In vol 17 qtr1, we published part
of Jan Markell’s article, titled the Convergence, where she defined convergence
as “ a coming together of many things,.. a coming
together of last days' signs the Bible told us to watch for.” A number of these signs were highlighted in
that article.
In this present article, we emphasise as we have done on a few occasions
before, the point that the two opposing teams involved in the end-time
conflict: the Kingdom of God and that of the devil, are both agreed on the
timeline and key events that will characterize the end times. The two key events are the emergence of a
global leader to merge all spiritual/faith matters into one, followed by the
emergence of another global leader to merge all political entities into
one. Our position is that, progress
along these two key areas of converging opinions by two opposing parties, can
be taken (with a little caution here and there) as indicative of how late the hour
is
On the issue
of spirituality and faith, as we pointed out before in a review
article in 2006, virtually every spiritual expression around is confidently
announcing that some world-ruling figure is about to emerge from their
particular platform to close the ages.
New agers boast of their coming Grand Master/Avatar/etc while faithful
Shiites (as in Iran) frantically prepare the grounds for their Mahdi. (Even ISIS
seems to be buoyed in their unimaginable atrocities with the expectation that
they are setting the stage for the prophesied battle of Dabiq, which explains
why they have set up their headquarters in that city and are eagerly awaiting
the prophesied invasion by Western forces!) Similarly, contemplative Catholics
continue to be burdened with the famous prophecy of one of their own, St
Malachy, that the current Pope would be the
last. Even UFO
enthusiasts are convinced that their little green friends are now finally
set to reveal themselves to the world. The list goes on and on (see our article:
Of
the coming Saviours, Messiahs, Avatars and Divine Teachers). Bible-believing Christians are of
course expecting the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ, first exclusively for
them, at the Rapture.
Therefore, even though the
details may come with different
colourings and interpretations, nevertheless the reality on ground is that, for
that fraction of mankind who still have time to think and reflect on the
spiritual situation around them, the one clear conclusion is that the climax of
all things is at hand!
As for the
political sphere, Rev 17:17 gives a short but vivid description of the
convergence of opinions to expect at the time of the end:
“For God
hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will,
and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the
beast, until
the words of God shall be fulfilled.”.
This indicates
that without their realizing that the move was coming from God in pursuance of
His own agenda, leaders of the nations will agree to surrender the
sovereignties of their respective nations to one global political ruler - the
antichrist. According to Rev
13:11ff one of the principal
facilitators of this move will be the spiritual leader (better known as the
false prophet) who would have come to global prominence a little while earlier. He will do this via strings of awesome signs,
miracles and wonders that is guaranteed to dazzle anyone who is not well
acquainted with the Lord Jesus Christ.
We expect that
the merger of political kingdoms described in Rev 17 will be the final step in
several other preceding mergers across political, economical, and social lines,
all driven by irrepressible anti-christian globalist visions. And indeed our world today is nearly
overwhelmed with such continuous mergers and re-alignment of forces and
interests (see our 1998 article on mega-mergers, vol 1 no 5). Players at the apex of these merger plans are
clear about their goal to usher in one world government and religion. Recent examples of such moves in the United
States are cited in the article http://themostimportantnews.com/archives/inside-the-vast-liberal-conspiracy-to-reshape-the-globe. A similar secretive group of “progressive
journalists” comprising of 1,000 journalists from various media houses in the US under the name “Gamechanger Salon”
is described in another article (1,000-member secretive progressive journalist group
uncovered). The ultimate gang-up/political re-alignment will be
that by the nations of the world against Israel, especially on the issue of who
should control Jerusalem. Clearly such a move is already taking shape today. (see
So we have a
clear convergence of predictions of what would follow on planet earth shortly
heareafter, both from Biblical (godly) and anti-Biblical (satanic) sources.
However, there
is yet another important third group of prophecy source – apart from the Bible
and the anti-Bible sources. This is
modern-day Judaism. Prophecies from
Judaism are a bit more difficult to place as either “godly” or “ungodly”. Usually they are pronounced in the name of
the God of Israel, yet they generally hold the wrong notion that the Messiah is
yet to come. Perhaps they are better
classified as “veiled godly prophecies” meaning they are from God, but still as
veiled to its recipients as was the case with Daniel (Dan. 12:8-9).
