Beware of The Law of Unintended Consequences

Dick Morris and Eileen McGann, writing on their blog, DickMorris.com, posted a very interesting commentary yesterday.

THE IMPENDING COLLAPSE OF OUR ENEMIES
By Dick Morris And Eileen McGann
12.15.2008

The Depression — let’s call it what it is — leaves us, well, depressed. But there is very good news from around the world. Our enemies are collapsing under the strain of dropping oil and gas prices. What we had all hoped conservation and off-shore drilling would achieve, the global economic collapse is accomplishing: the defeat of OPEC, Iran, Chavez, Putin and the weakening of the financial underpinnings of Islamist terrorism. In each of these nations, the hold of the dictator is weakening as, one after the other, they face the consequences of dropping oil prices.

In Iran, the sanctions imposed by the United Nations, the aggressive efforts of the U.S. government, and the actions of states like California, Florida, and Missouri to ban pension investments in companies that do business with Iran are having a big effect. Unable to expand its oil production for a lack of foreign investment, Iran faces the need to slash its budget drastically as energy revenues, the source of 85% of its income, crash. Iranian President Ahmadinejad is announcing harsh austerity measures. Having based his budget on $50-$60 oil, he now must recast it for at a $40 per barrel level. He boasts of cash reserves of $23 billion, but that sum won’t last long unless he makes major cuts. (Do the math: a shortfall of $25/barrel per day x 4 million barrels a day x 365 days = $36.5 billion, more than he’s got on hand).

The question for Ahmadinejad and for the Ayatollah who stands behind him is: Can their regime survive economic collapse? Unable to buy social peace by handouts and subsidies, will the top blow off an country that hates the regime, is predominantly very young, and is only 40% Farci?

Read the rest.

They go on to discuss the plight of Venezuela and Russion.

So, what has happened here?

For the last year or more, the price of a barrel of oil has risen rapidly, peaking at about $140 per barrel. For all this time, our enemies, who are all big oil producing states, have licked their chops and built these prices into their budgets and strategic planning. These unexpected billions have funded Iran's nuclear weapons program and subsidized the failing Iranian economy. Unexpected billions have funded Putin's plans stabilize the Russian economy, rebuild the Russian military, and pursue his expansionist aggression in Georgia (with more planned to come, I'm sure).

So the oil producing countries have done their best to keep pushing oil prices higher, manipulating the market with all their might, rejoicing all the time at the sudden windfall. This caused a classic "bubble" in the oil market. Oil futures kept being driven higher because speculators and big purchasers (like airlines) kept bidding up the prices, driven by the fear of even higher prices yet to come.

Every market bubble eventually bursts. Something happens that causes the hysteria to evaporate and reality to set in. When that happens, prices in that market collapse. We have seen that in the oil market as the price of a barrel of oil fell precipitously from around $150 per barrel to around $45 per barrel. This is about where supply and demand set the price of oil in an open market in the current economic conditions.

But our enemies have built their short-term good fortune (the oil price bubble) into their long-term plans as though the bubble was never going to end. They were wrong.

Have you ever noticed how much easier it is to put more money into a budget than it is to take money out of a budget? As Dick and Eileen said, our enemies are now in extremely serious budget difficulty. And the best thing about it is their troubles are mostly of their own making!

The Non-Event on Rosh Hashanna 2008

My brother-in-law, Alan Nelson, sent me an email with the following article from Longtom Radio End Times Ministries, www.ltradio.org. All of you who read my "Oh, Well...." post know that I was very disappointed that our Lord did nor return for us on Rosh Hashanna. I did not lose hope or faith, but I certainly was puzzled how we could have so badly misread so many clear signs. I think this article makes a powerful, very plausable scriptural argument that we were right, but missed the full significance of the parable of the ten virgins.

It's a bit long, but here's the full article:

The Non-Event on Rosh Hashanna 2008

There were many reasons for the expectation of the Rapture to take place on Rosh Hashanna/Feast of Trumpets 2008. One of them was the astronomical tetrad in the years 2014-2015 as discovered by US Pastor Mark Biltz of El Shaddai Ministries. For only the third time in 2000 years, there will be a succession of total lunar eclipses on the feasts of Passover and Tabernacles in this Jewish years, including unusual solar eclipses.

It appeared that this could be the fulfillment of Yahushua’s (Jesus’) words, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light ...” (Mt 24:29).

Calculating backwards 7 years, which is the duration of the 70th week of Daniel, called the Tribulation, the Feast of Trumpets 2008 became a focal point for the fulfillment of the pre-Tribulation Rapture.

Also, and in support of this, the Feast of Trumpets 2008 appeared to be the beginning of a new sabbatical cycle, or year week; a period of 7 years that will conclude the 50 year Jubilee cycle around about the year 2015. Taking a re look at the Sabbath year, which many believed to have passed on Rosh Hashanna which was the end of the civil year, we discovered that the sacred calendar year only ends on the eve of 1 Nisan 5769 (around the end of March 2009). Rosh Hashanna is in it`s right position at the start of the seventh month of Tishrei on the sacred calendar.

