2012 Alerts: December 10, 2009
In This Issue:
The 2012 End-of-the-World Phenomenon
Iran: Things Are Heating Up
The Clock Is Ticking
Peace Treaty
Rebuilding the Temple
“The End of the World as We Know It”
The U.S. and Israel
The State of the Church
The Book
The 2012 End-of-the-World Phenomenon
This week, an Arizona publication reported on the 2012 end-of-the-world phenomenon, citing the growing interest in the predictions of December 21, 2012 as “the end of the world as we know it”. The article, which reported that the movie “2012” grossed more than $200 million in the first week of its release; and due to the popularity of the end-of-the-world focus, Hollywood has more apocalyptic movies in store, including “The Road,” which opens Wednesday. John Davis, sociologist at the University of California, Davis, believes the exponentially growing interest in the end of the world is due to people’s fears regarding what is going on in the world today.
Unfortunately, this interest has also spawned a number of books which confuse and stir up fears even more. Might I recommend a book that can set the record straight and give people assurance of God’s plan for the near future? It is Apocalypse 2012: The Ticking of the End Time Clock: What Does the Bible Say? (This book is scheduled for release May 1, 2010; however, a limited number of copies will be available in February and can be ordered by sending a check in the amount of $16.00 + $3.99 shipping to: John Claeys, 2709 S. Garrett St., Marshall, TX 75672. More information on the book can be seen at www.2012apocalypsebook.com.)
Iran: Things Are Heating Up
An underground Iranian activist reported to an Israeli publication that the Supreme leader of Iran has gone into hiding! The article from this publication goes on to say that Russia has agreed to fly Khamenei to safety if necessary. This, of course, can only mean one thing; the Supreme leader of Iran fears a government coup, something I have been predicting for months now.
This may account for Syria’s indication this week that it is willing to conduct talks with Israel without preconditions, something it would not do before. Why the sudden change? Syria has been emboldened while being propped up by the current Iranian regime, but if that regime is in danger of falling, it is likely Syria is afraid and is looking for any advantage it can attain in negotiations with Israel before Iran falls. (When the current Iranian regime goes down, Syria will be all alone in the world. The minority Baathist government in Syria will then be much more willing to “befriend” Israel—just so it can survive. Maybe then it will become one of the five Arab nations which will co-sign with Israel on the future seven-year treaty.)
According to an article published by the Wall Street Journal yesterday, the pro democracy movement in Iran is growing and become bolder, now openly shouting such things as, “Khamenei is a murderer! His guardianship is invalid!” and "Death to the dictator!" In fact, the Iranian demonstrations are seeking a regime change; they are fed up with the ruling theocracy. So it looks like the regime overthrow in Iran is close at hand. But why is that significant?
A regime change in Iran would likely provide a much more pro-Western stance as well as a different approach on a number of things. Since Iran is the greatest progenitor of terrorism in the world, the regime change would mean the cutting off of significant funding and other support for terrorism, not only in the Middle East region, but also in South America where Iran has gotten a foothold. Some of the terrorist organizations, such as Hamas and Hezbollah surrounding Israel, would weaken significantly, as a result. This could open the way for serious negotiations of a regional peace treaty with Israel (and ten other nations, as indicated by the book of Daniel); and it would create the atmosphere for the world to begin to proclaim, “Peace and security,” as per 1 Thessalonians 5:3. When you see these two resulting conditions, look up, because Christ’s return in the air for believers in Him is not far off.
The Clock is Ticking
Clearly, something needs to be done about Iran soon. As U.S. National Security Adviser General James Jones stated on Sunday, "The clock is ticking," and things do not look good in regard to nuclear negotiations with Iran. In fact, the head of Israeli military intelligence announced this week that Iran is capable of producing a bomb right now!
In a recent simulation at Harvard University, with major foreign policy players in participation, the results of any U.S. attempt (including negotiation and strong sanctions) to turn Iran from its nuclear goal were found to be “depressing”; and the only possible way to halt Iran seems to be a military attack by Israel. As one participant expressed, the U.S. is moving away from deterrence (preventing a nuclear Iran), while "Israel still believes a nuclear Iran must be prevented." This statement agrees with Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s declaration just this week that Israel’s prime interest is to prevent Iran from attaining nukes.
I have been predicting for several months that Israel will have to attack Iran, and it looks as if the results of the Harvard simulation agree with me. However, as General Jones indicated, there is not much time left, so Israel will need to launch their attack soon. When it does attack, it looks like the current Iranian regime will be replaced, setting up what appears to be a very good scenario for serious negotiations with Israel on a regional peace treaty. After all, according to the World Affairs Journal, Iran is currently the chief hindrance to a peace treaty.
Peace Treaty
Even with recent overtures by Israel (such as Netanyahu’s recent call for stoppage on construction in the settlement areas in Israel), the Palestinians refuse to negotiate. Instead, as one article argued this week, it is self-evident that the Palestinian leadership does not want to make peace with Israel, which is why they make one excuse after another even with Israel making concession after concession. As a result, even the U.S. seems discouraged with this, as the Obama administration has scaled back its efforts in the diplomatic process, as indicated by the fact that U.S. envoy to the Middle East has not made a trip there in over a month and is not scheduled to go there until sometime in January. However, as I have noted in past “Alerts,” this is God-ordained, as the peace treaty with Israel will not include the Palestinians as co-signers; instead, ten other nations will confirm the (seven-year) treaty with Israel.
