I’m asking this in regards to the three solar eclipses that have/will happen in three consecutive years – 2008, 2009 and 2010. These eclipses seem to proceed an unique sequence of eclipses that will take place in the next 7-8 years, and the dates they fall on in the Jewish calendar.

Thank you for your time and consideration of my question.

A. In Scripture, there are four perfect numbers. Three denotes divine perfection;  Seven denotes spiritual perfection; Ten denotes ordinal perfection; and Twelve denotes governmental perfection.  Of these, three is the number of the Trinity; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So when you see things in three’s what you’re seeing is complete, just as God is complete in the Trinity.

In Luke 21:25 the Lord told us that as the end approaches there will be signs in the Sun, the Moon, and the stars.  The fact that some of them come in three’s underlines the fact that these are real signs from God.

We should also remember that on the Jewish calendar these three eclipses not only happen in three consecutive years, but all happen on the same day in each year, the first of Av.  This day marks the beginning of 9 days of mourning a number of  great catastrophes in Jewish history including the destruction of both temples.  This is way beyond coincidence.

I’ve carried a strong interest in Bible Prophecy for a number of years now. I’ve noticed of late some slight diversion as to the identity of the fourth beast of Dan 7. The traditional view has been that it is the Roman Empire and that we will soon see an end time revival of that empire. Another more recent view has been that the fourth beast is the Islamic Empire that began with the Ottoman Empire and has continued to this day. I believe that those holding this view reconcile the Roman Empire as an extension of the Grecian empire (through the 4 divisions that came out of this empire). I believe that those holding this view also acknowledge the Roman Empire as being one of the 7 heads of the beast identified in Rev 13. This more recent view has also led several to strongly suggest that both the beast and Antichrist must come from the East and that the Antichrist will be an Assyrian.

Unfortunately, my understanding of world history is not very strong. Was wondering if you could offer any thoughts on this.

A. In my opinion, changing the identity of the 4th beast of Daniel 7 would contradict the symbolism of the statue in Daniel 2. And there is neither Biblical nor historical justification for making Rome an extension of Greece.  It doesn’t fit.   It’s good that people are beginning to understand that the anti-Christ could  just as easily come from the eastern leg of the Roman Empire as the Western one, but trying to force fit the Ottoman Empire into the mix is unnecessary for that.

I’m also not impressed with the idea that since someone has claimed that the Roman 10th legion consisted of mercenaries of Assyrian origin that the anti-Christ has to be an Assyrian.  The simple facts are that the Assyrian Empire had been assimilated into Rome through territorial conquest, and the 10th Legion was under the command of Titus Vespasian, son of the Roman Emperor, who was acting on Rome’s authority when he had the Temple destroyed in 68 or 69 AD, and it was Hadrian, another Roman Emperor who had the city destroyed nearly 70 years later.  These two separate events serve as 2 witnesses that Daniel 9:26 was speaking of Rome concerning the the destruction of the city and the sanctuary.

Seven kings (kingdoms) are mentioned in Rev. 17: At the time of John’s writing 5 had fallen, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece.  One was then in power, Rome, and one was yet to come. While a claim that the Ottoman Empire could be considered a partial revival of Rome’s eastern leg, the timing was wrong to fulfill John’s view of the 7th kingdom at the end of the age.  Also the statue in Daniel 2 shows the end times revival of Rome to include both legs of the ancient kingdom.

Many new thoughts are coming into the open as the time grows short.  This is the fulfillment of a prophecy in Daniel 12:4.  But like all other opinions, these new ones have to be consistent with the whole counsel of God and cannot require a re-interpretation of either history or the Bible.

He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.” (Matt. 16:2-3)

So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. (Matt. 24:15-16)

For then there will be great distress (Great Tribulation), unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. (Matt. 24:21)

When it comes to developing any kind of time line concerning the End Times, the watershed event has to be the Abomination that Causes Desolation. Why? Because from that time forward, the Bible gives a very clear sequence of events.