According to the Scripture, Yahushua (Jesus), the Kinsman Redeemer, will return to the earth on the Final Jubilee, defeat the armies of the world at Armageddon, and restore the land of Israel to the Jewish people and usher in the Thousand year peace.

So then, are we prepared to be like the Bereans, “in that they received the word in all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11)? If we are willing to search and examine the Scriptures, and put a magnifying glass over them, we will surely find out why many have lapsed into a state of despair and disillusionment over the non-event of Rosh Hashanah 2008.

Also we will see that because of this condition, we are closer than ever before to His coming.

The Ten Virgins

“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom ... But while the bridegroom was delayed they all slumbered and slept” (Mt 25:1-5).

Everything is summed up in these verses. It does not matter whether we agree or disagree about the timelines pointing to Rosh Hashanah 2008.

The fact is, because of these timelines and teachings and understandings, millions of Christians around the world “took their lamps and went out to meet the Bridegroom” on this date, which was an appointed time [feast day] on the Hebrew calendar. And because “the Bridegroom was delayed” millions of Christians have lost hope that He is coming and are falling asleep.

How I wish we could all see the simplicity of it all! Of course, there were five wise and five foolish virgins who went out to meet Him. The Greek word for “foolish” is moros [Strong’s 3474] and means “dull or stupid, blockhead.” Our English word “moron” is derived from it. Oh dear! But the trouble is, “they all slumbered and slept,” including the wise virgins.

These two verses lay the foundation for the coming of the Bridegroom, for the words of Yahushua (Jesus) seem not only to be a parable, but also a prophecy.

At some time in history, the Lord Jesus was saying that before He could come, ten [the number of ordinal perfection] virgins, representing the entire watchful church, would agree that the appointed time had arrived for their wedding day, the Rapture. And on that appointed Day, in their hearts, as it were, they would all go out to meet with Him “in the clouds” (1 Th 4:17).

And when that happened - He would delay!

Now, what does it take for all these virgins to agree upon a certain date? After all, they are not all at the same place but spread around the world, and all of them have somewhat different perspectives and understandings about this Day.

We are not talking here about a cult, where all agree by decree. Half the virgins, we may assume, are the Bride of Christ, who are filled with the Holy Spirit, the ones who, according to Yahushua, had oil in their lamps. And this whole company, both wise and foolish, are persuaded that on a certain date their Bridegroom is coming to marry them.

In the first place, it is not possible to go to an appointment without a time. Simply put, no person in their right mind will go to an appointment unless a time and date has been set.

It is becoming clearer now why there were so many timelines pointing to Rosh Hashanah 2008, a date that was not set by cults and cranks, but based upon the prophetic Word.

Moreover, if it had been a date set by a single person or ministry, it is doubtful whether this event could have been fulfilled as Scripture requires it to be.

It is also clear that, since this was the wedding day of Yahushua Hamashiach, no such thing could have happened unless it had been sanctioned by the Holy Spirit. It is He that has been appointed to tell us “things to come” (Jn 16:13), and He alone, as at Palm Sunday [the delayed wedding date at the end of week 69 – Mt 22:1-14, Mt 21:1-11] could create this expectation in the hearts of men.

Therefore many men and many ministries, and watchmen, all working together under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and guided by the Word of God, persuaded the ten virgins that the appointed time of their wedding day was Rosh Hashanah 2008.

If we place a magnifying glass over the Scripture, we see clearly that unless we did what we did on Rosh Hashanah 2008, the Lord will not come. For reasons which are not yet clear to us, the Spirit of Prophecy has decreed that until all ten virgins have common cause that the Bridegroom is coming, and at a certain fixed time, and act upon it, He will not come.

And if it was not this day, then this part of the Rapture process has not yet been fulfilled, for there has been no other day in the history of the church that has fulfilled this pre-Rapture condition. Or are we to wait for another day at another time that all, or many, will agree upon?

Also, had we believed that He would delay; we would not have gone out to meet with Him?

If I should say to you, I will meet you on such and such a time on such and such a day, but I will be delayed, will you come out to meet with me? How then shall I persuade you to come out and meet with me, for knowing that I will delay, you will not come?

Yet He said, “But while the bridegroom was delayed.” And in another place, “Though it delays, wait for it, for surely it will come. It will not tarry” (Hab 2:3). And in another place, “For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry” (Heb 10:37). And He also delayed on Palm Sunday, saying, “The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy” (Mt 22:8). Did we forget?

So then, He delays His wedding. Palm Sunday, the last day of the 69 weeks of Daniel, was His wedding day. It was delayed. Rosh Hashanah 2008 was also the appointed time of His wedding. It has also been delayed.

Are we then to lose heart, or fall asleep? Surely not. For then He said, “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’” (Mt 25:6).

He has only delayed so that He can come. Indeed, now that He has delayed, His coming is closer than ever. Until He delayed, He could not come. But now that the appointed time has come and gone, and He is delaying, He will come.

And He will come suddenly, “at midnight.” It will be swift, sudden and unexpected for many.

There will be no more time and no more warning.

“Cry” is the Greek, krauge, [Strong’s 2906], “an outcry (in notification, tumult or grief), or clamour.” Will the global financial system finally implode, or World War III break out?

