Nearing Midnight

Commentary on world events that relate to Bible prophecy and on Rapture Ready issues world events.

Feb 23, 2009
Donation Drive
This first donation drive of 2009 comes at a time of profound prophetic activity. I've been studying prophecy since the early ‘80s, and I've never seen a time of such dire headlines. Here are some banners I grabbed from Rapture Ready news from a single day:
Iran Holds Enough Uranium for Bomb
North Korea Ready for War
Palestinians Attack Troops with Mortars
Iran Hails Military Ties with Russia
Bank Shares Fall on Nationalization Fear

The news has become so negative, I can see a spirit of weariness sweeping over the body of Christ. With talk of economic collapse and liberals in full control of Washington, D.C. , Christians are becoming passive spectators of world affairs.
Now is not the time to withdraw from supporting the gospel outreach. We are facing a use-it-or-lose-it situation. I plan to go into greater deal next week, but I think our monetary system is doomed, and it’s important to invest your financial resources now while they still have value. You can stick a thousand dollars under your mattress, and five years from now, I doubt it will have enough value to buy a Big Mac at McDonald's.
The economic crisis has not affected the military spending of Russia, China, Iran, and Syria. The global meltdown has severely constrained their economies, yet they continue to spend billions on armament. Both Russia and China are working on totally modernizing their military forces. What they don’t know is that they are doing this to get ready for the fighting that will take place in the tribulation.
We Christians should have the same sense of urgency. The faster things move towards the tribulation hour, the closer we will be to the moment that the Lord Jesus instantly snatches us from this doomed world. What we have to fear the most is the loss of opportunity. When the rapture occurs, there will be no more updating of anything on the site.
Rapture Ready still ranks as the largest and most visited prophecy site on the internet. We have held this status for several years. We now have a network of more than 30 servers. Whenever prophecy becomes active in the news, people flock to RR for answers. Of course, when the ‘Big Event’ takes place, tens of millions of people will stream to the site.
Although we have a very broad audience, we have a very narrow support base. Because the site is so large, with over 20,000 pages, most people who visit RR will never read this Nearing Midnight page.
In order to accomplish all these tasks, the site needs your financial support. I call on every Bible-believing Christian to help us maintain this beacon of hope. As the world literally disintegrates around us, I ask: What other endeavor could possibly be of greater importance?
Rapture Ready also needs your prayer support. I am totally convinced that the reason RR has been so successful is because I periodically ask saints to prayerfully intercede for the site. I’ve seen dozens of other web ministries try every trick in the book to draw people to their domain, with little success. RR thrives because it is built entirely on God’s grace.
A convenient way to contribute to Rapture Ready is through a regular donation. PayPal subscribers and people who have their banks send funds to our P.O. box are a vital part of our ministry. If you're interested in signing up, you can find the link on the Donation Depot page. Donations can also be sent to our P.O. box at:
Rapture Ready Min.
PO Box 185
Boys Town, NE 68010
--Todd
Russia Helps Iran Forge Nuclear Sword
United Nations officials said Thursday, February 19, that Iran now has enough enriched uranium to produce one nuclear bomb. This revelation comes just as the Obama Administration is drawing up its policy on negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.
“It appears that Iran has walked right up to the threshold of having enough low enriched uranium to provide enough raw material for a single bomb,” said Peter Zimmerman, a former chief scientist of the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.
The new figures come in a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, released on Thursday. This revealed that Iran’s production of low enriched uranium had previously been underestimated.
When the agency carried out an annual stocktaking of Natanz in mid-November, Iran had produced 839kg of low enriched uranium hexafluoride – more than 200kg more than previously thought. Tehran produced an additional 171kg by the end of January.
“It’s sure certain that if they didn’t have it [enough] when the IAEA took these measurements, they will have it in a matter of weeks,” Mr. Zimmerman said (“Iran holds enough uranium for bomb,” Daniel Dombey, Washington, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f367aada-fec8-11dd-b19a-000077b07658.html).
Experts say Iran has now reached the point it has enough fissile material to build a bomb in just a matter of months. This is a red line that Israel has previously said it could not allow Iran to cross.
The Middle East continues to be perched on the cusp of action that diplomats around the world fear could be a trigger to the first unleashing of atomic warfare since the end of World War II when America bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has declared on numerous occasions that he intends to wipe Israel from the face of the Middle East. This isn’t just the raving of a mad dictator. Ahmadinejad is a deeply committed Muslim of the most radical sort who believes that bringing on Armageddon will cause the twelfth Imam, the Islamic version of the Messiah, to come forth and install Islam as the one religion on earth. This action can only take place when Israel and the “great Satan,” America, are removed from the planet, so the ravings go. The likelihood of Binyamin Netanyahu becoming Israel’s next prime minister sets the international community’s collective teeth on edge even more, the right wing leader of Likud having vowed to do whatever is necessary to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.
Russia is complicit in the apocalyptic scheme of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and others who take the Koran at its horrific, literal worst. This does not surprise the student of Bible prophecy who reads God’s Word literally when studying prophecy yet future.
It is clear in reading the Gog-Magog invasion account in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 that Russia–Rosh—will be at the forefront of taking the Israel-hating coalition down over the “mountains of Israel.” Though Gog, the Russian leader, will have much different “spoil” (KJV) in mind than will the Islamics such as Persia (Iran), the amalgamation of people who intend to wipe Israel from the Middle East map will be driven by the same master as the nations from the West who will send a diplomatic note of protest. Antichrist’s budding regime will crave the one place on earth that is the center of God’s dealing with mankind.
I believe that while Gog will want primarily the oil fields of the Middle East in order to procure exclusively all oil of the region, the Islamics will be driven by ancient hatreds stemming back to the rift between Ishmael and Isaac, between Esau and Jacob. Antichrist will want Mt. Moriah and the very spot where the Ark of the Covenant sat within the Holy of Holies. It all makes for a quite volatile mixture that we can see beginning to form in our headlines today.
To begin this course of luciferian action, Russia and Iran must collude to develop a sphere of influence in the region. Russia has been hard at work in making the most of forming alliances in areas north of Israel. Particularly, that prophetic nation has been working to help Iran’s nuclear program come to fruition.
MOSCOW — Iran’s defense minister said today he hopes to obtain new weapons from Russia to upgrade the nation’s arsenals.
Iran has relied on Russian military assistance in the past and hopes to continue doing so, Mostafa Mohammed Najjar said…
Najjar wouldn’t elaborate on what specific weapons Iran was seeking. He met with his Russian counterpart and toured some Russians weapons plants during his five-day visit that began Monday…
Russia also has supplied weapons to Iran, including Tor-M1 air-defense missiles, despite U.S. and Israeli complaints. However, Russian officials have rejected claims that they have provided Iran with more powerful, long-range S-300 air defense missile systems.
Supplying the S-300s to Iran would markedly change the military balance in the Middle East and the issue has been the subject of intense speculation and diplomatic wrangling for months… (“Iran hails military ties with Russia” www.bostonherald.com)
With the core of the Gog-Magog corps stage center in developments for the wind-up of human history, the nuclear sword about to dangle precipitously above God’s chosen nation like the mythical sword of Damocles, it is again incumbent upon us to issue Jesus’ admonition: “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28).
--Terry

