Shadowboxing the Apocalypse

There is much speculation on Youtube (though little anywhere else) that the approaching heavenly body c/2010 X1, or comet Elenin will bring with it an "extinction level event" resulting in the death or extinction of up to 90 percent of all life on the planet Earth.

As a Bible believer and a prophecy believer, I will be very surprised if anything on this scale occurs. In fact, I can categorically state that the planet will NOT be destroyed in September, October, or November of this year, next year, or the year after.

The Bible is amazingly clear about the events that are too take place prior to the return of the Son of God to establish a 1,000 year reign of universal peace and righteousness on this planet. On this planet, and not another.

The Bible narrative is replete with "judgments" on the earth that cause the population of the earth to decrease drastically over very short periods of time. But each incident predicted reduces the population of the earth by a quarter or a third. It is hard to imagine that the entire chain of events would be kicked off by an extinction level event where 90 percent of all men are killed and that the Bible would not mention it.

But there are some prophetic events coming up which may in fact involve this comet, or whatever it is. Elenin began attracting real attention earlier this year. There are many videos on Youtube posted in January, February, and early March of this year warning of an earth event on March 11 when Elenin would be in perfect alignment with the sun and the earth. In fact, one of the largest earthquakes in history took place in Japan on that date. Since that time people have started paying more attention to Elenin's predicted path into and out of our solar system, especially since its predicted path brings it very close to earth and it is predicted to come between the sun and the earth at very close proximity.

On September 27, the current models show Elenin aligned perfectly between the sun and the earth. The potential for some sort of seismic incident at that time are tremendous, as the magnetic pull on the earth could cause every fault line to shift and every volcano to blow. The solar activity caused by Elenin's pull on the surface of the sun could easily cause all communications and power grids on the earth to go down.

Extinction level event? Probably not. Rapture level event?

There are many, including myself, who have observed that each one of the Spring festivals of Israel were fulfilled with the first coming of Christ, and each festival was fulfilled on the day of the festival. That is, Jesus was slain at the precise time the lambs for the passover were being presented and slain in the temple. He lay "unresurrected" on the days of unleavened bread and arose on the Feast of Firstfruits. On the morrow of the seventh sabbath from that event, on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit fell on His believes, forming the mystical body known as His church.

If all of the events surround His first coming were fulfilled on the precise day of each particular festival, it is not unreasonable to believe that the fall festivals will be fulfilled at His second coming, and that the event prefigured by each festival will be fulfilled on the festival day itself. Many critics of this view (the modern term would be "haters") often attach a descriptive term such as "secret" or "silent" to the word "rapture" and then ridicule the idea of a rapture in that it could not possibly be secret or silent. In this, the "haters" are correct. However, there is not one verse in scripture that says the Rapture will be silent or secret.

The first "Second Coming" event is the Rapture of the true church, and the first Fall Festival is Rosh Hashanna, or the Feast of Trumpets. Paul specifically mentions the Rapture twice, and each time he mentions it he relates it to the blowing of a trumpet.

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17)

And the Apostle John concurs in his description of a Rapture event in Revelation 4:

After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. (Revelation 4:1)

Interestingly enough, the Feast of Trumpets this year will begin on September 29, just two days from the date that Elenin is predicted to be directly between, and perfectly aligned with the sun and the earth. Some are predicting three days of darkness at that time as Elenin (if it is indeed a brown dwarf as some believe and not a comet as NASA is telling us) eclipses the sun. This eclipse is projected to take place between September 25 to September 28, but it could just as easily be September 26 to September 29. During the time of darkness, the entire earth could be in seismic upheaval, with every major city being leveled and literally millions of deaths and tens or hundreds of millions "missing." It may be months after the fact before communications start going back up to normal(television, Internet, etc.) and survivors begin comparing notes.

This would also be a great time for one great man to stand up and become a world leader for a world in chaos and grief. But the rise and reign of the antichrist is the subject for another article. For this article, suffice it to say that "comet" Elenin may portend the coming of the "hated" Rapture, kicking off the chain of end-time events that will result in the Second Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ.

If so, it is safe to say the earth will survive Elenin's visit, but that does not mean that the death toll will not be unprecedentedly great. The best advice anyone can give then, is for anyone concerned about the future to make peace with God and to be prepared to meet their Creator.