Clearly, the Rapture is not going to take place on a sunny day, but in the midst of calamity.

“Go out” is the Greek, exerchomai, meaning “come out of, or escape out of” [Strong’s 1831], and “to meet” is apantesis, “a friendly encounter” [Strong’s 529]. Did He not also say, “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Lk 21:36)?

My dear friends, I am also disappointed that He delayed at Rosh Hashanah. But I am fully persuaded that God’s watchmen were not wrong about this appointed time. And I am fully persuaded that the Rapture will be fulfilled exactly as it has been set out in the Scripture, with a date, with a disappointment, and with a delay. For without a date, there is no appointed time, and without an appointed time, there can be no delay.

Whether men believe it or not, all who waited for the Bridegroom to appear in the clouds on Rosh Hashanah 2008, have now made it possible for Him to come at the Rapture. So do not be disappointed, but rejoice, for through our simple faith that we can know the time, that date setting is not an abomination to God but a pre-requisite for our wedding day to be fulfilled, you have collectively brought this incredible day so much closer.

So how long is this delay?

A Little While

The Scripture gives us many clues, but no precise time [that we know of] for this crucial period.

Unless there is clear revelation concerning this, we would be wise not to speculate with too much rigidity. One of the most comforting clues comes from the Greek text of Hebrews 10:37, which is a quote from the vision of Habakkuk 2:3. “For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry.”

The word translated “little” is the Greek mikron [Strong’s 3397/8], “a small space of time,” from which the English word “micron” is derived.

A micron is “one millionth of a meter,” a distance which is too small to be visible. To emphasize how small this space of time is, the Greek text includes the words “oson, oson” which are translated as “a very [little while].” Oson means “much or great” [Strong’s 3745], so in effect it means “a great, great little while” or a “very, very, small space of time.”

Is the Holy Spirit indicating that this delay is for such a microscopic period of time that it is, for all intents and purposes, almost invisible on the scale of Biblical prophecy? This is good news to those who were disappointed at the Feast of Trumpets.

There is also comfort in the Hebrew text of Habakkuk’s vision. Habakkuk says, “For still the vision is for the appointed time, but it [the appointed time] pants to the end and does not lie.

Though it delays, wait for it, for surely it will come. It will not tarry.”

“Pants” is the Hebrew word puwach [Strong’s 6315], and means “to puff, blow with the breath of air.” It suggests a woman in the birth pangs of labour, and will proceed immediately after the appointed time. That is now. These then, are the birth pangs of the Tribulation, short, shooting pains that must come suddenly before the birth of this awesome Day of the Lord.

No wonder we are dismayed.

The word “tarry” is achar [Strong’s 309], and means “to loiter, by implication to procrastinate, be late.” In the first place, the appointed time is not a lie. This should give us hope. And however long the delay, we are told that this is not some aimless procrastination, but for a specific purpose, and undoubtedly for a predetermined but “very, very, small space of time.”

What is this purpose? Is it not to separate the wise from the foolish virgins, those ‘blockheads’ that have no oil in the lamps and believe they can enter Heaven without being born again by the Spirit? This, I believe, is the primary purpose of the delay, to sift and separate the wise and foolish from each other. To want to escape this earth, for whatever reason, is not a qualification for the Rapture, for only the indwelling Spirit can take us home [Romans 8:11].

As for the time, perhaps we are not given to know this, but to watch for the midnight cry. Of all things that come to mind, one stands out above all the rest, the threatening crisis in the Middle East. Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria, Iran, and many other Arab/Islamic countries, are all targeted for destruction according to the Bible.

In real time, we are only 24 hours or less away from an incident that could unleash the greatest conflict since World War II, one that will lead to the 7 year Peace Treaty of Daniel 9:27. It will come swiftly and terribly upon a blinkered, oil depleted church that refuses to receive the Holy Spirit and believe the Word of God.

The prophet Daniel was told to “shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall increase” (12:4). When knowledge increases it means that it becomes greater over time, especially the time of the end.

Before Rosh Hashanah 2008, we did not think that this appointed time would be delayed, yet it stands clear in the Word of God. Since then, as prophesied through Daniel, our knowledge of these things has increased, and will continue to increase until the end.

Let us not, therefore, despise these things and quench the Spirit of Prophecy. If you perchance have joined the ranks of those who have now become disillusioned or indifferent to the Lord’s coming because of His delay, let the final words of Hebrew chapter 10, as quoted from the vision of Habakkuk, speak to you; “Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him” (Heb 10:38).

It is not for nothing that the final verses of this chapter speak so strongly to us, for they clearly envision this difficult and potentially destructive time in which we now find ourselves.

We are in a new dispensation, as it were. The Church Age as we know it, is over, and all that remains of it is a micron of time called the delay.

The Rapture, for the first time, is now imminent, and the destiny of millions of Christians, the wise and the foolish, is about to be determined for eternity. For this reason the writer to the Hebrews exhorts us so, saying, “Do not cast away your confidence which has great reward” (10:35), and “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of YHWH (God), you may receive the promise” (10:36).

