There has been and still is much being said about God's promises for our near future. The near future I want to talk about is the period of time between now and the beginning of the period of time known as the Tribulation or the time of Jacob's Troubles.
People have been trying to interpret and understand God's promises for thousands of years. The trouble is that they try to force immediate events to fit the prophesies in order to hurry the coming of God. It doesn't work that way. He will come when He will come. To understand when He will actually come, we must first accept this.
The biggest of these mistakes has been trying to force God to live by our calendar by saying that He will come because our calendar says the first six thousand years are over. What if our calendar isn't right? Well, we know it isn't and it is even less right than even the experts believe.
We know that Jesus said He would return at the end of the period of time called the time of the Gentiles (non Jews.) He also told us that the time of the Gentiles would last two of God's days and that a 1,000 years with man is as one day with God. So we know that the time of the Gentiles will last 2,000 years. But, beginning when?
We have mistakenly assumed that the time of the Gentiles began with the birth of Jesus. If that were true, Jesus would have already returned several years ago because we now know that He was actually born a few years before one AD.
During His ministry, Jesus even told us that the time of the Gentiles had not yet begun. Several times, He made it clear that He could not minister to the Gentiles because our time had not come. Therefore, the time of the Gentiles could not possibly have begun with His birth. Then when did it begin? It wasn't until after His death that Jesus sent His Jewish apostles out to minister to the Gentiles. The time of the Gentiles began with the death of Jesus and not with the birth of Jesus.
The best we can estimate is that Jesus died in approximately 29 AD. Therefore, the earliest that He could come would be 2029 AD if our calculations are correct. But then there is the matter of whether He was referring to His returning being for the Rapture or to take possession of the planet. I believe that He was referring to His taking possession of the planet which means that the Rapture must take place in ABOUT 2022. Of course, there is the matter concerning the accuracy of the calculations for the time of His death. I believe that a reasonable "ball park" guess would be between 2015 and 2035 AD for the Rapture. Part of the problem here is that we have to learn to accept that God does not have to live and function by our calendar. We have to live by His calendar.
Another method that has been used to predict His return has been calculations based on an actual completion of prophesy. God predicted that He would come shortly after He brought His people, the Jews, back to Israel and re-established them as a nation. We know that that prophesy was fulfilled in 1948. The scripture referred to here says that "that generation will not pass away." They mistakenly assumed that God meant a period of time referred to as a generation shall not pass away. They have calculated periods of time such as 40 years and 45 years. These have all come and gone and Jesus has not.
What God was referring to here was a group of people and not a period of time. He was saying that the generation which was born at this time shall not all die before His return. With today's science and technology, that could be 100, 200, or even more years.
A large part of the problem with understanding when Jesus will return comes from a group of people who are self acclaimed prophets and not true prophets of God. You must understand these false prophets to understand what will happen in our near future because they have created a considerable amount of confusion.
God warned us about prophets who prophesy for money. He said that we are not to listen to these people, to stay away from them, and definitely not to follow them. But years ago, these false prophets put a fear into the christian community by miss using a piece of scripture. The scripture says that we are not to speak against a prophet of God or we will be held accountable for speaking out against the Holy Ghost. These false prophets, teachers, and healers have used this scripture to brow beat christians into silence so they can make their billions selling books and video tapes and raking in donations in the name of God.
The truth is that God tells us and even requires us to be discerning about false prophets, teachers, and healers and to stand against them. He provides us with instructions and examples of both true prophets and false prophets. He gives us examples of His true prophets standing up to and fighting these false prophets. Jesus regularly spoke out against false teachers and prophets. Was He speaking out against the Holy Ghost? I don't think so. Jesus said that,"Either you are with me or against me." This means that either you are His prophet, teacher, or healer or a disciple of Lucifer. You see, you really have to be a true prophet of God under the influence of the Holy Spirit before it is wrong to speak out against. There is no middle ground in this battle for souls.
