The following is not intended as prophecy.
The only thing I can safely say I got from the Lord is
the idea to write it.
But with things happening so quickly these days I think
it's good to get some perspective on Biblical events that may
affect our lives in the coming 12 months.
It'll be a good follow-up to our recap of 2009.
The Battle of Psalm 83 … Likely.
Something big seems to be brewing on both
Israel's northern and southern borders.
In the south, Egypt and the US are said to be teaming up
with Israel. Their
plan is to drive Hamas from power in Gaza.
Egypt is already building an iron wall along its border
to prevent Palestinian entry into the Sinai desert. There are 2
motivating factors at play.
One is that the US seems determined to broker a peace
agreement this year.
To accomplish this, Hamas has to be taken out of the way
so Mahmoud Abbas can be the undisputed leader of the
Palestinians. The
second is the fact that al Qaida is building a strong presence
in Gaza. Egypt sees
this as a national threat.
Some are already calling Gaza the new Yemen.
Israeli experts at Jerusalem and Tel Aviv Universities strongly
believe that in the north, Iran is preparing to preempt a
military attack against its nuclear program by going to war
against Israel, using Hezbollah and several other Palestinian
militias from Lebanon as proxies.
These experts say that such a move by Iran will give Israel the
needed justification to wage a destructive war of unprecedented
proportions against both Hezbollah and Lebanon, totally
crippling their capabilities for many years to come. They
predict that with the resolve of Israel's current leadership it
will only take them 5-6 weeks to liquidate Hezbollah and
dismantle the Lebanese Army.
They also believe the Netanyahu government
will use the opportunity to widen this war to include Damascus
and Northern Syria, wiping out Syria's chemical and nuclear
programs in the process.
In the wake of all these dramatic events, Syria and
Lebanon will have no other option but to sign a peace treaty on
Israel's terms.
(Source: Hamid Ghoriafi, journalist and Middle East analyst in a
report to the Lebanese Canadian Coordinating Council.)
If this happens it will explain why none of
these entities was named in Ezekiel's roster of enemy
combatants.
The Battle of Ezekiel 38 … Not
Likely
Reading Magog's (Russia's) mind God said,
“You will say, 'I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I
will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people—all of them
living without walls and without gates and bars.
I
will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled
ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in
livestock and goods, living at the center of the land.' “
“Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of
Tarshish and all her villages will say to you, 'Have you come to
plunder? Have you gathered your hordes to loot, to carry off
silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods and to seize
much plunder?' ” (Ezekiel 38:11-13)
Three factors argue against Ezekiel's Battle
coming this year.
First, Turkey hasn't yet completed its change of allegiance from
Europe to the camp of Islam, although this could be completed
very soon.
Second, Israel hasn't acquired the wealth
necessary to make it a tempting target to Russia, as required by
Ezekiel 38:13.
The multi-billion dollar gas strike off the Mediterranean
coast, and the recent discovery of oil near Tel Aviv could soon
provide sufficient motivation to meet this requirement as well.
But third and most importantly, Israel is not
living carelessly in a state of perceived peace, and has neither
dismantled the security wall that divides it from the
Palestinians, nor relaxed its guard in any other way. On the
contrary, the military has just concluded successful tests of
its “Iron Dome” missile shield in preparation for installation.
While Israel sincerely desires peace, the country is not
unsuspecting of attack, and is in fact preparing to either
receive one from Hizbollah, or launch one against Iran or both.
Current news out of the State Department
indicates that the US may have abandoned its effort to impose
stronger economic sanctions on Iran, for all practical purposes
leaving only the military option.
I really think that unless Iran's nuclear ambitions are
curtailed in some other fashion, the Israelis will be looking
for an opportunity to take care of the matter themselves and
therefore will not be taken by surprise this year.
The Four Horsemen Of The
Apocalypse … Not Likely
For several years people have been asking
if we're in the Seal Judgments of Rev. 6.
They ask these questions because some teachers say the
first seals are already open. But the opening of the seal
judgments requires the 70th Week of Daniel to have
begun, and that can't happen until Israel is officially back in
a covenant relationship with God.
That means God will have revealed Himself to them by
defeating their attackers in the Battle of Ezekiel 38 (Ezek.
39:21-22) It's
helpful to remember that from chapter 6 thru chapter 19, the
Book of Revelation is a commentary on Daniel's 70th
Week, a period of time during which the Church is not present on
Earth.
Further Decline Of The US …
Likely
Since the US is not mentioned in End Times
prophecy, although it's been a dominant world power for nearly
all of our life times, its further decline in 2010 is likely.
Here's why I think the US will be increasingly irrelevant
as the End Times approach.
More and more “experts” are saying that the
recession is not only not over but in 2010 will take an even
larger bite out of our economy.
Continuing to create money out of thin air to cover our
soaring deficit will eventually catch up with us and when it
does prices will begin to increase rapidly as the dollar loses
what little value it still has.
Some say we'll begin to see the effects of this in 2010.
Massive irregularities in the distribution of “bail-out”
money are coming to the surface and are likely to further erode
our confidence in what our government is telling us.
Most unnerving of all is the lack of
trustworthy information from any source.
Liberals say the worst is over and things are getting
better.
Conservatives say we haven't seen the end yet and things will
get worse. With the
liberal media pretty much in the government's pocket and the
whackos on the right telling us to buy some guns and find a cave
to hide in, where's the voice of reason to give us the straight
story? Or doesn't
any body know?
Experts are beginning to admit that neither
political party has the will to do what's required to save the
US from economic ruin.
The only question is how long it will take for us to self
destruct. Some are
saying that by the end of 2010 our situation
may well be far worse than it is today.
The Rapture Of The Church …
Likely
These days, any talk of coming events has to
include the Rapture of the Church.
To say that it's unlikely to happen in 2010 would be
misleading, because with each passing day it becomes more and
more likely. Even
though the timing of the rapture is based upon the number of
Church members (Romans 11:25) and not a date, there are
other dates that offer clues as to how close we're coming.
In Matt. 24:34 Jesus said that the
generation being born at the time of the first End Times signs
would still be alive at the 2nd Coming.
The first sign is almost universally recognized as the
re-birth of Israel in 1948. 'For I will take you out of the
nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you
back into your own land.' (Ezekiel 36:24).
From Psalm 90:10 we learn that although some may
live longer, an average lifespan is about 70 years.
70 years from 1948 would be 2018.
Both Romans 11:25 and Acts 15:13-18
indicate that the 70 Weeks of Daniel, interrupted 7 years short
of its promised 490 year duration, would resume after the Lord
has taken His Church from among the gentiles. Subtracting 7
years from 2018 puts the latest time for the rapture sometime in
2011. Since it
could happen at any time, and will happen before Daniel's 70th
week begins, we can realistically look for the rapture to happen
any time now.
Every Jewish person dreams of one day
celebrating Passover in Jerusalem and so at the end of the
Passover Seder, a final toast is traditionally offered.
Everyone raises their glass and drinks to the fulfillment
of that dream, saying, “Next year in Jerusalem!”
Maybe in Church gatherings during 2010 Christians will
begin raising their glasses to the toast, “Next year in the New
Jerusalem!” It could happen. You can almost hear the footsteps
of the Messiah.
01-09-10