***Terry to Speak on The American Apocalypse: Is The United States in Bible Prophecy?***

Terry will address the crucial topics covered by his new book with Harvest House Publishers in a one-day prophecy conference with Southwest Radio Church Ministries on Saturday, April 18, 2009. The conference will be held in Little Rock, Arkansas, at Embassy Suites. We will post details as soon as they are available.

Southwest Radio Church is the oldest Christian broadcast in America, having been continuously on the air since 1933. To check their website, go to swrc.com.

Terry’s three half-hour programs with Dr. Noah Hutchings, pastor and president of Southwest Radio Church Ministries, will be aired in March. We will give a heads-up on when they can be heard. After that, the broadcasts will be archived on swrc.com.

Terry and Todd prayerfully hope many of our Rapture Ready family and friends can be with us at Little Rock, which is centrally located in Arkansas, and in the nation.

***More details in the coming weeks***

Mar 2
What Do These Huge Numbers Mean?
I am absolutely stunned at the magnitude and speed of the unfolding global economic crisis. Since September of last year, there has been a continuous flood of negative news. The Federal Reserve and Treasury Department have pumped more than $10 trillion into the financial system, yet our economy continues to implode.
The losses incurred by the federal government are so staggering that nobody really knows what they imply for the future. Last week, the Obama administration reported a projected deficit for 2009 of $1.75 trillion. The deficit for 2008 was only $435 billion. In the next three years, the government will need to borrow $3.6 trillion.
Many people are oblivious to our federal deficit because they don't understand the meaning of these trillion dollar numbers. Here are three examples that might help:

If you spent $1 million a day every day since Jesus was born, you would still be only slightly more that three-quarters of the way to spending $1 trillion.

