“For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
“So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:1-8).
If you are anything like me, 2020 has been an extremely trying year. Not only have we been subject to the Great Reset in real-time (e.g., faux-pandemic lockdowns, massive unemployment, riots, lawlessness, epic fraud on a grand scale, etc.), but it looks like our national leaders are hell-bent on suiciding the nation. In fact, I was tempted to title this article, The Swamp Strikes Back, given the seemingly hopeless, uphill battle Trump and his 75,000,000 loyal supporters have endured this election cycle. However, that seemed a bit too nihilistic, even for me. It would seem the world of 2020 has become every bit as much like the world of 1914. One half pretends no existential threats exist, while the other is about to start a civil war over the former’s willful ignorance.
All the world is kindling, and a single spark could set it ablaze.
“But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them” (2 Cor. 4:3-4).
I suppose, were I not a Bible-believing Christian, my faith in our system would have crashed on the rocks of inevitability long ago. Nevertheless, I am a Bible-believing Christian, so my faith is not rooted in government institutions, regardless of how noble. Furthermore, I am a Bible-believing Christian who actually takes seriously the warnings Scripture affords us regarding the end times. The truth, aside from the fact Bible prophecy comes from God Himself and not outcome determinative of man’s opinion, is the evidence we are now witnessing. It is not simply the signs in and of themselves, which have been present more or less in every generation since Jesus walked the earth; it is the convergence of all of them together in a single generation.
- Nation (ethnos) rising against nation (ethnos)
- Kingdom against kingdom
- Wars, rumors of wars
- Earthquakes in divers places
- Pestilences
- Love of many growing cold
- Rise of apostasy, complacency, and luke-warmness
- Rebirth of national Israel
- Formation of a revived, unified Roman Empire (EU, UfM, NATO, etc.)
- Globalism, global anxiety, global crisis
- Rapid advancements in travel, medicine, weaponry, global communications, etc.
- The death of fiat currency, traditional economics, and the rise of digital currency
- Artificial intelligence, quantum technology, Internet of Things (IoT), etc.
The 20th and 21st centuries have seen more carnage, bloodshed, destruction, and ruin than the previous 19 centuries combined. There is simply no comparison between what we have witnessed in these past 120 years (or since 1900) than anything in history, with the exception of the Flood. The question many are asking now is how much longer can this go on?
When is not only a great question, it is the appropriate question we are all asking and one I hope to shed some light on here today. We see so much evil and wickedness in the world today, and our souls are increasingly vexed. That is not simply our own sensibilities being offended, but the Holy Spirit who lives in us taking issue with the increasing lawlessness. Granted, there are some unregenerate (unredeemed) who are equally appalled at the wickedness they see in the world, yet that is simply the residue of the God-imprinted conscience He has put in all of humanity. Still, the unregenerate soul has no solution to the systemic problem of universal decay due to sin; all he has are man-centric, temporary solutions (politics, philosophy, war) that cannot fix what is broken. Only Jesus can make the universe right and whole again.
Allow me to provide three controlling principles that will guide my thought process here moving forward.
- Nothing physical lasts forever. Our universe (our reality) is winding down. Man cannot change this.
- God will execute His strategy. Mankind may not like it, but there is no avoiding it.
- The Lord is coming back soon. We may not know the day or hour of the Rapture, but we will know the season (if we are watching).
Assessment
Not too long ago, I came across a compelling video about the Berisheet Passover Prophecy. I tried looking it up through other ministries to see what their take on it was, but I couldn’t find anything negative about it. Quoting here from Bill Perkin’s website on the meaning of Berisheet:
The very first word spoken by the Lord that is recorded in scripture is the single word Berisheet. It means “In beginning” (“the” is added in English). Berisheet is composed of six Hebrew letters. Read from right to left, “Berisheet” looks like this when written today:
- Beit- House or tent
- Resh- the head person or prince
- Aleph- (ox) strength or strong leader
- Shen- (teeth) devouring/destruction
- Yod- hand
- Tau- cross
As noted above, each of the letters has its own meaning and numerical significance. What is compelling about what Rock Island Books has done was to draw out in painstaking detail their hypothesis of God’s millennial perspective. The millennial perspective is the theory of the divine modeling for all of creation, meaning the seven days of creation (6 work- 1 rest) will equal the seven millennia of human history. Six millennia (or 6,000 years) have thus transpired. We await one final millennium (The Kingdom led by Christ Jesus).
[We use the word theory, not because it may not happen, but because it has not happened yet.]
This Berisheet Prophecy centers around the idea that God used Creation to show how our past, present, and future history will turn out in advance (Isaiah 46:9-10). Their timeline does not begin at Creation itself (4004BC) but with Adam’s fall (3970BC). They demonstrate that the death of Jesus on Mt. Calvary is the fulcrum for which all of history rests. Therefore, if Jesus’s sacrifice is the fulcrum upon which our reality hinges, then they must start with Adam’s fall because before Adam sinned, he did not need a savior. Thus, using Adam’s fall and the millennial perspective, the 70th Week of Daniel must begin by 2023. They do not, however, give a proposed date of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture because, as Scripture states, no man knows the day or hour.
Now, my two personal concerns regarding all of this are with using the year 4004BC as a start point. I know there is some debate over this, and I am not educated enough in it to make a definitive argument either way. I know this was James Ussher’s timeline, and I tend to agree with it, but if we are wrong on this exact start point, then it throws their entire hypothesis into question.