That promise is the Rapture, which, after a “very, very, small space of time” is coming “and will not tarry” (10:37).

No more do we measure the time, for this we have done, but let our ears and our eyes be focused on what is to come, so that when it comes, we may be ready to “go out to meet Him!”

This article was made possible with much help from two friends.

© 2008 Longtom Radio. Some right reserved. Free to copy and distribute.

So look up! Take heart! One of the things I have learned over the last few years studying Bible Prophecy is that it is difficult to see the full meaning of many prophecies. We now know - the Bridegroom was delayed, but He is coming soon! Be ready!

Maranatha

Oh, Well....

Since it is now past sundown in Jerusalem, it looks like God did not agree with my interpretation of His signs.

Bummer.

Maranatha

Blood Moons Rising

On June 11, 2008, at the Maranatha Chapel in San Diego, Pastor Ray Bentley interviewed Mark Biltz. Mark Biltz is the pastor at El Shaddai Ministries in Bonney Lake, WA. A webcast of the interview is here. Skip about 42 minutes into this church service to get to the beginning of the interview.

I have written three articles concerning the topics covered in this interview. The material in these articles is derived almost entirely from this interview, and I want to be sure to give credit where credit is due: Mark Biltz for explaining so clearly and effectively the nature of God’s feast days as prophecy, and for discovering the relationship of the four total lunar eclipses and two solar eclipses in the years 2014 and 2015 to the feast days, and their implications, and Ray Bentley for conducting an excellent, very coherent, interview.

The three articles covers roughly these three topics:

1. God’s Feast Days as Prophecy;
2. Why we can expect the Rapture to occur on Rosh Hashanah (The Feast of Trumpets), and the Gentile Church’s misinterpretation of Jesus’ words concerning the timing of His coming; and
3. The findings of Mark Biltz (and others) regarding the eclipses in 2014 and 2015, and what they might tell us about the timing of the Lord’s return.

This is the third of these articles.

When Pastor Biltz saw a photo of a total lunar eclipse over the Dome of the Rock earlier this year, it stirred his memory and curiosity. He remembered the verse in Joel (Joel 2:31), "The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes." He also recalled Mark 13:24, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light…."

The plain meaning is that these passages refer to solar and lunar eclipses.

As it turns out, NASA has a web site that has tables of solar and lunar eclipses for thousands of years. These web sites are:

1. lunar eclipses - http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEcat/LEcatalog.html
2. solar eclipses - http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/solar.html
   
   

Pastor Biltz noticed that NASA had commented on a series of four total lunar eclipses in a row in 2014 and 2015, calling them a "tetrad." The dates didn't seem to mean anything, until he realized that he should be looking at the dates in the Biblical, Hebrew calendar, not our Gregorian calendar. (You can download a good Biblical calendar from aish.com. On the left click on "holidays", go to the bottom for free Hebrew calendar download.

When he looked at them in the Hebrew calendar, he found that the first lunar eclipse in 2014 is on Passover. The second is on the first day of Succoth (Feast of Tabernacles). That seemed pretty unusual. Then he noticed that in 2015 they are on Passover and Succoth again! A lunar eclipse (blood moon) on the first and last of God's feasts for two years in a row!

The next question was, how often does this happen?

In this century there are other tetrads, but none occur on the festivals. In the last century, the last time there was a tetrad on Passover and Succoth was in 1967 and 1968, associated with the Six Day War when Jerusalem came back into the hands of the Jewish people. The next previous time was 1949 and 1950, marking Israel becoming a nation on May 14, 1948.

In the 1800s, no tetrads at all. In the 1700s, no tetrads at all. In the 1600s, no tetrads at all. In the 1500s, 5 or 6 tetrads but none on Passover and Succoth.

In 1492, Columbus (who was Jewish and a believer in Christ) sailed for America on the 9th of Av. All the Jews were kicked out of Spain on the 9th of Av in 1492. In 1493 & 1494 there was a tetrad on Passover and Succoth.

As an aside, the 9th of Av is a really, really, really bad day in Jewish history! When the 10 spies brought the bad report of the Promised Land, and Joshua and Caleb brought the good report, this was the 9th of Av. The 10 spies became cursed in Jewish history for rejecting the land. When Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple in 587 BC, it was burnt to the ground on the 9th of Av. In 70 AD, Titus and the Roman 10th Legion destroyed the temple and burned it to the ground on the 9th of Av. In 1290 all the Jews were kicked out of England on the 9th of Av. In 1492 all the Jews were kicked out of Spain on the 9th of Av. WW I started on the 9th of Av. Hitler's proclamation to kill the Jews was issued on the 9th of Av. And Israel evacuated the Gaza strip on the 9th of Av. Truly a bad day for the Jews!

What about eclipses? Throughout the Scriptures, a blood moon (total lunar eclipse) is a bad sign for Israel and a total solar eclipse is a bad sign for the nations (the gentiles).

We've talked about lunar eclipses. What about solar eclipses in those years? A total solar eclipse occurs in 2015 just before Nissan 1, ending one religious year and beginning the next. Nissan 1 is the day Moses set up the Tabernacle and the Glory of God fell from heaven, marking a new beginning. On the Feast of Trumpets in 2015 is another solar eclipse (a partial eclipse).

