2012 Alerts: February 26, 2010
In This Issue:
The Ticking Clock
The State of the Church May Indicate the End of the Church Age
U.S. – Israel Relations
Advancing toward a One-World Government
Iran: The Ticking Time Bomb
A Broader Problem
Threat against Israel
Negotiations, Sanctions, and All that Jazz
Why Nothing but Brute Force Will Deter Iran from Nuclear Weaponry
An Israel Attack
Update on Apocalypse 2012: The Ticking of the End Time Clock
The Ticking Clock
A leader of a Messianic Jewish ministry believes "the clock is ticking toward volatile times in the Middle East". Jan Markell, founder and director of Olive Tree Ministries believes that the next five years will see the fulfillment of some end-times Bible prophecies. In addition, she feels that the comment of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, regarding Israel’s fulfillment of Ezekiel 37 is very significant. See last week’s “2012 Alerts” regarding this significance. (By the way, to access past “Alerts,” go to www.2012apocalypsebook.com and go to the “Newsletter” page.)
The State of the Church May Indicate the End of the Church Age
As presented in Apocalypse 2012: The Ticking of the End Time Clock—What Does the Bible Say?, the current state of the Church (which refers to all who have believed in Jesus Christ for eternal life) may indicate that Jesus will soon pull it out of the world. That event is oftentimes called by Christians the rapture of the Church. One reason Jesus may take the Church out of the world is because it has become ineffective at reaching the world for Christ. (This ineffectiveness has been achieved by the clouding of the gospel, the lukewarmness of the Church, and a movement away from absolute truth. [It is my observation that more and more Christian leaders are embracing postmodernism, which is a tendency toward relativistic thinking—meaning the rejection of absolute truth. (Postmodernism says, “There are no absolutes.” Of course, in making that statement, one is stating an absolute; so it is a self-condemning thought.) Along with this rejection, postmodernism is known for its distrust of anything that explains why things are.])
This week I came across three “interesting” articles on the Church—none of which is encouraging regarding the future of the Church (unless you are seeing this dismal future as a sign that the rapture could occur very soon, as I do). The first views Presbyterianism as a lesson regarding "vanishing Christianity"; that is, just as the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. was founded in biblical Christianity and has since abandoned it, causing it to lose its impact upon others (reflected by a 3.28% membership loss just last year), so the same appears to be occurring to the universal Church.
The second presents that the largest evangelical denomination (the Southern Baptist Church) lost membership for the second year in a row; thus, both liberal and conservative denominations lost membership last year. This same article attributed accelerated membership decline of some churches to “an increasing secularization of American postmodern society, and its disproportionate impact on liberal religious groups”.
The third article presents a study released by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public life which shows that far fewer young Americans are part of a church than are their parents. This means that church involvement is not an important element for the “millennials,” those born after 1980. This decreasing involvement in younger generations is also not a good omen for the future of the Church.
U.S. – Israel Relations
I have expressed in past “Alerts” that the U.S. – Israel relationship has been one that has been drifting apart in the past year and continues to do so. As cited in a past “Alerts,” the last poll among Israelis that asked about their view of President Obama, only six percent saw the President as a friend of Israel. (This is not good for a number of reasons, one of which is presented in Genesis 12:3 where God announces that He will “curse” him who “curses” Israel. As an illustration of this point, I pointed out in a past e-letter that U.S. presidents who have been friends of Israel have been two-termed presidents while those who have not been considered (by Israel) friends of Israel have only served one term. But the unfortunate aspect of Genesis 12:3 for us is that a leader’s representation of our country can affect consequences for the entire nation.)
President Obama’s counter terrorism advisor, John Brennan, is urging the U.S. should encourage greater assimilation of Hezbollah into the Lebanese government even though Hezbollah has been labeled by the United States as a terroristic organization and, outside of al-Qaeda, has killed the most Americans. In addition, what is not good about this urging is that Hezbollah is an avowed enemy of Israel that seeks to eliminate the Jewish state. Lebanon borders Israel to the north, and attacked Israel in 2006 with a barrage of missiles aimed at all Israelis, including non-military citizens. Moreover, Hezbollah has been storing up a massive amount of Iranian armaments, preparing for another attack.
In addition, the Obama administration publicly slammed Israel for designating two shrines in Palestinian territory as national heritage sites. However, Israeli President Shimon Peres announced the "heritage" decision as a positive step.
The two sites are the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were buried, and the traditional tomb of the biblical matriarch Rachel in Bethlehem. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the "heritage" decision changes nothing; instead, it is simply a recognition of what has been true for about 4,000 years. According to Netanyahu, this decision enables Israel to keep up these prayer sites just as Muslims are allowed to keep up their religious sites in Israel.
Thus, it seems the U.S. administration is making much ado about nothing, and in doing so, is making a public rebuke of Israel unnecessarily. This cannot help the current relationship between the Obama administration and Israel.
Advancing toward a One-World Government
As indicated in past “Alerts,” the Bible predicts the formation of a one-world government prior to the return of Christ to the earth (see Revelation 13 and 17). In addition, we have cited signs that “progress” has been made toward this formation, such as the global market and the push toward a one-world currency. This week, while speaking at an international conference, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for a world constitution to regulate the financial system. He said he hopes to make progress on this at the future G8 and G20 conferences.
