In the Fire

I'm sure you know the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.  They would not bow down to the golden statue, and Nebuchadnezzar had them thrown into a blazing furnace.  But God was with them.  Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnace and he saw them walking around, unbound and unharmed.  And there was another in there with them.  Nebuchadnezzar said, "and he looks like a son of the gods".  He only said as much as he knew; he didn't know that it actually was the Son of God.  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were walking in the blazing furnace with Christ Jesus, the Son of God.

Did they leave the furnace?  Eventually, yes.  But not right away.  They could have left; they were unbound.  They could have walked right out.  Instead they just walked around in it.  They stayed in the fire, because God was there.  The Son of God was there, so there was no reason to leave.  Its so much better to be in the fire with God than to be outside the fire without God.

I mention this well-known story for this reason: Many of us will be thrown into the fire, figuratively speaking.  Much is going to happen this decade.  Many distressing things will happen.  Many of us, especially here in the US, have grown up with the idea that war, genocide, persecution, economic depression and other similar things couldn't happen; at least not here.  We have grown up with a sense of security.  That sense of security is about to be shattered.  Many things that we thought could never happen will happen.  A collapse of the EU financial markets and economy is just beginning.  Rioting and chaos will follow it.  And at some point the EU will be handed over to a new German regime, the Fourth Reich.  Russia is arming itself again.  The so-called "Arab spring" has radicalized a number of nations in the middle-east, and it will continue.  Regardless your worldview, its not hard to see that the world is increasingly more dangerous, even from just ten years ago.  I look at it from a prophecy angle.  There are many prophecies that are soon to be fulfilled.  The German Fourth Reich, which is the fourth wing of the leopard beast in Daniel 7, is just one prophecy.  Jezebel in Revelation 2, the white horseman in Revelation 6, the war of Gog in Ezekiel 38 are among other prophecies that are being fulfilled, or will shortly be fulfilled.

If you're one of those skeptics that tunes out as soon as you hear someone talk about prophecy, then I might have lost you.  You might have already heard much nonsense in the way of interpreted prophecies.  There are many lousy interpretations of prophecy out there, and the most common interpretations of many prophecies happen to be wrong.  So it is, most of what you hear relating to prophecy simply is wrong.  But that's no reason to disregard prophecy.  If prophecy were not important, and you could ignore it and be just as well off, then why did God give us written prophecies?  What is the point of prophecies, if not to speak to us and warn of us coming events?  Bear with me, maybe I can give some insight, although that's not my primary purpose in writing this note.

What I mean to say in writing this note is that the next 5 years are going to be rough.  I want to prepare as many people as possible for a time of judgement that is coming.  I don't want my friends to be surprised or afraid when they hear of many scary things going on in the world.  Already you can hear of some scary things, but believe me, its just the tip of the iceberg.  When the world seems to be falling apart, trust in God, He will bring you through.

Now when I start talking about prophecy people often assume I'm talking about the second coming of Christ.  I'm not.  I don't know why exactly the only subject that gets discussed, regarding prophecy, is the tribulation and second coming of Christ.  Would you be surprised that there are many prophecies that have nothing to do with the second coming of Christ, which will be fulfilled before He returns?  Well, if you did not know, now you do.  The end of Ezekiel is one such prophecy.  Chapters 36 and 37 describe the return of the Jews to the land of Israel.  That prophecy is precisely what was fulfilled in 1948 and continues to be fulfilled in the nation of Israel.  And from there on Ezekiel is in chronological order.  So if Ezekiel is in chronological order, what comes next?  Ezekiel 38.  Read it.  The war of Gog, described in Ezekiel 38 and 39, is -not- Armageddon.  It happens pre-Armageddon.  It happens before the return of Christ.  As you can tell by reading it, its a pretty big deal.  God will reveal Himself to many nations.  He will judge the nations that come against Israel in spectacular fashion.  With supernatural signs He will judge them.  He will utterly destroy them.  As it says, all people on the face of the earth will tremble at His presence.  This is a big deal.  This is the kind of thing that will turn the world upside-down.  Atheism will vanish in a single day.  Everyone will see proof of God's existence, and His power, with their very own eyes.  And all the nations, especially the Muslim nations, will know that God is the God of Israel, because He will defend Israel.  The Muslims will suddenly realize that they have been fighting against God.