We have seen that God has used these Tetrads on His holy days to provide a sign to the world. It seems reasonable that He is doing it again. Although no one knows God's timetable, He just might be marking the return of Jesus Christ with these signs. If we make the assumption (and it is only an assumption) that Jesus returns in 2015, we know the Tribulation is seven years making the beginning of the Tribulation in 2008. Yes, this year! We also remember that many believe that Jesus will Rapture His church on the Feast of Trumpets, Rosh Hashanah. Rosh Hashanah this year (2008) is on September 30 and October 1.

One other set of signs seems to point to the beginning of the Tribulation this year. This has to do with a three week period known as the Dire Straits.

The Dire Straits begin on the 17th of Tamuz, in the summer time. This is the day the Israelites worshipped the golden calf. The 17th of Tamuz is the same day Nebuchadnezzar broke through the Northern walls before he destroyed the Solomon's temple, and the same day the missiles went through the Northern border of Israel at the beginning of the last Lebanon war.

They end on the 9th of Av, three weeks later. During this time, Jews are seeking God and repenting for the sins of their forefathers.

The next three solar eclipses occur 3 years in a row right in the middle of the Dire Straits, on the last day of Tamuz and on the 1st of Av. The first one occurred this year on August 1, the 1st of Av. Things have been very interesting since then, haven't they?

Does this prove that Jesus will Rapture His church this year? No. No, it does not. No one knows the mind of God.

But it could be this year! The signs are pointing to it!

"Earthquakes in various places"

In Mark 13:8, Jesus said "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains."

Can anyone who sees this chart doubt that the birth pains have begun, at least for earthquakes?

This information is derived from the USGS website. I did not go back earlier than 1970 because I was not sure about the reliability of the data for earlier dates.

Note that the data for 2008 is incomplete.

The Feast of Trumpets

On June 11, 2008, at the Maranatha Chapel in San Diego, Pastor Ray Bentley interviewed Mark Biltz. Mark Biltz is the pastor at El Shaddai Ministries in Bonney Lake, WA. A webcast of the interview is here. Skip about 42 minutes into this church service to get to the beginning of the interview.

Iwrote three articles concerning the topics covered in this interview. The material in these articles is derived almost entirely from this interview, and I want to be sure to give credit where credit is due: Mark Biltz for explaining so clearly and effectively the nature of God’s feast days as prophecy, and for discovering the relationship of the four total lunar eclipses and two solar eclipses in the years 2014 and 2015 to the feast days, and their implications, and Ray Bentley for conducting an excellent, very coherent, interview.

The three articles cover roughly these three topics:

1. God’s Feast Days as Prophecy;
2. Why we can expect the Rapture to occur on Rosh Hashanah (The Feast of Trumpets), and the Gentile Church’s misinterpretation of Jesus’ words concerning the timing of His coming; and
3. The findings of Mark Biltz (and others) regarding the eclipses in 2014 and 2015, and what they might tell us about the timing of the Lord’s return.

This is the second of these articles.

The Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah)

This is the only feast where the Jews blow the Shofar (trumpet) one hundred times. Throughout Jewish history, the 100th blast has always been known as the Last Trump. Therefore, when Ephesians speaks of the Last Trump, Paul was talking about the Feast of Trumpets.

All other feasts are on the full moon, 14 days after the last new moon. Their start can be determined by simply counting days. The Feast of Trumpets is on the new moon, the very first day of the month. In order to determine the new moon, two witnesses would need to go to the Sanhedrin and testify that they saw the new moon. Fires would be set to let all the Jews everywhere know that the feast had begun. They couldn’t just count days.

Because of this uncertainty, when you woke up in the morning, the feast could already be half over. This was unacceptable, because the Jews were required to keep the entire day.

To solve this dilemma, they kept the feast for two days, and it was known as one long day.Because it was based on the sighting of the new moon, the feast was known as “the feast where no one knew the day or the hour” when it was going to begin.

Even to this day, on Jewish calendars it still covers two days. (Rosh Hashanah is also called the Feast of the Long Day.) “I don’t know which day it’s going to be on, but it’s one or the other.” It is also known as the Hidden Day. Because it is on one day or the other, it’s hidden from Satan so he won’t know the exact time, either.

The Rapture begins the Wedding of the Messiah. Whenever any Jewish man was going to get married, the father did all the preparation. Whenever the groom was asked when the wedding would be he would respond “Only my father knows.” This was a common term of respect.

The Feast of Trumpets is the sign. It’s the Last Trump. It is the crowning of the King. It is the day of Hiddenness. It’s the day the gates are opened, the opening of the books. It’s the long day. And, it’s the only feast where you don’t know the exact day or hour.

God always warns before he brings judgment. For example, there are seven trumpet judgments in Revelation. Many people, including Mark Biltz, believe that the Rapture will occur on the Feast of Trumpets.

When a statement like that is made, it is inevitable that someone will point out the words of Jesus in Matthew 24:36, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” However, as we have just seen, this was a common Jewish phrase in Jesus’ day, with a different meaning from our present day, gentile, understanding.

