Watch and Seek

The puzzle pieces are coming together and I think that means we are getting oh so close to the Rapture friends. I’ve been watching to see how the final couple players who are believed to be part of the attacking force detailed in Ezekiel 38 would start to form stronger bonds with the other three nations believed to be in that mix who are ultimately prophesied to attack Israel in ‘the latter years’ (Ezekiel 38:8) to plunder the Jewish nation of all that God has blessed them with abundantly.

Now I’ve only been aware of how late the hour is for when Jesus will return for the past 2 or 3 years, but for anyone who has been watching for the Lord’s return longer and is aware of the prophecy of Ezekiel 38, you, my fellow watchers, have already seen how three of the five peoples that make up the alliance of attacking nations have come together slowly over time and as we speak have forces stationed at Israel’s doorstep – namely in Syria.

For those not familiar with the Biblical prophecy of Ezekiel 38, this chapter names specific peoples who will team up to attack Israel for plunder (Ezekiel 38:12). This will occur after Israel has been restored as a nation (Ezekiel 38:8) in ‘the latter years.’ While there is some debate about who the players are mentioned in this chapter, which when it comes to Bible prophecy is not an uncommon occurrence, there is a generally agreed upon idea of the specific members involved, which include Russia, Iran, Turkey, Libya and Sudan. Check out this article that goes into the ancient names and gives an explanation on how the modern nations are derived.

Since I have only known about the prophecy of Ezekiel 38 in recent time I haven’t had to wonder how the first three players would come together, which consist of Russia, Turkey, and Iran. This is a trio of countries that have never before had a pact together until just now in history. We now presently see them inside of Syria and on the doorstep of Israel near the Golan heights. Their leaders most recently met together in late September for planning in Syria and they continue to strengthen their bonds together as the days progress.

The other two nations believed to be a part of the alliance of nations are Libya and Sudan. Now for me this has been quite the puzzle trying to figure out how exactly these countries would come into the fold with Russia, Turkey and Iran. We know this Bible prophecy will come true 100% accurately. So these specific players will be the only ones that are a part of this invasion. This isn’t a world war type of scenario where these member nations happen to be on one larger side. No – it’s just these specific countries who will attempt the attack.

To me the most mysterious thing about this alliance to me is the power difference between the first three and the last two members. According to one list that tries to rank the top 80 countries by power, we have:

• Russia – #2
• Iran – #13
• Turkey – #16
• Libya – Not in the top 80
• Sudan – Not in the top 80

I found another list that actually includes Libya and Sudan:

• Russia – #2
• Iran – #14
• Turkey – #9
• Libya – #77
• Sudan – #69

As you can see there is a vast, difference in ‘power.’ It would be hard to picture what exactly would give Libya and Sudan the courage to attack Israel who on these same lists is ranked #8 and #17 respectively. Israel is described as living without walls and securely within Ezekiel 38, so there is speculation that this attack must be during the first half of the tribulation period when Israel has signed a covenant with the antichrist who will promise to protect Israel from her enemies. Read more on the timing theory here. Little do all five of these nations know that their attack will rouse the fury of God and will lead to the utter destruction of the invading forces in such a way that people will know this is from God (Ezekiel 38:22-23).

Will all of that said, I’ve been encouraged in my spirit that we are getting closer to the rapture after seeing some serious movements from Libya that I believe will lead them down the road to Ezekiel 38.

So to set the stage for what is happening currently we need to back up to 2010. It was in December of that year when Noble Energy discovered what would be one of the largest oil reserves found in the past decade some miles off the coast of Israel. The gas field was named Leviathan, which is the same name as the underwater sea serpent mentioned in the Bible. Noble Energy has been prepping the field for exporting oil with plans to begin official commercial oil flow in December 2019 as stated on their website.

Surely the timing of this commercial oil flow is what led Turkey to approve a bold treaty with Libya earlier this month giving Turkey access to far-reaching economic zones in the Mediterranean to look for oil and to build military bases in Libya. This is a highly contested deal, which even the EU denounced in support of Greece who feels Turkey is violating international maritime laws.

My opinion is this will work to embolden the relationship between Libya and Turkey as it ostracizes these two countries from other surrounding nations. Libya in the meantime continues to be in an ongoing civil war where Russia has also been heavily involved similar to their presence in war-torn Syria. Turkey and Russia actually plan to meet early next year to discuss their plans for Libya.

One of the big reasons for Turkey seeking this agreement is to essentially blockade the Mediterranean from any oil lines heading to Europe, which Israel and a number of other nations had already agreed on plans to move forward with while excluding Turkey from the deal. In this way, Turkey is trying to force Israel and any other countries interested in exporting oil through the Mediterranean to Europe to first need Turkey’s consent. More can be read on this here.

Turkey has been quick to start trying to enforce this newly locked in deal by escorting an Israeli research ship out of contested waters near Cyprus this past week and threatening military action on any vessels found exploring for oil in the region. To further that threat, Turkey just landed a weaponized military drone in northern Cyprus this week and approved the military portion of the memorandum this week.

So what is the significance of this? I personally see this as being a massive stepping stone and trigger that will lead Libya down the road to Ezekiel 38. I mean this deal with Turkey has cemented a relationship that Turkey will be very reluctant to withdraw from. In fact, with the sanctions from the U.S., Turkey’s currency has been weakened significantly.