First, the Abomination is the event that kicks off the Great Tribulation, a period of judgments 3 1/2 years long.(Matt 24:15,21)  After the Great Tribulation, the Lord returns and following His return the Millennium begins. After the Millennium comes Eternity. Any one on Earth during this time will be able to predict these events with reasonable accuracy.

Second, we who study prophecy can also count backward from the Abomination that Causes Desolation and predict the sequence of events leading up to it by applying our knowledge of Scripture.

How Does That Work?

Well, we know that the Abomination involves the anti-Christ standing in the Temple in Israel, proclaiming himself to be God. (Daniel 9:27 and 2 Thes. 2:4)

But that can’t happen until some other things take place first.  Obviously the anti-Christ has to be revealed. And the Jews have to build their Temple.  This is something that can’t happen until they experience a change in attitude causing them to demand a Temple regardless of the consequences. Today less than 1 in 4 citizens of Israel want a Temple built, but even if every one of them did just the hint that they were going to build one would send the rest of the world into a tizzy. It simply wouldn’t be permitted.

Some major event has to take place to convince the Jewish people that building a Temple in Israel is the right thing to do in spite of all the trouble it could cause, and some world leader has to have enough clout to convince the rest of the world, especially the Moslem Middle East, to let them do it.

Daniel 9:27 also reveals that as the End of the Age approaches, a leader from among the people who destroyed the Temple in 67 AD will confirm (enforce) a 7 year covenant with Israel that includes permission to build a new Temple, and that in the middle of this period he will commit the Abomination that Causes Desolation. That explains the persuasive world leader. He’s the anti-Christ, and he wants the Temple built for reasons that have nothing to do with Israel. The unanswered question in Daniel’s prophecy is why the Jews would desire a Temple at that particular time.

Our knowledge of the Old Testament tells us that a Temple was necessary to fulfill the requirements of the Levitical worship system. So then, because of the uproar it would create, it seems logical to assume that the Jews would only want a Temple if they felt it was absolutely necessary for the Nation of Israel to re-instate their Old Covenant worship of God.

How Does That Happen?

Toward the end of his two-chapter prophecy that speaks of a great end times battle between Israel and its neighbors (Ezek. 38-39), Ezekiel noted that God is going to use this battle to reveal Himself to Israel and the world once again. The way He’ll do this is to give Israel a decisive victory in the face of such overwhelming odds that everyone on Earth will realize that only God could have done it. Ezekiel wrote that following the battle God would gather all His people alive at the time to Israel, not leaving any behind. (Ezek. 39:28)

So this battle is the event that compels a national return to God in Israel. And when all the living Jews in the world are suddenly drawn to Israel because God has called them there, they’ll demand a Temple so they can resume their Old Covenant relationship with Him. If He was calling them through the Messiah into a New Covenant relationship they wouldn’t need a Temple, so it has to be a resumption of the Old Covenant. Their New Covenant call, prophesied in Jeremiah 31:31, happens later during the time of the Two Witnesses (Rev 11) and they’ll respond to it toward the end of the Great Tribulation, according to Zechariah 12:10.

Also on the heels of Ezekiel’s battle, the anti-Christ will emerge with a plan to restore peace to the Middle East. He first appears as a peacemaker as foretold in Daniel 8:25. He will cause deceit to prosper, and he will consider himself superior. When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power. I prefer the King James translation of the second sentence, which begins, “By means of peace he will destroy many …”. So the battle of Ezekiel 38-39 creates the circumstances for both the anti-Christ and the Temple to appear on the scene, setting the stage for the Abomination that Causes Desolation.

Connecting The Dots

Using our Bible knowledge to back into the present from the Abomination that Causes Desolation, so far we find the sequence looks like this.

