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Introduction
1998 was a red-letter year for prophecy students. As the church has always done, we are living in expectation of the Second Coming of Christ. We cannot help wondering if these are the "Last Days" which were foretold by the Bible. Jesus told us we should be able to discern the signs of the times.
He also gave us some of these signs in His Olivet Discourse (Matthew chapters 24 and 25; and Luke 21). They included False Christs, Wars and rumors of wars, Earthquakes, Famines, Plagues, Signs in the Heavens, and Persecution. He then gave us this parable: The evident meaning of this parable is that the generation which sees these things beginning to happen will not pass away until all have been fulfilled. We have more reason than any other generation which has ever existed to believe that we are living in that generation. To better understand this, consider this brief outline of the things which must still happen on earth before Christ returns as King of Kings. Scholars who take the Bible literally generally agree on these major aspects, though some differ about the timing of the events and of the Rapture (catching away of the Church). Jesus Christ will call His true believers up to be with Him (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Soon after that, a powerful leader (Antichrist) will appear - one who will have solutions to the political and economic woes of the earth (Revelation 6:1-2). When Israel is finally at peace, presumably because of a good agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, there will be a great war (Revelation 6:3-4). This will probably the same as the war of Ezekiel 38 and 39 in which Russia and its allies, including many nations of the Islamic world, will attack Israel, and, in the process, be defeated by God. The world will suffer many global calamities, including famine and plagues. During this time the brilliant leader will consolidate his power until, at the middle of a seven-year period of time (Daniel 9:27), he will require people to worship him and to accept the "Mark of the Beast" on either their forehead or right hand (Revelation 13). Without the mark, no one will be allowed to buy or sell. At this point in the future there will be a virtual one-world government, a religious system which encompasses all the earth, a method of controlling all commerce, and a rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem. For the remainder of this time (the "Great Tribulation"), the earth will be punished by supernatural judgments (Revelation chapters 16-18), and Antichrist, in desperation will call Jesus Christ down to battle. At this war, The Battle of Armageddon, Jesus will return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19), and will set up a righteous kingdom on Earth for 1000 years (Revelation 20:1-6). After that, there will be a new Heaven and a New Earth.(Revelation chapters 21-22). Here now are some of the things that have transpired during this past year which make us feel that we are surely closer to Christ's coming than ever before! Documentation for all of these events may be found in the pages of the PROPHECY CENTRAL website (https://www.bible-prophecy.com).
Though there are many differences between the major religions of the Earth, there is also a movement, known as the New Age Religion, which seeks to reconcile all beliefs and unite them. They teach that there are many "Christs" or "ascended masters," which have been responsible in the past for the formation of various religions. One group, Share International., which is sponsored by the United Nations, claims that the Messiah for our age is already alive, but in hiding. He is known as Maitreya, and, according to Benjamin Creme, he will be revealed some time soon. He had actually predicted his appearance during 1998, but when it didn't happen, said he was waiting for the world to be ready for him. There is another movement called United Religions, with headquarters in San Francisco, which is busy gaining adherents to a world religious organization patterned after the United Nations. They have a definite timetable of events leading to the signing of a charter some time in the year 2000.
There is a debate about whether or not there is greatly increased earthquake activity, but in any case, there have been many significant earthquakes all over the world this year.