In addition, Pastor Biltz cites several verses that show that Jesus was speaking to the sleeping church that is not watching and awaiting His return.

In 1st Thessalonians 5:1-2 Paul says, “But of the times and the season, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.” What does Paul mean by “thief in the night?”

Pastor Biltz shows a picture from The Temple Institute of a sleeping watchman being found asleep by the captain of the watch.

Remember, God lit the first fire on the altar. The Israelites were commanded to never let the fire go out. Priests were assigned to guard the flame, two at a time. When the captain of the guard would come to check, if he found one of the priests sleeping, he would take a torch, light it with the fire from the altar, and set the sleeping priest’s garments on fire. The priestly guard would jump up screaming, tearing off his burning garments, and go running through the temple naked.

The captain of the guard was referred to in the vernacular as “the thief in the night!” His job was to insure that the watchmen were keeping the fires burning.

When Jesus talked about coming as a thief in the night, he was talking about this very circumstance. He was not speaking to those who are watching and waiting, He is warning the church that is not watching, asleep on the job. Jesus was writing to the religious community that didn’t believe that He was coming, weren’t watching, were asleep. In effect, He was saying to them “When things start happening, you’ll be running and screaming, exposing your shame because you were not prepared, even though you said that you were My children.”

In Revelation 3:1-3, Jesus says “I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.” (My emphasis)

Through John, He was writing to the “dead” church. He was telling them that He would come as a thief to those who are not watching!

Revelation 3: 17-18 says, “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.”

This ties in with Revelation 16:15 - “Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!” He comes as a thief to the sleeping church.

1st Thessalonians 5:3 says, “While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.”

“Sudden destruction will come upon them” speaks to those who are not watching, not those who are watching, because those who are watching “are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.” (emphasis mine)

In the parable of The Foolish Virgins, Matt 25:8-13, Jesus said “And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” Jesus was speaking to the foolish virgins, not to the wise virgins. The wise virgins were already in the marriage feast.

In the story of faithful and unfaithful servants, Luke 12:37-48, Jesus said, ‘Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?” And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.”’

If you’re not watching and don’t believe the Lord is coming, THEN he comes like a thief in the night. Don't let that be you!

Every year on the Feast of Trumpets we should be watching for the return of our Lord.

The Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) this year is on September 30 and October 1. Be ready!


Update! After I posted this, I realized that to use the illustration from the Temple Institute I needed their permission. When I emailed them, not only did I receive permission, I also received some comments correcting my understanding of the temple guard. This is the email I received:

Dear Mr. Smith,
Shalom and greetings from Jerusalem. Thanks for your email request. Permission is granted for this use.
Respectfully, I'd just like to comment on what you have written here, from the standpoint of Jewish scholarship...since the subject of the Holy Temple is a Jewish subject I would like to clarify one point. It was the Levites, not the priests, who stood guard in the Holy Temple at night. There were twenty four specific points within the Temple where these guards stood watch; however, the purpose of this guard was to honor the Divine Presence. No priests were assigned to guard the flame on the altar. Also, the sleeping Levite's garments were only singed. There were never allowed to actually catch fire. No one ever ran through the Holy Temple naked.
Sincerely,
Rabbi Chaim Richman
Director, International Department
The Temple Institute

I would like to thank Rabbi Richman for his kind comments, and I stand corrected.

God's Holy Days as Prophecy

On June 11, 2008, at the Maranatha Chapel in San Diego, Pastor Ray Bentley interviewed Mark Biltz. Mark Biltz is the pastor at El Shaddai Ministries in Bonney Lake, WA. A webcast of the interview is here. Skip about 42 minutes into this church service to get to the beginning of the interview.

I wrote three articles concerning the topics covered in this interview. The material in these articles is derived almost entirely from this interview, and I want to be sure to give credit where credit is due: Mark Biltz for explaining so clearly and effectively the nature of God’s feast days as prophecy, and for discovering the relationship of the four total lunar eclipses and two solar eclipses in the years 2014 and 2015 to the feast days, and their implications, and Ray Bentley for conducting an excellent, very coherent, interview.

The three articles cover roughly these three topics:

1. God’s Feast Days as Prophecy;
2. Why we can expect the Rapture to occur on Rosh Hashanah (The Feast of Trumpets), and the Gentile Church’s misinterpretation of Jesus’ words concerning the timing of His coming; and
3. The findings of Mark Biltz (and others) regarding the eclipses in 2014 and 2015, and what they might tell us about the timing of the Lord’s return.

This is the first of these articles.

Genesis 1:14 says “And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years”. The Hebrew word translated as “signs” carries a connotation of being a signal for His coming or appearing. The word translated as “season” means “appointed times”, as in feasts, convocations, dress rehearsals, and assemblies. Therefore, God himself has told us that the sun and the moon were placed in the heavens to be signs and signals for us.

It is important to note that when God gave these feast days to Moses, He called them the Feasts of the Lord, not Feasts of Israel, or Feasts of the Jews. They are His. To man, this should emphasize their importance.

