Why we wrote

“Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy”

There are so many ideas floating around about prophecy in these fascinating times. How does one know what is true and what is just speculation? Fourteen years ago Lambert Dolphin and I teamed up to write a thoroughly Biblical book on the subject. We called it “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done: The Prayer Offered Most Often is about to be Answered.” It was posted on the Internet, and during that time more than 340,000 people have downloaded it.  It was used by countless pastors and Bible teachers over the years and proved itself to be reliable.  In all that time there was nothing we had taught about Bible prophecy that we needed to change or retract.

We realized that the world has changed in many ways during those 14 years: including the 9/11 attacks and the war on terrorism,  the rise of Iran’s fanatical regime, and the financial meltdown of the past few years. These issues needed to be addressed. We also knew that many people would prefer to have a real book in their hands that they could mark up and return to as a trusted resource. That is why we updated the book, changed its name, and released it in two major formats: a large attractive paperback book, and an eBook for Kindle and other eReaders, tablets and smart phones.

Here is a note from co-author Lambert Dolphin:

The Bible is full of good news for all who wish to know the truth about the One, true God and the great future He has lanned for our race. Over 20% of Scripture concerns the future of mankind. But all the positive things God wants to do for us are thwarted by careless neglect of these prophetic Scriptures. Connecting the Dots has been written to help ordinary people understand the essentials of our future. Radio, television, movies, the media of every nation, the teachings of most churches and schools mislead, distort and warp the straightforward account of how our benevolent Creator will soon step back into history to bring about real peace on earth with justice for all.

We have had an excellent response so far from the readers of the book. It gives the “big picture” of prophecy and explains the major predictions about the End Times in a step-by-step way. There is also a free downloadable study guide that can be used for personal enrichment or for group study.  If you don’t have a copy of Connecting the Dots yet you may order it directly from Prophecy Central or from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or your Christian bookstore.

Order book from Prophecy Central

Order book from Amazon.com

Order eBook from Amazon.com

Free Download of Study Guide

Spiral-bound copy of Study Guide for $10

More information about the book

Look at our nation now. Instead of being a support to the rest of the world during this economic crisis, we have descended into the worst financial condition since at least the Great Depression. Despite endless rhetoric from the politicians and economic experts, we are still in free-fall.  Our investments have declined, our jobs have been given to other nations and our own people are sinking into poverty. 

Our military sacrifices have been undercut by bad governmental decisions. Terrorists are convinced that they will ultimately overcome in this present struggle. We are about to leave Afghanistan and Iraq without improving that part of the world. We can’t keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Our support for Israel is anemic. We have lost the peaceful gains we enjoyed for a little time with Russia.

Why is this happening, and what does it mean for our generation?  Historians assure us that the early greatness of America was a byproduct of our moral and ethical world view.  Our leaders were generally Bible-believing heroes.  Our word was our bond: we kept our promises.  We taught our children what was right and wrong.  We worked hard and were proud of what we produced.  Our churches were valiant for the truth and were faithful to expose evil. 

During the past two generations the church in America has turned from its literal interpretation of the Bible, and has allowed the corrupting influences of secular humanism, the sexual revolution, abortion, and other ungodly beliefs and practices to slowly infiltrate its leadership.  This change is actually one of the main predictions of the End Times.  It is called apostasy, or a “falling away” from the truth.  The Apostle Paul warned…

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.  – 2 Timothy 4:3-4

As a result, at the very time Christians should be most concerned about the rapid fulfillment of End Times predictions, many of them have been anesthetized to the seriousness of their condition.  Therefore, our nation has lost its vitality and is in the process of becoming irrelevant. The Bible did not need to mention our presence because we will have lost our influence. 

Does it have to end this way?  Actually, no!  There is still hope for America. What God promised for believers in the Old Testament would still apply today if we would just turn back to Him and allow him to bring a great redeeming revival! 

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.  – 2 Chronicles 7:14

Someone sent this Email to Lambert:
I’ve been reading your book “Thy Kingdom Come” and really appreciate the hard work you put into this. It seems that with only some updating for current events (I remember asking my self if this was pre-9/11) many would benefit from your explanation of Revelation.

