Apocalypse 2012 article 2009-11-20

In its debut weekend, the movie “2012” raked in more than $65 million! Not bad! It seems this may serve to increase the interest and hype in the 2012 phenomena in the days ahead. (I have heard good things about this movie from an entertainment viewpoint. If interested, some theological opinions on the movie can be accessed at this link.) Certainly, God will use this hype for His plan in connection with His kingdom program. In fact, I believe He will use this, along with a number of other things, to prepare people for “the end” (the end of this age and the return of Christ, as per Matthew 24:3).

It is interesting to see what is going on in the world today. This seems to be an age unlike any other in human history in terms of people being concerned, and even afraid, of the near future. An article surfaced this week focused on that topic, but specifically presenting preparations for the end times being made by Christians.

However, those of us who have entered into an eternal relationship with God, by believing Jesus for eternal life, really have nothing to fear. After all, Jesus promised us that as we seek God, He will provide for all of our needs.

The current financial crisis will also be used to accomplish God’s plan to prepare for His coming kingdom. To get from here to there (the kingdom), this world must go through much difficulty, and so will followers of Christ. (As the Apostle Paul announced, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”) One sign of difficulty for the world is presented in an article in which a major French bank is posturing for a global collapse of the economy. In related news, another warning appeared in the news this week describing the IMF (International Monetary Fund) discussion of replacing the dollar while seeking a new global currency. We should not be surprised at any of this since there will need to be a shake-up all the way around to get where the Bible says the world will arrive in the near future—at a one-world economic system controlled by one leader.

The Bible shows us that the Temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt within the first half of the seven-year period leading to the return of Christ to establish God’s kingdom on the earth. In fact, the book of Daniel shows us that its rebuilding will be part of the seven-year treaty made between Israel and ten other nations.

There has been an intense increase in interest among Jews in Israel regarding rebuilding the Temple. In fact, according to an article published this week, millions of dollars have been raised by Jews in Israel to rebuild the Temple in order to prepare for the coming of the Messiah. When asked when the Messiah might come, Yehuda Glick, executive director of the Temple Institute (a Jewish group in Jerusalem responsible for making all of the instruments, priestly garments, etc. necessary for Temple worship and sacrifices) replied: “We are now living in the age of miracles, and all of those miracles are predicted in the Book as happening on the eve of the end of days. It could well be tomorrow . . . .” In my book, Apocalypse 2012: The Ticking of the End Time Clock, I describe recently formed Jewish organizations in Israel that are preparing for the soon appearing of the Messiah and the rebuilding of the Temple. (For more information on my book, see www.2012apocalypsebook.com.)

Following is an excerpt from my book describing the Israeli interest of rebuilding the Temple:

Recently, the focus on rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem has heightened significantly. This is compelling, since the temple will be rebuilt on the Temple Mount as a result of the peace treaty between ten nations and Israel. According to Daniel 9:27, “sacrifice and offering” are part of the treaty (for when the treaty is broken, sacrifice and offering cease), and since Jews cannot provide sacrifice and offering without a temple, rebuilding the temple will be part of the treaty. And, we know that the temple will definitely be rebuilt by the middle of the seven-year tribulation period.[i] In fact, it will likely be rebuilt well before that three-and-a-half-year mark.[ii]

But, seeing how the Temple Mount is so Arab-sensitive, and because the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque reside there, how will it be possible to rebuild the Jewish temple there? An article entitled “Trouble in the Holy Land”[iii] reveals a highly influential Muslim scholar and best-selling author (with sixty-seven million copies of his books in circulation!) named Adnan Oktar (who uses the pen name of Harun Yahya) is working with the reestablished Jewish Sanhedrin to try to accomplish this very thing! According to Oktar, the temple of Solomon “will be rebuilt and all believers will worship there in tranquility.”[iv]

A recent survey of Jews in Israel found that 64 percent of them want the temple to be rebuilt,[v] which is a staggering figure, since it seems that not long ago, Israel was primarily a secular state. The tide is changing, preparing for the rebuilding of the temple in the possible near future.

I have mentioned in past “Alerts” that the United States is not found in Bible prophecy. Since Israel occupies center stage in God’s production of the future, the U.S. absence in the prophetic picture indicates the United States will step away from center stage. What will cause this? In the past, I have indicated that there seem to be two major causes of this “stepping away”.

One of those causes may involve the U.S. economic struggle. For example, the current national debt will, undoubtedly, cause problems for this country, but the more Congress decides to spend (i.e., on a national health plan, cap and trade, etc.), the deeper and more serious will be the problem. In fact, the issue could become so problematic that it could be one cause of the U.S. stepping away from the Middle East situation, allowing ten other nations (who will have formed a stronger alliance with Israel) to confirm a seven-year treaty with Israel.

It is interesting to note, in regard to the U.S. economy the part China has played. A number of news releases in the past have surfaced the amount of this country’s debt now owned by China (and some have indicated that, as a result, China has begun exerting some political control over the U.S.). This week, an article appeared which claims that China has become very aggressive in its attempt to overcome the U.S. economically, as well as militarily. It will be interesting to see how God will use that for His plan.

Another reason could be due to a political equation, made up of a new political philosophy and a new way of dealing with Israel. The result of this “new way” will be discussed in our next segment.