1998 was the year of increased nuclear proliferation. Iran and Iraq are trying to create their own atomic weapons, Pakistan finally succeeded, and tested its first nuclear bombs, then India responded by breaking the agreement not to test. North Korea is considered very dangerous because they have been reduced to starvation, but have missiles which are able to deliver warheads a great distances, possibly even to the United States. Russia and the other former members of the Soviet Union are suffering economically and politically. They are facing grave internal dangers caused by Mafia activity and a badly impoverished and disillusioned military. These pressures make them extremely unstable, and threaten to release nuclear devices and technology into the hands of terrorists. There is also a growing danger that chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction will be used by emerging countries which do not yet have nuclear capabilities. This is the basis of the ongoing struggle with Saddam Hussein's Iraq. A spate of recent false Anthrax alarms here in Los Angeles underscores the fear that terrorists may have the ability to deliver these horrible weapons whenever and wherever they wish. The air strike against Iraq, which happened to coincide with the impeachment hearings, had a negative result for America. Billions of dollars worth of weapons were used without apparently stopping the rise of Saddam Hussein. In fact, Arab nations are beginning to rally to his cause now, and, as some have put it, a "New Cold War" has been precipitated by the bombings. Russia and China are in agreement against United States military strategy, and even Koffi Anan, the Secretary General United Nations, is disappointed in the action. In the Middle East, all eyes are on Israel and Jerusalem as a new attempt at peace between Israel and the Palestinians was hammered out at the Wye Plantation with President Clinton's leadership. However, since then, little progress has been made, and Benjamin Netanyahu's government coalition in Israel has collapsed, leaving the entire program running in the background. Meanwhile, Yasser Arafat makes periodic claims that the Palestinians will declare statehood next May with Jerusalem as its capital. Jerusalem is firmly in Israel's possession, but West Bank concessions reach to the Temple Mount area which is under the control of Islamic guards.
Terrorism holds the whole world hostage. In addition to the ongoing investigations about sabotaged flights and building explosions, Osama Bin Laden, the multi-millionaire ex-Saudi terrorist attacked American embassies simultaneously in Kenya and Tanzania. The United States retaliated by bombing factories and training camps in the Sudan and Afghanistan. Now everyone waits for the next blow.
Famines are still severe in many parts of the world. Some of the worst affected people are south Sudanese Christians and the people of North Korea. In both cases, famine is a direct result of war. Poverty is a perennial problem in India and other emerging countries where the population is greater than the ability of the country to care for its people. The population is spiraling higher, and will reach six billion some time next year.
Reports about the world-wide AIDS epidemic were not encouraging this year, and there is a growing fear that many of the diseases once thought under control, such as Tuberculosis, are being unleashed again with drug-resistant mutations.
A short-lived scare appeared this year about an asteroid which was on a near-collision course with the Earth. It was quickly discovered that the calculations were wrong, and that it would not be a threat. Still there is increased awareness of the fact that there are thousands of asteroids which cross earth's orbit. Two movies during the summer ("Deep Impact" and "Armageddon") dramatized the fear of such "falling stars." Severe weather patterns also plagued the globe again this year. Each year seems to give way to the next as the worst in this category. The United States was especially hard hit by floods, hurricanes and tornadoes this year, leading some people to draw a connection between our weakening support of Israel and these heavenly punishments.
Persecution
Persecution of Christians is a growing phenomenon, especially in countries such as the Sudan which are trying to establish Islamic rule. Atrocities were reported from many other countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, China, and even India. There is even a climate of intolerance against evangelical Christians by some groups in the United States.
Joseph Farrah, Editor of the WorldNetDaily gave us a pleasant surprise on the day before Christmas when he asked in his column, "When Will Jesus Return?" In his article he noted that Orthodox Jews have taught that the world would last for 6,000 years before Messiah would come, based on the six days of creation (Genesis 1:31), and a seventh day of rest. Psalm 90:4 states "For a thousand years in Thy sight are like yesterday when it passes by." He also showed that the Early Church had the same idea, as seen in 2 Peter 3:8 where it is said, "… with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." Biblical records indicate that it was approximately 4000 years from Adam to Christ, and, of course it has been approximately 2000 years since His birth. The article mentioned Edward Gibbon,s "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," in which he cites early documents suggesting the Christian disciples of the first century were taught that Jesus would return after 2000 years. We heed Christ's warning that we can not know the "day or the hour" of His return (Matthew 24:36 and 25:13). But we can see that it could be very near. Nevertheless, we do not set dates for the Rapture name the Antichrist. Only time will reveal these things. We think it is especially unwise for anyone to set the date for Christ's return at the turn of the Millennium.
