The Tribulation Incubator

Evidence that the Tribulation is about to be birthed has exploded from the hourly news feeds. That eruption has the diplomats, particularly of the Western world, searching desperately for the calculus that will bring the chance of nuclear conflict into a more controllable configuration.

It is a real curiosity that while those diplomats seek a ceasefire in the Middle East—a one-sided nuclear threat, supposedly—they almost treat as a minor concern things going on between Russia and Ukraine, from where all-out nuclear war is much more likely to be unleashed.

Israel, indeed, has a nuclear arsenal. But its blood-vowed enemies, although vicious and certainly militant to the max, haven’t such an arsenal with which to engage in nuclear exchange… at least not yet, that we know of. (Iran’s nearness to achieving weapons-grade nuclear material is a great concern.)

With Russian President Vladimir Putin stating on a number of occasions that Russia might be willing to use tactical nukes, and even stating that America is in their crosshairs with the big nukes if pushed by NATO in the Ukraine matter, it seems to me the diplomatic concerns should be to pursue a ceasefire and peace in that region. But instead, most all the diplomatic efforts—influenced to great degree by the military-industrial complex—seem concentrated on making Israel cave to a ceasefire arrangement with enemies whose whole purpose, in writing, is to eradicate the Jewish state “from the river to the sea.”

There is no doubt that most all attention in that regard is on things happening in and around Israel. The following are brief news links on our Rapture Ready News forum that point to the tremendous uptick in tensions in the land most frequently mentioned in Bible prophecy.

Here are very brief excerpts of several stories from Thursday, September 5.

Details Emerge: Israel’s Response to Iran in April Destroyed Russian-Made Defense System

A major scoop by the Jerusalem Post was published on Monday… According to an article published in the Jerusalem Post, “Israel’s April strike on Iran’s S-300 missile system deterred Iran and Hezbollah from launching large-scale attacks in August.”

Israel Poised to Establish Military Government in Gaza Amid Aid Distribution Crisis

There are no alternatives, and nobody wants to risk allowing Hamas to seize control of the aid. “There is no one else who can do the job; the current situation does not serve the Israeli interest; we must take upon ourselves the distribution of aid,” a senior Israeli security source told TPS-IL.

Starve Them Out: Israeli Generals Present “plan to defeat Hamas”

Two-phased “Generals’ Plan” calls for the forced evacuation of northern Gaza and a total siege on the terrorists who remain there. A forum of top Israeli army reserve commanders this morning published a “plan to defeat Hamas” that is certain to raise eyebrows. “The Generals’ Plan” is the right way at this time to defeat Hamas and free the hostages, and we should have implemented it months ago. Those who cannot implement it are failing in their duty.

Hezbollah Fires Over 100 Rockets at Upper Galilee, Destroying Houses and Causing Fires

The long-suffering residents of Israel’s northern regions, who have not yet been evacuated from their homes, experienced another day under Hezbollah fire, as the terror group fired over 100 rockets into the Upper Galilee on Wednesday.

Air Force Chief: IDF Poised to Combat Hezbollah, Nearing Victory over Hamas in Gaza

The head of Israel’s air force, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, announced on Thursday… “We are in the midst of the longest war in our history since the War of Independence,” Bar stated. “We have been fighting for almost nine months without respite, tirelessly. Hamas in Gaza will be defeated soon.” The Israeli military is prepared to shift its focus to potential conflicts with Hezbollah in the north.

I could have included in this list many other similar story links posted on that one day. All pointed to the military turmoil building all around Bible prophecy’s nation most central to the end times. The cries for peace from the diplomatic world are intensively focused on the building conflict. Most pointedly, the cries are for Israel to cave in to demands from the international community to stop destruction to Israel’s hate-filled enemies in making peace in the region.

The region is indeed the incubator of the peace that will destroy many. That “false peace” will be the covenant made with “death and hell” (Isaiah 28:15, 18). It will be Satan’s ultimately evil document that will be confirmed (Daniel 9: 27) by the man of sin who will become the world’s most vicious dictator—the Antichrist.