This is pure speculation on my part, but I see this entrenching Turkey deeper into maintaining the maritime deal with Libya in the hopes of forcing Israel and others to bring Turkey into the lucrative oil exporting dealings to the EU. If Turkey could force the hands of regional countries to play ball, perhaps that would give Turkey leverage to convince the U.S. to ease on sanctions if they are in open trade deals with Israel – a huge ally to the U.S.

The situation is getting even tenser though with Egypt reportedly sending tanks into Libya to oppose Turkish forces in a battle for Tripoli. This all seems to just be fueling the war in Libya even more, which I haven’t really gone into in this post.

Does this mean we can consider Libya ready to go for an attack on Israel? I think there is still some ground to be covered before that step, but that doesn’t mean that Libya’s current faction in the deal with Turkey wouldn’t contribute their naval forces into an attack on the western side of Israel.

I mean when you look at a map you can see that Libya’s only real way to contribute to this attack currently seems to be by way of water. I don’t see Egypt letting Libya march their armies through their country. I also don’t foresee Russia, Iran, and Turkey wanting yet even more foreign forces inside of Syria. That’s even if Libya had forces to spare with the ongoing civil war taking place.

My best guess is if the civil war continues in Libya, then Turkey and Russia will promise to support one of the factions militarily and/or to give significant spoils from Israel in return for sending whatever forces/weapons they can via water to attack Israel.

Of course this just guesses, but it should go to show that even now there’s possibility for this attack to be right around the corner.

So why does this news build my faith even more?

Well for one, we are starting to see the alliances between the nations believed to be the modern peoples mentioned in Ezekiel 38 forming as we speak even with countries that it wasn’t really clear until now how they would ultimately get involved more deeply. If this attack is to take place during the Tribulation, then I don’t think it’s that hard of a stretch to consider that we are rapidly approaching that time.

The second thing is something that Pastor J.D. Farag has said about the build up of forces inside of Syria by Russia, Iran, and Turkey – simply that these things have a shelf life.

And when you consider some of the things occurring, it’s just a pot ready to boil over.

In Iran, you have massive riots occurring against the government and crippling sanctions that are wrecking its economy. That’s not to mention the race they seem to be in to build out an atomic weapon, which no doubt they would plan to use on Israel or threaten to use incessantly. This post written in November says Iran is potentially seven to eight months out from having a nuclear weapon. Now at the end of December that means 6-7 months.

Israel’s prime minister Netanyahu already made a vow that he won’t let Iran develop a nuclear weapon. So this situation with Iran will come to a head soon if all parties remain on the same course. And this is all occurring while Israel is unable to form a government for the second time in a row.

Turkey is obviously heating things up with their new deal with Libya. With a hurting currency in the Lira and more sanctions on the way, they are in a critical moment. It just occurred that Israel signed a deal with Cyprus and Greece to form a gas line to Europe. So we will have to wait and see what Turkey will do in response.

To an unbelieving person things might seem out of control and it just may seem like there is something to panic about in every part of the world, but for Christians there is nothing to fear. God knew this would all take place. Before the Tribulation period starts believers in Jesus will take part in what is commonly known as ‘the rapture’ to rescue us from the wrath of God coming on the world. When the rapture occurs we will forever be with the Lord.

So again, to emphasize my point earlier, if we see the believed to be nations forming an alliance right now, it doesn’t take much faith to believe that we are rapidly nearing that moment.

If you are reading this article, then I’m assuming you are probably a believer and interested in learning more about this prophecy in relation to the end times, but I’d venture to guess that someone and maybe it’s you who is reading this right now, is fairly new to all of this, but it’s making complete sense the more you read about the end times and the current world in relation to what is found in the Bible. I would challenge you to consider praying to the God of the Bible to call on His name to save you from the sins you’ve committed (we all have sinned), and if you aren’t ready to do that yet, I would still challenge you to pray to ask God to draw near to you that His Truth would be revealed to you.

Romans 10:9-13 NASB tells us “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.””

Perhaps the most well known verse of the Bible is John 3:16, which makes things clear: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Being saved comes down to believing that Jesus is the Son of God, He died for our sins, was buried and rose again. There are no amount of works involved that could ever save you because we can only be saved through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.

I invite you to take that step of faith.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation

I’ll start off by saying like I did in my dream last March about being on the Titanic and its relation to the rapture that I don’t put much stock in dreams and I’m cautious as I listen to the dreams of others. We do know from Acts 2:17 that God uses dreams to show things to us in the last days, which I believe we are in. This is also the method used in the book of Daniel where God gives Nebuchadnezzar dreams, which Daniel is able to interpret and glorify God by. There are dreams mentioned in other places in the Bible as well such as with Joseph (Genesis 37:5) and even Pilate’s wife (Matthew 27:19). That said we should test the spirits in all things as we read in 1 John 4:1-6 to know what we can trust. So prayerfully consider the following. I make no claims of it being prophetic and I don’t necessarily know if there is meaning- this is just me sharing my dream.

I have had one or two other dreams over the past year that I have thought about sharing, but ultimately did not feel that I was necessarily meant to share. Neither of those dreams dealt with me experiencing the rapture. The dream I had last night had a confirmation for me upon waking that I will share at the end, and the dream itself gave me real happiness and excitement upon waking, which I don’t think a dream from an evil source would produce in regards to Christ returning. I could also feel something happening to me in this dream that made it seem so real. So with that said I do feel I am supposed to share this for one reason or another with the goal to glorify God.