There is a desperate search throughout the world for a leader who can steer the nations of the world through the dangerous waters of unrest. The House of Representatives has impeached its president of the United States. Russia is in the process of doing the same with Boris Yeltsin. Benjamin Netanyahu has lost control of the government in Israel, and people everywhere seem to be dissatisfied with their leaders. There is no Winston Churchill or Mahatma Ghandi, or even JFK on the horizon. These are just the conditions one would expect to give rise to a "benevolent dictator" who would later be recognized as Antichrist. When such a man is found, whom people believe can solve the world's political and economic troubles, he will be wildly accepted. Even if he is immoral in his personal life, that will not matter, as we see so clearly in the current high ratings by the American people of President Clinton even though they believe he cheated on his wife and lied to the American public.
The recent financial melt-down in Asia has had a profound effect on the economies of the rest of the world. Japan is officially in recession, and companies here in America which depend on Asian business are struggling to survive. The stock market has bounced around very unpredictably during this year. No one knows for sure what the future will bring. On January 1, 1999, eleven European nations are making the very bold step of operating on a single currency, the Euro. . This economic partnership becomes the second largest economy in the world, second only to the United States. The eleven nations are: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. The four European Union nations which decided not to join at this time are: Britain, Denmark, Greece and Sweden. Actual bills and coins will not be issued until 2002, but electronic monetary transactions among the 11 nations will be conducted using the Euro. Bank cards and travelers checks will also be based on the Euro. This is the biggest event since the founding of the European Union to demonstrate the possible fulfillment of the prophecy from Daniel 2:27-45 of the formation of one last form of human world government, (iron mixed with clay) starting in the very geographical area of the old Roman Empire (iron).
One of the most fascinating aspects of our age is the exponential growth of technology. New super computers, smart cards, biometric identification techniques, and communications are working together to provide a new world of electronic commerce which could hardly be imagined a generation ago, and is just what is needed by a future world dictator. The Department of Energy's new IBM supercomputer operates at 3.9 trillion operations per second, which would be fast enough to review records of all six billion people on earth every second! Of course, it is not going to be used for that purpose, but one can see that world-wide control of buying and selling is not impossible today. Smart Cards are not yet popular in the United States, but are in wide use in the rest of the world. They contain microscopic self-contained computers capable of running a variety of applications to keep one's personal information, health data, electronic records, multiple "purses" for storage of electronic cash, security information and more. One company just announced that they will provide a smart card in a watch, complete with radio transmission so the user can conduct all his business without touching anything. The next step would be to implant the computer device under the skin like we presently do for dogs and cats, so that the user's information could not be lost or stolen! The Internet is growing more valuable and more powerful every day. New faster cable networks are being installed to connect all parts of the world at blinding speeds, and Bill Gates' Teledesic satellite network is being built so that Internet commerce may be conducted from any place on earth within a couple of years.
A powerful debate has raged during this year about the Y2K problem which could cause massive computer failures and could affect every area of our lives in the year 2000. Most people know by now that the problem is the fact that when computer memory was very expensive, programmers saved memory space by storing years by the last two digits only. The computer program would add the first two digits, which were "19." In the year 2000, dates may be incorrectly interpreted as 1900 instead of 2000, leading to wrong calculations or even computer failures. Opinions about the seriousness of the problem range from "The end of the world as we know it," to complete denial that anything is likely to happen. Those who take the time to read some of the articles about the issue (no one can read all of it- it's a flood of information), have to admit that there is the likelihood of problems, but no one knows for sure just how serious they may be. Our position on the subject is that the church should take the threat seriously, and urge our people to prepare for a disaster like an earthquake, which we should do anyway, but not to hoard a huge supply of food or plan to relocate or use force to protect one's supplies. Instead, we should be prepared to help ourselves and our neighbors the best we can, and to provide a calm, peaceful testimony during the year. This can result in an opportunity to win people to Christ. From a prophetic point of view, the Y2K scare will have done more to modernize and upgrade computer and communications systems during the past few years than any other event could have done. This de-bugged, most powerful system will be in place for Antichrist's world-wide program when he needs it.
Now, none of this should cause fear for a Christian, because we have read the Bible and know that it all leads to a wonderful conclusion for those who trust in Christ. If you know Christ, these things should have a purifying and motivating effect in your life.
If you haven't ever received Christ as Savior, you can do it now. Go to Are You Ready? AT https://www.bible-prophecy.com/ready.htm
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