We are witnessing at this moment that incubator in its process of gestating what will become the final seven years of hell on earth leading to the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ at Armageddon.

All of this Mideast turbulence means the Rapture must be very near. You want to be part of that glorious time when the Lord takes all of His children out of harm’s way (Revelation 3:10).

Here, once again, is how to go to Jesus when He calls:

“That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and will believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

—Terry

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The UN 2.0

What’s the most key event of the upcoming months? Here in America, most would point to the presidential election in early November. While that’s significant for a variety of reasons, I’m thinking of something that will someday, perhaps soon, overshadow who sits in the Oval Office at the White House.

Beginning on September 22, 2024, member nations of the UN will meet for what it labels as the “Summit of the Future.” The website for upcoming meetings lists these three outcomes for the gathering:

1. Pact for the Future
2. Global Digital Compact
3. Declaration on Future Generations

Within the “Pact for the Future,” the UN website states that nations will recommit themselves to the seventeen sustainable development goals, affirm their desire for “Peace and Security,” and reaffirm their desire for “Transforming Global Governance” (in other words, a one-world government).

What does this all mean? It’s a significant strengthening of the UN’s ability to dictate policies for individual nations, which, of course, increases its power over the lives of their citizens. Their “Pact for the Future” will take its authority far beyond the original intent of the organization. A direct quote from a PDF file linked to the UN’s website sums it up this way:

A strengthened UN human rights pillar that is better resourced and coordinated. A UN that uses innovation, data, digital tools, foresight, and (behavioural) science effectively (UN 2.0) and a sustainably financed UN development system. Deepened partnerships between the UN and other stakeholders, including civil society, the private sector, regional organizations, national parliaments, and local and regional authorities.

And, oh yes, “a sustainably financed UN development system” will mean higher taxes for everyone.

Bible Prophecy on Display

Though it’s more than a little distressing to consider the implications of a more powerful UN committed to its Marxist 2030 Agenda, the Bible tells us that we should expect such things in the last days.

The books of Daniel and Revelation reveal that in the end times, a brutal one-world government will rise to power over which the “man of lawlessness” will eventually assume control (see also 2 Thessalonians 2:3-8).

How do we know that the UN 2.0 is, at a minimum, a prototype of the coming beast system that Scripture says will exert its power over the world for a brief time?

First, Israel is again a nation. Most, if not all, of the Bible’s prophecies concerning the end times depend on Israel becoming a nation again, along with the building of the third temple. Both the nation’s current prosperity and endless hostilities fit with how God’s Word describes the nation’s initial reemergence in the last days. A great many factors are even now preparing Israel for its upcoming pact with the antichrist, which he will break halfway through the Tribulation by desecrating the temple in Jerusalem.

Second, almost two thousand years ago, Paul wrote these words concerning the arrival of the Day of the Lord wrath, which includes the Tribulation period:

“While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

It’s not a coincidence that we find the words “peace and security” prominently placed on the UN’s website. These words, however, are merely a mantra designed to disguise the deadly intent of those “saying” these words. They advocate safety for all while at the same time openly declaring their intentions to greatly reduce the earth’s population. (Why do so many people miss this?)

The UN’s “Global Digital Compact” points directly to the fulfillment of Revelation 13:16-18, which doesn’t happen until the midpoint of the seven-year Tribulation. The antichrist’s ability to exercise total control over buying and selling throughout the world cannot happen apart from the digitizing of all monetary transactions and doing away with cash purchases. The world is already well along this path. Even if the Rapture happens today, the globalists have plenty of time to fully implement a single worldwide digital currency by the middle of the Tribulation.

The Normality Bias

The strengthening of the UN’s authority over the nations is just one of many factors that shout with the message that we live in the last days. In the past, I have written about the “normality bias” that flourishes in America. This causes most people to assume that nothing will interfere with their aspirations for the future because, somehow, things will return to “normal.” Unfortunately, this mindset also dominates the Christian community where the most popular view of the end times is that the church will rise victorious over the evils of our day, and life will get much better.