The Abomination can’t happen till the Temple’s built. But that can’t happen till a 7-year covenant is confirmed permitting its construction. (By the way, this 7-year period is often called Daniel’s 70th week because it’s the last week of years in a prophecy consisting of 70 weeks of years given to Daniel in about 538 BC. Dan. 9:24-27)

The 7-year covenant can’t happen till someone from among the descendants of the Roman people emerges with a plan for peace in the Middle East. And that can’t happen till the battle described in Ezekiel 38-39 puts the Middle East in all out war.

Ezekiel’s battle can’t happen until God is ready to reveal Himself to Israel again, bringing Jews from all over the world to Israel clamoring for a Temple so they can re-instate their Old Covenant relationship with Him.

For all of my 25 plus years as a student of prophecy, scholars have been expecting the Battle of Ezekiel 38.  Yet the conditions that make it possible have never been met.  For one thing, the participants are not all in place, but more importantly Israel has never known a single day of peace, let alone the prolonged period necessary for them to be described as a peaceful and unsuspecting people, the way Ezekiel did (Ezek. 38:11).  Something has to happen to make them feel like they no longer have a threatening enemy while leaving Iran, Russia, and the other nations Ezekiel identified in position to attack.

Recently, several writers, myself included, have seen two other Old Testament prophecies as likely preludes to Ezekiel 38.  In Psalm 83 it appears that all of Israel’s next door neighbors will rise up in an attack intended to destroy the Jewish nation, and Isaiah 17 specifically mentions Israel’s destruction of Damascus.  The defeat of Israel’s neighbors fills in two more blanks in the end times sequence.  First, it explains why none of them are mentioned in Ezekiel 38, when logic dictates that they should be right in the thick of things.  Second, it reveals how the Jews can be caught with their guard down.  With Syria, Hamas, Hezbollah, Lebanon, and the others defeated, Israel will finally have some breathing room. Since Russia and Iran have traditionally used these neighbors as proxies rather than having a face-to-face confrontation, Israel may feel there’s no longer any threat from them either.

But Wait, There’s More!

And neither God’s revelation to Israel nor the emergence of the anti-Christ can happen until the Church is gone, for two very good reasons.

1. In Acts 15:14 James clearly prophesied that after the Lord had taken the church He would return and rebuild the Temple. Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself. The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: “After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it” (Acts 15:14-16).

After the Lord has taken the Church, He’ll return and rebuild the Temple. Two Greek words are critical to our understanding of this passage. The one translated tent also means Tabernacle, a reference to the Temple. The one translated taking means to lay hold of, or take up in order to carry, or carry away. I believe it’s a veiled reference to the Rapture of the Church preceding God’s return to Israel.

If so, it’s consistent with God’s way. He seems to focus either on Israel or the Church, never both at once. In the greater context of the passage James was illustrating this very point from the other end of the Church Age. He told the gathered Apostles that God was setting Israel aside while He took from among the Gentiles a people for Himself. But after He had taken them, He would return to restore Israel.

Later, Paul alluded to this sequence in Romans 11:25-27. I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”

As I’ve pointed out before, in Paul’s day the phrase full number was a nautical term that stood for the number of crewmen necessary before a ship could legally set sail.  Apparently God has assigned a specific number to the church before it can be raptured.  When that number is complete, the Church will “come in” to the place prepared for us.  Come in was another nautical term meaning “to arrive at the intended destination”, which Jesus described as His father’s house in John 14:1-3. Then God will turn again to Israel, reversing the hardening of Israel’s heart, taking the blinders from their eyes, and offering salvation once more.

2. In 2nd Thessalonians 2:6-7 Paul explained that the anti-Christ could not be revealed until the power that’s restraining him is taken out of the way (literally out of the midst). To most evangelical scholars the power Paul wrote about is the Holy Spirit as resident in the Church.  Since this power is sealed within us (Ephe 1:13) it stands to reason that if the Holy Spirit is taken we have to go too. Here’s another hint of the Rapture of the Church, this time preceding the appearance of the anti-Christ.