A stack of one trillion $1 bills would reach nearly 68,000 miles into the sky; that’s about a third of the way from the Earth to the moon.

Earth's home galaxy, the Milky Way, is estimated to contain about 200 billion stars. So, if each star cost $1, $1 trillion would buy five Milky Way galaxies full of stars.

The big question that needs to be asked is: "Does the world have the capacity or the will to keep purchasing our debt?" U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton recently visited China to urge that country to keep buying our bonds. China already has $1.95 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, which leaves us at Beijing 's mercy. If the Chinese weren't so worried about their export market, they could easily destroy our economy by selling some of their treasury notes.
What has caused the federal deficit to soar is all the bail-out money being given to public companies. Unfortunately, these firms continue to bleed cash at a staggering rate. Insurance Giant AIG lost $60 billion in its fourth quarter. The three auto makers are losing $30 billion a quarter. Citibank has $300 billion in bad assets, and the government now owns 40 percent of this company.
As bad as things are here in the U.S., Europe is actually facing a much bigger problem: west European banks have loaned eastern bloc nations vast amounts of money. They hold an astonishing $3.7 trillion portfolio of loans to emerging market countries. While we have banks that are said to be too big to fail, Europe has banks that are too big to save. Austrian banks have loaned $289 billion to eastern Europe. That amount is 70 percent of the Austrian GDP.
In Poland, 60 percent of mortgages are in Swiss francs. The zloty has now dropped in half against the franc. It now costs some Poles twice as much for their mortgages. Another major problem is that much of eastern Europe’s debt is short-term, and a third of it will need to be rolled over this year.
Unlike in the U.S., Europe 's financial system has no EU Federal Reserve ready to act as a lender of last resort or to flood the markets with an emergency stimulus. Because it doesn't have a fire department, Europe can only handle economic forest fires by forming a bucket brigade of funds pledged by member states.
Back here at home, one of the most alarming trends is how quickly people are turning to socialism to handle the crisis. About six months ago, lawmakers were hotly debating the merits of using federal money to support private business. Now CEOs regularly show up in Washington to collect their latest billion dollar hand-outs. When a plan to nationalize parts of the banking system was put forth, many conservative Republicans thought it was a good idea.
The economic crisis has even changed people's views on moral issues. As a way to boost California 's empty coffers, a state lawmaker has introduced a bill that would legalize and tax marijuana. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said states should be allowed to make their own rules on marijuana usage.
The world is in desperate need of a financial savior, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Antichrist is the one who comes to the rescue. The timing is too perfect for this crisis to just be a coincidence. The Beast may already be on the scene working at some level. The G20 summit, slated for 1 April, needs to be watched closely for a big announcement on a “global new deal”.
Paul Henri Spaak, a former Belgian prime minister, once said: "We do not want another committee. We have too many already. What we want is a man of sufficient stature to hold the allegiance of all people and to lift us out of the economic morass in which we are sinking. Send us such a man and be he god or the devil we will receive him." He made these remarks over 50 year ago, but they seem to apply most fittingly to our time.
I believe we are witnessing one of the last warning signs to the tribulation hour. Christians need to adopt a very sober attitude about where they are in God's will. Peter's words in 1 Peter 4:7 really ring true for our day: "But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers." Every morning, we need to ask the Lord, "What can I do today that will benefit Your Kingdom?"
"And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light" (Romans 13:11-12 NIV).
-- Todd
Tulsa Prophecy Conference
At the beginning of April (April 1-3), Thy Kingdom Come Ministries will be hosting a prophecy conference in Tulsa, OK. If you live in the Tulsa area, I encourage you to stop by the conference. The folks at TKC have lined up a top-notch group of speakers.

Here is the location and contact information for the hotel:

Radisson Hotel
10918 E. 41st Street
Tulsa, OK 74146
Phone (918-627-5000)

The featured speakers are:

Phillip Goodman - Prophecy Watch
Dave Hunt - Author and founder of The Berean Call
Randall Price - President of World of the Bible Ministries, Inc
Joseph Chambers - The head of Paw Creek Ministries
Roger Oakland - Founder of Understand The Times
Mike Gendron - Proclaiming The Gospel Ministries
Thomas Sharp - Creation Truth Foundation
Gary Fisher - Lion of Judah Ministry's
Don McGee - Crown & Sickle Ministries

NO COST FOR REGISTRATION, but you must register.