Yes, we may see pockets of a spiritual awakening before the Lord returns for us. However, the trajectory for the world’s future, as evidenced by the globalists dramatically increasing the powers of the UN, aligns with what Bible prophecy reveals about what we might expect just before the start of the Tribulation.

What we read about the UN 2.0 troubles us, and understandably so. It signifies a giant step toward the beast system that will someday dominate the world for a short while. It doesn’t matter what the majority of people in the world desire; the global elites will have their way in enslaving the world’s population under their rapidly approaching communist regime.

The good news is twofold. First, although we may experience additional oppression in the future, Jesus is coming for us before the full implementation of the beast’s rule over humanity. Our immediate hope consists of Christ’s appearing to take us up to His Father’s house (John 14:2-3). As I look at the world, I often tell myself that it cannot happen soon enough.

Second, during the seven-year Tribulation and His Second Coming, the Lord will destroy the realm of the antichrist along with all those who today seek to enslave the people of the world beneath a totalitarian regime. In the end, we will reign with Jesus in His righteous kingdom, where justice and peace will prevail.

Maranatha!

-Jonathan

Imminent!

My friend Chris sent me an email with a link to an interview between an author and a CBS Mornings host. The title of the book being discussed was Imminent: The Pentagon’s Hunt for UFOs.

The word “imminent” naturally piqued my friend’s tendency to link the urgency integral to that word’s meaning to the same word’s urgency as related to the Rapture. And he knew it would garner my interest, too.

The Rapture is an imminent event; that is, it can happen at any moment without warning. Our purpose here is to urge our audience, if saved by belief in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross at Calvary, to be “Rapture ready” by being in God’s will when that great event occurs. We urge our readers who aren’t yet saved to accept Christ now, this moment. Jesus is the only Way to be transported into the clouds of Glory and onward into Heaven. All others will be, as the title of the series by my friends Dr. Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins puts it: Left Behind.

The Rapture, of course, is that moment (in the “twinkling of an eye”) when millions will vanish from the earth when Jesus calls them (1 Thessalonians 4:16—18). I say “is” that moment rather than “will be” that moment because that calling is as good as already done in God’s omniscient, omnipresent view of things. Nothing can change that scheduled time when Jesus shouts, “Come up here!” as He did in calling John into Heaven to witness things to come following the Church Age (Revelation 4:1).

And, again, that calling is imminent. That is, the Rapture can take place at any moment. There is no sign or signal that is to precede that great event.

If one is to be Rapture ready, one must be so at all times. There will be no time to get ready. The time is now—right this moment—to be prepared, in the salvation sense, for that (twinkling-of-an-eye) instant when Jesus calls.

And that is the gloriously wonderful thing about the matter of the imminent Rapture. If you have accepted Christ, you will go to Him when He calls. No believer—no child of God—will be left behind to suffer the judgment and wrath that will, following that call, begin to descend upon the world of left-behind earth dwellers.

I take it that the author’s book, Imminent: The Pentagon’s Hunt for UFOs, involves the belief that UFOs, or as they are called now by the government, UAP (unidentified aerial phenomena), are threatening us. According to the brief interview I heard, I presume the book warns that visitors from other worlds are on the verge of invading our planet.

In that regard, I think all we have to do is to glance around our society, culture, and every other aspect of the human condition to know that indeed there is an invasion from another world: the interlopers from the other dimension Paul described:

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).

Bible prophecy scholars like the late Chuck Missler undertook in-depth studies on these interlopers from the dark dimension. Writers and speakers like L. A. Marzulli continue to present great research about this end-times invasion. I, myself, have delved into fictional accounts of the matters involving UFOs—for example, with my novel The Rapture Dialogues.

I’ve written many times that I, as do others from the pre-Trib view of prophecy, believe the imminent invasion feared to come from other worlds (as even our government now expresses) will be part of the big lie Antichrist will foist upon those who are left behind. The people of the earth have endured many decades of being prepped/inculcated by the nefarious powers that be for that coming invasion, the time when the false prophet of Revelation 13 will call fire down from the skies.

