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Prophecy Today
June 2009 Newsletter
(Examining Current Events in the Light of Bible Prophecy)
E-mail address for newsletter subscription: Contact David Brenneman at ptnewsletter@columbus.rr.com
E-mail address for general communication: Contact Mike Wingfield at prophecytoday@aol.com
The Perfect Storm
(Part Two)
By Mike Wingfield
As presented in the last newsletter, our world is facing
the perfect storm that will usher in the unique time
known as the Tribulation. The Bible tells us that during
this unique period of time, our Lord will judge the nations
in His wrath. Last month, we examined the global
political and economic firestorms that are brewing on a
global scale and setting the stage for the final drama of
the ancient conflict in the spirit world between heaven
and hell.
As we explore some of the massive details of the developments
of this future period of time, it is very important
that we not lose focus of the big picture. According
to the prophetic Word of God, our Lord is moving
our world toward the day when His Son, Jesus the
Messiah, will rule over the nations of the world from
Jerusalem, Israel, for 1,000 years. (Isaiah 2:1-3; Revelation
20:4) While Jesus is ruling the nations, Satan, for
the very first time, will be supernaturally confined in
“the bottomless pit” for 1,000 years. (Revelation 20:1-
3) We are told that this is necessary so that during the
Kingdom rule of our Lord, Satan will not be able to “deceive
the nations.” (Revelation 20:3) During a brief
release at the end of the 1,000 years, the Lord will allow
Satan one final attempt to bring about a global rebellion
against Him by those who were born during the Kingdom
Age. (Revelation 20:7-9) The Lord will supernaturally
end this satanically inspired rebellion and cast
His ancient opponent “into the lake of fire and brimstone,”
[where he] “shall be tormented day and night for
ever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10)
You can believe that this powerful, finite, shrewd, and
ancient adversary of God does not like this prediction.
He has been strategizing for millennia how he might defeat
God by deceiving the nations, using them in his war
with God to establish his own evil empire to potentially
either delay or destroy God’s eternal plan that spells his
own doom.
It is vitally important for us to understand that this war
between the Lord Jesus and Satan is real and that our
world is being prepared for the final storm that will conclude
the war between heaven and hell. You can believe
that Satan will not spare anyone or anything in his desperate
attempt to defeat the Lord Jesus. The Bible warns
us that this will be a very dangerous time for the inhabitants
of earth who have been left behind after the Rapture
of the church. (Revelation 12:12) Furthermore, the
almighty, eternal, sovereign, Creator and Ruler of the
universe, Jesus Christ, will literally shake the heavens
and earth during His predetermined divine display of His
control over His creation to establish “a kingdom which
cannot be moved.” (Hebrews 12:28) What an awesome
privilege we have to watch the beginning of this storm
that is setting the stage for the final conflict of the ages.
Praise the Lord we are on the winning side! In light of
all of this, the Spirit of God exhorts us, “Wherefore we
receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have
grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence
and godly fear: For our God is a consuming
fire.” (Hebrews 12:28-29)
When the Bible student examines the multitude of passages
which describe global developments that take
place during this seven year period, it is evident that Satan’s
greatest attempt to defeat God will pit the world
against God’s chosen people, Israel, and God’s Holy
Land, and holy city, Jerusalem. (Zechariah 1:14, 17; 2:8,
12; 3:1-2) When one examines the Biblical prophetic
events surrounding the return of the Jewish people to the
Holy Land in the last days, it is imperative to remember
that the Lord gave this land to their fathers as part of an
eternal, unconditional covenant. (Genesis 12:1; 13:14-
15; Deuteronomy 1:7-8; 34:1-4; Joshua 1:3-4; Ezekiel
36:24) What God has ordained will come to pass.
