Unfolding Bible Prophecy

On July 7, 2021, Nathan Jones, Internet Evangelist for Lamb & Lion Ministries, and Todd Hampson, Bible prophecy teacher of the Prophecy Pros podcast, e-mailed a list of “10 Reasons Why Bible Prophecy Exists.”

This writer agrees with Jones and Hampson and will add that current events indicate that the God that punishes evil and gives hope to His people will soon act.

It is difficult to deny that society is in a long-planned global pandemic that is moving toward the identification and tracking of everyone on earth.

The implications of that (Rapture, Tribulation Period, World Government, etc.) and the push to establish a global tracking system are beyond comprehension.

One, on July 7, 2021, the group behind the Ark Encounter Theme Park in Kentucky announced that it is raising funds to research and build a “Tower of Babel” attraction near its Noah’s Ark exhibition.

The idea of a one-world government and religion can be traced back to Nimrod and the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11).

In addition to the Tower of Babel, the group is also planning to build an indoor model of “what Jerusalem may have looked like in the time of Christ.”

Two, concerning peace in the Middle East: on July 12, 2021, it was reported that Yair Lapid, Israel’s new Foreign Minister, told the EU Foreign Affairs Council he supports the Two-State Solution (division of Israel) between Israel and the PA, but the PA nation must be a democracy that seeks peace with Israel (that is not trying to destroy Israel).

Three, here are some statistics on adverse reactions from Covid-19 vaccinations:

In the US, on July 2, 2021, it was reported that the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) said there have been 438,441 (41,015 serious) adverse reactions and 9,048 deaths from Dec. 14, 2020 to July 2, 2021.

In the EU, adverse drug reactions are reported to an agency called EudraVigilance, and as of June 3, 2021, EudraVigilance had recorded 1,687,527 adverse reactions (837,588 serious) and 17,503 deaths from Covid-19 shots.

In the UK, on July 9, 2021, it was reported that there have been 146,000 cases of the delta variant in the UK, and at least 50% of the cases are people that have been vaccinated.

On July 11, 2021, it was reported that Israel’s Director-General of the Ministry of Health is recommending that those that have been vaccinated twice for Covid-19 take a third vaccination for the Delta Variant.

As bad as this appears, some doctors and scientists say the numbers are understated (and these numbers do not include most of the world; China, India, Africa, etc.).

Also, it is the opinion of some prophecy teachers that a third vaccination will not be the last one.

They believe there will be a fourth, a fifth, a sixth, etc., and this will ultimately lead to the mandatory Mark of the Beast.

For whatever it is worth, no vaccination means no money, but every vaccination means more money to big pharma and their bought-and-paid-for politicians.

Four, on July 12, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning that Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine has been linked to a neurological disorder called Guillain-Barré.

Officials have received 100 preliminary reports (95 serious that required hospitalization, and 1 death).

Five, concerning famine: in the first two weeks of July 2021, there were several reports of panic buying by food stores and food store chains that are concerned about food shortages in the U.S. in the coming months.

On July 12, 2021, several UN agencies reported a sharp increase in world hunger and malnutrition in 2020.

As a group, the agencies reported that Covid-19 has exposed weaknesses in the world’s food systems, no region of the world has been spared, and it will take years, perhaps decades, to reverse the problem.

(Note: On July 13, 2021, it was reported that the cost of eating away from home increased in the month of June more than any other month since 1981).

Six, concerning the Days of Lot (Sodomy; Luke 17:28-29): on July 9, 2021, Bishop Strickland of Tyler, TX called the LGBT rainbow flag, “a sign of sinful pride and rebellion against God’s commandments.”

The Biden administration supports the flying of this symbol of “rebellion against God’s commandments” at U.S. embassies.

Seven, concerning the days of Noah (corruption and violence; Gen. 6:11): on July 12, 2021, Peter Schweizer, Pres. of the Government Accountability Institute (GAI), said the GAI has a copy of Hunter’s laptop and files, and the GAI has confirmed that Pres. Joe Biden did benefit with Hunter’s business dealings with foreigners.

This is called corruption, and the Democrats and Justice Dept. have done nothing.