The most important rule for determining whether a prophet, teacher, or healer is of God or a disciple of Lucifer is,"Do the things this person teaches complement or contradict the Word of God?" Anyone who contradicts the Word of God is saying,"I don't believe what God said." He is calling God a liar. This means that, when a "christian" says that he believes in God but does not believe God when God says that He created us and our existence and prefers to believe in evolution, he is calling God a liar. God said that He created everything. The standard by which all things must be measured is God's Word. If it contradicts God's Word, it is a lie. We know who the great liar is and where lies come from, Lucifer.
Of course, this means that we must study the Word of God and most of us would rather be spoon fed. This is what makes us vulnerable to false prophets, teachers, and healers in the first place. Any time a prophet contradicts the Word of God, he is also calling God a liar. How many times in the scriptures did one of God's prophets call Him a liar? None! Because God is not a liar. Simply using this one scripture about not speaking out against a prophet of God to keep people from questioning the false prophets is contradicting God. God did not mean for that scripture to be used in that manner.
Over the years, I have seen many different tricks and cons used by these false prophets. One trick used by false healers is to separate the people who come to be healed into two groups. One group is the people whose symptoms can be temporarily relieved by hypnosis. The people whose symptoms cannot be relieved by hypnosis are put into another group. These people mysteriously never make it to the front to see the healer before he has to rush off.
A more recent conn by healers is to not have the people come to them to be healed at all. This is the safe conn. They all stay in the audience while the healer prays for them to be healed. The people are told that, IF THE FAITH OF THE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO BE HEALED IS GREAT ENOUGH AND THEY ARE RIGHT WITH GOD, they will be healed. Then people who have been paid to pretend to be healed jump up and run to the front to give their testimony about how they were healed. These predators contradict what Jesus said.
Jesus divided His disciples into pairs and sent them out to teach and heal. When they returned, Jesus asked them for a report. They said that they had healed everyone except ONE person. Did Jesus pat them on the back for the many they did heal? Did He admonish the one who was not healed for not having enough faith? No, He chewed out His disciples for not having the faith to heal the one man inspite of the many they did heal. This tells us two very important things about healing. First, God's power is perfect and complete so that if He gives a person the power to heal, that person can heal anyone and everyone. He can heal amputees and raise the dead. If someone claims to be a healer, roll an amputee or dead person up to them. If they cannot heal that person, THEY ARE NOT OF GOD!!! So says my Father.
Second, Jesus made it perfectly clear that the faith for healing comes from the healer and not from the person being healed. If a healer cannot heal everyone, it is THE HEALER'S faith that is lacking and not the faith of the person who was not healed. Read your Bible and these false prophets will not deceive you for long.
A third healing conn that has become popular among television healers is to say that some one is watching who has a particular problem. The "out" here is that you may have that problem but so do thousands of others and "God is healing one of them instead." This is another safe conn. They get you hooked to their show by mentioning your illness or injury and keep you coming back hoping that the next time it will be you who gets healed. The truth is that no one is getting healed except their bank account. If everyone would study the Bible, these people would be put out of work. Throw the spoon away and read the Bible.
Then there is the matter of today's prophets contradicting each other and having many different stories about what is going to happen. What do you think, that God cannot make up His mind about what He is going to do? He knew what He was going to do before He created the first atom. If there are ten prophets and they all have ten different stories, the best that can be is that nine are false prophets and one is a true prophet. But if the one does not stand against the nine, he is also not a true prophet. God kept His prophesies consistent for 3,600 years and now He can't keep them straight from one person to the next? God does not give two different prophets two different prophesies. Remember that Lucifer is the author of confusion and not God. God requires us to stand against false prophets.
Then there are those who teach that we need to stop fighting over the true meaning of God's Word and just get along. They are telling you that it doesn't matter that we have many different beliefs and doctrines. Hold it! Who is the author of confusion? Is it not Lucifer? Then, if there are two or more conflicting "interpretations" of the Bible, are we to Believe that God cannot make up His mind and that it is OK to believe whatever you want? This also contradicts God's Word. We are to use God's Word to tell us which doctrines are true. If there are two conflicting doctrines, then at least one of these doctrines cannot be from God and must be from Lucifer. These people are telling us that we should accept the doctrines of Lucifer in with the doctrines of God in order to have peace and unity between all groups of "christians." Could these teachers possibly be men and women of God when Jesus spoke out against groups such as the Pharisees and Sadducees who had false doctrines? Of course not. Then they can only be men and women of Lucifer parading as men and women of God. God requires that we stand against these false teachers as He did. Jesus, Himself demonstrated that it is not all right to accept the doctrines of Lucifer to have peace and unity. The doctrines of Lucifer are an abomination to God.