I wrote it all down right after waking to make sure I remembered the details while they were vividly fresh in my mind.

The dream started with my wife and I on a bus or RV driving at nighttime. It was just the two of us and my wife was the one driving. I was standing up looking out of the front window when I saw the moon. It was very large and I noticed that an elliptical halo seemed to suddenly appear and be spinning around the moon. I could tell that something was happening.

All of a sudden a part of the sky opened up in a large rectangular shape and a giant cross appeared very visibly within it. I at this point had a feeling that this was the rapture taking place. Almost immediately after seeing the Cross, I could literally feel a force inside of my chest starting to pull me like it was almost pulling me out of my body. It started mildly and gradually grew stronger in the dream, but not to the point that I was being lifted off the ground. I was simply elated that this was occurring and in wonder. This was happening slowly.

When I saw the cross appear in the sky in the dream I was thinking this could be the sign of the Son of Man. I found this verse is Matthew 24:30 in reference to the second coming of our Lord Jesus.

I then saw what now appeared to be the sun being eclipsed. There was light around the edges with a large black circular object in the way, which made me think this was the sun upon later reflection. In my dream, my mind was thinking of the words we find in Joel 2:13, which is in reference to the Day of the Lord. Both of the thoughts above in reference to Scripture were what I was actually thinking of as they were occurring in the dream as I was trying to make sense of what I was witnessing just to make sure that is clear.

My wife stopped driving while the bus or RV was still in motion and we both as believers thought this was the rapture occurring. The vehicle just kept taking us along safely without a second thought from either of us just to note. She said to me, “You were right”, in reference to the rapture being something that I thought could happen very soon. I looked away at some passing tall trees and vegetation outside without saying anything in response thinking to myself that this knowledge of the end times is not something that someone should feel any pride about. My thought after the dream was that this knowledge was revealed to us from God, and we should all be extremely thankful for that.

I told her that I hoped people were ready knowing that some would not be coming with us. At this point my wife and I looked at each other, and somehow knew that although our relationship would continue in Heaven it also would change from what we see in Mark 12:25. We tried to give each other one last kiss, but when my wife was close I could not feel her lips. We tried again, but the same result. On the third attempt, our heads starting going right through each other like neither of us had physical properties anymore.

Everything stopped after that. In my dream I was thinking this was the rapture so I began to postulate what was happening. I was thinking maybe this was part of the process as a starting point to make sure believers knew this was happening.

The next thing I was aware of in the dream my wife and I were entering a village with people around. The people seemed to have some skepticism as they saw my wife and I like we stuck out, which the others did seem to be from other nationalities. In the dream my wife was pregnant, which in real life she is and we are expecting a baby girl next month on June 11th, 2019.

We were walking on this path between two buildings until we came to a road crossing. As we walked and passed people they kept telling us we shouldn’t be here and that we didn’t belong in this place and needed to leave. They were actually trying to warn us in a way since I think they saw my wife was pregnant and they knew this place was dangerous. As we came near the crossing in the road the scenery seemed to be modern like in a city and this is where things get fuzzy and the dream seemed to end. I seemed to recall a vehicle approaching fast and nearly hitting anyone close to the road, but that was the last thing that seemed to stick out.

I went on to have a couple other jumbled dreams after this before I awoke, but upon waking my mind immediately was on the part where I thought we were being raptured.

I maybe laid there for a minute or so before reaching for my phone towards the bottom of the bed and saw it was 7:27 AM. This dream filled me with joy after I woke up, and when I saw 7:27 exactly on my phone this made me think there was something to this dream that I would have been more skeptical about if that had not happened.

It was around 4-5 years ago that I was in a particular moment in my life where I was losing hope. I can’t tell you how or why it was, but I somehow became oddly very aware that I was seeing the specific time of 7:27 on my phone whether AM or PM. It happened in just a way that it brought me to the point where I thought God was maybe trying to tell me something through 7:27 within the Bible.

I looked in the Scripture and I came to a specific verse, which seemed to be perfectly fitting to my exact situation. I saw that time quite often for a while after that and was comforted in a way being reminded that God was with me when I did, but it is not something I necessarily see all of the time now especially in the AM. I do not usually get up now until 8 AM for work with my alarm after I started working for another company around 3 1/2 years ago. So my waking up today and seeing that specific time on the clock is not normal for me or something my body has a habit of doing.

It wasn’t until around December 2017 that I started really digging into studying end times and becoming aware of the times we are living in. I poured into research and somewhere along that line was introduced to Strong’s concordance and the understanding that 726 stood for harpazo, which from the Latin form is where we get our modern English word Rapture. I was blown away after really getting into Christian eschatology and the Rapture to find that this number, 727, that I believe the Lord was bringing strongly to my attention years before, is harpax, whose word origin is harpazo.

Just the chances and oddness and ‘amazingness’ of that occurring years apart and meaning so much to me, but for different purposes. I don’t have the words to express other than to say, “Thank you Jesus!! Our God is awesome!!”. Believe me when I say there is no other number that I believe God has directed my attention to for a meaningful purpose like He has to 7:27. I know this may sound crazy, but this is what happened in my life and I go with it.

So when I had that dream today, which was something I was joyous about and is not a normal for me at all, and then felt like checking to see the time at specifically 7:27 this morning of all mornings that I had this dream. I can’t help but feel that God wants me to share this.

