Global SITREP C9:17: Fire, Fury and Power Like The World Has Never Seen Before

UPDATE 15 August 2017: I believe we have just witnessed a prime example of, as Paul referred to it, katechō, the withholding, the restraining upon the works of pure evil in the world. Probably none but the indwelt bride of Christ in this world would see the backing down of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un as the work of the Holy Spirit. Most will attribute what has just occurred to newly invoked economic sanctions and the power of Communist China or the threats of the American president, or some such other worldly nonsense. However, we must know that it is the Holy Spirit executing the will of Almighty God which has, temporarily at least, restrained the ultimate expression of lawlessness upon the world. Praise God.

11 August 2017: Recently we all heard President Trump warn the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un of the apocalyptic-sounding 'fire, fury and power like the world has never seen before' should he chose to act stupidly. Make no mistake, what American president said was neither a bluff nor an idle boast. It was a very real potential should Kim Jong-Un follow through on the military plan North Korean generals have presented to him of launching a salvo of four IRBMs at the U.S. territory of Guam, Marianas Islands next week. In less than ten days we'll know if North Korea's Communist Chinese and Russian oligarchs have been able to convince the madman to stand down, shut up and prepare to give up his weapons; that the whole world stand against him and his regime.

President Trump's words immediately brought to mind a verse from Revelation 13:4 about the absolute power that the Antichrist will wield in the near future; power such that none would dare make war (Gk: polemeō) against him. This brings to mind what has been stated on Eschatology Today in recent months concerning American military power; that it is far more robust, deadly and immediately available than almost everyone tends to think - especially a great many prophecy teachers - and even after eight years of Obama Administration downgrades and financial sequestering. This kind of on-call kinetic military power, like an undetectable black cat in a totally darkened room, remains unseen by anyone in this world save for a few who are aware of its existence. 

Getting back to Revelation 13:4 there is something in the context of that verse which I feel the Lord wanted to make known as I studied it within the past couple of days. Taken in the context of other Scripture (II Thessalonians 2, for example) I believe the God-breathed words of this passage express the blessed hope of the Harpazo of the bride of Christ very unambiguously occurring PRIOR TO  the revealing of the Antichrist and his ascension to absolute power.

Revelation 13:1 begins with John standing on a sandy shoreline seeing the beast rising up out of the sea (gentile nations). Notice three of the ten heads spoken of elsewhere in Scripture are already gone, plucked out by their roots. So what John sees is a seven-headed beast wearing 10 crowns of political authority, with a blasphemous name written on each of the seven heads. 

The first part of verse two evokes the Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Roman Empire aspects of this coming fourth and final world empire. However, the second part of verse two is critical, and something we need take careful note of:

"The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority."

In the night vision given to the prophet Daniel (Daniel 2:19-21) that Scripture tells us that it is God who puts kings on their thrones, or removes them.  In John's vision what is it that God says? "The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority."  How can this be if the bride of Christ, indwelt by the Holy Spirit is still present on this earth? That God is still attendant on the Spirit-filled Church established by Christ? 

Quite simply and according to Scripture, it is not possible. Therefore, and at that time, the bride of Christ has already been taken in the Harpazo and as seen in Revelation 12:9 the dragon/Satan and his fallen angels are then forcibly thrown down to the earth. When Satan has been thrown down to the earth, and God is then focused on Israel, that's when Satan is allowed to empower, seat the Antichrist on his throne and have him act with great authority.

Global SITREP C8-17: Behold, Prophetic Fulfillment Abounds!

Jesus' Olivet Discourse

Updated 7 August 2017: Lots of folks would like to know what it is that sets the flood of prophetic fulfillment on its final rampage. The answer, I believe, has been staring everyone in the face for nearly a couple of millennia now. It's Jerusalem and its Temple Mount according to Scripture.

As noted in this SITREP, if we read Zechariah 12, the answer many of us have been seeking is right there in plain text. And you don't have to read much to see it as it's right there in verse number two where the prophet quotes the prophetic word that the Lord gave to him:

"Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem."