(Isaiah 14:24, 26-27) All of the demons of hell and all
of the nations of the world cannot alter the outcome of
His eternal plan! (Daniel 4:35)
As a matter of fact, the prophetic Word of God reveals
how Satan will attempt to defeat God during the last
days. He will seek to destroy the Jewish people and prevent
them from living in and controlling the land of Israel
and the city of Jerusalem. When the Lord calls the
sons of Jacob back to their own land in the last days, a
regional conflict will erupt between Israel and the nations
around it. (Ezekiel 36:1-7, 24) This regional conflict
will eventually involve all nations. When the end
comes, the regathered modern nation of Israel will be
isolated from the global community and will be repeatedly
attacked. (Ezekiel 38-39; Joel 3:2; Zechariah 14:2)
Satan’s final effort to destroy Israel will begin when the
Antichrist forces a false peace covenant upon a secular
Israeli government for seven years. (Daniel 9:27; Isaiah
28:14-22) After three and one-half years, the Antichrist
will break his covenant and turn against Israel. Finally,
at the end he will call for its destruction as he assembles
his global forces in the Valley of Armageddon. This is
Satan’s final global solution against the Jewish occupation
of the Holy Land and the city of Jerusalem. (Revelation
16:12-16) When Jerusalem is attacked by the
Antichrist’s forces, half of the city will fall, and many of
the Jews in Jerusalem will be brutally tortured and
killed. (Zechariah 14:2) However, a remnant of its inhabitants
will valiantly, with divine aid, repel the forces
of the Antichrist. (Zechariah 12:4-8) Finally, at the last
hour of the seven years, the Lord Jesus will supernaturally
return from heaven and destroy all of the forces of
the Antichrist gathered in Israel. (Joel 3:1-17; Zechariah
1:9, 14:3; Revelation 19:11-21)
In light of all of this, it is apparent that we are witnessing
the beginning of Satan’s strategy for the final
isolation of Israel and the global threat to annihilate the
one and only Jewish nation in the world. For the last 90
years, since the beginning of the Jewish people’s immigration
to Israel after World War I, Jews in Israel have
been rejected, hated, and attacked by the Arab Islamic
nations in the Middle East. The history of this modern
90-year-old conflict clearly demonstrates that the Muslims
of the Middle East have not and will not accept the
dominant presence of a Jewish minority in the Middle
East! The presence of the Jewish nation in a land that
was dominated by Islam for 1,300 years is in conflict
with the doctrine of Islam. According to Islamic beliefs,
the Jewish people are a demonic occupier that must be
removed from Islamic land at any cost for the glory and
honor of their god, Allah. An examination of the written
covenants of Israel’s Islamic enemies demonstrates that
they are working together for the common goal of the
complete destruction and removal of the Jewish nation
of Israel! During this time, most of the international
community has been openly sympathetic to the
Arab/Islamic cause, which is aimed at Israel’s destruction.
Powerful players, such as Europe and Russia, have
been supporters of this Islamic agenda. Humanly speaking,
Israel, from her beginning as a nation in 1948, has
enjoyed the support and protection of a good democratic
friend, the United States of America. The support of the
world’s most wealthy and powerful superpower has apparently
been a restraining influence to keep the enemies
of Israel from attacking the Jewish nation. The special
relationship between Israel and the U.S. has been good
for both nations. Both have benefited economically,
militarily, medically, technologically, and agriculturally
from this good relationship. Spiritually, the Guardian of
Israel, who neither slumbers nor sleeps (Psalm 121:4),
has used the United States in the last 61 years to provide
a measure of security for Israel. Because of this, the
United States has been blessed by God in numerous
ways, in spite of her sinful ways, which are offensive to
a holy God. (Genesis 12:3) However, this is all about to
change.
In the last two decades, we have witnessed a gradual
shift in various U.S. presidential administrations’ support
of Israel. During this time the United States has
attempted to lead the international community in an effort
to resolve the conflict between Israel and the Islamic
community in the Middle East by trying to force Israel to
trade land that she acquired while defending itself
against these Arab/Islamic neighbors in June 1967. All
of this is for a piece of paper that promises that these
Islamic nations will accept Israel and live in peace with
the Jewish people. Please note that during this same period
of time the gradual spiritual, moral, political, and
economic decline of the United States has accelerated.
Our Lord does curse those who curse Israel and oppose
His eternal plans for them!
However, this gradual shift in U.S. support of Israel, on
the part of the executive branch of the U.S. government
Prophecy Today June 2009 2
and the State department, has brought us to a very critical
moment in time. In recent months President Obama
has demonstrated by his appointments, policies, and
speeches that he views our relationship with the Islamic
world to be more important that our relationship with
Israel. Eitan Haber, an Israeli, writes, “As opposed to
almost all American presidents in recent generations,
Barack Obama views himself as one who is guiding his
country and the free world towards a new history, far
beyond what we can see. Obama wishes to shape new
universal discourse, which seeks to replace the confrontation
with the radical Muslim world emerging before
our eyes in recent times. Obama leads a line of reconciliation
[within] this hostile world, and the price –
whether we’d like it or not – will be paid by the State of
Israel.” (ynetnews.com, May 20, 2009)
In early May, Obama invited Jordan’s King Abdullah
to the White House to discuss a future peace initiative in
the Middle East. He commissioned Abdullah to meet
with key Arab leaders to modify and adopt a peace initiative
put forth by Saudi Arabia in 2002. This meeting
was followed by a meeting between Obama and the
newly elected prime minister of Israel, Benjamin
Netanyahu, and finally a few weeks later, the president
of the Palestinian people, Mahmoud Abbas. The meeting
with Netanyahu was very strained. Obama rejected
the pleas of the Israeli leadership concerning the growing
threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, while at the same
time making it clear that he wanted Israel to begin negotiations
with the Palestinians to create a Palestinian state
with East Jerusalem and the Temple Mount as the capital
of the Palestinian state. All of this ignores the fact that
the charters of the various groups within the Palestinian
entities still call for the destruction of Israel, while their
school books, sermons in the mosques, and governmentcontrolled
media still incite hatred, and acts of violence
and war against the Jews and the Jewish occupation of
the entire land once called Palestine. It also ignores that
this is the same for all other Islamic nations in the Middle
East, especially Iran, who has boastfully proclaimed
that they will wipe Israel off the face of the earth. How
can the world expect Israel to have peace with a society
that promotes the hatred of Jews and Christians and their
violent removal from this earth? President Obama rejects
this reality, while stating that his policy is in the
best interest of the security of the nation of Israel and
world peace. Such statements have no reasonable or
logical foundation based upon the real facts, and appear
to be nothing more than empty, deceptive words aimed
at covering up the support of a new U.S. policy that
views our relationship with the Islamic world to be more
important than our relationship with the only democratic,
true friend and ally that we have in the Middle East.