Lambert wrote back:
Thank you very much for your kind words.
Last November Ron Graff and I released a completed updated and revised version of this book. You should find many major changes and updates.
The new book is “Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy.” So far it has had an excellent reception. It is available online at our Prophecy Central store (It is the only product there), or any of the major booksellers. But it takes time to get the word out without a huge advertising budget. Please visit our Facebook page, where we post news about the book’s progress. While you are there, please click “Like.” That helps let other people know about the book.

Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy

Order the Book – Paypal

Cover via Amazon

We are happy to announce that our new book, Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy, is now available as a digital/electronic book (eBook).  It is already available on Amazon.com for their Kindle reader. And it is scheduled to be released soon by other eBook suppliers like Barnes and Noble for its Nook reader and Apple iBooks for the iPad.

I have been doing most of my reading on the Kindle recently because I can literally have a whole library of books in one convenient device that also lets me pick the size of the font. 

Prophecy students will still want to have the printed book because Connecting the Dots is a reference manual – a notebook of sorts that you can underline and make personal notes in the margins.

However, the Kindle version is better in some ways.  You can set bookmarks to favorite places.  It remembers where you stopped reading and lets you continue quickly. It is lightweight, and as mentioned before, you may choose the font size that suits you best.  It allows you to do a word search through the entire book. And, if you want, you can even have the Kindle read it to you with their text to speech feature that has been enabled for this book!

A great deal of extra work went into this version to enable hundreds of hyperlinks. Each chapter and subtopic in our 12-page Table of Contents is linked. Just click on the topic and the reader takes you to the section you want to read.  Amazingly, the extensive index is also linked.  When you find an entry in the index, you can click on the “page” number and the reader will find the proper section in the book, even though page numbers are not used in eBooks.

Lambert Dolphin and I are blessed to be able to share our passion for Bible prophecy through our book, and it is our prayer that it can be a tool to equip a new generation of Bible students and help stimulate an End-Times revival!

More information about the book is available at Connecting the Dots.

The Kindle version can be downloaded in one minute from Amazon.com

Image via Wikipedia

Recently there has been a debate among prophecy teachers about the nature of the final world empire.  Some say it is a Western union of nations – a “Revived Roman Empire,” while others suspect it will be an Eastern coalition – essentially an Islamic Caliphate. 

In Daniel, chapter 2, the major world empires are depicted in a series of dreams and visions.  Before this time Egypt and Assyria had already come and gone as world powers.  King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream about a giant statue. He asked his wise men to interpret the dream, but they could not.  However, Daniel, a devout young Hebrew captive, was given the ability to declare the dream and its interpretation to the king.

The statue had a head of gold that represented the Babylonian Empire and King Nebuchadnezzar. 

The chest and arms were silver, and stood for the next world empire, which would have two parts.  This was fulfilled by the Medo-Persian Empire that eventually conquered Babylon.

 A bronze waist and thighs stood for another powerful empire that would arise.  This was a preview of Greece. 

The legs were of iron, stronger than the other metals, and they symbolized Rome, the strongest of all empires, and the last world empire to reign over the known world. 

The final aspect of the statue was the composition of the feet.  They were partly of iron, and partly of clay.  Then a rock fell from heaven, symbolizing the coming of Messiah to reign, and broke the feet, causing the whole statue to fall and break apart.  The rock then grew into a great mountain, representing the coming righteous reign of Christ. 

What would the iron and clay mean? It is a Revived Roman Empire–partly of the old iron of the ancient Roman Empire, and partly of clay, something weaker and brittle. It would include some of the old areas, but it would not be as strong and monolithic as the old Roman Empire. When the stone comes out of Heaven and lands on these feet they will break. The stone from Heaven represents the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ as King of Kings.  When he comes he will destroy the final evil empire and set up the Millennial Kingdom.

The Iron 

Today we have what might be called a United States of Europe. The first step toward the formation of a European superstate was the Benelux Agreement on June 8, 1948. This was a treaty between three very small countries, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Several years later, in 1957, in the city of Rome, and with a document called “The Treaty of Rome,” those three countries joined with three other countries, Italy, France, and Germany to form the EEC (European Economic Community), which was called the Common Market. In 1973 the United Kingdom or England came in along with Ireland and Denmark, making a total of nine nations. In 1981 Greece became the tenth member of the union.