When will it happen?  Soon.  When exactly?  I believe I can tell you the year.  You see, there are two numbers that happen to collide with eachother on the same year.  Those two numbers are 70 and 49.  70 is the number of years Israel spent in exile, and its also the number of Sabbath Years that Israel disobeyed (that's why they spent 70 years in exile).  70 is one of those numbers that God likes to use.  There could be some pattern that I'm unaware of.  In any case, 70 is a number you might expect in relation to years and Israel.  The other number, 49, is the number of years between each Jubilee.  It is 7 sevens, or shall we say, 7 Sabbath Years.  There is one place in prophecy that speaks of 7 sevens, and that is Daniel 9:25.  There are 7 sevens and 62 sevens from the issuing of the decree to rebuild and restore Jerusalem until the time of the tribulation.  Many people have tried to apply this prophecy to Jesus' first coming.  Even though the number of years is close, from the return of the Jews to Israel to the first coming of Christ, the exact years do not line up with any decree.  Plus there is no decree that actually says to rebuild Jerusalem.  There's a decree to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and a decree to rebuild the temple.  There is no decree to rebuild Jerusalem itself.  This means the prophecy must be referring to the second coming of the Anointed One.  And for what reason does Daniel divide it into 7 sevens and 62 sevens.  He could have very well said 69 sevens (with the final seven being the tribulation period).  Evidently the 7 sevens signifies something.

Well, you may be surprised to find out that there was a decree to rebuild Jerusalem in the twentieth century.  1969 to be precise.  Rather than give you all the details here, I'll just tell you to search 'Jewish Quarter Development Company'.  It was formed two years after the Six Days War in which Israel captured the city of Jerusalem for the first time.  It makes sense that Israel would begin to rebuild Jerusalem shortly after capturing it.  Jerusalem is, afterall, the famous ancient capital of Israel, and the location of the Temple Mount.  Jerusalem is a really big deal for Israel.  And there was in fact a decree to rebuild it - at least the Jewish quarter of the old city.

Getting back to our collision of numbers, 49 years (7 sevens) from the decree to rebuild (1969) puts us in the year 2018.  2018 also happens to be the 70th anniversary of Israel.  Israel, as an sovereign nation, began to exist in the year 1948.  70 years after its founding, and 49 years after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, is 2018 for both.  And since its becoming abundantly clear that the war of Gog is nearing, I believe 2018 signifies the event itself.

The war of Gog (Gog, by the way, is Turkey, not Russia) is such a big event.  It begins a whole new era in the history of the world.  God reveals Himself to all the nations in a great big judgement (flesh-eating disease, giant hail, fire from heaven, the works...).  So you can imagine, things may happen leading up to that.  If you know the way God tends to work these things, you'll understand.  When God judged the nation of Israel, He did not leave the surrounding nations unjudged.  It was a time of judgement for the entire region (read Isaiah chapters 13 through 24).  So if God is going to judge the nations of the middle-east (and I believe Israel will feel some of God's wrath as well in the great earthquake Ezekiel speaks of), do you think He will leave all the other nations unjudged?  Or do you think maybe this decade will be a time of judgement for all nations?  I go with the latter.  As the United States is concerned, if you're American, I encourage you to read Jonathan Cahn's 'Harbinger'.  He details the parallels between Isaiah 9:10 and 9/11; it is quite ominous, I promise you.  If you read that book and carefully consider the details he presents (do the research, its all for real), then you'll be convinced that the US is in for some divine judgement.  Exactly what form that divine judgement will take, I'm not sure.  I do have my ideas, and one that rises to the top.  I'll speak about that somewhere else.

I speculate with some things; I will admit that.  But whatever your opinion of the prophecies is, or your opinion of my ideas about the prophecies, one thing is clear: rough waters ahead.  Be prepared, brothers and sisters.  And remember, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego stayed in the fire, because God was with them.  It may be, after this trying time is over and better days have come, that you long to be back in the fire, because God was there with you.  A trying time is not always a bad thing.  Sometimes its in the midst of your personal fire that you find yourself walking with the Son of God.  So do not be afraid, friends.  I am saying many bad things will happen this decade.  But those bad things will be followed by good things, and even in the bad things God will be there.  Trust in God; He will protect you.  When you hear of wars, riots, bank runs, dictators, etc, do not be afraid.  Its just birthing pains; a whole new world is coming - one in which God is known by everyone.