June 11, 2007
Rapture At A Time Like This
All believers are commanded by the Lord Jesus to be looking for signs of His return. With indicators so abundant these days,
the average Christian should have no trouble keeping track of the signs of the time.
One end-time signal has nothing to do with warfare, earthquakes, floods, immorality, or villainous individuals.
You could almost call it the anti-sign.
Most people don't realize that apathy is the greatest indication of the last days. Jesus talked more about the lack of awareness
than any other sign of times. The Lord said in Matthew 24:44, "Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh."
There is no contradiction here. All the indicators I have listed on the Rapture Index are guaranteed to be active when the
Blessed Hope kicks off. The only problem is that the Church will be caught off guard when Jesus comes suddenly in the air.
The modern age of prophetic awareness can be traced back to 1844 with the start of the Miller movement. For 163 years, there
has been continuous interest in Bible prophecy as it relates to the current generation. In the past few years, I have seen
an amazing disconnect between prophecy and world events. As the signs grow stronger, Christians quickly become desensitized to their importance. News that would curl the toenails of prophecy watchers from the 1800s are yawned at by people of this age.
I have a growing list of end-time signs that I hope will show how profound the "think not" hour has become. These are all
examples from today’s headlines:
This past week, the FBI reported that murders and robberies in 2006 sent U.S. violent crimes higher for the second straight
year. The feds blamed the increase on gangs, youth violence, gun crimes and fewer police on beats. The FBI said the
number of violent crimes nationwide went up by 1.3 percent last year, following a 2.3 percent increase in 2005. The public
has zero interest in this report.
A New York federal appeals court has ruled against the Federal Communications Commission in an indecency case involving the Fox
channel. The court said the FCC actions were "arbitrary and capricious" and might not survive First Amendment scrutiny.
Under federal court rulings and commission rules, material is indecent if it "in context, depicts or describes sexual or
excretory activities or organs in a patently offensive manner as measured by contemporary community standards for the
broadcast medium." Currently, indecent speech can be aired safely between 10 p.m.-6 a.m., and it can always used in news
stories that talk about books, movies or plays with an expletives in its title.
What caused the FCC to try to fine Fox was the usage of the "F" and "S" words in the 2002 and 2003 broadcasts of the Billboard
Music Awards. Singer Cher used the phrase "F--- 'em" and reality show star Nicole Richie said, "Have you ever tried to get
cow s--- out of a Prada purse?" The court basically gave the green light for an unscripted stream
of profanity. What amazes me the most is the lack of reaction this ruling received from the moral watchdogs.
Iran's president has just said that the Lebanese and the Palestinians have pressed a "countdown button" to bring an end to
Israel. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has previously stirred international concern by calling for Israel to be "wiped off the
map." His latest remark received only passing coverage in the press.
In lasts week’s Nearing Midnight update, I reported how the Russian President has triggered fears of a new cold war. Putin said he would aim missiles at targets in Europe in retaliation for the U.S. decision to establish antimissile bases there. I was shocked that we didn't receive a chorus of messages from people who were convinced that Putin was the Gog leader of Ezekiel 38 and 39.
In the Middle East, Israel and Syria have an almost fatalistic view that they will soon be at war
with each other. Hezbollah is very eager to start up where it left off last year. Israel's military has determined that
Hezbollah, despite the expanded presence of the United Nations, rebuilt much or most of its force in southern Lebanon.
I'm left wondering where all the end-time alarmists are.
The strangest disconnect would have to be the area date setters. These folks have always been trying to claim that some
near-term date is the zero hour for the rapture or some other tribulation event. Now they are focusing on dates that are years down the road. Right now, all the big money is on 2012. I've seen some other people point to 2118, 2026, and 2037. I believe the devil is the motivator behind most date speculation, and find it very interesting that there would be a sudden shift to more distant dates.
I think we live in a period that is both exciting and frustrating at the same time. It's exciting because we know all
the warning signs seem to say something big is about to happen. What it makes it frustrating is seeing society fall apart, and the inability to get people to take note of our proximity to judgment.
Terry and I have been contacted by several folks from various media outlets who expressed a desire interview us if something big related to Bible prophecy transpires. If a war breaks out in the Middle East, they'll come asking us about its prophetic
connection. We saw this sort of thing last year with what is now called the Second Lebanon war.
We're getting rather late on the prophetic clock, so I can't make any absolute promises that we'll be around to respond to the next
major event. Someday my email inbox might receive the following series of messages:
Todd, millions of people around the world are missing. Can you tell me if these disappearances have something to do with Bible prophecy? --
9:12 AM.