Today this coalition has grown to 27 member nations in this European superstate, and it is now known as the European Union (EU) 

Since 2008 there has been another alignment of countries around the Mediterranean Sea.  It is called The Union for the Mediterranean. It includes EU member states and a number of North African and Middle East countries, making a total of 44 countries in the region.  Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi declined to join, calling it “another Roman empire.” 

The EU represents 500,000,000 people, a larger population and larger total economy than the U.S. A new study about the economic crisis showed that Europe is now the richest region in the world.        

The Clay? 

However, In spite of all its promise for a bright future, Europe has one overwhelming problem. The Muslim population is exploding all over Europe while its traditional residents are declining in numbers.  Europe is weak culturally, having lost its Christian conscience. And, as Christopher Caldwell warns in his book, Reflections on the revolution in Europe: Immigration, Islam and the West, “European culture is about to be extinguished by Islamic culture.”  This could very well be the “clay” that is mixed with the Roman “iron” in the feet of Nebuchadnezzar’s vision.

 At this time there is a historical uprising in Islamic countries, presumably to break the yoke of their dictatorships which have left the people in poverty.  The people want democracy, but the Iranian Revolution in 1979 is a grim reminder of what might happen instead.  Thanks to the powerful influence of the Muslim Brotherhood, these countries are in danger of trading one despotic form of government for another one, with a return to radical Islamic control and Sharia law.  If that does happen, these countries could then merge into a new Islamic Caliphate next to the European Union, which is already highly infiltrated by Muslim culture. If this should happen, there could even be a merger of the two empires into one overwhelming world power. 

Much of this is discussed and documented in our book, Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy.

Actually there are several threads of prophetic information in the Bible about the future of Egypt.

First, as we mentioned in our previous blog, Egypt is conspicuously absent from the 38^th and 39^th chapters of Ezekiel.  This section, known as the War of Gog and Magog,  portrays a major future attack against Israel after the Chosen People have been re-gathered from all over the world (Ezekiel 36 and 37) and restored to their homeland.  This prophecy was fulfilled by the rebirth of the nation of Israel in 1948.  The attack will be led by Magog, the descendants of Noah’s grandson (Genesis 10:1-2) who migrated to the north where Russia is today. Magog’s allies will include other northern nations that descended from Magog’s brothers, as well as Persia (Elam – Genesis 10:27), plus Libya and Ethiopia (Put and Cush – Genesis 10:6).  In short, it appears that this still-future war will be led by Russia and her Islamic neighbors and allies.  However, Egypt (Mizraim- Genesis 10:6) is not named.  This leads us to believe that Egypt will not be closely aligned with the Magog coalition when this war occurs.

But when will this conflict occur?  Some prophecy scholars think it is the same as the Battle of Armageddon at the end of the Tribulation, but there are several notable differences between the descriptions of the two campaigns.  It seems more likely that the Magog war will be the same as the great war of the Second Seal near the beginning of the Tribulation Period (Revelation 6:3-4). Iran’s nuclear program could be setting the scene for the fulfillment of this prophecy in the near future.

For the past three decades Israel’s progress and security has been due in part to the peace agreement they have had with Egypt.  Major changes in Egypt cast doubt on the future of that peace, but the fact that the prophecy of the war of Magog does not specifically include Egypt may mean that the changes there will not be as radical as the changes that resulted from Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979.  We can hope that the Muslim Brotherhood does not fill the leadership vacuum there and lead the Egyptians into Sharia law and increased opposition to Israel.

Two other Bible prophecies about Egypt should be mentioned.

In Daniel’s amazing 11^th chapter, Egypt is identified as the King of the South in conflict with another power, the King of the North.  In the first part of the chapter (Daniel 11:5-20) the King of the North describes the Roman Empire.  Rome’s struggle with Egypt is depicted there, with Israel, “the Beautiful Land,” caught in the middle. Rome would gradually decline, and be destroyed, not by battle, but by internal decay.

However, according to the second half of the chapter (Daniel 11:21-45), there will be a renewed or revived empire in the End Times, led by a contemptible person, who undoubtedly corresponds to “The Beast” of Revelation 13.  Toward the end of the Tribulation Period he will conquer the King of the South, including “many countries.” In verse 42 the Bible predicts, “Egypt will not escape.”  In the light of current events this end-time King of the South will most likely be a coalition of Islamic nations.