We have listened to these false prophets instead of the Word of God and have let them turn us into wimpy christians who are afraid to stand for God. Mean while, these false prophets make billions of dollars every year selling their books, video tapes, and in tithes. There is a special place being kept warm for these predators in Hell.
We must discard everything these false prophets have told you and look to the scriptures for what will happen in our near future.
We must first start with where we are today. We know that the time of the Gentiles will last exactly 2,000 years from the death of Jesus and that the generation which was born at the time of Israel becoming a nation will not all die before Jesus returns. You must remember these two truths. We are close to the end, but there is still a little time left for the world. Maybe not for you because you could die in a car accident tomorrow. You need to be prepared to leave this life at any moment.
These false prophets and teachers have been teaching that our Lord may come at any time. We now know that the 2,000 years since His death must be fulfilled before He can return to take control of the planet. We also know that He will come seven years before that in what is called the Rapture but He will not come all of the way back to the Earth. He will call His people up to be with Him.
These false prophets are also telling us that all of the prophesies concerning the return of Jesus have been fulfilled and Jesus can come any day. This is not true. There is still one last prophesy which is key to the near future. Research has shown that over half of the people in the world expect their god to return because of the beginning of the new millennium. Jesus gave us a number of things that had to be fulfilled before His return. The last one was that most people would say,"God isn't going to come, they have been saying He will come for a long time." Then He said,"Look up, for then I will come." This prophesy must be fulfilled before His return and we are a long ways from even being close to it being fulfilled. Sure, there are some who are saying this but not enough. This is what will happen between now and the Rapture.
Over the last few decades, many people have been drawn into "christian" churches for a variety of reasons. Some have been drawn to these churches because of superstitious fear with the new millennium getting close. Many more have been drawn into churches because of the false promises of false teachers. These teachers have told them that, if they accept Jesus, they will get rich, be healed, or just feel good. More have been scared in by false prophets of doom and gloom who prophesy for money. They were all told that, if they came forward and said some "magic" words about accepting Jesus that life would be wonderful. God teaches us that it is what is in our heart that determines the value of saying those words. If you said them hoping for some worldly gain instead of to make a contract with God for your soul, then God did not accept your offered contract. In God's law as in our law, the intent to keep the contract is required for the contract to be binding. If you did not mean the contract, it was not signed by God either. These millions of people who said these "magic" words for worldly gain are the millions Jesus spoke of when He said,"'Many will say Lord, Lord.' and I will say,'I knew you not.'"
They are all expecting Jesus to come in either 2,000 or 2,001. God will use this unfulfilled expectation to separate the wheat from the chaff. When those people who only claim to be christians don't realize their expectation of Jesus coming as promised by these false prophets, they will become frustrated, stop believing, and leave the churches by the millions. Most of them will head straight for Satan Worship which is already the fastest growing church in the world. When they leave, they will take their money and those who prophesy for money will follow the money. Churches will close by the thousands and many will openly convert to Satan Worship to survive.
I already see many churches accepting and using pagan dances and rituals used in cults from around the world to build membership. I see "christian" television broadcasting religious services which are openly in violation of God's laws just to "pay the bills" so they can stay alive or grow in size. Some are broadcasting infomercials to generate income. When they can't pay the bills with "christian" broadcasts, they will broadcast anything including Satan Worship. Can these people be merchants of God? Of course not. They prophesy for money and will follow the money. They will say whatever these people want to hear in order to get their dollars.
These people will turn against the true christians who remain behind, ridicule them, and even persecute them. Globally, christians will become hated and persecuted like they have never been hated and persecuted. It is going to get worse before it gets better.
It will be at this time that most of the people will say,"Jesus is not going to come. They have been saying that He will come for a long time." Then, look up, for my Father will come as He promised. He did not lie.