Also, shootings, murders, and thefts (violence) are getting worse in many large cities, and very little is being done (political corruption).

(Note: On July 13, 2021, it was reported that Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, ranking member of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, has received a verified copy of Hunter Biden’s laptop, and it contains damning evidence of Joe Biden’s involvement in Hunter’s financial dealings with foreigners, including in China.).

(Note: If corruption doesn’t exist in the Justice Dept., why are the demonstrators at the capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, being prosecuted, but Hillary Clinton, and many arsonists, rioters and looters in Antifa and Black Lives Matter are not being prosecuted? If corruption does not exist at the highest levels of the Democrat Party, why is Biden’s China collusion, etc., ignored after Trump was impeached twice for Russian collusion? (when no evidence was found).

This is the point: These are signs that the days of Noah (corruption and violence) have arrived, and God will soon intervene.

Oh, by the way, why does Hunter Biden, who is not an accomplished artist, think he can get $500,000 each for some of his paintings?

FYI, the Sunday edition (July 11, 2021) of https://harbingersdaily.com posted an article by Leo Hohmann titled, “What Should You Do If Federal Agents Arrive at Your Door Asking About Your Personal Health Decisions?”

Hohmann posed the question to several constitutional attorneys, and this is some of what John Whitehead, founder and president of the Rutherford Institute, said:

“You are under no obligation to answer any of their questions.” “Ask them (politely but firmly) to leave.” “Ask them to leave your property; they are trespassing.” “You may wish to video your encounter with the government agent.” “Just say, ‘sir, I’m calling the police.’” Finally, are you Rapture Ready?

If you want to be rapture ready and go to heaven, you must be born again (John 3:3). God loves you, and if you have not done so, sincerely admit that you are a sinner; believe that Jesus is the virgin-born, sinless Son of God who died for the sins of the world, was buried, and raised from the dead; ask Him to forgive your sins, cleanse you, come into your heart and be your Saviour; then tell someone that you have done this.

I agree with those who think we are approaching the end of days. In fact I see some signs that we are well into the three and a half years, maybe further than one might suppose if the election were to be considered the start of it, I note that Chairman Xi received a boost in his power status back around March 2018 and that could be the start of the three and a half years, with the COVID episode the defining event and planned out from about that point onward.

I do not look for one specific Antichrist but the reign of (many) antichrists. But as to the man of sin, who comes when “he who restrains him” is taken out of the way, how about that being Xi’s proxy ruler Biden, who comes when Trump is taken out of the way. This is not supposed to last long before Christ appears and overcomes the man of sin (and the beast, dragon and false prophet).

Does it not feel like we are in that time now, where the evil ones realize they have very little time left and are frantically trying to win a battle against the good forces? And we know the outcome of that.

HISTORY OF FALSE PROPHETS

In every generation after the apostles, there have been Christians who mistakenly believed that they were in the last days. They have thought that their generation was the one Jesus spoke of when He prophesied that “all these things” would happen in “this generation.” Failed prognosticators have been a persistent embarrassment to Christianity.

End Times speculation holds a particular fascination for American evangelicals who are wrapped up in rapture theology. They curiously find hope in an expected destruction of the planet and its replacement with a utopia in which carnivorous animals will take up vegetarianism. It is simply taken for granted that the Bible predicts an end of time, and that there is no number of elapses centuries spent waiting for it that cannot be called “the end times.”

Francis Gumerlock, in his book THE DAY AND THE HOUR: CHRISTIANITY’S PERENNIAL FASCINATION WITH PREDICTING THE END OF THE WORLD, lists end-times prophecy predictions made by Christians, beginning with the apostolic fathers.

For example, Ignatius writes around the year AD 100 that “the last times are come upon us.” Cyprian (200-258) writes that “the day of affliction has begun to hang over our heads, and the end of the world and the time of the Antichrist. . . draw near, so that we must all stand prepared for the battle.”

Christopher Columbus wrote a book entitled BOOK OF PROPHECIES in which he called on many of the same passages of Scripture that false prophets cite today to predict the imminent end of the world. He apparently thought that his discoveries marked the beginning of the end.