So if the Rapture has to precede both the revelation of God to Israel and the revelation of the anti-Christ to the world, then the Rapture has to precede the battle of Ezekiel 38 as well.  Since no one knows what the full number of the Church is, no one can know in advance exactly how long before Ezekiel 38 the Rapture will take place. It could literally happen any day, and there’s no day more likely than any other.  For that reason we can’t locate it any more specifically in the End Times sequence than to say that it must precede Ezekiel 38.

But apart from that, the sequence of events will go like this. The Battle of Psalm 83/Isaiah 17, the Battle of Ezekiel 38, anti-Christ’s appearance as a peace maker, the 70th week of Daniel begins, the Abomination that Causes Desolation takes place, then the Great Tribulation, the Second Coming, the Millennium, and Eternity. The first of these could be very close. So close that you can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah.  11-05-08

One writer said, God is putting in place the President of His choice (whoever that is, as He “raises up kings and puts down kings” according to His plan).  Another has said we can’t make the changes needed in America at the top, we’ve got to make the changes locally and this will finally reach the top. In light of watching all that is going on with the economic situation and watching things happen that were written about back in the 60s and 70s when the American people were warned to wake up and see what was going on then, it appears we are reaping the results of what we have not done regarding govenment issues. I know we are to pray for guidance, but in looking at the candidates, we don’t have anyone to vote for. So do we just not vote? Please help us.

A. I don’t think either political party offers a realistic plan for solving our country’s problems, which by the way cannot be done by the president but only by the congress (you know, the ones who caused it), and even then it may be too late.  To me this is another sign that it’s time for Christians to focus on our most important priority, and that’s getting spiritually and economically prepared for our departure.  We have only a short time left here, but we’ll spend eternity in our new home so it’s vastly more important to invest our energy and our resources to build up treasure there.

In a way we’re like the Jews of Jeremiah’s day.  God had pronounced judgment on their country and nothing was going to change that.  He had Jeremiah tell the people to surrender and go to Babylon, to build homes and businesses there and raise their families there, and quit trying to stave off the certain judgment against their nation.  In a very real sense, it was a choice of “surrender and live, or fight and die.”

The Jews were told that while the judgment was certain, the Lord had plans to restore them to their land when its term had been completed.  No such promise is made to the Church because we’re not of this world. We haven’t been promised an eternal home here, we’re looking for a city with foundations whose builder and maker is God. (Hebr. 11:10)

To put it another way, we’re neither Republicans nor Democrats.  We’re Monarchists and we await the return of our King.  But in the mean time, I believe we should vote for candidates at all levels whose views are most consistent with our Biblical and moral imperatives.  Not because we think anything will change, but because by doing so we show our respect for God.

I have read comment about our presidents support of that as backing away from support of Israel.

Thank you so much!

A. I’ll summarize this as briefly as possible. The same stroke of the pen that created Israel as the Jewish Homeland also created a Palestinian homeland, called Jordan. But just like every other attempt to accommodate those opposed to a Jewish Homeland, this one failed. The neighboring countries attacked the brand new state of Israel, promising to push the Jews into the Mediterranean. They warned non-Jews living in Israel to flee before the attackers or face death. Many did, becoming refugees.

Many more became refugees when the UN declared that anyone living in Israel as of 1946, 2 years before Israel was created, who was displaced in the Moslem attack on Israel could claim refugee status. Since neither the government of Jordan, 70% of whose citizens are Palestinian, nor any other Moslem country wanted these people, they were housed in UN refugee camps, some of which still exist.

The word Palestine is a Roman invention used to describe Israel on ancient Roman maps as an insult to the Jews. It means “Land of the Philistines” and was a 1st Century denial of Israel’s right to exist. Because no Moslem country in the Middle East was willing to acknowledge the existence of Israel, the name Palestine has been used in modern times as well, although the Philistines disappeared from the Earth over 2600 years ago.