For more information on how to do this, see the Gospel of John, visit http://www.midnightcry.net, or e-mail webmaster@midnightcry.net.

Everyone agrees it’s coming, very few have any idea what it really entails.  Most people will tell you “any Spirit that denies Jesus is Lord,” is the anti-Christ and they have no idea what they are talking about.  If this is what you are depending on to prevent you from being deceived by the spiritual imposters that are coming (that are here today), you don’t have a chance.

Here’s a quick rule of thumb you can apply to any prophet, teacher, or ministry to determine if they are true to the Word of God or of they are attempting to lead you astray, wittingly or unwittingly.  The things that sound “positive,” “encouraging,” and “uplifting” to men are most likely totally out of sync with God, His plans, and the things that are actually about to occur as the End Times play out in actuality.

When asked about “when these things would be” in connection with His Second Coming, and what would be the sign of the end, Jesus enumerated a number of telltale signs—all of them negative with the exception of the fact that “this gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached” everywhere on the earth.  Outside of that, the Lord predicted horrendous affairs occurring in the natural realm.  He said it would be time of trouble such as never has been before in the history of the world.  He directly addressed “His people” and told them they should be prepared to “run for their lives” and pray that they might escape the things that are coming on the earth.

Is this the message we are hearing today from most of our “end-time” prophets?  For the most part, we are hearing how we should be prepared for the “emergence” of some new and greater manifestation of the power of God—whether it be “Joel’s Army,” “The Manchild Company,” “The Manifested Sons of God,” “a Daniel Company,” or whatever.  We are told to be ready for Revival on an unprecedented scale, and warned that those who are not spiritually prepared will miss it!

It is always interesting to hear great “men of God” who are so respected by the masses of believers as they spout off prophecies about what God is about to do and what the next move of the Spirit is going to encompass as if the Lord had not already spoken very clearly regarding this topic.  Of course, to these men He has not because they have not taken the time to study the Word of God as it relates to these issues, or if they have, they have dismissed the truth of the Word of God where it does not support their optimistic view of the present and near-future.

A case in point is a recent article by an “Elijah List” prophet, Paul Keith Davis.  In an article called “Change is Imminent,” he says:

The Great Reformation was launched with a clear prophetic word from the Lord's heart.  A fullness-of-time moment had occurred in God's plan and the ministry of restoration was set in motion. That movement has been progressively accelerating to this present hour.  Another crossroads has been met and great change is imminent.

Such statements, while probably almost universally accepted by the “the church” reveal a lack of understanding of the written revelation of God that has already been give us, and lack of respect for those of us who have some real understanding of what has transpired over the last 2,000 years since the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The “Great Reformation” took place in the early 16th century as the result of a resurgence in the study of scripture on the part of many, including one Martin Luther.  Although it is generally referred to as “the Great” Reformation, in fact, it accomplished little besides laying a foundation for the continued breakup and splintering of God’s people into a thousand schisms or factions which we glibly refer to as “denominations.”  This statement is in no way a defense of the Roman Catholic church, it is rather a commentary on the true “prophetic word” that went out from God regarding the Reformation.  It is found in Revelation 3:1-6.  

Brother Davis makes reference to a “clear prophetic word from the Lord's heart.”  Unfortunately, he does not tell us how that word came about or who heard it!  Therefore it is difficult to comment more upon it.  It would appear however that he is totally ignorant of the true prophetic word that the Lord had spoken regarding this “fullness-of-time moment.”  

He goes on to say that once this “fullness-of-time moment” had “occurred in God's plan,” the ministry of restoration was set in motion and has been progressively accelerating even to this hour.

In fact, there have been two distinct, discernable movements that have occurred in church history since the Reformation that have brought us to the present moment.  To understand, perhaps we should take a good look at the “present condition” of the Body of Christ as it is and not as some would have us believe it is.