Martin Luther made this statement: “I am satisfied that the last day must be before the door; for the signs predicted by Christ and the Apostles Peter and Paul have now all been fulfilled, the trees put forth, the Scriptures are green and flourishing. . . . We certainly have nothing now to wait for but the end of all things.”

Here are just a few more modern examples of end-times dating from Christians as well as pseudo-Christian cultists:

—Ellen G. White (co-founder—Seventh Day Adventist Church): 1843, 1844, 1850, 1856.
—Joseph Smith (founder—Mormon Church): 1891.
—Jehovah’s Witnesses: 1874, 1878, 1881, 1910, 1914, 1918, 1925, 1975, and 1984.
—Hal Lindsey: 1982, 1988, 2007, with contingency dates going as far as 2048.
—Jack Van Impe: 1975, 1992, 2000, 2012.
—Chuck Smith (founder of Calvary Chapel): before 1981
—Pat Robertson: 1982, 2007.
—Edgar C. Whisenant: 1988, 1989.
—Bill Maupin: 1988.
—Charles R. Taylor: 1992.
—Benny Hinn: 1993.
—Grant R. Jeffrey: 2000.
—Lester Sumrall: 1985, 1986, 2000.
—Kenneth Hagin: 1997 to 2000.
—Jerry Falwell: 2010.
—John Hagee (at age 71): before he dies.
—Harold Camping: 1994, 2011.
—Perry Stone: 2009-2015
—Billy Graham: Even this venerable preacher began telling us in the 1930’s to expect the soon return of Christ.

Pastors all across America’s fruited plains have books of some of these authors proudly displayed in their office libraries. Money continues to flow to these authors and many others of the same ilk. Whenever you happen to be reading this, you will probably be hearing from a new generation of false teachers.

Perhaps there is something fundamentally wrong with these predictions. All of these prognosticators had something in common: They all thought they knew better than Jesus, who over and over told his followers that his prophecies would come to pass while some of them were still alive (Matthew 10:23; 16:27-28; 26:64; Luke 21:22, 32; John 21:22; etc.) Along with the New Testament writers, there are over 100 time-statements in the New Testament that limit fulfillment of prophecy to the first century (Hebrews 1:1-2; 1 Peter 4:7; 1 John 2:18; etc.).

Here’s more failed predictions:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predictions_and_claims_for_the_Second_Coming_of_Christ

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dates_predicted_for_apocalyptic_events

THE BIBLICAL LAST DAYS

Let’s return to the Bible to define the “last days” or “end times.”

There are 18 primary texts about the last days, end times (or end of the age) in the New Testament. Taken together, it is clear that the writers of the New Testament saw themselves as living in the last days. Contrary to popular opinion, the setting and fulfillment of the last days can only be placed within the first century! Here are five passages, which can ignore or try to explain away, but you cannot ignore them and deal honestly with the text:

• “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, ON WHOM THE END OF THE AGES HAS COME.” (Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 10:11)

• “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in THESE LAST DAYS He has spoken to us by his Son. . . .” (Writer of Hebrews, Hebrews 1:1-2)

• “He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but WAS MADE MANIFEST IN THE LAST TIMES for your sake.” (Apostle Peter, 1 Peter 1:20)

• “The END OF ALL THINGS is AT HAND.” (Apostle Peter, 1 Peter 4:7)

• “Children, IT IS THE LAST HOUR.” (Apostle John, 1 John 2:18)

Here are the other thirteen: Matthew 13:38-42; 24:2-3; 13-16 (ref. v. 34); Acts 2:14-20; 1 Corinthians 1:8; 7:29-31; 15:24; 1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; Hebrews 9:26; James 5:1-6; 1 Peter 1:5-7; Jude 17-23. It is clear. You cannot push the last days beyond the generation of men who were writing the New Testament without doing violence to the text.

The last days/end times did not just begin in the first century―and continue until now. That would make the end time longer than the period to which it was an end. That is, we have been in the New Covenant era for 2,000 years, which is longer than the Old Covenant era which was 1500 years, beginning with Moses and lasted till the first century. “At hand” and “It is the last hour” cannot be 2,000 years later. The biblical last days were the END OF SOMETHING NOT THE BEGINNING OF SOMETHING.