Even a cursory review of statements made by various Middle Eastern Moslem entities will reveal that from their point of view there’s only one solution to the Palestinian problem, and that’s the total elimination of all Jews from the region. Some say this is due to the fact that the Koran promises Moslems that any land conquered in the name of Allah will never be lost, and Israel, being such a land, exists in violation of the Koran.

Since no world leader, including President Bush and even Israel’s Prime Minister, views Israel’s right to exist as a Biblical mandate but rather as something permitted by a UN resolution, efforts to find agreeable terms for a peaceful co-existence between Israel and its Moslem neighbors continue. The Moslems have been willing go along with this charade as long as they’ve gained from the negotiations because it has given them time to become strong enough to think they can defeat Israel, as witnessed by their claims since the recent war in Lebanon. But as soon as Israel digs in and says, “No more,” Moslems will realize that they’ve gotten all they can from negotiations and will go to war for the rest, just like they’ve said all along.

The permanent solution to the conflict will only be found when Israel recognizes her true Messiah and petitions Him to return and save them (Hosea 5:15-6:3). In the mean time they will continue to follow the lead of several false ones, the worst of whom will be responsible for the death of 1/2 of the world’s population before he’s through.

In the Spiritual sense, this is not just a battle between nations who can’t seem to get along, but between the God of the Universe and the one who’s been fighting since before Adam to replace Him as the final authority on Earth.

A. Remind him of the Earthquakes in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Northridge, CA (the Hollywood of porn), the Hurricane in New Orleans, the Twin Towers attack in NYC, etc.  Before the Lord’s finished everyone will get a piece of the action.

You might also remind him that all of these locations are home to large Christian communities, and there are lots of sinners in the Bible Belt.

This false teaching has been brought to the attention of our pastor; however, the man is still being allowed to teach his false version of the Bible.

Based on what I have shared with you, and yes, there is more, would you say it’s time to move on or are we wrong in our observations?

A. Some signs that a church may be moving toward the seeker friendly format are a greater focus on the entertainment value of the worship service with music, drama, etc, de-emphasizing anything in the message that would make an unbeliever uncomfortable such as the fact that we’re all sinners who need to be born again, talking more about things people can do to help others, and in other ways making church a place where unbelievers can enjoy attending and feel like they’re doing some good, without having to confront the Gospel. Leaders often use terms like “making followers of Jesus, not just believers”, but in fact believing is rarely addressed. Some leaders of the movement have said that the goal is to have a congregation consist of no more than 50% believers.

It sounds like your church is also permitting some false teaching into the curriculum. If these things continue, you should consider finding another place of worship

But what I can see, it’s only word of mouth without any particular spiritual movement. If I watch the Christian Television it’s the same story!

I am waiting for the Rapture with all my heart, I love Jesus very much and I would like to believe in a genuine revival under the Hoy Spirit wind. Is this “revival’ biblical?

A. Many of those who teach of a great revival in the last days also adhere to the false doctrine of Dominion Theology. It holds that through revival the Church will become very powerful and eventually convert the whole world.

But the Bible says no such thing. On the contrary, it teaches that before the end comes there will be a great falling away from the truth (2 Thes. 2:3) and that the true Church will become weak and have little strength (Rev. 3:8) Sadly, apostasy in the Church is the real sign of the End Times, not revival.

A. There really isn’t any Biblical basis for thinking that the shortages being experienced in rice and a few other commodities just now is a sign of impending world wide famine. Food and gas prices are rising, but for most of the people we know getting rid of a few luxuries they don’t need anyway would solve the problem.

Jesus said that before the end comes there would be famines in various places, but that this was just the beginning of birth pangs. After the rapture, things will quickly get worse, but even so the famines of the 4th seal of Rev. 6:8 only effect 1/4th of the world. The trumpet and bowl judgments will be worse than that and eventually about half of the world’s population will die. But by then the Church will be long gone.

A much more urgent problem lies is the fact that the average person in the US, Christian or not, is living so far beyond their means that even a little bump in prices hurts immediately. These people will soon discover that there’s plenty of food to buy, but with their variable rate credit card, mortgage, and consumer debt, they’ll have to make some painful choices in order to come up with the money.