If there are signs and signals during the feast days, the signs and signals would be solar and lunar eclipses. An eclipse on a feast day is a sign that Heaven is intersecting with earthly history and something exceptional is about to happen. More on this in the third article in this series.

Mark Biltz views the festivals/feasts as dress rehearsals of what Israel is going to go through in the future. The seven feasts are all to be fulfilled in Jesus, all are pictures of Him. The First four are a type of the First Coming and have already been fulfilled; the last three are a type of the Second Coming and will be fulfilled soon.

In this article we will mostly discuss the first four of the seven feasts. These are Passover (Pesah), Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, and Weeks (also known as Passover).

Passover

Christians know Passover as the day the Angel of Death passed over the children of Israel in Egypt, because of the blood of a lamb over the door of the Israelite’s house. We also know Passover because our Lord, Jesus Christ, died for our sins on Passover. We know Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” The Passover lamb was offered to God to cover up the sins of Israel for the year. Jesus atoned for them forever.

The killing of the Passover lamb every year was a dress rehearsal of the death of Jesus on the cross. The Lord was bound to the cross the third hour of the day (9:00 AM). This is the time of the morning sacrifice. At this very time, the priest was binding the Passover lamb to the horns of the altar. Jesus died at the ninth hour of the day (3:00 PM). This is the time of the evening sacrifice. Jesus died at the very same time that the high priest was killing the Passover Lamb, fulfilling this prophecy!

Unleavened Bread

The Feast of Unleavened Bread is the next day after Passover, and celebrates the Israelites' release from slavery in Egypt. In the Bible, leavening (yeast) is used to represent sin, so unleavened means without sin. Jesus was without sin, and His body did not decay.

Firstfruits

The Feast of Firstfruits is three days after Passover. This is the day that Jesus rose from the dead after his crucifixion. Imagine! The Jews had been celebrating the feast of Firstfruits for 1500 years before Jesus fulfilled it, for He is the firstfruits of the resurrection!

Weeks (Pentecost)

The first Pentecost was the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai. On this day God killed 3,000 Israelites who sinned against God by worshiping the golden calf. After Jesus’ resurrection, on this day the Holy Spirit was poured out, first on the disciples, then on the 3,000 who were redeemed by receiving Jesus on that day. The Jews kept Pentecost for 1500 years before its fulfillment by the Holy Spirit on our Pentecost!

There is a gap in the feasts, known as the Summer Harvest. This symbolizes the 2000 years from the first coming to the second coming. It is a time of harvesting. We are somewhere near the end of the Summer Harvest. Now the time of the Gentiles is almost fulfilled.

The last three feasts are the Feasts of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah), The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and Tabernacles (Sukkot). We will discuss them in the next two articles.

Ezekiel's War Now?

Current events in the Middle East and Russia have brought on speculation that Ezekiel 38 and 39 are about to be fulfilled.

I believe that the conditions are not right for Ezekiel's War to happen in the near future. Israel is not at peace. I think this war will happen soon after the mid-point of the Tribulation, possibly the opening battle in the War of Armageddon.

I think Psalm 83 may go with Isaiah 17, the Judgment on Damascus. The Psalm does NOT say that Israel will be prosperous afterwards, and Isaiah 17 definitely says the opposite. Israel will have suffered considerably during this war.

The scenario that I see is this:

Iran, hoping to deflect Israel's attention from its nuclear program, gets its puppets, Hezbollah, the Palestinians, and Syria (and others), to launch a war against Israel. Syria is known to have chemical weapons that can be delivered by missile. I could see Syria using one or more of these chemical WMDs on Israel. Israeli military doctrine calls for a nuclear response, most likely against Damascus, thus fulfilling Isaiah 17.

The destruction of Damascus in this fashion could provide the push necessary for the Arabs/Muslims to accept a hudna (truce for the purpose of gathering the necessary strength to destroy an enemy), a peace treaty, with Israel. A seven year peace treaty is well within the Islamic doctrine of up to 10 years for a hudna.

We know that a seven year peace treaty with Israel is the marker for the beginning of the Tribulation. (I'd always wondered why this peace treaty was only for seven years. Now we know. It's not really a peace treaty, it's a hudna.)

Israelis right now are "girding their loins" trying to work up the resolve to attack Iran. Given the change in political leadership in Israel that is about to take place, I think it likely that this could happen in the next couple of months, maybe even September. To accomplish a preemptive strike, Iran would need to get Hezbollah and Syria to attack very soon to beat the Israelis to the punch. There have been rumors of such an attack since last Spring.

This timing would work well with the possibility of the Rapture happening during the Feast of Trumpets (Sept 29 - Oct 1).

Christian Explosion in China

On the Chicago Tribune website, there is a very interesting article about the surge of Christianity in China:

Jesus in China

Christianity's rapid rise is reshaping the officially atheist nation, its politics and the way many Chinese view the world. The Tribune's Evan Osnos reports from Beijing and the countryside.

By Evan Osnos |Tribune correspondent
4:57 PM CDT, June 22, 200

Rev. Jin Mingri peered out from the pulpit and delivered an unusual appeal: "Please leave," the 39-year-old pastor commanded his followers, who were packed, standing-room-only on a Sunday afternoon, into a converted office space in China's capital. "We don't have enough seats for the others who want to come, so, please, only stay for one service a day."