There is only one logical conclusion. The last days are not about the end of the world. In fact, the Bible never speaks about the end of the physical universe, and indeed teaches that the earth abides forever in some sense (Psalm 78:69; 104:5; 148:3-6; Ecclesiastes 1:4; Ephesians 3:21). They are not about a supposed end of the Christian age. They are not about a future millennium. Rather, they marked the last days of the OLD COVENANT AGE, which came to a violent end in AD 70 at the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple.

This is when God judged Israel for her sins, her refusal to accept Jesus as Messiah, and for her participation with the Roman authorities in Jesus’ conviction and crucifixion. This was the end of biblical Judaism.

Where do you suppose that these writers of the New Testament got such an idea? Well, from our Lord himself, of course, in such passages at Matthew 21-24. In these and many other passages, Jesus placed the “end” at the time of the destruction of the temple, during his own generation. For more detail on all the end-times passages, see my two-part series here:

http://faithfacts.org/world-religions-and-theology/the-biblical-last-days

Very true.

1 John 3:9 “Committeth not sin”: That is, as long as he keepeth in himself this seed of grace, and this divine generation, by which he is born of God. But then he may fall from this happy state, by the abuse of his free will, as appears from Rom. 11. 20-22; Cor. 9. 27; and 10. 12; Phil. 2. 12; Apoc. 3. 11.

As conclusively proven above - the very concept of the rapture is not in the Bible. The rapture concept - a secret taking away is contrary to the Pauline passages

Darby invented the 19th century rapture philosophy

In 1830 Darby met fifteen-year-old Mararet MacDonald, who claimed to have had a private revelation of a secret rapture that would occur shortly

flash alert -- the "secret rapture" didn't occur in 1830 nor in 1870 nor in 1914 nor in 2012 -- but the gullible who persist in believing in the 19thc century creation of secret pre-Trib rapture keep falling for it

Let's go through all of the hilarious rapture fails

Even the great Billy Graham fell for it
- In a 1950 issue of US News and World reportGraham stated "Two years and it's all going to be over." Flash alert: we're past 1952 and still going
- April 1984 Graham proclaimed, "Anybody who's anybody believes that global war is imminent"
- 1995 "When will the end be?.... Every indication is that it will be sooner than we think
Hal lindsey in 1970 The late great planet earth -- with the Rapture idea that the rapture was due before the end of the 1980s - FAIL
1978 Chuck Smith, Evangelical pastor wrote "The Lord is coming before the end of 1981" -- errr.. another fail
Gary Wilburn in Christianity todayin 1979 wrote "The world must end within one generation from the birth of the state of Israel. Any opinion of world affairs that does not dovetail with this prophecy is dismissed" -- Rapturists claim that this means the rapture must occur within forty years of the founding of Israel in 1948 -- FAIL. The year 1988 came and went
in 1988, Edgar Whisenat published and distributed his pamphlet 88 reasons why the rapture will be in 1988 -- He specified September as the month in which Christ would return -- bzzz. RAPTURE-FAIL again.
But the rapture didn't occur in 1988 so Whisenant wrote 89 reasons why the rapture will be in 1989
Then rapture-fails sorry rapturists claim that this 40 year should be counted from 1967 - RAPTURE-FAIL again as 2007 came and went.
Jerry Falwell in 1989 sent out a mass mailing In just a few days we will enter what will be the final decade!
On december 19, 1994, US News and world report stated that 1 in 5 Americans believed the world would end within a few years!

RAPTURE-FAIL once more
Pat Robertson on May 12, 1994 We are talking about the final age of humankind right now... Please call and make a pledge... your dollars may not do any good in give years or so"

Then you got the Rapture-fails of the Left Behind series
the Rapture fail of the "The Bible Code" that all life would be wiped out when a comet crashed into the earth in 2012 -- err.. that didn't happen, another rapture fail

Net - net, this fake 19th century philosophy has been shown to be continuously failing and still rapturists follow it - adding on a few more years each time they fail

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