The Bible does not tell us that a “world constitution” needs to be established before a one-world government forms; but it makes sense for it to occur. The transition to a global rule by one leader will be smoother and easier if this constitution already exists and if there is already regulation in place. We need to keep our eyes open regarding future “progress” in this area.
Iran: The Ticking Time Bomb
The latest IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) report declares that Iran apparently has enough enriched uranium for two nuclear bombs, that is, if the uranium is processed further. According to this report, Iran has enriched uranium up to 20%, which is the most difficult phase of the enrichment process. In other words, to go from 20% to the creation of a full-fledged nuclear bomb is just a matter of time—and not all that much time is necessary. But, as if that report were not bad enough, one expert on the Middle East and Islamic terrorism reports that Iran has already processed enough uranium for one nuclear bomb.
A Broader Problem
As the Washington Post points out this week, Iran’s possession of a nuclear bomb is not just an Israel problem; it will upend power in the Middle East and embolden terrorist regimes, such as Hamas and Hezbollah. With a nuke, Iran’s terroristic efforts will grow significantly from its current efforts to control Middle Eastern countries such as "vote-buying" in Iraq, as reported this week. In fact, a U.S. government site this week proclaimed that Iran's activities concerns its Arab neighbors.
Threat against Israel
This week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Syrian President Bashir al-Assad took turns threatening the existence of Israel; in fact,. over the past two weeks, Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called for the elimination of Israel. As an Iranian website announces, a nuclear bomb in the hands of Iran "spells death to Israel".
Negotiations, Sanctions, and All that Jazz
So what is to be done about this? The Obama administration has repeatedly attempted to negotiate with Iran and has even threatened deadlines to get Iran to sit down to talk, but all of those deadlines have been ignored. In addition, the move forward to build two more enrichment plants shows that Iran is not interested in negotiation on this issue.
Thus, the U.S. is now speaking of using sanctions against Iran. However, China is resisting the use of sanctions against Iran; and without China’s help, the U.S. will not be able to pass any official U.N. sanctions (as China has veto power), nor will any other effective sanctions be levied against the rogue nation. After Russia announced that it is against levying crippling sanctions against Iran, the U.S. State Department announced it would not seek crippling sanctions Iran, either.
Why Nothing but Brute Force Will Deter Iran from Nuclear Weaponry
I believe the real reason negotiations and sanctions will not stop Iran from its race toward nuclear capability was revealed in an insightful article this week. Iran will not be stopped by anything less than brute force because achieving nuclear weaponry has to do with the Iranian leadership’s religious ideology. At the heart of this is the Persian nation’s pursuit of worldwide Islamic rule. That regime’s belief is that nuclear weaponry will enable that to occur. In addition, a nuclear attack by Iran will introduce global chaos—the environment in which the Twelfth Mahdi, the Muslim Messiah, will enter the scene. He will bring about the eschatological apocalypse Shiite Muslims are awaiting. Thus, nothing short of a decisive military attack will stop Iran from its nuclear goal. But the Obama administration has not yet grasped this important truth.
An Israel Attack
The Washington Post ran an article this week that claimed that force must be used against Iran in order to stop nuclear capability. The Korean Times agreed that military force must be on the table, or else a nuclear Iran will become a world bully.
Iran understands that which is why the new uranium enrichment plants planned by the country will be built inside mountains—in order to hide them from a military attack by Israel. For Iran knows that eventually Israel will become tired of waiting on the Obama administration to do something and will then take action of its own. While the U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, declared that the U.S. will not pursue a military option against Iran, Saudi Arabia emphasized that military force must be part of the equation.
The question is not if Israel will attack Iran, but when. As one Israeli publication stated this week, when Israel believes Iran is close to achieving nukes, it will act; and it will act decisively! Its history shows that it must!
As I have stated in past “Alerts,” I believe God will use this Israeli attack (possibly as early as this summer) to bring about the conditions for the fulfillment of biblical prophecy—the conditions for the achievement of a treaty between Israel and ten other nations and the environment in which the world will believe it has arrived at “peace and security” (as per 1 Thessalonians 5:3). When you hear talk of either of these, look up; for “your redemption draws nigh”.
Update on Apocalypse 2012: The Ticking of the End Time Clock
The book is at the printer’s, and the publisher indicated it could ship as early as March 16 (though it could be a bit later, such as by the end of March). You will be the first to know as soon as I hear something on the shipping date.
I was scheduled to give an interview on KRXT radio in Rockdale, Texas; but I was preempted by a high school softball game. (Hey, priorities must prevail!) We are hoping to reschedule for next week, and if so, you will be able to hear my interview live at http://www.krxt985.com/stream.htm.
In addition, I plan to be at the Tejas Festival in Rockdale, Texas next weekend as a featured author. Though I will not have copies of my book with me, I plan to provide information on my book, to get people to sign up for the “2012 Alerts,” and to sign napkins. (Well, maybe not the latter.)
I am working with a local bookstore to schedule a book signing in April. If you know of a church or bookstore that is interested in hosting a book signing—or to have me speak on the subject of end-times prophecy—let me know.
Also, let me know if you have a media contact. If so, steer the contact toward the media page on my website (www.2012apocalypsebook.com). Once they see the media page, I am sure they will want to interview me.
Please forward this e-letter on to friends, family, and co-workers. Also, pray that God would put a copy of the book in the hands of all who are open to His word—in order for God to use the book to prepare many for the return of Christ.
Thank you for your support, and keep looking up!
John