I think the dream was meant to pick me up out of a moment of discouragement I was in and it was very effectively to get me encouraged again to serve Him!

This dream may have eternal meaning for you.

And hear me out because this is important. You may have happened upon this dream by seeming accident, but I don’t think that is the case. If you don’t know where you will spend eternity when you die or what it means to be saved, then read on.  

Scripture tells us that we are saved through faith in Christ and not of our works (Ephesians 2:8-9.)  His perfect sacrifice on the cross cleanses us from our sins if we believe in Him so that we can get back into right standing with God.  Jesus Christ makes it very clear that He is the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). Romans 10:9 NASB says “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;”.

Hear my plea: Please don’t wait to make this decision today of what you believe about Jesus!

Right now is the time to turn from your sinful ways and trust in God as your savior and lord.  If you are ready to take that step, then say a prayer like this below out loud:

God, I know that you look at our hearts so please hear my words and know why I am coming to you at this time in prayer.  I know that I am a sinner and I have fallen short.  I know and have faith that Jesus Christ’s death on the cross was the payment necessary for my sins in order for me to be with you after this life.  I am sorry and ask now for your forgiveness of my sins.  I call on Your Name to save me. I need you as my savior and I ask that you would send your Holy Spirit into me to guide me in my journey of knowing you more, to help me as I turn away from my lifestyle of sin and make you the Lord of my life, and to convict me to continually try to live more like You.  In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

If you said that prayer and meant the words, then I am absolutely overjoyed in your decision.  God knows your heart and the Scripture tells us that there is joy in heaven over your decision too (Luke 15:7). Now go and tell someone about this.

Please start reading your Bible to learn more about your decision.  You can also read here for additional steps to take such as getting baptized.  I can’t wait to see you in Heaven one day!

So this is definitely a different type of post for me, but one that I really feel compelled to share.  I don’t typically put much stock into dreams or the dreams that others share.  I’m especially cautious when someone claims they were shown something prophetic as we are to test the spirits in 1 John 4:1-6.  We do know from the Bible that God uses dreams in cases to get a point across or to show something important.  There’s also Acts 2:17 that speaks to this.  All that to say I am not sharing anything prophetic, but there was a very important message that I took away from it that I want you take in.

I don’t typically remember my dreams well or have much coherence in them, but this dream was very different as I remembered it clearly and it had choices and consequences.  With that here it goes:

My dream began as I found myself on a ship that I instinctively knew was the Titanic. It was as though I had time traveled and found myself there. It was odd in that the ship seemed to already be sinking, but also hadn’t quite started yet. I know that’s a hard concept to explain.  I knew that it would be sinking shortly and what the fate of the ship was if I remained  on board.  I knew I had to get off.

I was with a companion who I don’t know in real life, but in the dream was someone very close to me – like a brother.  Importantly, we both knew we had to get off the ship.  So we were trying to gather some of our belongings to get down to this docking area of sorts as there was another ship that was there that could  take us away to safety.  The docking area was very strange as it was somehow not connected to land.  There was the Titanic on the one side of the dock and on the opposite side was a large ship that would rescue us.

The dock itself was probably 15-20 feet wide. It had service areas and a long single row of dining booths that we’ll get to later that seemed to stretch very far in length.  As my friend and I made it down to the docking area we realized that we would need to split up for a short while.  He wanted to go back to save someone still stuck on the boat and I needed to go to this service area to frantically try to get my luggage.  We both knew that time was very, very short before the boat sank and that the large ship of safety was going to leave at any moment.

It’s important to note the people around us were acting drastically different.  Some seemed to be just enjoying themselves on board thinking of parties that were going to take place, but also at the same time seeming to know that the ship was going down.  I don’t think they grasped the full fate of what was coming for them. Many others were frantically trying to get off the boat to safety knowing that they needed to get out of there fast.  The people were seemingly polar opposites.

As my friend and I split off, I ran down to this service area at the end of the dock and began speaking with a lady who was working behind a raised platform that managed all of the luggage on board.  I told her that I needed to get the luggage off the ship and for some reason I pulled money out of my wallet to offer her a bonus if she could get them quickly.  I offered her a $50 dollar bill if she could get our luggage out very quickly and since it was seemingly older times this was a very good incentive for her.  I somehow knew she would take it out to the dock and make sure it got to where it needed to be alright.

I started my way back quickly to the middle area of the dock to meet up with my companion.  As I approached the middle of the dock, suddenly and without warning the ship that was going to take us to safety pulled away from the dock.

It was suddenly dark and nighttime in my dream.

As the ship took off I watched it leave.  I could see inside through these large windows that there was a large banquet prepared with all sorts of food ready to be eaten.  I didn’t see any people through the windows though.

The thought came to my mind that if I hadn’t tried to go get the luggage we could have made it on board.

I began walking down the boardwalk and started walking past all of these semi-circle booths overlooking the water.  Each booth was filled with people eating, drinking, and carrying away like it was a time to have fun and celebrate. I walked down the dock and made it to a table where my friend was sitting with a couple others.  This table stood out from the others as no one was happy to be here at this table.  I sat down and all but one person seemed to realize the terrible situation we were in and that we had missed our boat of safety.

After this I awoke.

My immediate thoughts after waking up was about the symbolism of everything that had taken place in the dream.  I had an initial fear it was a symbol of my fate, but that quickly dissipated as I thought back to what my actual thought was in the dream and knowing my own relationship with Christ as my Savior and Lord.  My thought in the dream was about regretting trying to get the luggage and belongings to take with us.