Before the rapture, there must be at least one more major war fought in the Middle East. This will be the battle prophesied in the book of Ezekial, chapters 38 through 39. The false prophets have placed this prophesy just about everywhere imaginable. Some claim that it must be one of the last two battles mentioned in the book of Revelations. It could not be either of these two battles. A very key part of the prophesy they intentionally leave out to make it fit as one of those two battles is the seven years that the Jews will spend cleaning up after the battle of Ezekial 38 & 39.
The last battle mentioned in the book of Revelations comes at the end of the millenial reign of Jesus. Satan will be turned lose on the Earth to test those who were born during the rule of Jesus, many will join Satan in one last attempt to over throw God, and be defeated in an instant by God the Father from Heaven. The Jews could not possibly spend seven years cleaning up after that battle because we are told that God Himself will purify the Earth with fire before starting His eternal reign on Earth. When God is through, there won't be anything left to clean up.
The battle of Ezekial 38 & 39 could not be the battle of Armageddon at the end of the Tribulation as some claim. This is for just about the same reason. As I will show you in the next page or essay about the Tribulation, at the time of the battle of Armageddon the planet will be (1)on the verge of blowing itself apart and (2)all life on Earth will be on the verge of complete extinction. When God said that, if He were to delay His return even the slightest, there wouldn't be any flesh left alive, He wasn't just talking about human beings. God was saying that all living organisms on the planet would become extinct. Earth would be a dead planet. Therefore, at that time, Jesus must cleanse the Earth and use molecular construction of living organisms to farm life on Earth again. There won't be any need for cleaning the battle field for seven years.
Another difference between the battle of Ezekial 38 & 39 and the battle of Armageddon is that one out of every six soldiers (about 16.7%) will survive the battle of Ezekial and no one will survive the battle of Armageddon except for the Antichrist and his false prophet.
There are only two other armed conflicts mentioned after the start of the Tribulation. The first one is a global revolution of civil wars which break out right after the Rapture and causes the death of 25% of the people in the world. This could not possibly be the battle of Ezekial 38 & 39 because it is too localized and will only involve Lebanon and Syria (the northern hills of Israel.)
The second conflict is clearly China and possibly some of her allies breaking loose, conquering all of Asia, and killing one third of the people in the world. This is the wrong location and the army is not defeated at this point. It will be defeated at Armageddon by Jesus.
Since there is no other armed conflict mentioned during the Tribulation, the Tribulation is only seven years long, and the Antichrist will seize control of Israel and persecute the Jews some time in the last three and a half years of the Tribulation which will prevent them from cleaning up in Lebanon and Syria, then we know that the battle of Ezekial MUST be fought some time before the Rapture. We are going to see this one and it isn't far off. Probably in the next 10 to 20 years.
In the battle of Ezekial 38 & 39, the Russians and their Muslim allies gather in Lebanon and Syria to eradicate the Jews in Israel. The false prophets (I want to spell them profits) claim there will be a nuclear war in which the US may become involved. They are taking the credit from God and setting man above God in doing this. The scripture says that God Himself will intervene causing the destruction of 5 out of every 6 soldiers. The scriptures clearly state that the nations will know that it was God who destroyed the invading armies and this shall cause the people of Israel to turn to Him.
I believe that the war will play a significant roll in the building of the third temple as prophesied. Since it says that the people of Israel will turn to God after the battle, I believe that they will then build the temple of God following this battle. This makes it possible for the fulfillment of the prophesy about the Antichrist seizing the temple during the Tribulation, defiling it, and setting himself up as the Messiah. This is another reason why the battle of Ezekial must be fought before the Tribulation. The temple must be built before the Antichrist can seize it some time in the second half of the Tribulation. The people of Israel will only build the Temple after they turn to God and do not fear retribution from the Russians and Muslims. Obviously, this battle cannot be Armageddon which follows the Antichrist seizing the Temple.
We still have at least one more major battle coming in the Middle East before the Rapture and the Tribulation. But don't worry, we know who will win this one. God.