President Obama, this week, criticized Israel's decision to build 900 housing units in East Jerusalem. This is an area (named Gilo) that CNN has called a Jewish neighborhood. Some within Israel see this criticism as an "interference in Israeli policies". This criticism caused the publication of a number of articles this week. The Jerusalem Post indicated that it is mystifying why the Obama administration would take this approach when no Arabs live in Gilo, and this building project will be done in Israel’s capital city, not in the West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu sounded off on this criticism by indicating that this kind of approach makes peace negotiations more difficult. Many Israelis see the President’s demand as unreasonable. This kind of pattern of dealing with Israel has led to two-thirds of Israelis calling for the President to "back off" the pressure on Israel. The President’s statement this week led one writer to wonder if there is a crisis in U.S.-Israel relations since the housing units will be built on private land where Arabs have never lived.

Had this been a singular statement, Israelis would not have responded as strongly as they have. But Israel is seeing this kind of approach as a pattern of unnecessarily pressuring Israel. Meanwhile, the Palestinians refuse to participate in peace talks while they “wait” for Israel to bow to demands from the White House. As I have suggested in past “Alerts,” it seems God may use the strain in the relationship between the U.S. and Israel to encourage the U.S., down the line (maybe sooner than we think), to hand over the preparation of the peace treaty to (ten) other nations.

A peace treaty with the Palestinians is certainly not the first item on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s agenda; Iran is. Iran is. In fact, as Elliott Abrahams pointed out in an article this week, Israel needs to deal with Iran before a treaty can be made and enforced; after all, Iran has no interest in allowing a treaty with Israel. As Abrahams points out, Iran is dedicated to destroy any Israel-Palestinian peace treaty. This means Iran will need to be dealt with before any Middle East treaty will go into effect.

The U.S. has sought to engage Iran with talks which haven’t turned out so well. And just when the U.S. thought Iran had agreed to shipping their enriched uranium to Russia, the Iranian leadership reneged making deal with the West dead. In fact, a Wall Street Journal article stated that Iran was incapable of making a deal with the West.

In addition, as one report stated this week, the West has "zero chance" of getting Iran to stop their enriching process. As was also reported this week, Russia reaps a windfall all the while Iran refuses to deal. With no support from Russia (or China) the outlook for sanctions against Iran is dim. In fact, a British publication this week claimed that the head of the U.N. Atomic Energy Agency has been conducting secret talks with Iranian leadership to end sanctions against Iran.

So what is the U.S. administration’s approach? It is to threaten “consequences” and to formulate action over the next "several weeks". David Makovsky is an expert on contemporary politics and diplomacy in the Middle East panned the Obama administration approach to Iran while announcing that Israel cannot live with a nuclear Iran.

He also claimed that the U.S. has a three-stage approach to Iran, with the last stage being the option to militarily hit Iran. However, it is unlikely that the Obama administration will get to that point, but perhaps it will turn away while Israel attacks.

Thus, Iran, which has verbally threatened the existence of Israel, and is continuing to enrich uranium on its way toward nuclear weaponry, may have other nuclear sites as indicated by a report filed this week. In addition, as the world’s foremost sponsor of terrorism, Iran seeks to take over the Middle East and northern Africa, which would effectively choke off the rest of the world by controlling the oil from that region. Israel cannot allow Iran to achieve nuclear capability, and neither can the Arab world.

The sum of this is: Look for Israel to attack Iran in the near future which would ingratiate the Arab world to Israel. A successful attack may lead to an overthrow of the Iranian regime which is currently unstable and create the environment for a peace treaty with five Arab nations and five European countries, which will also lead to a brief period (while nations are working on the treaty) in which the world will believe it has achieved “peace and security” (as per 1 Thessalonians 5:3).

As I mentioned in the last “Alerts,” the editing process on my book has been completed, so now we are waiting on typesetting and printing; then marketing and promotion will take place. However, today for many authors to sell well, they need to also do their own promoting of their books. I admit this is not a strength of mine, and I definitely need help.

First, I need your prayer. Ask God to put a copy of the book into the hands of all who are even somewhat open to His word so that it may possibly prepare many for the soon return of Christ. (By the way, the book also contains the gospel so that, hopefully, unbelievers will read it and receive eternal life.)

Second, I could use Facebook help. Facebook is the new wave (or at least one of them) of book promotions. So if someone has some great ideas there, I’m all ears.

Third, I need help contacting media about my book. If any of you have any kind of media contacts (local newspapers, radio stations, TV stations, Oprah Winfrey, etc.), I would encourage you to contact them and tell them about my book. In fact, you could simply give them my web address (www.2012apocalypsebook.com), and let them see the information for themselves. (Pretty simple, eh?)

Fourth, put in orders for Christmas. Well, to be honest, I won’t get my copies (a thousand of them) until February. However, you could put IOU’s in Christmas stockings; or, better yet, I will be glad to copy pictures of the book cover, and you can put that under the tree. (And let them know the book is coming. That will have the advantage of stretching out their Christmas for a couple of months. They will appreciate that!)

Fifth, forward these “Alerts” to others and encourage them to sign up for them. If they email me (jrclaeys@yahoo.com), I will be very glad to add them to the list. The more, the merrier!

[i] See 2 Thessalonians 2:3–4 and Matthew 24:15.

[ii] In fact, in one recent article, an expert claimed that the temple can be rebuilt in less than a year. (See “Trouble in the Holy Land”, World Net Daily, http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=105938, August, 5, 2009, accessed August 6, 2009.)

[v] See “Survey: 64% Want Temple Rebuilt,” http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3754367,00.html, accessed August 1, 2009.