This may well get to the next level and beyond when one of the primary haters spoken of in Psalm 83 comes across the border today from Jordan into Israel - King Abdullah II of Jordan (Ammon, Moab and Edom). Today the demand of the Arab Islamists will escalate to the unthinkable; it will be for Israel to relinquish sovereignty over Judea, Jerusalem and Temple Mount. This is what I mean by saying going to the next level and beyond. King Abdullah already claims to be the protector of the Temple Mount and its structures and will demand they be returned. When Israel's response is a point blank "nuts" to that insane notion, then the prophetic war will happen.

28 July 2017: As it should painfully apparent by recent events, the fulfillment of ancient Biblical prophecy is not something that can ever be assumed based upon the heralding of newspaper headlines or articles irregardless of what language they are printed in. This erroneous and invalid practice has long been known as "newspaper exegesis."  We avoid and speak against it whenever and wherever it occurs. 

As a prime example and antidote to newspaper exegesis, if we study the Psalm 83 prophecy, written by the prophet Asaph just over 3,000 years ago, and read its verses literally it should be crystal clear that Israel's actions ARE NOT the casus belli which causes all of the named enemies to embark upon a war of annihilation against Israel. 

These enemies attack and lay siege to Israel because they consult together and determine the course of action to wipe Israel from the face of the earth and the mere mention of its name from existence. This has been the fact of the matter since 14 May 1948 and remains so to this day, just 10 short months from its 70th anniversary.

What we should see from recent events is that all of these enemies which hate the God of Israel - from Lebanon to Jordan to the Sinai - are embarked upon the course they have chosen; they are confederate in the tumult they create for the destruction of the State of Israel. The catastrophe they create for themselves draws nearer every hour.

A prime example of how to understand commercial news reports (media is a for-profit business) on current events in light of Bible prophecy would be to look at this very recent Israel National News report on the deliberations of the Arab League in its Cairo, Egypt summit and what the Word of God, through the Holy Spirit, has to say about Jerusalem and Judea in Psalm 83, Zechariah 12; also compare the details found in Zechariah 12:6-14 with Ezekiel 39:29.

22 July 2017: Does the above image look familiar?  It should, as it is a repeat from Global SITREP B1-15. And so is the message that SITREP contained. If need be, re-familiarize yourself with it.

It appears that many of us are always looking for fresh or brand new signs regarding the season we are in. Yet the signs are the exact same indications and warnings that they have always been, and this is because because Jesus spoke of them as they relate specifically to our time and this generation in particular. This is the time He spoke of; who can doubt that it is? 

I would say that any one individual who doubts this is ignoring the Holy Spirit, and that individual, the one who is not looking up; the one who is not watching intently, will almost certainly be taken by surprise when the Harpazo of the bride of Christ occurs imminently. 

As mentioned in the comment I made this morning in the previous SITREP, who can deny that the prophecy of Zechariah 12 is not in a process of imminent fulfillment? The fact is there are quite literally dozens upon dozens of God-breathed prophecies in the process of a literal, imminent fulfillment at the present. This fact constitutes the greatest indication and warning of all. Again, who can deny it?

Are we not witnesses to the imminent occurrence of Israel's 70th year since the literal fulfillment of Isaiah 66:8 in May of 1948? Read the entire chapter. Who among us would fail to respond to the question the LORD God asked through Isaiah in verse 9: 

"Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery? Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?"

Is there anyone living in the United States of America reading this who is unaware of the birth of which the LORD God is speaking? 

A month from now, on 21 August, there will be a total solar eclipse. Even the secular media is making a big deal about this astronomical event when the 70-mile wide path of totality (image above) will cross and evenly bisect 12 of the the lower 48 states of our Union from the west coast to the east coast in the middle of the day. They say that within the path of totality observers on the ground will see the stars come out during what normally would be broad daylight (10:15 AM in Oregon to 2:50 PM in South Carolina). The lucky folks in this path of totality will have an opportunity to see Virgo and the positions of the key elements of the Revelation 12 sign which will come to its own completion one month later in September as Jupiter exits from the "womb" of Virgo the virgin. 

If you ask me, I will tell you there is not one whit nor one iota of coincidence in any of this. All of it was purposed by the LORD God from before time began, and we're the generation lucky enough to bear witness to these events, these utterly rampant signs and indications of the coming of His Kingdom. Marana'tha! 