According to several sources, President Obama is
charting a course that will lead the Middle East into a
war that will betray Israel and make the Jewish nation
vulnerable to destruction! According to Israel Today,
“A former top U.S. intelligence official warns that the
Obama administration is about to break America’s long
ties of friendship with Israel, and maybe take steps toward
the dissolution of the Jewish State.
“Speaking on condition of anonymity to Douglas
Hagmann of Northeast Intelligence Network, the source
said, ‘I have every reason to believe , based on what I’ve
seen at my level of [security] clearance over the last several
years, that Israel will soon be completely on their
own … or worse.’ He went on to note that the betrayal
likely won’t happen in one dramatic moment, but rather
subtly, behind the scenes, and over the course of several
years.
“The Obama administration is preparing to ‘provide
support to Arab countries [with] financial and military
aid, undercutting Israel’s defense efforts, all while pushing
Israel to succumb to the pressure of unreasonable
demands designed to end with their political annihilation
as a nation,’ said the source.” (www.Israeltoday.co.il,
March 19, 2009)
Christian Friends of Israel in Jerusalem report that the
new U.S. administration is determined to set a new
course in which they will improve their standing in the
International Islamic community. They comment, “If
the President sees Israel as the main roadblock to that
goal, it is believed that he will either try to manipulate
Israel to his own ends, or, if Israel proves intransigent,
eventually abandon her.” (www.cfijerusalem.org, March
5, 2009)
According to Israeli intelligence, the newly formed
Israeli administration has been given the following assessment,
“Obama wants to make friends with our worst
enemies and until now the worst enemies of the United
States. … Under this policy, we are more than irrelevant.
We have become an obstacle.” (www.WorldTribune.
com, April 21, 2009) The Israeli public believes this
intelligence report. Recent polls indicate that only 38
percent of the Israeli public believes that Barack Obama
is a friend of Israel. (www.Israeltoday.co.il, May 4,
2009)
Joel Rosenberg, a born-again American Jew, recently
wrote, “Israeli leaders and citizens are very much feeling
alone these days. They see the radical Islamic world –
led by Iran – preparing to annihilate the Jewish State.
And they see very few, if any, around the world willing
to stand with them against the forces of barbarism. Historically,
an Israeli prime minister and his people could
always count on the strong friendship and strategic support
of the United States. But that is no longer the case.
… The White House and State Department do not seem
Prophecy Today June 2009 3
to understand the [end-time Islamic doctrine] that is
driving Teran, and thus do not understand how high the
stakes are. Worse, they are dangerously close to being
appeasers of the [Iranian] regime (Joel Rosenberg,
www.worldviewtimes.com article, April 28, 2009)
A newspaper in Israel, Yediot Aharonot, noted that
several nations at the recent Durban II conference in Geneva
applauded when Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad gave a speech in which he called for wiping
Israel off the map. The article went on to state,
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was absolutely
right when he said that we are alone, and believes that,
The Americans will not lift a finger unless it becomes
clear that the main target is America. [Israel] should
prepare for war in an arena and at a time not to our liking.”
(Joel Rosenberg, www.worldviewtimes.com article,
April 28, 2009)
After President Obama’s meeting with Palestinian
leader, Mahmoud Abbas, a few weeks ago, Abbas reported
that Obama has promised him the he is willing to
force the Israelis to surrender the West Bank (Biblical
Judea and Samaria) to the Palestinians, including East
Jerusalem and the Temple Mount as the capital of their
state. Abbas has also reported that Obama told him that
the U.S. is committed to the removal of Jews from Judea
and Samaria. “The new Obama plan will also reportedly
include a firm timetable for the establishment of a sovereign
Palestinian state that will not be adversely affected
by ongoing Palestinian violence.” (www.Israeltoday.
co.il, May 20, 2009) In recent days Israel has learned
that Obama has threatened the Israeli administration
with the possibility that the U.S. will stop supporting
Israel at the UN if they do not conform to his demands
and strategy for peace in the Middle East.