Another significant prophecy about Egypt is found in Isaiah 19. This chapter is a prediction of future punishment of Egypt that seems to go beyond what has already happened to them.  It could be a picture of what will happen to them during the Tribulation Period.  But it concludes with a time of belief and salvation for the nation, probably during the millennial reign of Christ.

Thanks to Jeff and Nicole Alexander, there is a new Facebook page for the Inland Empire Prophecy Conference!  It includes pictures, schedule information, and even a special video clip about the conference.  Please visit the page, and be sure to click the “Like” icon.  You can also chose to recommend the page to all your friends. 

The conference will be held at the Ontario Convention Center on Friday, Jan. 14th and Saturday, Jan. 15th.  Pre-registration is phenomenal, with half of the 2000 seats reserved already.  You can pre-register at KKLA.  Friday night’s closing session will be a strong evangelistic message by Jack Hibbs.  Don’t miss this chance to bring a friend who needs to know Jesus. But be sure to pre-register yourself and your friend!  Wristbands for entrance will be given to those who have registered. 

Additional  information is available on the conference website.

Frank Pastore, America’s most popular Christian talk show host will broadcast his program live from the conference on Friday night from 4 to 7 p.m. It is a free event, but love offerings will be received to cover the cost of such an event.  Pre-registration is necessary because, even though we will have a huge meeting space, seating is limited.

The outstanding speaker lineup includes Tim LaHaye, Chuck Missler, David Hocking, Bill Koenig, Gary Kah, Ron Carlson, Jack Hibbs, and Lambert Dolphin.  I will also have the privilege of speaking, not because I belong in such company, but because I am host pastor.

We have a web page devoted to the conference at  http://www.Bible-prophecy.com/conference.  A beautiful poster may be downloaded and printed in any size you want.  Pictures and information about the speakers is included, along with suggestions for hotels in the area that will give a “prophecy conference discount.”

The Friday night program will conclude with a powerful evangelistic message by Jack Hibbs, so be sure to bring your friends who need to hear the Gospel!

If you would like to attend, please block out Friday evening and all day Saturday and don’t forget to pre-register!  There is a special toll-free phone number for this purpose, and KKLA will also have online registration during the month before the event.  The number is 888-974-4242.

Some have thought we are mentioned in Ezekiel 38:13 as one of the “young lions” of what might be the old British Empire. But that is not convincing today since Great Britain is not all that powerful and the United States is obviously no longer a British colony.

Others have thought America could be equated directly with Babylon the Great at the point of her future destruction in Revelation 17 and 18. But that is too great a stretch, and there are far better explanations of Babylon in the last days.

So, what happens to the United States between now and the likely near-future unfolding of the end times scenario?

There are several possibilities. One theory is that the war of Gog and Magog will take place before the rise of Antichrist’s final world empire. It could be the war of the Second Seal of Revelation 6:3-4. That series of events, described in Ezekiel 36 through 39, includes the rebirth of the nation of Israel and an attack against her once she is living in peace and safety. Israel was reborn in 1948 in magnificent fulfillment of this prophecy, but she has not yet enjoyed peace. That peace could be achieved any time now, setting the stage for the attack of Russia and an Islamic force against Israel. Ezekiel’s prophecies about this war say that Israel’s enemies will be destroyed by fire and brimstone. This, of course, could describe a nuclear exchange. What if Iran were to use a nuclear weapon against Israel? Wouldn’t the response also threaten to involve the United States in an unwanted nuclear exchange? If that did happen, it is not likely that the United States would still be a powerful world-player after that war.

Another likely scenario would be that America will have suffered a financial collapse by the time of the last days, and would still exist, but not be a super-power. That is exactly what many political and financial analysts are saying about our current course. The unconscionable spending of recent legislation, with its inevitable tax burden on future citizens could easily be the real reason for the demise of America as anything more than another cog in the European socialistic machinery that Antichrist will use for his economic dictatorship (Revelation 13).

In either of these cases, The United States will not be gone in the last days. We will just not be worth mentioning.