Currently believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, or “Christians” as they are commonly called, are generally “denominated” or somehow related to one “denomination” or another.  There are thousands of denominations, but these can be grouped into several major categories:  Roman Catholicism (the denomination led by “Jezebel” as described in Revelation 2:18-29), which is prophesied to be the longest standing denomination and to be on the earth when the great tribulation comes upon it; the protestant or reformed denominations prophesied in Revelation 3:1-7, which are also predicted to be on the earth at the advent of the tribulation period when the Lord shall come upon these believers as a thief; the premillenial, fundamentalist denominations that are prophesied in Revelation 3:7-13, to which the promise is given that they will be “kept” from experiencing the tribulation that is coming upon all the earth; and the final “Charismatic Renewal,” totally obsessed with itself and full of spiritual pride and self-deception as prophesied in Revelation 3:14-22.

According to the true Word of Prophecy, then, there is not going be another “movement” of the Spirit of the scope of the Reformation, the Fundamentalist Movement, or the Charismatic Revival.  This salient fact is lost to 99.9% of all of the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers operating on the earth today.  And this is why any of them can easily lead you astray when it comes to speaking of the things that are about to occur on the earth.  Most of them, especially those of the amillennial bent Roman Catholics and Reformation-protestants will try to paint a positive picture of the future where men of good faith and reason will prevail over the radical fundamentalist extremists of all faiths to usher in the kingdom—a world where men live in peace.  Most Charismatic-leaning “prophets” have transitioned from the previously held traditional premillennial eschatology to some weird “new” thing—“new” apostolic, “new” prophetic,” “new” Reformation-based eschatology which if anyone would take the time to look, is nothing but old, old, old amillennialism, Dominion, Kingdom Now teaching dressed up in Fundamental Premilliennial-sounding terminology.  So much so that many people could be fooled, or deceived, by these teachings without realizing it.

How can one tell the real thing from the “new” thing?  The new thing will ALWAYS have more of positive element than negative.  It will always tout the great healings that are going to take place, the great miracles, the “greater things than these” that are going to accompany the greatest revival the world has ever seen.  In its more bodacious forms, it even touts “super-apostles” that are about to appear.

My suggestion:  Do NOT follow them.  No matter how many people they raise from the dead “in Jesus name;” no matter how many people they heal “in Jesus name.”  Such a movement of God is NOT prophesied for our time, while exactly such a ministry of Satan IS prophesied, and it is prophesied that the lying signs and wonders and miracles that will accompany the coming of the antichrist will deceive many who will believe they are of God—in spite of the fact that God has clearly foretold us that they are not of God but of the Devil.  

And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
(Rom 13:11)

A former NASA rocket engineer turned prophecy teacher by the name of Edgar Whisenant gained quite some notoriety nearly 20 years ago with a publication titled 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Could Be In 1998.  In this booklet, Whisenant predicted that Jesus would return to rapture His church sometime during the Jewish holiday of Rosh-Hashanah in 1988.  When that did not happen, the prevalent joke was that he was working on a sequel to be titled 89 Reasons Why the Rapture Could Be In 1999.

But beyond that, Bible teachers and prophecy proponents fell back to their default position:  “Matthew 24:36 teaches that we can not anticipate when the Lord might return.”  And this in spite of Paul’s clear teaching:

But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
(1Th 5:1-4)

So there you have it.  No man knoweth the day or the hour, but you have no need to question the times (year) and the seasons (month).  For if you are prepared for the month and the year, that day will not overtake you unexpectedly!  In the minds of the simple or the careless, this passes for a contradiction that must somehow be resolved, which is generally achieved by denying that we can know the month and/or the year of the Lord’s return based on Mathew 24:36!

This type of sloppy and inconsistent exegesis has been successfully passed off on the Body of Christ as “Christian scholarship” with the same aplomb with which John Tetzel was able to hawk indulgences in Luther’s Germany in the early 16th century.  

Having said all that, do I claim to know the year and the month of the Lord’s soon return?

I don’t claim to have a handle on that, but that is a far cry from saying that no could ever know because somehow the Scripture prohibits it.

And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do…
(1Ch 12:32)

Ah—an understanding “of the times” in which one moves and has his or her being is a rare thing indeed.  It is much easier to look back and claim to have a clear understanding of the whens, whys, and wherefores of events past.  To have and understanding of what ought to be done in the present, which is of much more crucial importance, is a much less prevalent gift.  For the clearest example possible, see the Congressional Democrats braying that the war in Iraq was a big mistake and Bush lied, etc.  Not one of them has set forth what the U.S. should do now that we are involved up to the neck in the conflict.