Ariel Cohen reports, “The [U.S.] administration is
spending precious time and political capital trying for a
quick fix to an intractable conflict. Obama and his top
officials are meeting with the Kings of Saudi Arabai and
Jordan, the Egyptian president, the Europeans, and the
Russians to effectively develop a plan that Israel has no
part in formulating – and which would be imposed on it
by extreme pressure.” (www.csmonitor.com, May 13,
2009)
“Senior officials in Jerusalem have reported a sharp
decline in the coordination between Israel and the U.S.
on security and state affairs since President Barack Obama
entered the White House. Members of the Obama
administration have chosen to depart from the Bush era
practice of consulting in advance with Israeli counterparts
on Middle East policy and security matters.” (International
Christian Embassy in Jerusalem News, May
8, 2009) One of the greatest U.S. announcements that
caught the Israelis off guard was the call for Israel to
sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In other
words, Obama wants Israel to surrender its nuclear arsenal,
while not dealing with Iran’s threat to wipe Israel
off the face of the earth. Furthermore, in effect, he
wants to make Israel vulnerable to dangerous short-range
missiles by shrinking its size to only 8 miles wide at one
point north of Tel Aviv, while at the same time demanding
Israel to give up her ultimate deterrent ability – nuclear
weapons.
All of these developments are creating a sense of distress
in Israel. This mood of great concern for the future
of Israel is openly expressed in a newly released book by
a Jerusalem-based American Jewish journalist, Aaron
Klein, The Late Great State of Israel. Worldnetdaily
comments, “Klein pulls no punches, fingering the Israeli
government as often being its own worst enemy. He
also shows how policies from the Obama administration
and international community harm Israel’s interests and
how Iran, Hamas, Palestinian terrorists and a host of
other players are poised to end the Mideast democracy
once and for all.” (www. worldnetdaily.com, April 28,
2009) [We are offering this book this month for $19.00.
Please see the order form to obtain this excellent book.]
Long ago, the prophet Jeremiah described the desperation
that the Israelis are feeling when he expressed their
fear with these words: “We have heard a voice of trembling,
of fear, and not of peace.” (Jeremiah 30:5)
All of these developments are extremely significant in
the light of Biblical prophecy! It is most interesting to
note that Isaiah 28:14-22 gives us a very important prophetic
look into the false covenant of the Antichrist that
will be forced upon Israel, in effect beginning the Tribulation
Period of seven years. [You may want to order
our recorded message on “The Tribulation Covenant.”
See advertisement at the end of this newsletter.] According
to this text, secular, godless Israeli leaders will
support a covenant of “lies” with an enemy that is plotting
the destruction of Israel. (Isaiah 28:15) While the
world promises Israel peace and security, their actions
demonstrate otherwise. Israel Today recently exposed
some of these lies with the following report: “A top Palestinian
official admits the ‘two-state solution’ is really
just a means of bringing about Israel’s collapse, and the
American general training up the new PA army reveals
those troops could turn on Israel. Speaking with Lebanon’s
ANB Television [in early May], Palestinian Authority
representative in Lebanon, Abba Zaki, said he
personally doesn’t desire any kind of peace deal with
Israel, but explained that establishing a state in Judea
and Samaria with eastern Jerusalem as its capital will be
a step toward Israel’s destruction.” (www.israeltoday.
co.il, May 15, 2009) The strategy of accepting a twostate
solution as a part of a false peace deal with Israel,
to ultimately bring about its demise, was the brain child
of the current leader of the Palestinians, Mahmoud
Prophecy Today June 2009 4
Abbas, over 30 years ago! Israelis have known about
this, but in the last few decades have been so desperate
for peace that they have attempted to ignore these lies
and have knowingly participated in the a peace process
that is not in the best interest of Israel’s future. Isaiah’s
prophetic revelation is coming to pass, just as he said
over 2,700 years ago!
These developments are moving our world one giant
step closer to the beginning of the Tribulation. Concerning
the Antichrist’s deceptive peace treaty with Israel,
Daniel 8:24-25 states: “And his power shall be mighty,
but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully,
and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy
the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy
also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he
shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall
destroy many; he shall also stand up against the Prince
of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.” These
verses, in light of the larger context of the prophetic
Word of God, indicate that the Antichrist will speak lies
concerning his support and protection of Israel, while
deceptively strategizing how he can destroy them. He
will force the covenant upon them (Daniel 9:27), and
then in the middle of the Tribulation break his covenant,
causing the believing Jewish remnant in Jerusalem to
flee into the wilderness [probably Petra in Jordan],
where they will be supernaturally protected by the Lord
for the last three and one-half years of the Tribulation.
