechariah 11:15-17
[15] Then the LORD said to me, "Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd.
[16] For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hoofs.
[17] "Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered, his right eye totally blinded!"
Zechariah presented the Good Shepherd in verses 12-14. It is a prophecy of Jesus Christ, sold for thirty pieces of silver, delivered to His enemies, and crucified on a Roman cross.
Now Zechariah presents the foolish shepherd, who will appear at the beginning of Daniel’s 70th week. In that future day, many Jews will believe the lie, thinking the covenant will protect them. Notice how the Antichrist will deal with the people of Israel: He will shear the sheep of Israel, desert them and kill them. What a contrast to the Good Shepherd, Israel’s true Messiah, who gave His life for the sheep!
The Antichrist will offer peace to the world and seemingly bring order out of the chaos we are in and usher in prosperity. The world, and Israel, will receive him with open arms. He is called the worthless shepherd. He is no good, he is of no value, he is the great deceiver. This "foolish" shepherd is of no benefit, but Israel will follow him.
The false shepherd, the Antichrist, will actually be the one who brings in the Great Tribulation in all its fury. In the first part of the Tribulation Israel will be deceived into thinking that the Antichrist is their Good Shepherd, but by the time they discover his real character, he will be the world dictator and the armies of the world will come against Jerusalem.
The disabling injury to his right arm making it useless and the blindness in the right eye is due to the deadly head wound he receives.
Revelation 13:3
[3] One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast.
Revelation 13:12
[12] He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed.
The prophet Isaiah, writing with great sarcasm, warns the last generation that this seven year covenant is a covenant with death:
Isaiah 28:14-15
[14] Therefore, hear the word of the LORD, O scoffers, Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
[15] Because you have said, "We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a pact. The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by, For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception."
What is this covenant with death and Sheol? The treaty is given an ominous name, “a covenant with death.” Apparently the Antichrist will guarantee the protection and security of Israel. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is the same covenant Daniel tells us about, a future covenant that unsuspecting Israel will make with the Antichrist; the prince who is coming, the Man of Sin, the godless man, the willful king, the beast out of the sea and the beast out of the land, the one who is controlled by Satan.
Isaiah 28:17-19
[17] "And I will make justice the measuring line, And righteousness the level; Then hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, And the waters shall overflow the secret place.
[18] "And your covenant with death shall be canceled, And your pact with Sheol shall not stand; When the overwhelming scourge passes through, Then you become its trampling place.
[19] "As often as it passes through, it will seize you. For morning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night. And it will be sheer terror to understand what it means."
Once Israel figures out what they have done and understand who they have covenanted with, sheer terror will overtake their hearts. In reality, the signing of the seven year covenant of counterfeit peace with the Antichrist (unknown to them) at the beginning of the week sets the stage for "the time of Jacob's (Israel's) trouble". When the covenant is broken and the second three and one-half years of Daniel’s 70th week ensue, Israel will be in huge trouble! This is the End Times holocaust the prophets and Jesus warned us about.
Deuteronomy 4:30
[30] When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him.
Jeremiah 30:7
[7] How awful that day will be! None will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob (Israel), but he will be saved out of it.
Daniel 12:1
[1] "At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people--everyone whose name is found written in the book--will be delivered.
Zechariah 13:7-9
[7] "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd (the Antichrist), against the man who is close to me!" declares the LORD Almighty. "Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones.
[8] In the whole land," declares the LORD, "two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it.
[9] This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The LORD is our God.'"
Matthew 24:15
[15] "So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel--let the reader understand-- …
Matthew 24:21-22
[21] For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now--and never to be equaled again.
[22] If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.
I believe the Church will witness both conspicuous events Paul told us to watch for in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4;
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The Apostasy (Signing of the 7 year covenant with the Antichrist)
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The Antichrist revealed (The Abomination of Desolation. When the Antichrist stands in the temple and proclaims that he’s God.)
To my knowledge, as of 2/18/12, no seven year covenant has been presented to, or signed by the leaders of Israel. “Watching” for this sign, and many others, is what every believer has been called to do by the Lord Jesus.
Blessings,
Donnie