I never did see that luggage show up and ultimately I seemed to understand at the end that it wasn’t even important at all although at the time it seemed like the most important thing in the world.

There’s tons of symbolism in the dream as the world being the sinking ship and the rapture being represented by the ship of safety with the great marriage supper of the Lamb being prepared, but the thing that stood out to me most was the regret of focusing on the luggage instead of just getting on the boat.

That is the message I want you as a believer to take away.  Especially as the coming of our Lord for His church quickly approaches, please in these last days keep your focus up and on the eternity that soon awaits you.  In a moments notice any cares you have in this world are not going to matter as our perspectives are going to radically shift.  That coworker that gets under your skin, that bill that has to be paid, that illness or loss, that promotion or job you didn’t get, all these things are mere distractions -they are not reality.

Please, please don’t let the cares and anxieties of this life drag you down in these final moments (Luke 21:34).  Remember your first love and the joy that He gives us.  Be that final rally cry that helps one more soul get ready for Christ.  Focus on what matters and take hold of the peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7)

 

We truly live in exciting times as we wait on the return of Christ for His church and possibly enter into the 6,000th year since the creation of Earth.  This post is going to be focused on showing in detail why we believe we are at the 6th millennium and why this is of such great significance to us.

Before we jump in though I do want to note that this post relies heavily on the study by Pastor Sandy, which you can view following that link.  I highly recommend you give it a watch as well as his other videos.  The reason for my writing of this post is to give additional commentary on some of the dates found in the Bible leading to the timeline and to provide references for each of the dates for your own study purposes.  Lastly, as I mentioned I want to go into a bit of detail on the significance of 6,000 years.

As always I’ll link to outside resources that will allow you to independently check what I’m sharing and explore certain topics that interest you most in more detail.

What’s so Important about 6,000 years?

We know in the Bible that numbers and patterns are of great significance.  You can’t really walk away from reading the Book of Revelation without noticing there are a lot of 7’s.  Another significant ‘7’ that we see in the Bible is through the creation story with God resting on the 7th day starting in Genesis 1.

Take a look at 2 Peter 3:8 and you will see that a day is like a thousand years to the Lord.  This knowledge leads to the belief that the 7 days of creation also symbolizes a larger timeline of 7,000 years in total on Earth.  The belief is that after sin entered the world, God allowed 6,000 years for men to rule among themselves and that Christ would then reign for the final 7th millennium (Revelation 20:2-5) when He returns.

How the 6,000 year theory may be supported by the flood

There actually is some additional possible support to this theory when you look at Genesis 6:3. We read here that God numbers man’s days to a hundred and twenty years.  Now some might think that refers to God limiting our lifespans to be under 120 years old, but we see clearly after the flood that men lived to be over 120 years old.  Look no further than Genesis 11:10-32 for examples of this.

From this we can understand that God was giving a warning that 120 years was how long man in that time had until the flood came upon the Earth.  This 120 year span potentially has more meaning when considering the 50 year Jubilee cycle.  If you look at my larger post on the possibility of a 2017/2018 rapture, then you can find where I discuss the significance of Jubilee years and what they mean.  As you’ll learn the Jubilee cycle occurs every 50th year and consists of 7 shmita (sabbath) years occurring every 7th year – hence 7×7+1=50.

With that said, it’s possible that the warning that man’s days have been limited to 120 days could be a larger reference to man’s total time to rule himself.  With a little math we see that 120 Jubilee cycles of 50 years takes us to 6,000 years.

more possible support considering the passover lamb

Read Exodus 12:3-6 and you will see that the Passover lamb was to be taken into the house on the 10th day of the month Nisan and was to be killed after 4 days on the 14th day of the same month.  If we understand that the Passover lamb is representing the future death of Christ then we may see some symbolism here.  Is there deeper meaning to the waiting of 4 days?

Well as you’ll see below in the timeline, the crucifixion of Christ is placed after the 4,000th year if we look at a thousand years as a day.  If the 6,000 year theory is correct, then this fits perfectly in line with the instructions given to the Jewish people in Exodus.

The 6,000 year timeline

The 6,000 year timeline is broken down by the years before someone had children as well as events that give us time references. The years lapsed column will show a running total for the year count.  As you’ll see some year lapses will require a bit more explanation so stick with it and read the references links for better understanding because it is truly fascinating and rewarding to seek out this information.