(Matthew 24:15-21; Revelation 12:13-17)
In Psalm 55, while speaking about a time when an
enemy is oppressing and threatening him (verses 1-8), a
friend is betraying (verses 12-15), and breaking a covenant
of peace (verse 20), King David says about the betrayer,
“The words of his mouth were smoother than butter,
but war was in his heart: his words were softer than
oil, yet were they drawn swords.” (verse 21) In light of
the prophetic context of a multitude of Scriptures, it appears
that these words effectively illustrate the deceptive
words of the coming Antichrist.
In light of all of this, the storm clouds of divine judgment
and war are on the horizon. The nations of the
world, and the U.S. in particular, are about to come into
the crosshairs of the wrath of Almighty God! A multitude
of Scriptures warns all nations what the Lord will
do to the nations that attempt to divide the Holy Land
and Jerusalem in the last days. (Consider: Isaiah 29:7-8;
41:8-16; 49:25-26; Jeremiah 30:11, 16, 23-24;; 51:19-
20; Ezekiel 36:1-7; 38:18-23; Joel 3; Micah 4:13; Zechariah
12:1-4, 9; and 14:3.) The divinely stated purpose
of the final confrontation of the nations with the Lord at
Armageddon is spelled out in Joel 3:2. The Lord warns
that He will destroy all nations because of what they
have done to His people, Israel, and because they have
“parted my land.” (Joel 3:2) Please be aware that the
swift and wrathful judgment of God will fall upon
America any day now, unless we repent and turn from
our wicked ways. (Jeremiah 18:7-10)
The Antichrist will not respect the God of the Bible
nor His covenant with Israel. He will be self-willed and
will speak monstrous things against the God of the Bible.
(Daniel 11:36-37) Writing about the Antichrist, the
Apostle John stated: “And there was given unto him a
mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and
power was given unto him to continue forty and two
months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against
God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and
them that dwell in heaven.” (Revelation 13:5-6)
In May, 76 out of 100 U.S. senators signed and sent a
letter to President Obama, urging him “to carefully
weigh the risks to Israel’s security before pushing his
new Middle East initiative.” (www.israeltoday.co.il,
May 20, 2009) We need to pray that our president will
heed this warning.
President Obama has set a course for the Middle East
that many feel will bring the region to a cataclysmic war
within 12-18 months! Jordan’s King Abdullah has
stated that if Israel does not allow the establishment of a
Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, that they
will face war within 18 months. (www.israel nationalnews.
com, April 27, 2009) According to a former top
American intelligence official, retired Lt. General William
Boykin, a war will take place in the Middle East
within the next 12 months. (www.newsmax.com, May
16, 2009)
American Jewish believer, Joel Rosenberg, writes,
“Dividing Jerusalem would trigger an apocalyptic war in
the Middle East the likes of which the region has never
seen. Already, the Radicals believe that Israel is doomed
to destruction. Hearing that the American President is
now ready to apply intense pressure against Israel to divide
their capital will only embolden the Radicals and
convince them further that Allah is on their side, the
wind is at their back, and they will soon triumph over the
Jews and Christians.
“While I am not surprised by where the president is
headed, I am horrified nonetheless. Right at the moment
when the U.S. and Israel need to be working with Arab
states in unity against the Iranian nuclear threat, this
White House is systematically turning against Israel.
Despite all the smiles and boilerplate rhetoric from senior
administration officials …promising to stand with
Israel and maintain her security – what the administration
is actually advancing in terms of policy is dangerous
and destabilizing. They are playing with fire, and they
must be publically and peaceably challenged and resisted.”
(Joel Rosenberg, www.worldviewtimes.com,
May 29, 2009)
Prophecy Today June 2009 5
While many voices are warning that this may lead to a
major conflagration in the Middle East, could it be that
the Gog and Magog war of Ezekiel 38-39 is next on the
horizon? Consider this possibility. Israel will be forced
to attack Iran sometime in the next few months because
recent Israeli intelligence has reported that Iran will have
enough material for a nuclear bomb by the end of this
year. Obama has already warned Israel that if they
should attack Iran that they will be on their own, isolated
from the international community! If Israel attacks, and
her mission is successful, but, in the process, as Iran has
threatened, Iranian missiles destroy oil instillation and
interrupt the flow of oil out of the Persian Gulf for a few
weeks or months, then, the entire world would face an
immediate oil crisis like we have never witnessed before
in modern times. The Russians and Iranians would be
enraged against Israel. Ezekiel said, “Thus said the
Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same
time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt
think an evil thought.” (Ezekiel 38:10) The Obama
administration would verbally reprimand Israel and
abandon them. The world would also be angry due to a
real oil crisis, creating a complete global economic meltdown.