Prophecies
from this third group are also screaming the same message as the others: that
the end of the current world order is at hand.
For instance earlier in the year, at the death of Ariel Sharon, we
pointed out the prophecy of Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri. Before his death on January
29 2006, Rabbi Kaduri reportedly left a note in which he stated that he met the
Messiah and that his name is Jesus
Christ. Kaduri categorically stated that
this Messiah Jesus Christ “ will come
shortly after the death of Ariel Sharon.”
The prophecy
of Rabbi Judah ben Samuel about the end-time is also compelling and currently
generating considerable interests. The
prophecy purportedly detailed events that would happen in the land of Israel in
50-year (Jubilee) cycles, beginning from the death of the Rabbi who gave the
prophecy. According to Rabbi Judah ben
Samuel:
Taking the
word “Jubilee” roughly as a shorthand for 50 years (based on Leviticus
25:10-11), then the prophecy as stated would be indicating that the Ottoman
Turks will rule over Jerusalem for 400 years (eight jubilees); after which
Jerusalem will become no-man’s land for 50 years (one jubilee), and finally at
the expiry of the ninth jubilee, it will once again come back into the
possession of the Jewish nation, which event would signify “the beginning of
the Messianic end time.”
The great excitement this prophecy has
generated is based not only on the clear Biblical basis/patterns for the
delineation of the history of the important city of Jerusalem as described; to
date, the prophecy has been fulfilled literally to the letter. The Turks conquered Jerusalem in 1517, 300
years (6 jubilees) from the death of ben Samuel which occurred in 1217. They ruled Jerusalem for precisely 400 years
– 8 Jubilees from 1517- December 17, 1917
when the British defeated them and established a League of Nations-sanctioned
Mandate for the Holy land. This made Jerusalem technically a no-man’s land
under international law, and this persisted precisely one Jubilee - till June
17, 1967 when Israel regained control of the Temple Mount precisely 6 months to
the end of the ninth Jubilee. This would
be the first time the Jews will again be in control of Jerusalem since 70 AD
(nearly 2,000 years!) and it happened “in the ninth Jubilee”. According to the
prophecy of ben Samuel therefore, the Messianic end time actually had started
in 1967. Now, looking at the Jubilee rythmn, some feel that the end of another
Jubilee (year 2017) is a right time for the Messiah to appear, - else we might
have to wait an unlikely one or more Jubilee(s)!
Apart from
some key issues which make it necessary to take the prophecy with caution, as
pointed out by Tim McHyde (http://www.escapeallthesethings.com/judah-ben-samuel-prophecy.htm),
it should be noted that all the prophecy, as translated, is saying is that the
ninth jubilee (1967 – 2017) would signify the” beginning of the Messianic end
time.” This certainly does not give room
for any precise date-setting on when the Messiah (or even the preceding false
Prophet and the anti-Christ) would actually come. But it does clearly suggest that the season is around. The whole world (thankfully that does not
include Nigeria) seem agreed on the point that the status
of Jerusalem is due for a review. A seven hundred and ninety-seven years
old prophecy suggesting a 2017 date for status-change in Jerusalem is therefore
not in any way unreasonable.
At the least,
the clear convergence of opinions and claims should be instructive!
From the
Church’s perspective in particular, given that no one knows exactly how much
time lag there would be between the Rapture and the manifestation of the
anti-christ (whose manifestation is being hindered, and would so continue to be
hindered, till the church is taken out of the way via the rapture – 2 Thess,
2:3-10); all this means we need to be looking up indeed for our redemption must
be very close (Luke 21;28)!
In conclusion,
looking at the unfolding socio-political landscape of our world, our reasoning
at CA! is that it is either Rapture soon
or the Lord would need to send a mighty revival in order to restrain things a
little more – or else there would be no Bride left for the Heavenly
wedding! In the Lord’s own words: “When
the son of man cometh, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:8)
While the answer
might be something in between those two options, individuals who call
themselves Christians will do well to take more seriously Scriptures such as
Rev 22:11:
The Lord might as well have made
up His mind to wrap up things on this planet very soon (Rev 22:12)! More than ever before, it is time the Church
arose and be up and doing for the Kingdom.
No comments:
Post a Comment