My only other concern was regarding man’s recollection of time. We know that there have been at least three major calendars used in the West, and even these have changed over time. There is the Hebrew lunar calendar, the Julian calendar, and the Gregorian calendar. Again, I am not versed enough in this subject to make a definitive claim either way. However, if this Berisheet Prophecy is correct, then we are very close to the Rapture indeed. Again, watch the video and come to your own conclusions, but I think you will find it as compelling as I did.
Now, I mention all of this to say how I (and others) fully believe that we are in the decade of our Lord’s return. I believed this before ever watching the video or even knowing anything about the Berisheet Passover Prophecy. However, if they are right, then perhaps Trump’s loss (or reelection) figures into the formation of the coming final world government.
Let me add some of my own thoughts to this idea that this Berisheet Prophecy is, in fact, correct. First, Daniel 12:4 says, “But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” Now, not only did national Israel cease to be a nation in 70AD due to Roman violence but also their language eventually died out during the Jewish Diaspora. Hebrew was a dead language until about the turn of the 20th-century. How is it now that we are coming to discover all these fascinating truths about the Bible after nearly two millennia? Well, it commenced when God began stirring the Jewish people in Europe to return to their native tongue, thus uniting them in purpose, decades before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the rebirth of Israel.
My second thought on this is our understanding of the Olivet Discourse. As my good friend Ron is quick to point out, the Olivet Discourse is technically for the Jews, not the Church. Perhaps the main reason there is so much debate and consternation over its meanings is that it was not for the Church to understand, especially Matthew’s Gospel. Therefore, it is interesting to me that both the first and last books of the New Testament are the most Jewish-centric in all of the New Testament canon.
For instance, Matthew begins Jesus’s genealogy not from Adam, but Abraham. Many things in Matthew’s Gospel are not explained to the reader because they (the Jews) did not need it explained. Whereas the other Gospels (Mark, Luke, and John) do explain Jewish euphemisms and events as they were intended for more Gentile-centric audiences. The book of Revelation likewise, as given to the last-living apostle, John, in 95AD borrows heavily from the Old Testament. Perhaps, when the Jews finally do recognize who Jesus really was/is (their Messiah), it would be in the middle of the Tribulation. They will not have time to digest the entirety of the New Testament. It has taken the Church nearly two-thousand years, and we still disagree on much of what Jesus and the Apostles said. How much can they understand in 3.5 years while under extreme duress?
Conclusion
“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you” (2 Cor. 4:7-12).
If I could paraphrase Dr. Andy Woods here, Genesis 1-2 and Rev 20-21 are the real normal. Everything else is an aberration of that. Think about that for a moment. What we see around us is not normal. Not even close. We exist in a broken version of what God had originally intended. He is coming back soon to fix what we messed up. Presumably sooner rather than later, if the Berisheet Prophecy is correct.
If you would humor me for a moment, I have often used the analogy to my own kids that our entire universe is like a fish tank. God does not exist in the fish tank with us because we are bound to time; He is not. Nevertheless, He sees everything and can intervene when He deems necessary, but He has largely allowed us to manage our own tank.
The results?
As man is fallible, temporary, and mortal, things went downhill from the start beginning with Cain. Our tank went from pristine and clear to grimy and spoiled so much so that God had to change the tank out once already, sparing only eight fish (the Flood). The second time He does this, He will remove His own out first and then begin a massive purging process. Upon completion, He will move into the tank, expanding it, and keeping it pristine for one-thousand years. Beyond that, I believe, He takes the walls off the tank and allows the water to spread in every direction infinitely, continually exploring, building, discovering, and creating an infinite realm of worlds, dimensions, etc. This might be a silly analogy, but apply the truth of it into our world, and we can put in perspective all the wickedness and injustice we see all around us today.
If we can apply this to what is going on today, it seems the entire world system is hedging against Trump. Either one of two things will happen: either God will pull out a last-minute victory for him and continue to use him to set the prophetic stage, or God will allow the wicked to steal this election in the egregious manner they have done, and expedite our rendezvous with divine destiny. Either way, God’s will, will be done.
To be clear- Trump is not our savior. He is simply, in my mind, a barometer of the world’s wickedness. He is representative of the average man, who, with a God-given conscience, can see something is deeply wrong with this world. We have never had a president who has so brazenly taken on, not just the American deep state, but also the global deep state. Think of all the things he has exposed in just four short years. Look at all he has exposed as complicit in the destruction of western civilization and the advancement of Luciferianism: the media, the bureaucracy in D.C., the courts, the U.N., academia, Hollywood, the military-industrial complex, big pharmacy, etc. Did we really expect they would let him stay at the top?
I am beginning to believe God just used Trump (aside from his prophetic dealings with Israel) to expose the level of corruption (grime and muck) we have come to accept as normal in this world. Despite all the evidence that he overwhelmingly won this election, the world does not care. The world wants him out so they can continue mucking up the fish tank unimpeded. Well, if I am correct and Trump is the symbolic weather vane in God’s prophetic dealings, Trump’s fraudulent defeat can only mean the winds are changing, and something terrible this way comes. To my fellow believer: do not be dismayed, even if Trump loses and the world, which hates you, ramps up its persecutions against you….
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:16-18).
Maranatha!