Person/Event	Year	Reference	Years Lapsed
Adam	0	Genesis 1: 26-31	0
Seth	130	Genesis 5:3	130
Enosh	105	Genesis 5:6	235
Kenan	90	Genesis 5:9	325
Mahalalel	70	Genesis 5:12	395
Jared	65	Genesis 5:15	460
Enoch	162	Genesis 5:18	622
Methuselah	65	Genesis 5:21	687
Lamech	187	Genesis 5:25	874
Noah	182	Genesis 5:28-29	1056
Noah – The flood began when he was 600	600	Genesis 7:11	1656
2 Years after the Flood – Arphaxad was born – Genesis 10:21 shows that Shem was born in the middle of Japeth and Genesis 9:24 puts Ham as youngest. So Shem was born when Noah was 502 years old.	2	Genesis 11:11 Further Reference	1658
Shelah	35	Genesis 11:12	1693
Eber	30	Genesis 11:14	1723
Peleg	34	Genesis 11:16	1757
Reu	30	Genesis 11:18	1787
Serug	32	Genesis 11:20	1819
Nahor	30	Genesis 11:22	1849
Terah	29	Genesis 11:24	1878
First Year Terah Had Children	70	Genesis 11:26	1948
Birth of Abraham – Terah would be 130 – Genesis 12:4 shows Abraham left Haran when he was 75	60	Genesis 12:4 Further Reference	2008
Death of Terah at age of 205 – Abraham would be 75	75	Genesis 12:4	2083
Convenant with Abraham made at age 99	24	Genesis 17:1	2107
Time span from the convenant with Abraham to the Law given is 430 years	430	Galatians 3:16-17	2537
Time span from the Law given to the reign of King Solomons 4th year is 480 years	480	1 Kings 6:1	3017
Solomon historically began his reign in 970 BC. According to 1 Kings 6:1 there is a need to subtract 4 years bringing us to 966 years. This takes us to 0 AD	966	1 Kings 6:1 A Few References	3983
From 0 AD to 2017 and the 6000th running total is 2017 years	2017		6000

Question around Solomon’s reign and Can we trust these times?

I want to note the biggest question that still remains in my mind deals with the years of Solomon’s reign.  We have some strong supporting evidence if you read the link above pointing exactly to 970 BC, but since I don’t have a specific verse to point to that date I felt it necessary to call out.  I encourage you to do some further research yourself before coming to a conclusion – it’s really rewarding to search this stuff out.  I think the article linked above gives some fantastic historical support and uses the Bible for some dates.

The biggest support for its general correct timeline though is that it ends with us around the 4,000 year mark when Christ dies serving as symbolism for when the Passover lamb was sacrificed after 4 days.

if the timeline brings us to 6,000 years at 2017 then are we past due?

This is an excellent question and one I had myself.  I want to offer a couple explanations.  The first is that the Biblical year does not start or end until Nisan 1 as seen in Exodus 12:1-2, which is laid down by God.

This is important to point out because Nisan takes place in March/April on our gregorian calendar system.  Thus it is possible that even though our calendar system says it is 2018, it is actually not yet that year according to God’s timeline.  And at the end of the day we are always on God’s timeline even if the vast world runs on another man-made calendar system.

The second thing also worth pointing out is to remember that the theory runs on the idea that there will be 6,000 years where man tries to run the show, but the fall of our world into sin did not necessarily take place in the same year as creation.  After all Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden before sinning.  Thus the 6,000 year count may not technically start until after sin first entered the world.  We unfortunately don’t know how many years that Adam lived in Eden before being kicked out so that could also explain why there is a seeming gap in years.

I will point out that from chapter 3 of the Book of Jubilees, which I want to make very clear is not a part of the canonical 66 books of the Bible, it says that Eve was tempted after 7 years in the Garden.  If this text is accurate, then that could potentially fill in the gap of 7 years.  This could put us at around 5,993 years in 2017/2018 allowing for the 7 years of tribulation to occur and placing Christ’s return right at the 6,000 year mark.  How awesome would that be!?

What does being at the 6,000th year mean for me?

This is the critical question.  We know from Scripture that a time of tribulation is coming upon the Earth culminating with Christ’s return (Mark 13:24-37) when he will establish His kingdom.  If we are at the door or are quickly approaching the 6,000th year then time is getting short in order for us to get into proper relationship with Christ.

Scripture tells us that we are saved through faith in Christ and not of our works (Ephesians 2:8-9.)  His perfect sacrifice on the cross cleanses us from our sins if we believe in Him so that we can get back into right standing with God.  Jesus Christ makes it very clear that He is the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). Romans 10:9 says “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;” New American Standard Version

Hear my plea: Please don’t wait!

Right now is the time to turn from your sinful ways and trust in God as your savior and lord.  If you are ready to take that step, then say a prayer like this below out loud:

God, I know that you look at our hearts so please hear my words and know why I am coming to you at this time in prayer.  I know that I am a sinner and I have fallen short.  I know and have faith that Jesus Christ’s death on the cross was the payment necessary for my sins in order for me to be with you after this life.  I am sorry and ask now for your forgiveness of my sins.  I call on Your Name to save me. I need you as my savior and I ask that you would send your Holy Spirit into me to guide me in my journey of knowing you more, to help me as I turn away from my lifestyle of sin and make you the Lord of my life, and to convict me to continually try to live more like You.  In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

If you said that prayer and meant the words, then I am absolutely overjoyed in your decision.  God knows your heart and the Scripture tells us that there is joy in heaven over your decision too (Luke 15:7).  Now go and tell someone about it.

Please start reading your Bible to learn more about your decision.  You can also read here for additional steps to take such as getting baptized.  I can’t wait to see you in Heaven one day!

I want to begin by saying that these are years to especially watch for the rapture, though we should be watching and alert at all times (Mark 13:37).  I do not know the day or the hour, but I do believe that the prophets and Jesus gave us warning signs for several reasons. One reason being so that we can know that the day is approaching and it won’t ‘overtake us like a thief’ (1 Thessalonians 5:4) and another so that we won’t be like one of the virgins who did not have oil in their lamps from the parable of the 10 virgins (Matthew 25:1-13).  I am not stating as a fact that these are the years or doing any sort of prophesying to be extra clear up front.  With that said we can move on. 🙂

There happen to be some very, very interesting things pointing our attention to these times that I’d like to share and in so doing encourage you to accept Jesus as your Savior (Romans 10:9) and make Him Lord of your life because time may be shorter than most of us think.