The detailed conference information can be found at:

http://www.prophecywatch.com
-- Todd
U.N. Anti-Racism Sham Aimed at Israel
The prophet Zechariah’s end-of-days foretelling that Israel will eventually be surrounded by and hated by all nations comes more fully into focus in considering the United Nations’ Durban II anti-racism draft document--a document in which Israel is alluded to as a "racist" and "apartheid" power.
The proposed instrument is being debated in Geneva, Switzerland by 190 U.N. representatives, supposedly to oppose and deal with world racism. Durban II is a follow up to the 2001 UN World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, which took place in Durban, South Africa. The final draft of Durban II is scheduled for presentation this April in Geneva. Just as most every nation represented in the U.N. these days looks at Israel as a key problem in the Middle East, and as a hold-up to the peace process, the 190 representative nations in the Durban II conference aim their accusatory language at the Jewish state. The same tone of anger against Israel dominated the first Durban meetings.
Excerpts from the following report further expose the surreptitious nature of this world forum ostensibly dedicated to “anti-racism.”
“The draft document for the United Nations anti-racism conference, dubbed Durban II, is problematic both for Israel and western democracies in general, Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva Roni Leshno Yaar told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
Besides issues relating to Israel, the draft has problematic paragraphs regarding free speech, defamation of religion and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, he said.
‘At this stage it is not possible to say what in the text would improve, if at all. In fact I expect the text to get only worse on all issues which are important for western democracy,’ Leshno Yaar said in a telephone interview from Geneva…
Israel and the United States walked out of the 2001 conference to protest its disintegration into an anti-Semitic and anti-Israel hate-fest. Israel and Canada have already announced they do not intend to participate in this April's conference in Geneva.
The United States has yet to announce whether it will participate, but it has been present in Geneva this week with an eye toward helping to produce an acceptable draft…” (“Durban II draft document ‘getting worse,’” 2/23/09, Tovah Lazaroff and Abe Selig , The Jerusalem Post).
While the draft document doesn’t name Israel directly as the culprit of the U.N. Durban II collective’s focus against anti-racism, the language within the instrument makes Israel’s implied guilt manifest.
“The initial draft of the Durban II text, posted on the United Nations website, spoke of the suffering of the Palestinians under occupation. ‘A foreign occupation founded on settlements, laws based on racial discrimination with the aim of continuing domination of the occupied territories,’ it adds, is a ‘contemporary form of apartheid and a serious threat to international peace and security’” (ibid.).
With so many profound signals now in daily headlines, it must be considered more than coincidence that practically every United Nations vote that involves Israel and Palestinians–and/or Israel and any other issue, for that matter—finds the Jewish state on the losing end of the vote by overwhelming majority.
And this returns us to Zechariah’s prophecy for Israel at the end of the age, and during the tribulation era. The current movement toward marginalizing the heirs of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is staggering, when considered in the light of God’s prophetic Word.
“The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it” (Zech. 12:1-3).
The storm clouds are gathering for the tribulation tempest. All nations of earth will ultimately be judged for the way they have dealt with God’s chosen nation. The Lord, through His prophet, forewarns how He will deal with those who come against Jerusalem and the people whose capital, in God’s view, is the “apple of his eye.”
“For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle…
And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.
And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance” (Zech. 14:2-3, 12-14).
We urge caution to the new U.S. administration in considering involving America in the Durban II process. Judgment will fall against anti-Semites within the world’s nations. God will pour His wrath upon those who have falsely accused Israel of being the racist state that should be marginalized, with the intention of removal.
Israel, as has been pointed out many times, is God’s prophetic timepiece. We see in the U.N. body’s maltreatment of the Jewish state, by way of the Durban II process, the quickening countdown to Christ’s return.
--Terry

*** Terry Interviewed by Southwest Radio Church***

Terry James will be interviewed by Dr. Noah Hutchings, pastor and president of Southwest Radio Church Ministries March 2, 3, and 4 (This Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday). The programs will air on some 100 stations across the U.S., and by short wave around the world.

(Check your local listings for Christian radio Stations for southwest radio church broadcasts.)

The topics involved in the interview include those in “The American Apocalypse: is the United states in Bible prophecy?” --Terry’s newest book, just released by Harvest House Publishers.

The present global economic meltdown, the currently developing Russian/Iranian rearrangements leading to the Ezekiel 38-39 Gog-Magog assault on Israel, America’s ultimate destiny, and how near the United States might be to its final disposition among the Biblically forecast end times fate of earth’s nation states.

The programs will be aired live March 2, 3 and 4, and will shortly thereafter be archived on swrc.com