We complain about $4.00 gas but many of the world’s inhabitants are paying up to twice as much on less income and still manage to survive. It just takes re-ordering our priorities, and the more of our income that goes out in interest costs, the more urgent our need for doing so becomes.

There’s a video currently on the web, promoted by a well known prophecy website, that a whole bunch of you have either sent links to or asked about it or both. Here’s my response.

This video shows the result of tracking solar and lunar eclipses and comparing them with Levitical Feasts, and notes that the only time in this century when 4 consecutive full lunar eclipses, known as a tetrad, will coincide with either Passover or the Feast of Tabernacles is in the years 2014-2015. Lunar eclipses are also known as “blood moons” because the moon often takes on a red cast during an eclipse.

There will also be 2 solar eclipses during that time. In the spring of 2015 Israel’s religious year will begin with a total solar eclipse, followed two weeks later a total lunar eclipse on Passover. And then six months later the sequence will repeat itself with a second solar eclipse on Rosh Hashanna followed two weeks after that by another total lunar eclipse on the Feast of Tabernacles, all in 2015.

The last time anything like this happened was in 1967, when Jerusalem became an undivided Jewish city again, and before that there were several occurrences during the years of 1948-50, as Israel was becoming a nation. There were none at all in the 1800’s, 1700’s, or 1600’s, and none in the 1500’s that coincided with Feast Days.

What Does That Mean?

The conclusion being drawn from this by the video’s producer is that 2015 is the most likely year for the Lord’s 2nd coming in the entire 21st Century, and the fall is the best time in that year.Prophecy buffs from across the spectrum are falling all over themselves to get on board this. But in the rush of emotion that rightfully accompanies thoughts of the Lord’s impending return most are ignoring a tool for evaluating where we are in the end times that I first introduced in my series entitled “Seven Things You Have To Know To Understand End Times Prophecy”. It’s a business management tool called back scheduling. (You can access the series from our home page.)

Sensational claims like the one made in this video can result in real confusion if you don’t know the sequence in which major End Times events will occur. Actually their order is very logical, and once you learn it, you’ll wonder why you didn’t see it before. The best way to figure it out is to perform what the business world sometimes calls a back scheduling exercise. It involves going to the very end of a process and identifying its final outcome. Then you list in reverse order all the things that have to happen to produce that outcome, backing into the present. It’s simpler than it sounds, and much simpler in prophecy than in business because there are many fewer events to organize. Here’s how it goes.

We all think of Eternity as the final outcome, and so starting at the end and working backwards means we begin there. But the last major event described in any detail in the Bible is the Kingdom Age or Millennium, the Lord’s 1000 year reign on Earth, which is distinguished from and precedes Eternity. Simply put, Eternity can’t begin until the Millennium ends.

The Millennium obviously can’t happen till the Second Coming, because that’s when the Lord returns to establish it. And the Second Coming can’t happen till the end of the Great Tribulation. And that can’t happen till the anti-Christ stands in the Temple in Israel declaring himself to be God. (2 Thes. 2:4) That’s the event Jesus warned Israel to look for as the Great Tribulation’s opening salvo. He called it “The Abomination of Desolation” in Matt. 24:15-21.

But that can’t happen till there’s a Temple. There hasn’t been a Temple in Israel since 70AD and there won’t be one until the Jews decide they need one. That won’t happen until God reinstates their Old Covenant relationship, signaling the start of Daniel’s 70th week. And that can’t happen till the Battle of Ezekiel 38-39 is won, because it’s Ezekiel’s battle that officially draws the Jews back to God. (Ezek. 39:22) And that can’t happen till the Church is gone, because the Church and Israel are mutually exclusive to Him. (Romans 11:25 & Acts 15:13-18) And that brings us to the present, because there is no preceding event for the Rapture of the Church. It could happen at any time.