So here is the bottom line.  We are much closer to that day than we have ever been before, and we ought not to be surprised, shocked, or offended by anything that might be around the corner that would signal the great, final shaking has begun.  It is also a time when apostasy and deception will abound.  This deception may very well take the form of a great revival marked by unprecedented “signs and wonders.”  How does one prepare for that!?

Not by sloppy, silly, and inconsistent exegesis of the God-given prophecies intended to reveal the mystery of the eternal purposes and intents of the Almighty to those who “love His appearing,” (This, by the way, is the basic immunization against the coming deception.  It is those who love something else, whatever that may be including healing, signs, miracles, revival, more than they love His appearing.

God help us.  Lord, please raise up even a handful of prophets and teachers who have an understanding of the times we are in and who will deal straight with the brothers and sisters.

And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. (Rev 9:15-16)

How many of us were taught that the timing of the Tribulation and the End of the World was totally dependent on each one of us as individuals and our effectiveness in spreading the Good News?  There is a magic number of Gentile believers known only to God, and when that magic number is reached—POOF!  We will all be raptured out of here in an instant.  Therefore, we have the ability to hasten or speed up the Second Coming by preaching the Gospel and getting sinners saved.

That is what I believed until the implications of Revelation 9:15 really began to “sink down in my ears.”  The fact of the matter is, there is a moment in time that has already been set, and that moment consists of an hour or time of day, on a certain day, of a certain month on a certain year that is known only to God.  At that moment, on that day, in that month of that year, the final slaughter will be unleashed.  It will result in the death of 1/3 of the population of the earth at that time.  That hour and day and month and year is already determined.  And that is without reference to anything else other than the predeterminate will and knowledge of God.

That is to say, God went ahead and made plans for the end of the world without any respect for how you thought it should work, or for your own interpretation or misinterpretation of Romans 11:25.

In Revelation 2 and 3 the then future history of the church age is laid out prophetically in seven periods, or “churches,” beginning with the Apostolic period of church history, followed in turn by the age of general persecution, the assimilation of Roman paganism into Western Christianity, the ascendancy of the papacy, the Reformation, the recovery of Premillennial, dispensational truth (the Fundamentalist movement), culminating in the Charismatic Renewal (the church associated with a desire for, if not the possession of, health, wealth, and prosperity, power, signs, and miracles).

The most significant facet of this outline is that there is nothing more to follow after the Charismatic Renewal as far as the timing of the End of the World goes.  This does not bode well for those who for some reason believe the Bible predicts a coming age of Great Revival prior to the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord (if you have any inkling what the scriptural basis for such a belief is, I would appreciate it if you would contact me at webmaster@midnightcry.net and explain it to me.  I am obviously at a loss to find anything in the Word of God that would lead me to believe there is a period of Great Revival yet to take place in the church before the end can come.

Some things that must transpire before the end include the revelation of the Son of Perdition, which requires the rebuilding of a Jewish temple in Jerusalem, a great falling away (apostasy) in the church, and deception on a grand scale created by false signs and wonders that are being done in the name of Christ.  There is also a coming invasion of Israel by Russian and allies including Iran.  Write me and I’ll give you the scripture for each of these events.  

Other events that seem certain are the invasion of aliens in their space ships, nuclear attacks on the mainland of the United States with the sudden elimination of major cities, and mass executions of Christians and Jews in FEMA camps around the country.  Scripture can also be provided to support these claims, although not as convincingly as the events previously mentioned.

But there is far more scriptural support for an alien invasion than there is for a major Revival, local or worldwide, occurring before the end.

One thing is certain, now is our salvation than when we believed (Romans 13:11).  And it will happen a time certain, and at a time not so long from now.

During the course of the first Supreme Court justice search, when U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez’ name was being floated, conservatives were quick to voice their opposition to the closet liberal’s nomination for the post.  Bush’s response to the loyal GOP party base that was responsible for his election and reelection to the highest office in the land? “When someone attacks my friends, it makes me mad,” or something to that effect.