Rebuilding the Temple
Speaking of peace in the Middle East, in an article on Iran, Elliott Abrams this week cited Martin Indyk’s book, Innocent Abroad: An Intimate Account of American Peace Diplomacy in the Middle East, in reporting that in 2000, Israeli Foreign Minister, Shlomo Ben-Ami, went well beyond Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s instructions. He was keen to reach an agreement with Yasser Arafat, leader of the PLO, that he informed that he could even have sovereignty over the Temple Mount, “the Jewish Holy of Holies” in Jerusalem. But at the last moment, due to God’s plan, Arafat reneged. (Of course, Arafat did not know it was the plan of the God of Israel for him to turn down that offer.) For as I have cited in past “Alerts,” Israel will not only have access to the Temple Mount when the seven-year treaty is confirmed, the Jews will also be given permission to rebuild the Temple on it.
This week, I came across two interesting articles regarding the rebuilding of the Temple. One declared that if the 18th century rabbinic authority, Vilna Gaon, was correct, then the Temple will be rebuilt in 2010! The second article revealed that the Temple Institute in Jerusalem has spent $27 million toward the rebuilding effort! Could it be more than a coincidence that preparations have been made in time for the Temple to be rebuilt in 2010 (or 2012)? Now, I want to be clear: I am not predicting a date for the rebuilding of the Temple (which, in essence, would also be predicting a date for the initiation of the seven-year treaty and for the rapture of the Church—another subject, of course), I find it highly interesting that so many pieces of the prophetic puzzle seem to be coming together at the same time. (I discuss more of the “pieces” in the epilogue of Apocalypse 2012.)
“The End of the World as We Know It”
Fox News ran an interesting piece this week quoting Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as claiming the United States government is blocking the return of the Mahdi. The Mahdi is the Shiite Muslim Messiah who will return at a time of world chaos (hence one major reason Ahmadinejad is seeking nuclear weaponry) to bring in worldwide Islamic rule. Ahmadinejad believes the Mahdi’s return is imminent and will bring about the end of the world as we know it, a descriptive in agreement with adherents of the 2012 phenomenon.
The U.S. and Israel
Tuesday, the historian Andrew Roberts gave an address at the annual Anglo-Israel Association in which he detailed how Great Britain can only be termed a fair-weather friend of Israel at the very most. In addition, he claimed that President Obama is the least pro-Israel president since Eisenhower. In light of that assessment, the Obama administration is pressing Israel for even more concessions, which is not making the President very popular in Israel. However, a survey released this week shows that 6 out of 10 Americans are pro-Israel, so America as a whole seems to be friends of Israel, but Israel does not consider the President as such.
I say this because I have pointed out in the past that the U.S. will step away from Israel at some point in the future, since the United States is not in the Biblical prophetic picture with Israel (which is at the center of the picture). It will not even be one of the nations that will participate with Israel in the future peace treaty. That the U.S. leadership seems to be moving away from Israel is highly interesting at this time, in light of many other things that are taking place.
In addition, to the politics of the situation, I have indicated in the past that the U.S. economic situation could motivate the U.S. to step away by focusing on its financial challenges. Just this week, for example, Fred Bergsten, former assistant secretary of international affairs for the Treasury, sounded the alarm that dollar deficits may not be funded for long by foreign nations (including China) and proclaimed that the U.S. debt will likely reach 50 trillion by 2030!
Also, anti-terrorism experts reported this week that domestically this year has been the most dangerous year for terrorism since 2001. The terror problem for the U.S. has now become a home-grown one, as terrorism is threatening from within our own borders. Could it be that this problem could grow into the kind of issue that would cause us to step away from Israel as we seek to deal with it? It is a real possibility. And could it occur in the near future? This is also a real possibility.
The State of the Church
I have indicated in past “Alerts” (and in the book, Apocalypse 2012) that one reason I believe God will remove the Church at the event Christians call the rapture will be due to the ineffectiveness of the Church at reaching the world with the gospel. (This will be due to two reasons—the lukewarmness of the Church and the confusion that many Christians seem to have regarding the gospel itself. [How can non-Christians understand how to have an eternal relationship with God if the message is either garbled or just plain wrong!]) Just this week, the annual Pew Survey indicated that 65% of American "Christians" also believe in elements of Eastern mysticism and New Age philosophy. No wonder the Church is moving toward ineffectiveness at reaching the world with the gospel! Might this also indicate that the rapture cannot be too far away?!
The Book
As I have mentioned, I will be receiving 1,000 copies of my book in February (the official release date is May 1)—just in time for a late Christmas! However, if you order copies of the book now to receive them by the end of February, and if you let me know you want to give your friends and loved ones a picture of the book to let them know what is coming in their extended Christmas (you do them a favor by extending Christmas for them!), I will gladly send you a picture of the book and its cover so you can print it off for them. However, if you want one or more copies well before May, I need to let you know that about half of the thousand copies are already spoken for, and the rest will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis.
Thank you for your support! (By the way, I don’t have a report yet on the possibility of contracting with Outreach, Inc. on the “2012” study to go to thousands of churches and individuals, but I hope to have that for you next time.) The time is drawing near, so keep looking up!
John