Todd, did you get my earlier email? -- 1:30 PM
Hello is anybody there???!!!??? -- 3:45 PM
Trilogy of Last-Time Trends
A trio of issues in today's news smacks of the reality that this generation stands near the very end of “the last time” John wrote about nearly 2,000 years ago.
“Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it
is the last time” (2 John 18).
Let’s look at these particular items –out of literally hundreds in our daily news—which tell the observant watchman where we stand today on God’s prophetic timeline.
The first we will examine is the story of a supermodel, regarding sexual morality and sanctity of human life. The crux of the issues involved are found in this brief news snippet.
“SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Supermodel Gisele Bundchen stepped into the debate over birth control and sexual behavior in Brazil on Tuesday, saying Church opposition to condom use was ridiculous and women should have the right to choose on abortion. Gisele is idolized by many young women in Brazil, the world's largest Roman Catholic country, where debate over sexual issues has intensified around a visit by Pope Benedict last month…”
She went on to say that the Catholic Church’s position on contraception is hopelessly outdated because it was adopted when “the women were virgins, the guys were virgins. Today, no one is a virgin when they get married.”
Time and time again we see, hear, and read about in the news the behavior of young women held up as the glamour queen role models for girls to imitate and emulate. We are all quite familiar with the public displays of Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and Lindsay Lohan.
There was a time when women held the societal key to the lock on virtue. America’s entertainment industry, as chief agent of and distributor for the materials of lasciviousness and depravity, to which sin brings any people, has long since stripped our nation of women understanding the need to use that all-important key with great wisdom and care. It’s not hip, not cool, or is just plain puritanical to think in terms of such old-fashioned moral perspectives.
Jude told of the type people produced by reprobate thinking: “These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit” (Jude 19).
Ms. Bundchen, Ms. Spears, Ms. Hilton, Ms. Lohan, and others do and think what they please. The world holds them up as entertainment icons. But, God is not mocked. About doing whatever we please without regard for our Creator, God’s Word says the following:
“Every way of a man [is] right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts” (Prov. 21:2).
“[There is] a generation [that are] pure in their own eyes, and [yet] is not washed from their filthiness.” (Prov. 30:12).
"Woe unto [them that are] wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” (Isa. 5:21).
The final disposition of those who choose to do what is right in their own eyes is summed up in this terrifying truth: “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6: 9-10).
The second of the trio of last-time trends we will take a look at involves an issue that is at the center of some degree of debate among Bible prophecy students. The debate is over whether the endtime Babylon prophesied in God’s Word will be rebuilt in the location once occupied by ancient Babylon.
"And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every
foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies” (Rev. 18:2-3).
The relevant news story, in brief, is captured in the following.
"The idea of moving U.N. headquarters seems to resonate with many—those who believe that the U.S. is being manipulated by anti-American and anti-Israeli elements within the U.N., as well as those who feel that the U.S. is doing the manipulation…
Where should it go? Try Iraq. While moving the U.N. headquarters to Venezuela or Iran is probably not wise, moving it to Iraq might be a strategic coup.
There is even a ready-made location for it—Saddam Hussein’s 600-room palace and compound constructed over the remains of the ancient city of Babylon…” (Need to Know - PostGlobal: PostGlobal on washingtonpost.com, June 5, 2007, Want Middle East Stability? Move UN to Iraq, by Prof. Cynthia E. Ayers and COL (R) David W. Cammons.).
There is a grassroots swell of demand to move the world geopolitical headquarters –the United Nations—to the place many believe Bible prophecy foretells man’s final attempt to rule himself, apart from his creator, will meet its fiery destiny. If the U.N. ever does indeed move to that site, a city will almost certainly spring up overnight, much along the model of Dubai. Such a city could be constructed within months.
The third of the last-time trends we will look at is Russia reasserting her hegemony in a way that might presage a return to cold war status. The following excerpt frames the brewing storm to the north of Israel.
“…Whether by waging cyberwarfare on Estonia, threatening the gas supplies of Lithuania, or boycotting Georgian wine and Polish meat, [Russian President Vladimir Putin] has, over the past few years, made it clear that he intends to reassert Russian influence in the former communist states of Europe, whether those states want Russian influence or not. At the same time, he has also made it clear that he no longer sees Western nations as mere benign trading partners, but rather as Cold War-style threats…” (Putin is playing a dangerous game, by Anne Applebaum, Last Updated: 12:01am BST 05/06/2007, telegraph.co.uk).
Trends that look to be straight out of words spoken and written by Bible prophets continue to proliferate, and move swiftly within every aspect of this generation. Luke 21:28 was never more appropriate to consider than at present.
--Terry