I remember the morning I heard the quote listening to NPR on the way to work.  “I guess he does not consider the “conservative right wing” to be his friends,” was all I could surmise.  It was that morning that my high opinion of and support for George W. Bush evaporated.  From that day on I realized George Bush is not a friend to conservatives, and certainly no friend of mine.

And then—surprise, surprise—W. nominated a man who appears to be a judicial conservative.  In my naiveté, I imagined that the President had become aware of the deep resentment his “friends-of-mine” comments had evoked throughout the Christian Right, and the base of the Republican Party, and had offered John Roberts as a peace offering.

And then, given the opportunity of a political life-time to name a second justice to the Supreme Court, the President nominates a complete nonentity on the basis of his friendship and trust, asking us to trust him that she will turn out not to be another Sandra Day O’Conner or David Souter—both of whom we were told, “trust us” wink-wink, were Constitutional constructionists who would toe the conservative line.  Of course, Souter turned out to be a flaming liberal, and O’Conner time after time swung left, siding with the liberal justices in important rulings.

Then today we heard it again—the President declaring that Harriet E. Miers was a close friend of his, and implied he considered any opposition to her nomination to a life seat on the highest court in the land as a personal attack against him.  

Like an abused wife who learns to suffer in silence, the Republicans in congress have remained mute, with the notable exception of Senator Sam Brownback, who bluntly stated that he would not feel compelled to vote in favor of her nomination.  But some of the rest of us have been slapped down for the last time.  We get the message and we know where we’re not welcome.  And we know who our friends are.  

Once again, cities in the south, including most of this country’s oil refining capacity, have narrowly skirted disaster.  Or have they?  President Bush is suggesting the laws regarding when federal troops can move into an area without being invited by local authorities be rewritten to allow more immediate federal response.  Considering the criticism that has been leveled at Bush and his administration for not responding sooner to Katrina, and too soon to Rita, it is not surprising that he has asked for increased authority to respond to “catastrophic emergencies.”

Understandable as it may be, the move nevertheless opens the door for unprecedented direct federal control anywhere in the United States without the express agreement of affected local authorities.  This of course raises the specter of martial law, shock troops marching through U.S. cities, forced evacuations, and FEMA camps sprouting up across the landscape.  For those who have paid much attention to the dreams and visions of the last days of America that have been published over the last few years, it is difficult not to have a visceral reaction to even the mention of FEMA.  It is fairly well-known and expected by the Prophecy Club set that FEMA will run the death-camps set up to deal with Christians who refuse to take “the mark of the beast,” and that guillotines and perhaps other devices of death and torture will be the most prominently featured hardware at these camps.

It was interesting to watch the evacuation of New Orleans as we observed large numbers of displaced people basically becoming wards of the state, herded to facilities throughout the country.  Practice run?  Perhaps.

While we continue to watch for earthquakes and solar flares, the prospect of a nuclear attack on U.S. cities, whether intentional or accidental, could be just the sort of “catastrophic emergency” needed to fully establish unquestioned federal supremacy over local and state authorities at the discretion of the President and his advisors.  Just such attacks are predicted for December of this year.  Or has one well-known prognosticator told Art Bell replacement, George Norrey, we have had the last “merry Christmas” the world will ever know.

Is it certain that these predictions will come true this year?  Maybe not.  But there certainly is not long to wait before we find out.  

Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness. Jeremiah 23:9)

I have been led to a number of interesting Web sites over the last month or so and have become familiar with a number of “interesting” prophetic personalities.  The one thing I find “attractive” about them is that they are virtually unheard of by the “church-at-large” vis-à-vis such notable figures as Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, Joyce Meyers, and the entire Elijah List cabal. This is a plus, as it quite likely that if the Lord has anything to say to the church today, that it will most likely come from some totally unexpected voice rather than the highly paid, highly esteemed Christian entertainers that pass for prophets and apostles to the enthusiastic applause and financial support of the Christian masses.

Just as the Pharisees of Jesus’ day were taken totally by surprise at the sudden appearance out of nowhere of the scruffy and uneducated, unorthodox, and unprofessional baptizer, so I have been searching for a voice certain among the stable of unlikely prophets and apostles that can be Googled from the vast wilderness of Internet obscurity—the familiar voice of the God—a voice with the unmistakable resonance of eternity, a voice that only His sheep can recognize.  A voice that is unfortunately not often discernable among the well-known Christian glitterati.