The likely response could be the attempted invasion
of Israel by Russia and the Islamic nations mentioned
by Ezekiel. The world would not stop them, and
Israel would be totally vulnerable, with exception of divine
intervention! While we cannot say that this will be
the definite outcome in the next few months, one can
certainly see how it would fit the details in Ezekiel 38-39
and the present current events.
In the meantime, Israel is facing the reality of this
hour. She knows that she is all alone. The world is
ready, once again, to offer the Jewish people up on the
altar of appeasement to satisfy those who hate them.
Israel is preparing for war. The Israeli Defense Ministry
has just successfully tested their “Iron Dome System” –
a system designed to protect Israel from short-range missiles,
to accompany the already successful Arrow System,
designed to fly so fast that is will destroy longrange
missiles over enemy airspace before they get over
Israeli airspace.
In mid-May the Israeli Air Force took part in a four
day drill that simulated Israel defending herself against
at attack from both the north from Lebanon and Syria,
and the south, from Hamas in Gaza. Several months
ago, Israel carried out a simulated long-range attack
against the nuclear facilities in Iran and the successful
test of its anti-ballistic missile defense system against a
possible Iranian long-range missile attack.
In early June Israel conducted a five-day drill called
“Turning Point 3.” This extensive drill was designed to
simulate an all-out attack against the nation that would
have the entire population within three minutes in a
bomb shelter. Deputy Defense Minister, Matan Vilna’i
has reported, “This is not an imaginary situation. This
isn’t detached from reality and if there is a war, it’s very
likely that this is what will happen. … If someone attacks
us, we will be ready.” (The Jerusalem Post Online
Edition, May 25, 2009)
I did not know if we would see these kinds of developments
before the Rapture. But we are, and it is both
exciting and horrifying. As we face these life-changing
days that are ahead we should find our comfort and hope
in the Word of God. We must not forget that our Lord
will not abandon Israel or His church. I am convinced
that very soon the saints of God will be in the presence
of their Lord in heaven! In the meantime, we have much
work to do. There are souls to win, people to warn, sins
to confess, and revival to seek. Please read over and
meditate upon the following verses in the days that are
ahead:
“And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to
awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than
when we believed.” – Romans 13:11
“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
“Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber
nor sleep.”- Psalm 121:4
“The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the
rivers of water: he turneth it whithersover he will.” -
Proverbs 21:1
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God,
believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions:
if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to
prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself;
that where I am, there ye may be also.” - John 14:1-3
Does the Bible teach that a Rapture
will take place?
(A part of an ongoing study about the Rapture)
In our consideration of the doctrine of the Rapture we
must consider the serious challenges that are directed at
the existence of this very doctrine. There are some people
who do not believe in the Rapture. They believe that
this entire doctrine is a newly contrived, man-made escape
route from the seven-year Tribulation Period that
was dreamed up by a few British preachers about 150
years ago and has been perpetuated by a new view of the
Scriptures, called dispensationalism. They claim that the
early church never believed in or expected to be suddenly
snatched out of this world in what we call “the
Rapture.”
They argue that the word “Rapture” is not in the Bible.
While the word is not in our English Bible translations,
Prophecy Today June 2009 6
this is not a good reason to reject this doctrine. For example,
the word “trinity” is also not in our English Bibles.
However, if you reject the doctrine of the triune
God – that there is only One God who has revealed
Himself in three persons (the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)
– then you cannot be a Christian. As a matter of fact,
the Bible says that the rejection of the trinity is the spirit
of Antichrist. 1 John 2:22 says, “Who is a liar but he
that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist,
that denieth the Father and the Son.” So, we cannot
reject the doctrine of the “trinity” because the word is
not in the Bible. Consequently, neither should we reject
the doctrine of the Rapture because the word is not
found in the English Bible.
While the word “Rapture” is not in the English translation
of the Bible, the doctrine of this unique event is
taught in the Scriptures. The word “Rapture” has been
coined to give a name to the event that is described in 1
Thessalonians 4:13-18, and is derived from the Greek
word “harpazo”, which is translated “caught up” in 1
Thessalonians 4:17. This Greek word means “to seize
upon with force,” or “to snatch up.” In the Latin Vulgate,
one of the oldest Bible translations (preceding the
King James Version by 1,200 years), the Latin word for
“harpazo” is “rapio”, which means “to take away by
force.” The past participle of “rapio” is “raptus,” which
is the root word from which we get the English word
Rapture. Therefore, the term “Rapture” is contained in
one of the oldest New Testament translations we have.