Using this scheduling tool we can see how end times events are scheduled to take place, and the only one whose timing is at all speculative is the Rapture. Some argue that there’s doubt about the timing of the Battle of Ezekiel 38 but I think the Bible is pretty clear in saying that the battle of Ezekiel 38 is Israel’s wake up call to begin Daniel’s 70th week. It’s the event that brings Israel back into covenant with God, requiring that a Temple be built. Daniel’s 70th week by definition is seven years long. The last half is the Great Tribulation, after which the Lord will return.

What’s The Point?

That brings me to my point, and to make it, I’ll use the back scheduling tool again. In order for the Lord to return in the fall of 2015, Daniel’s 70th week will have to begin the fall of 2008, a few months from now. That means that over the summer, the Battle of Ezekiel 38 will have to take place, and God will have to re-introduce Himself to Israel, bringing them back into an Old Covenant relationship that results in Biblical Judaism becoming the official and national religion of Israel. And the anti-Christ will have to appear and gain enough power to help Israel negotiate a seven year treaty that includes provisions for a Temple. (Daniel 9:27) Then there’s the matter of the Rapture of the Church. While this schedule is of course possible for God, having all these events take place this summer would be a major departure from His normal approach to things. In truth, there are several interesting facts you should know about this summer that make it an attractive possibility if you disregard everything we’ve just covered. Israel will celebrate its 60th birthday and at the same time the world’s population is projected to reach 6,666,666,666. The 1976th birthday of the church will also occur. (Because of calendar differences much of the Western church will celebrate on May 11, but the correct date is June 8-9.)Also, some military experts say that June will effectively be the last time this year that Israel will have an opportunity to take out Iran’s nuclear capabilities, an act that will obviously cause major repercussions in the Middle East. Iran’s rainy season begins in July making visibility an uncertain thing, and by September the US Presidential election will be ramped up for its all out run to our November election. Many observers believe that the current administration won’t agree to let such a distraction interfere with America’s focus on the election this fall. Adding these things into the mix has tempted a number of prophecy buffs to throw off all constraints and proclaim that the Day of the Lord is at hand.

Hold On Just A Minute!

But before we join them, let’s take a closer look. Have the conditions for Ezekiel 38 been met? Most of the players are lined up, the exception still being Turkey. But Syria, not mentioned in Ezekiel 38, is right in the thick of things, teamed up with Iran and North Korea in a new axis of evil focused against Israel. Can Isaiah 17 also happen this summer?And then there’s the requirement that Israel be living in such a state of supposed peace as to be taken by surprise in a battle to the death. (Ezek. 38:11) If Israel goes after Iran’s nukes next month, they’ll be the ones pulling off the sneak attack. Could Iran’s certain retaliation in any way be called an unexpected surprise that catches Israel off guard? I don’t think so.

No, I think it’s much more likely that any war this summer between Israel and the Moslems would result in Syria’s demise and end in a false peace that puts into place the conditions necessary for Ezekiel 38 to happen some time later. And despite my earlier speculation about the 2012 magnetic polar reversal fulfilling the 6th seal of Rev. 6, I have to admit that the most likely coming event that fits the sequence and is worthy of announcement by signs in the heavens in 2015 would be the beginning of Daniel’s 70th week.

If these earlier Blood Moons did in fact announce the re-birth of the nation and the reunification of Jerusalem as it appears, then the next major step in Israels’ journey toward the Kingdom is their national reunion with their Creator. This is the way Ezekiel saw it happening, and in my view is important enough to God to merit such a celestial announcement. After all He’s been waiting to take them back for 2000 years.

“Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence.” (Hosea 6:1-2)

Thankfully, it won’t be long until we know for sure who’s right and who’s wrong. And it won’t take any rocket science to tell. Because if the 70th week is set to begin in September then the next few months will astonish the world in a breath taking series of prophetic fulfillments unparalleled since the Lord’s crucifixion and resurrection. You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah. 05-03-08