To make this easier to format I’m going to put these in numbered order, but they are not necessarily in order of importance.

It’s also important to note that at the time of this writing it appears that 2017 is already over, but that may not necessarily be the case when you look at Exodus 12:2.  God sets Nisan 1 as the first day of the year for the Jewish people.  Today the Jewish people celebrate their new year on the Feast of Trumpets, but our ultimate source of truth is the Word of God. Man might try to change dates and times, but that does not change the Word.  Thus the year 2017 could actually be completed around March 17th, 2018 on the gregorian calendar, which would be Nisan 1.

With all that said, let’s jump in.

1.  September 2017 Revelation 12 Sign   (Revelation 12:1-2)

I can’t even begin to do this justice here without a very long post so please visit Unsealed’s compendium write-up of this event if you want more information.  They give tons of research and evidence that this is a truly unique sign.  To give a basic explanation though, there was a celestial event that occurred on Sept 23/24, 2017, which coincided exactly with the Jewish Feast of Trumpets.

It exactly matched the description given in Revelation 12: 1-2 and saw Jupiter, the king planet, traveling in Virgo’s stomach for the full length of a pregnancy.  People have used programs like Stellarium to look 4,000 years backward and 1,000 years into the future and they could not find another time that this occurs.  The stars never diverge from their paths so with the software we have available today we are able to see things like this for the first time in history.

The Bible tells us that the sun, moon and stars will serve as signs for us. (Genesis 1:14, Luke 21:25) We all know that the magi were aware of the significance of a star in the sky at Jesus’ birth leading them to the Messiah and Revelation tells us that there will be more signs in the heavens toward His 2nd return.  If you were ever looking for a sign that the end times are here, this may be it.

2. The 62 Weeks of Daniel 9:24-26

This is also just so incredible.  In these verses the angel Gabriel is explaining a vision to Daniel about how there will be 70 weeks until the Messiah comes and how there will be one group of 62 weeks and another group of 7 weeks followed by the final week.  Now we understand that a day represents a year so there will be three distinct time periods (62×7 = 434 years, 7×7 = 49 years, 1×7 = 7 years).

It explains that the timing of this prophecy begins with a commandment to re-build Jerusalem with its streets and its walls, which the word ‘charuwts’ could also be translated as trench or moat when looking at the original language. Now this had a past fulfillment prophesying the exact arrival of Christ.  Daniel 9:26 discusses how after 62 and 7 weeks the Messiah would be cut off leaving one final week (or 7 years), which is believed by many to be the tribulation ending in the glorious and final return of Christ to earth.  This is not to be confused with the rapture, however.

As we can see sometimes in Biblical prophecy and symbolism, there can appear to be near term fulfillments in the past that also point to future fulfillments in the end times.  In the book of Ecclesiastes we learn that there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9) and that what has been will be again.  A possible future fulfillment appears to be reaching completion in our time.

In 1517 the Ottoman Turks gained control over the land of Jerusalem.  Their leader at the time was Suleiman the magnificent.  In 1535 he made an order for the ruined walls of Jerusalem to be rebuilt, which are the same walls that stand today in the city.  This starts our time line.  Flash forward now to 1969, which happens to be 434 exact years in the future.  The Jewish people are back as a nation in their homeland as of 1948 and after the six day war in 1967 Jerusalem was now back in control of the Jewish people.  On April 1, 1969 the Jewish government voted to begin rebuilding Jerusalem and established the Jewish Quarter Development Company.

It’s interesting that the time lapse was not 433 years or 435 years after the decree to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem by the Ottomans, it was exactly 1969-1535 = 434 years! You can’t make this stuff up – it’s recorded in history. This is something that makes Christianity different from all other religions. Things occur within recorded history and prophecies come true. To deny it or think it’s made up does nothing to eliminate what is truth in the end.  Possibly this is the 2nd time that this prophecy is seeing fulfillment, the first fulfillment being with Christ.

So if we start the 2nd period mentioned by Daniel of 7 weeks being 49 years that takes us to 1969+49=2018.  This could potentially be the year that the last week of tribulation begins.  It’s believed by many that the rapture will occur before the tribulation period of wrath starts from 1 Thessalonians 5:9 and Revelation 3:10.

3. Ties to important times with Israel

I don’t think modern Christians truly and deeply appreciate the sheer magnitude of our times with the fact that Israel is a nation again.  We’re talking about a people that have not been a nation since 70 AD.  When Israel became a nation again in 1948 it happened in a single day, which many point to Isaiah 66:8.  Who has heard of such things happening?

Israel has several important dates I want to briefly cover:

• 1897 – Formation of the First Zionist Congress – Held in Switzerland, this set the stage for the Basel Program proclaiming the desire to establish a home for the Jewish people under the public law.
• 1917 – The Balfour Declaration – Balfour, representing British rule, sent a letter to a prominent Zionist that Britain supported the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, which was under British rule after WW1.
• 1947 & 1948 – UN Vote for Israel & Official Creation of the Israel Nation
• 1967 – Six Day’s War – Israel defeats its neighboring countries and takes over control of Jerusalem.