A choir in hot-pink robes stood to his left, beside a guitarist and a drum set bristling with cymbals. Children in a playroom beside the sanctuary punctuated the service with squeals and tantrums. It was a busy day at a church that, on paper, does not exist.

Christianity — repressed, marginalized and, in many cases, illegal in China for more than half a century — is sweeping the country, overflowing churches and posing a sensitive challenge to the officially atheist Communist Party.

By some estimates Christian churches, most of them underground, now have roughly 70 million members, as many as the party itself. A growing number of those Christians are in fact party members.

Christianity is thriving in part because it offers a moral framework to citizens adrift in an age of Wild West capitalism that has not only exacted a heavy toll in corruption and pollution but also harmed the global image of products "Made in China."

Some Chinese Christians argue that their faith is an unexpected boon for the Communist Party, because it shores up the economic foundation that is central to sustaining party rule.

"With economic development, morality and ethics in China are degenerating quickly," prayer leader Zhang Wei told the crowd at Jin's church as worshipers bowed their heads. "Holy Father, please save the Chinese people's soul."

At the same time, Christianity is driving citizens to be more politically assertive, emboldening them to push for greater freedoms and testing the party's willingness to adapt. For decades, most of China's Christians worshiped in underground churches—known as "house churches"—that avoided attention for fear of arrest on various charges such as "disturbing public order."

But in a sign of Christianity's growing prominence, in scores of interviews for a joint project of the Tribune and PBS' FRONTLINE/World, clerical leaders and worshipers from coastal boomtowns to inland villages publicly detailed their religious lives for the first time.

They repeat a seemingly shared belief that the time has come to proclaim their place in Chinese society as the world focuses on China and its hosting of the 2008 Olympics, set to begin in August.

"We have nothing to hide," said Jin, a former Communist Party member who broke away from the state church last year to found his Zion Church.

Jin embodies a historic change: After centuries of foreign efforts to implant Christianity in China, today's Christian ascension is led not by missionaries but by evangelical citizens at home. Where Christianity once was confined largely to poor villages, it is now spreading into urban power centers with often tacit approval from the regime.

It reaches into the most influential corners of Chinese life: Intellectuals disillusioned by the 1989 crackdown at Tiananmen Square are placing their loyalty in faith, not politics; tycoons fed up with corruption are seeking an ethical code; and Communist Party members are daring to argue that their faith does not put them at odds with the government.

It appears that the Tiananmen Square massacre was a key event in bringing Chinese to Jesus. There is much more in the article. Read the rest here. You will be glad you did.

It's not often that we get such favorable, even-handed treatment in a mainstream newspaper. Thanks, Chicago Tribune!

President Apostate?

An Op-Ed piece in The New York Times, President Apostate?, states what those of us who have studied Islam have known all along: according to Islamic law, Barak Obama is a Muslim.

May 12, 2008

Op-Ed Contributor

President Apostate?

By EDWARD N. LUTTWAK
Chevy Chase, Md.

BARACK OBAMA has emerged as a classic example of charismatic leadership — a figure upon whom others project their own hopes and desires. The resulting emotional intensity adds greatly to the more conventional strengths of the well-organized Obama campaign, and it has certainly sufficed to overcome the formidable initial advantages of Senator Hillary Clinton.

One danger of such charisma, however, is that it can evoke unrealistic hopes of what a candidate could actually accomplish in office regardless of his own personal abilities. Case in point is the oft-made claim that an Obama presidency would be welcomed by the Muslim world.

This idea often goes hand in hand with the altogether more plausible argument that Mr. Obama’s election would raise America’s esteem in Africa — indeed, he already arouses much enthusiasm in his father’s native Kenya and to a degree elsewhere on the continent.

But it is a mistake to conflate his African identity with his Muslim heritage. Senator Obama is half African by birth and Africans can understandably identify with him. In Islam, however, there is no such thing as a half-Muslim. Like all monotheistic religions, Islam is an exclusive faith.

As the son of the Muslim father, Senator Obama was born a Muslim under Muslim law as it is universally understood. It makes no difference that, as Senator Obama has written, his father said he renounced his religion. Likewise, under Muslim law based on the Koran his mother’s Christian background is irrelevant.

Of course, as most Americans understand it, Senator Obama is not a Muslim. He chose to become a Christian, and indeed has written convincingly to explain how he arrived at his choice and how important his Christian faith is to him.

His conversion, however, was a crime in Muslim eyes; it is “irtidad” or “ridda,” usually translated from the Arabic as “apostasy,” but with connotations of rebellion and treason. Indeed, it is the worst of all crimes that a Muslim can commit, worse than murder (which the victim’s family may choose to forgive).

Read the rest of it here.

The point is not that Barak Obama is a Muslim. By our standards, taking the man at his word, he is not. However, to the Muslim world he is a criminal of the worst kind, an apostate. Do you really think he will be able to just sit down and talk our Muslim enemies into making peace?

And think of the unprecedented problem for the Secret Service if President Obama visited any place with a significant Muslim population (including Detroit!).