The false prophets, teachers, and healers are telling us that there is a major revival or growth in christianity throughout the US and around the world. How can this be true when Satan Worship is the fastest growing religion in both the US and around the World? Most of the growth that is taking place in "christianity" is being done by the false prophets who are bringing in the "many" who will say,"Lord, Lord," only to hear Jesus say,"I knew you not."
Over all, the trend socially, legally, morally, and other wise is away from God in both the US and around the world. Every year, the number of countries in which christians are being put to death and persecuted increases. God has made it very clear repeatedly that, if man does not turn from his crimes, then God must punish him in a variety of ways. He even states that if He did not do this, He would have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah. Because He is a just God, He is required to deal out punishment for wickedness.
Some believe the lie that "today's God" is not like the God of the Old Testament. Yeah right, you better read my page on the book of Revelations. The Tribulation will be the most severe punishment EVER handed out by God short of Hell itself and it will be dealt out to the entire planet. At least 75% to 80% of the people on the planet will die before the battle of Armageddon. Even the flood was a more merciful death for the wicked than the Tribulation will be. God is a just God and He will get justice.
We are being punished today for refusing to turn from our crimes against God's laws. These punishments have been increasing in severity and type for decades. They include new diseases, earthquakes, volcanic activity, weather, economy, and many other things which cause us harm and discomfort. God is trying to move us back to Him and His laws. When we don't respond to one level of punishment, He just turns up the heater. This will continue until either we return to Him in mass or He has had enough.
An example would be earthquakes. A few decades ago, a 7.0 earthquake was very rare. Last year, we had at least three or four earthquakes that were 7.0 or higher. Every year, we have record numbers of tornadoes and hurricanes. Their severity has also been increasing. It was only recently that we had to add a new intensity level for tornadoes. Used to, the most powerful tornadoes were force 5. Now we have force 6 tornadoes.
From what I see developing in our world from a scientific, political, military, and economic perspective, the fun has not even begun. It is going to get much worse between now and the Rapture. Of course, after the Rapture, God is going to kick down the gates of Hell and pour it out on Earth and its inhabitants.
The things I see coming our way are mind boggling and don't even compare to what I see prophesied for the Tribulation. We have created so many problems for ourselves with things like our pollution. It is estimated that better than 80% of the water in the US has been polluted with a chemical called MTBE. Wells have been closed in over 20 states because of this one pollutant. You can only live three days without water. What are you going to do when there isn't any left?
We thought that the recently discovered El Nino and La Nina were bad when they upset our weather causing droughts in some areas and flooding in others. They have recently discovered a much worse weather phenomenon developing in the Pacific Ocean they are calling La Mama. It is much larger, is expected to create weather conditions similar to El Nino but at least 2 to 3 times more radical and severe, and is expected to last much longer, up to 15 to 20 years. If this phenomenon is only partially as bad as they say, it could permanently change the weather around the world. Forests and jungles could dry up and deserts could flood and become eroded waste lands of huge gullies.
The global economy is shaking in its boots and the US economy is a disaster waiting to happen. It is grossly inflated beyond anyone's wildest imagination. If it ever when it corrects to a reasonable level, everyone in it will lose at least 95% of their wealth. The global economy will collapse like a burst bubble. A reasonable P/E for stocks used to be in the 10% to 20% range. Today, they go well beyond 600% and even 700% and are still climbing well out of sight. History teaches us that everything that goes up must come down. It is only a matter of time.
We thought the cold war was bad. We are about to find out what bad really is like. Militarily, this world is about to split apart at the seams. The President is constantly monitoring at least 150 different armed conflicts around the world. You only hear about a few of them on the news. Mankind has "matured" beyond bullets, tanks, and cannons. Today, more and more combatants are aiming chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons at each other. The genie is out of the bottle and his name is Lucifer.
My question at this time is,"How much of this building destruction will hit us before the Rapture and how much will be saved for the Tribulation?" We are going to get it, all of it. Just when? And there is much more coming than I have mentioned.
I strongly suggest that you acknowledge your crimes to God, turn from them, and accept the payment made by Jesus for your crimes before the Rapture because you don't want to go into the Tribulation. You don't want any of what is waiting for you there. You haven't seen bad yet.