Addendum: The above statement is neither new or unique, as it was stated in greater detail on Eschatology Today three and one-half years ago in an article entitled "All These Things Fulfilled - Part III - The End."  If it gets quiet here from time to time, that's because pretty much everything that needs to be said has been said and remains as active URL content on Eschatology Today.

All These Things Be Fulfilled - A Clarification

The Third (70th Week) Temple standing
on the Mount in Jerusalem in the Near Future

4 August 2017: In January 2014 the third and final part of the "All These Things Be Fulfilled" series was posted. It seems several of us have confused what has been stated more recently on Eschatology Today regarding the Revelation 12 signs (yes, there are two signs) and the advent of the Harpazo (Rapture) and the duration of a generation specifics of Psalm 90:10. This post will hopefully clarify and bring cohesion of understanding - get us all on the proverbial same page, so to speak, and lift a type of fog of confusion that has unintentionally developed.

The best place to start, I think, would be to revisit the post linked above, as it dovetails nicely with the Breaking News Alert below and the content of what you are reading now. You'll note there are symbolic book ends referenced in the third paragraph. For your mind's eye I likened Gabriel's Daniel 9 "70 Weeks" prophecy and Jesus reiteration of it in His Olivet Discourse as a left-side book end. The right-side book end is then figuratively presented in the Harpazo of the Bride of Christ. 

This is also directly related to the "the fullness of the Gentiles has come in" which Paul wrote about in Romans 11:25, and which I reference constantly in Eschatology Today posts and commentary.  Who is the determining agency of when the "fullness of the Gentiles" has occurred? God the Father. What happens at that point? He sends His Son to collect those Gentiles, the dead and the living remnant, which is the Harpazo of the Bride of Christ. 

What I was hoping that folks would see is that these figurative book ends hold the entirety of the Age of Grace, the Church Age of the Bride of Christ, between them. At that point in time we are all, those raised from death and the living, are in the many mansion of our Lord's Father's house in Heaven, where time no longer exists. 

Hopefully the fog of confusion is beginning to lift.

So what has the Psalm 90:10 70 years and 80 years of strength got to do with this? With respect only to the Bride of Christ and the her Harpazo from this earth by our Lord Jesus Christ, absolutely nothing. God the Father is not dependent on the Scripture he inspired the psalmist to write in determining when to send His Son for us. Since the moment of Jesus ascension into Heaven the age of the Grace has always had an imminent ending in the Harpazo of the bride. Imminence of the Harpazo has always been our doctrine. The Father, in His sovereignty as God, could have sent Jesus to collect the bride at any time when He determined the fullness of Gentiles being grafted into the Holy family tree was completed. So, the Harpazo is external to the temporal limits of 70 or 80 years. In fact, there should be no question in anyone's mind that our Harpazo will occur prior to the 80th year of this generation. This is not date setting, but an absolute certainty based upon Scripture that the bride of Christ will be kept from - rescued from - all judgments to be brought upon the nations of the earth during the 70th Week.

And what of the Revelation 12 signs? They are a sign. They also have nothing directly to do with the day or the hour of the Harpazo. That in and of itself would constitute a third sign to the Adversary, no? So, Revelation 12 reveals signs. What are signs? Signs are indications... signs are warnings of the things which will occur after it. Indications & Warnings. This blog is filled with these two terms over the past 8 years. Indications and Warnings are precisely what John of Patmos was told to write down in the forward to The Revelation of Jesus Christ, a/k/a The Apocalypse: "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place."  In Revelation 12 John tells us point blank what is to happen following the occurrence of the first sign. Thing thing here is that Revelation 12 strongly infers to the occurrence Harpazo of the bride of Christ. It infers only and does not directly state so. We should know this because as Berean's we have already searched the rest of the Scriptures for the truth of the matter.

To repeat what I wrote in the linked post above, the time for a decision for Jesus Christ if you have not already done so is right here, right now; because in one instant, no one knows exactly when except God the Father, a transition will occur. In this transition the Age of Grace will end and the finite era of Divine Judgment will come upon this earth without any further indications or warnings.