Others who reject the doctrine of the Rapture attempt
to point out that this term, and the doctrine it represents,
are relatively new and were not a part of the teachings of
the church prior to about 150 years ago. However, these
accusations overlook the fact that while the word “Rapture”
may be a modern term, the doctrine is as old as the
first century church.
To say that the early church did not believe in or have
a practical daily hope to be suddenly snatched up into
the air to meet the Lord in what we call the Rapture ignores
many New Testament passages and their literal
meaning. The teaching of the Apostle Paul to the believers
at Thessalonica was so real to them that when
one of their fellow believers died they were concerned
enough to ask Paul what would happen to the deceased
believer when Jesus would come for those who were still
alive. Hence, we have Paul’s Spirit-directed response in
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Notice that Paul’s answer indicates
that He and those who had sent him this question
expected to be alive when Jesus returned for them as He
promised in John 14:2-3. Paul wrote, “Then we which
are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them [the resurrected dead saints] in the clouds, to meet
the Lord in the air.” (1 Thessalonians 4:17) About five
years later, when he wrote to the believers in Corinth,
the Spirit directed Paul to give a more direct and detailed
explanation of the Rapture, which defies death for the
final generation of church believers. The Bible teaches
that all men must die. “Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” (Romans
5:12) Since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden it has
been the normal and expected pattern for all men to die.
Hebrews 9:27 clearly informs us that “it is appointed
unto men once to die.” This is why Paul calls this supernatural
event that we call the Rapture “a mystery.”
(1 Corinthians 15:51) The word mystery simple means
that this is something that the normal human mind cannot
grasp without the aid of divine revelation and illumination.
Accepting the supernatural developments connected
with the Rapture is impossible for the human
mind to grasp without the work of the Holy Spirit. This
is exactly why the belief in the Rapture is connected to
the resurrection of Jesus Christ in 1 Thessalonians 4:14.
Paul in essence is saying, “If you believe in the resurrection
of Jesus Christ, then you should also believe in the
supernatural change and transport that will take place for
all those who are in Christ, both dead and alive, when
Jesus comes for them.” In 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 Paul
connected the resurrection of Christ with the Rapture.
Jesus was the first to receive the eternal heavenly body,
in which He appeared to more than 500 believers over a
40 day period after His resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:5-
7), after which He was “taken up” to heaven. (Acts 1:9)
Paul explained to the church that Jesus’ reception of this
heavenly body was the guarantee that the church would
receive the same kind of body at the time of the Rapture.
He careful spelled this out with these words: “Behold, I
show you a mystery; We [the church believers]shall not
all sleep [die], but we shall be changed [supernaturally
transformed], In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at
the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound [a clear reference
to the trumpet blast mentioned in 1 Thessalonians
4:16], and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, [explained
in verses 53-54] and we [the living church
saints] shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)
The hope of the sudden and supernatural transformation
and transport to heaven of the early church believers
in the first century is woven throughout the New Testament
epistles. They really expected Jesus to return for
them in their lifetime. Let us examined some of these
expectations recorded in the New Testament.
The Apostle John, writing in the last decade of the first
century, testified that the disciples who saw the resurrected
Lord Jesus on the shores of the Sea of Galilee in
30 A.D. misunderstood the words of Jesus to Peter about
John when he said, “If I will that he tarry till I come,
what is that to thee?” (John 21:23) As a result, the
apostles introduced a rumor around 30 A.D. that Jesus
Prophecy Today June 2009 7
had said that John would not die before Jesus returned.
The fact that the aged apostle John, as the last living
apostle, clearly stated Jesus did not say unto Peter, “He
shall not die,” (John 21:23) indicates that John was directed
by the Holy Spirit to include this correction of this
rumor because, as is usually the case with rumors, it was
still being repeated more than 65 years later. The fact
that this rumor was believable to the apostles and many,
if not all, of the early disciples, certainly proves that they
were expecting Jesus to come during their lifetime at any
moment.
James wrote the very first New Testament book to the
Jewish believers who were a part of “the twelve tribes
which are scattered abroad” (James 1:1), in 45 A.D.
This book, written only 15 years after Jesus’ promise of
His return in John 14, and about 5 years before Paul
wrote 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, gives us a wonderful
picture into the early church’s daily expectation of the
Rapture. In James 5:7-11, James repeatedly exhorts the
believers of his day to be patient as they wait for the
coming of the Lord. The word “wait” in this text means
to wait long, expectantly, with a sense of anticipation.