The disconcerting thing about each of these lesser lights is that for some unknown reason, they are unable to “deal straight” when it comes to relating scripture.  From Sherry Shriner and Harry Walther’s Paul bashing, to Benjamin Baruch and David Eell’s rapture-phobia (a widely prevalent affliction among modern-day prophets), to C. Peter Wagner and Bill Hamer’s confusing eschatological scenario, it seems no one is able to just relax and allow the scripture to be the final authority in these and all other matters.  

I am the first to admit that I don’t know everything and I don’t have every line of scripture totally figured out.  I don’t know if the rapture takes place at the beginning or the middle of the “Tribulation,” and I’m not 100 percent sure how we know exactly what marks the beginning of the Tribulation.

Having said that, here is what I do know for sure.  I know that “the church” is mentioned more than 20 times in chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation and then is not mentioned again until the chronological narrative of the end times is concluded in chapter 21. Between the end of chapters 2 and 3 and the opening of the first seal in Revelation chapter 5 a scene strikingly reminiscent of the “rapture” is described in chapter four, i.e., a trumpet blast and a command to “come up hither.”  

I know that every measure of time mentioned in the Book of Revelation adds up to three and a half years—not seven years.  

I know that a group of 144,000 from every tribe of Israel is NOT the church, because there is neither Jew nor Gentile “in Christ.”  I also know that a group of people of said to “without number” and taken from every nation is NOT the same group as the group with a specific number taken from the 12 tribes of Israel.  And I know that this second group is also NOT the church for the same reason that the first group is NOT the church.  I also know that many of those who presume to comment on the “last things” are desperate to make BOTH of these groups “the church.”  What I don’t understand is why.  Why insist on doing such violence to the clear meaning and intent of scripture?  

Where we can we find a commentator that will deal honestly with the scripture as it stands?  Chuck Missler probably comes as close as anyone.  And Ken Parsons of warzonewinner.com seems to be a fairly straight shooter.

According to David Eells, all things will be dissolved PRIOR to the 1,000 year millennial kingdom.  Makes you wonder why John put the chapter describing it AFTER the chapter describing the 1,000 year kingdom.  But according to this brother, the rapture and the resurrection are synonymous, so the rapture does not occur until the end of the 1,000 year kingdom. Either that, OR the Heavens and Earth pass away PRIOR to inception of the kingdom.

It is encouraging to see Mike Bickle somewhat conspicuously back-peddling to a more traditional premillennial view of the coming kingdom, having come to the brink of the abyss of a Wagneresque neo-amillennialism.  He continues to fumble and bumble about when attempting to push the rapture out as close as possible to the actual second coming event, but in the attempt he leaves only a matter of days for all of the vial judgments to take place, as it is incumbent upon him to begin the rapture event and the descent of the Lord Jesus prior to any of the vials being emptied, at the occurrence of the final trumpet judgment. And then he makes the rapture an extended process rather than a suddenly-of-God event that may take a month or longer to accomplish.  That should be enough time to get those seven chronologically inconvenient vials poured out on the earth.

Nevertheless, it is heartening to see that the word “rapture” has reasserted itself into the vocabulary of such an influential teacher as Mike Bickle.  Perhaps we can look forward to the term regaining some semblance of respectability, which it has been totally lacking since falling into disrepute by Stan Johnson and the Prophecy Club club and other Left Behind bashers.

Jack Van Impe is lost to us now, having gone the way of Chuck Colson and Tony Compolo, all the way to Rome.  Apparently none of these men have read Dave Hunt’s “A Woman Rides the Beast,” or if they have, they have not been persuaded.  So there stand Grant Jefferies, Hal Lyndsey, and John Hagee pretty much where we left them not so many years ago.

So where are the prophets the Lord spoke of in Amos 3:7?  A Google search yields precious little worth reporting.  But with the earth about on its last leg, with the earthquakes about to ring out, and the sun flares threatening to scorch the landscape, now would be a really good time to hear from one.

So I’ll keep up my search and if I find anyone interesting—more interesting than Prophet Yahwah or Elija the Tishbite, I’ll be sure to let you know.  In the meantime, if you know of a real prophet on the earth today, drop me a line and let me in on it.