Now let’s get into the interesting date connections:

• From 1917 – 1967 is a span of 50 years

The Jewish people are told to observe a year of rest for the land known as the Shmita year. (Exodus 23:10-11, Deuteronomy 15:1-6) After every 7th Shmita cycle they are told to observe an additional year known as a year of Jubilee which is the 50th year (Leviticus 25:8-55).  God takes the sabbath years very seriously. In fact, Israel was initially destroyed and taken out of their land by the Babylonians for exactly 70 years (2 Chronicles 36:21, Leviticus 26:27-35, Jeremiah 25:8-12) to account for this failed observance and give the land its sabbath rest.  Here is a resource to explain these points in more detail.  These were times where debt was erased, land was restored to its original owners, and slaves were freed.

I explained all of that because it is believed that 1917-1967-2017 are possibly the years of Jubilee in action with 1917 being the 118th Jubilee, 1967 being the 119th Jubilee, and 2017 being the final 120th Jubilee or 6,000 years.  See the 6,000 year count here.

• From 1897 – 2017 is a span of 120 years

The significance of 120 is the number of years determined for man before the flood came during the times of Noah found in Genesis 6:3. This has relevance to the end times because of Matthew 24:37-39 where it discusses the end will be as the days of Noah.

• From 1947 or 1948, the vote and founding year of Israel as a nation in respective order, to 2017 and 2018 is span of 70 years.

We understand from Scripture in Psalms 90:10 that a lifespan is meant to be 70 years.  The number 70 has a lot of significance, but becomes more apparent when you read about the parable of the fig tree in Matthew 24:32-35, Mark 13:28-31, Luke 21:29-33.  It is believed that this represents Israel becoming a nation again. If that is the case and with it saying that all these things will happen before this generation passes away this brings us to 2017/2018 for 70 years and if strength endures to 80 years then 2027/2028 for the end.  This 10 year span allows for the unbelievers of that generation to still be alive during the tribulation years.

Before we jump in I just want to note this is personal speculation.  I am not stating as a fact he is one of the two witnesses or doing any sort of prophesying.  There just so happens to be some interesting things going on here I want to share.

With that let’s jump in.  Oliver Mcafee could potentially be one of the two witnesses.

Who is Oliver Mcafee?

Oliver Mcafee is a 29 year old gardener and devout Christian living in Essex, England who gave up his job to bike through Europe.  According to the Belfast Telegraph, his friends describe him as a “real free spirit”. He was biking through the Israeli National Trail when he suddenly decided to head into the Israeli desert abandoning a lot of his possessions with him including his bike and tent.  He was last seen on Nov. 21st.

Uniqueness

Officials began finding pages of the Bible torn out and weighed down by rocks as well as handwritten notes quoting Scripture and referencing the fasting of Jesus in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11).  According to the Washington Post, they found a makeshift chapel area in a circular pattern made with a bike tool and it appears that he is doing some religious ceremonies and having an experience out in the desert.  The number of stones in one area may have been significant.

The media is trying to cast this off as a potential mental health issue known as ‘Jerusalem Syndrome’ where some people start believing they are figures out of the Bible when visiting the holy city.  There is a report that this can happen up to 100 times a year, yet this sole case has received massive media attention.  Why this one? Lots of searching has occurred, but thus far there has been no luck finding him.  Reports believe he is alive.

Here is a note shared on a Facebook page asking for prayer for Oliver (Authors note: I ask that you please pray for Oliver’s safety as well):

The note is partly cut off, but seems to read at the top “I am watcher” and later on asks the question “Who am I?”, which he then answers, “I will tell you plainly I am Oliver a servant of the Lord. A son in his (eyes?).  The last word is cut off.

The timing of all this is fascinating since this took place after the Revelation 12 sign in September 2017.  And there is strong belief that we are living in the 6,000th year – watch Pastor Sandy break it down (I highly recommend his videos) and Johannes Kepler.  How much evidence do we need to know how close Jesus is to returning?

My Thoughts

So those are the facts of what happened.  Here are some of my personal observations:

1.  Oliver means Olive Tree
   1. The two witnesses are referred to as Olive Trees in Revelation 11:4. Might God use the meaning of the name here in fulfillment? There’s another reference to two olive trees in Zechariah 4:1-14 (See Commentary)
2. Mcafee means Black Peace
   1. According to some, Daniel 9:27 talks about the antichrist forming a false peace covenant.  Could this be a reference to false peace if the two witnesses are alive during this broken, false peace treaty?
3. Mcafee is a 29 year old.  I could not find his birthday, but could this desert experience be a preparation for ministry?
   1. There is a LOT of Biblical significance with the age of 30.
4. There are a LOT of cases of Biblical figures going into the wilderness or desert like Jesus did.
5. Interestingly, as of 2/15, the next official winter storm name for 2018 will be named Noah followed by none other than Oliver.
   1. An additional interesting read is: as it was in the days of Noah (Matthew 24:37-39)
6. If there are on average 100 cases of “Jerusalem Syndrome” every year, why has this one received such wide media attention?

I’ll wrap it up there with my observations.  Again I ask for all my fellow Christian brothers and sisters to please pray for Oliver’s safety and for all of his friends and family during this time.

There are a LOT of things pointing to the possibility of Jesus’ rapture of the church sometime in 2017-2018.  See Pastor Sandy’s videos or this great resource for more information.  If we are so close to Christ’s return and the two witnesses are two literal human beings on Earth, then there is a significant chance they are living and breathing at this very moment.

We earnestly await the return of our Lord Jesus!