All of this clearly indicates that these early believers,
living only 15 years after the ascension of Jesus into
heaven, were really thinking about the words of the angel
to the disciples on that occasion, “Ye men of Galilee,
why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus,
which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in
like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts
1:11) The fact that James had to tell his fellow believers
to be patient as they waited for the Lord’s return, indicates
that they were very anxious in their expectation
of His return. As he exhorted them to be patient he reminded
them that “the coming of the Lord draweth
nigh,” and in the next verse he proclaimed, “behold, the
judge standeth before the door.” (James 5:8-9) How
can anyone who understands the literal truth of these
words deny that these early believers were expecting
Jesus to come at any moment for them?
Around 51 A.D. the Apostle Paul responded to another
rumor that was circulating within the circle of believers
at Thessalonica that they had missed “the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and …our gathering together
unto him,” and were in the day of the Lord [the Tribulation
Period]. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2) In other words,
these Christians thought they had missed the Rapture
and were in the Tribulation Period. In the following
verses, the Holy Spirit through Paul informed them that
they are not in the Tribulation. First, in verse 3 he told
them that the Tribulation will be preceded by a time of
apostasy [“falling away”] within the professing church,
and then the revelation of the Antichrist, which begins
the Tribulation Period, would come. The fact that the
time of apostasy had not yet come, and the Antichrist
was not yet revealed, certainly indicated that the Tribulation
Period had not begun. To prove that the Rapture
must precede the Tribulation, he taught them in verses 6-
8 that the Holy Spirit’s restraining influence [notice the
personal pronoun “he” as a reference to the Holy Spirit
in verse 7] through the church must be “taken out of the
way. And then shall that Wicked [the Antichrist] be revealed.”
The fact that these believers had been misinformed
and were “shaken in mind” and “troubled”
(verse 2) that they had missed the Rapture and were in
the Tribulation is powerful evidence that they were expecting
to be Raptured at any moment, and before the
Tribulation began.
When Peter wrote his second epistle about 67 A.D. (37
years after the ascension), the scoffing enemies of the
church were already taunting the believers with the question,
“Where is the promise of his coming?” (2 Peter
3:4) Apparently, the early believers had been fervently
proclaiming for 37 years that their Lord was coming at
any moment. The fact that these scoffers heard them
consistently proclaim their expectation of the imminent
coming of the Lord, saw their passion for this hope, and
witnessed their urgent and sacrificial commitment to the
great commission that was fueled by the expectation of
the Rapture, energized these scoffers to taunt the church.
In essence, these scoffers were saying, “You have been
telling us for 37 years that He is coming at any moment.
So, where is He?” The fact that these scoffers were using
this question to ridicule the early church certainly
once again proves that the early church was looking for
the Rapture in their lifetime!
A study of the writings of the early church fathers illustrates
that they were expecting the event we now call
the Rapture to take place at any moment in their lives.
While we must admit that the early church had not yet
developed many details about the doctrine of the last
days, “expressions of imminence abound in the apostolic
fathers. Clement of Rome (90-100), Ignatius of Antioch
(98-117), The Didache (100-160), The Epistle of
Barnabas (117-138), and The Shepherd of Hermas (96-
150) all speak of imminency.” (Editors: Tim LaHaye
and Ed Hindson, The Popular Encyclopedia of Bible
Prophecy, p. 316) For example, the Didache exhorted
believers: “Watch for your life’s sake. Let not your
lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ye
ready, for ye know not the hour in which our Lord
cometh.” (Ante-Nicene Fathers, VII, p. 382)
Consequently, those who charge that the doctrine of
the Rapture of the church is a relatively new doctrine are
wrong. The teaching of the apostles and their fellow
saints, along with their succeeding generations of believers
were looking for and expecting their Lord to come at
any moment. They were not looking for the Antichrist,
but Jesus Christ! (To be continued next month)
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Betty Louise
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I can't open it. I tried word perfect and microsoft word.
betty
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Luk 21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
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KnowHim
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Greetings to all of our friends! This issue is, in my estimate, one of the most important newsletters I have ever published! The evolving "new" U.S. policy concerning Israel being promoted by the White House is alarming and dangerous. According to Joel 3:2 and Zechariah 14:2, when the end comes Israel will be totally isolated from the international community of the nations. We are perilously close to that point at this hour! As mentioned in this newsletter, according to the prophetic Word of God this international rejection of God's will concerning Israel and the Promised Land will evoke a very devastating response of the wrath of God that will escalate throughout the Tribulation Period.
I urge you to be "redeeming the time, because the days are evil." (Ephesians 5:16) The world we have all known for most of our lives is about to come unraveled. Take heart! Our Lord is on the throne! Don't be a Lot's wife- don't look back! Be concerned about only one thing- obeying the Lord and taking as many with you and us as we can when the Lord comes for us - soon! Be ready for the shout that will take us out! Please share this newsletter with many of your friends.
Mike Wingfield
Click below to read this newsletter:
http://churchwebs.tv/document/185/the-perfect-storm
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