Seeing this big lie taking shape, so far as it involves that coming supposed invasion from space, and discerning these times that look more and more like the Tribulation era to come, it is truly time to expect the greatest imminent event of history this side of the Second Advent.

Again, here is Paul’s heads-up on that occurrence:

“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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).

As always, for those who read this and don’t know Jesus for the salvation of your soul, you don’t want to be left behind when that invasion from Satan’s forces assaults the planet during the seven years of Tribulation (Daniel’s seventieth week). Here is how to make sure you go instantly to Jesus Christ when He calls all believers to Himself in the Rapture:

“That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and will believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

—Terry

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Unaware

If I were to select one word that sums up most people today, it would be “unaware.” Despite the myriad of signs that tell us that the start of the Tribulation period is long overdue, few people are paying attention. Most believers pursue their aspirations with little or no understanding of the times in which they live.

Is this not yet another sign that we live in the last days? I believe it is.

“For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:38-39, emphasis added).

The words “they were unaware” in the English Standard Version are literally “they did not know” in the original. Because the people in Noah’s day didn’t believe his warnings about God’s impending judgment, it was as if they didn’t know about it until it started raining. Some versions of the Bible translate the words as “they did not understand.”

During the lengthy time required to build the ark, it seems likely that word of such a spectacle would’ve spread to most people living at that time. They saw so many things that were out of the ordinary with the building of a huge ark and the boarding of the animals on it, yet they remained oblivious to the coming flood until it started to rain.

Just like in Noah’s day, most people today are unaware that things in the world will suddenly change in perhaps the near future. For decades, they have heard people like me point to the nearness of Jesus’ appearing. Even though they have heard the warnings, they aren’t knowledgeable of what lies ahead and are thus unaware of what’s coming.

Because we don’t know the precise timing of Jesus’ appearing, we can’t cease the normal activities of our lives and wait for Him. However, Jesus’ words concerning the days of Noah imply that we can do so with an awareness that He might dramatically intervene in our world at any moment. We may see the end of 2024 and perhaps even the end of 2025. On the other hand, we may not see the end of today, this week, this month, or the next.

Why do I believe it’s so close? It’s because the Lord continues to warn us of its nearness by allowing both believers and those outside of the faith to see small yet vivid glimpses of the cataclysmic events described in the book of Revelation.

Many pastors, however, ignore the vast number of signs pointing to the nearness of the events described in Revelation. Is it not unbelief that causes them to dismiss the book’s message as having no significance for believers today? It’s because they do not understand the times in which they live that so many in their churches remain unaware of what lies ahead.

The Lord’s design for His church was to live with an anticipation of His imminent return. Why else would He instruct His followers to be ready and watch for His return? (Matthew 24:44; 2513). The sense of Philippians 3:20 is that we “eagerly await” Jesus’ appearing. Immediately upon turning to the Lord, the new converts at Thessalonica began anticipating His coming (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10).

An additional advantage of such an expectation is that an awareness of what the Bible says about our day calms our hearts and enables us to live with hope. We don’t have to run from the news of our day or pretend that things will get better with time. We know these are biblical times and Jesus is coming for us soon.

I’m surprised by how many Christians today remain unaware of the lateness of our day. They talk and plan as though nothing will interfere with either their near-term or long-term aspirations. The problem is not with the planning itself but with doing so without an understanding of the imminent dangers that threaten their livelihood.

For many, their unawareness extends beyond that of the nearing Rapture and includes that of the dangers knocking at our day. Globalists plot how to dramatically reduce the world’s population while dire economic conditions seem probable in the not-so-distant future. The threat of World War III has never been greater than it is now.

Life between now and the Rapture may become increasingly scary and perilous. Because so many around us are unaware of what’s coming, it’s essential that we remain focused on the prize ahead for us, continue to study Scripture, and be ready to give an answer to those who ask about our hope (1 Peter 3:15).

If there ever was a time to obey the Lord’s command to watch for His return, it’s now!

-Jonathan