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Updated December 8th, 1998
Question
Pastor Malone:
I have read that at the turn of the 1st millennium (1000 AD) many were selling their possessions because they were just certain Jesus was coming then. Of course, he did not. What makes you so certain that this will not be another false alarm.
Sincerely,
Terry J.
Answer
Dear Terry:
Thanks for visiting our site. Let me give you some profound reasons why we are living in the last days. Take into consideration that my reasons are based on predictions made more than 2,000 years ago.
The predictions of the Bible are not generalized or vague like many so-called prophets of today. Biblical prophecy has always been on target. There has not been one Bible prophecy that has failed or has been late.
It is astonishing to me that so many things have happened in this generation that were predicted over 2,000 years ago, that have come to pass. Another amazing element is that they could not have happened in any other time period. Let me give you a few examples.
In the last days, Israel will once again become a nation and a generation will not pass away before Jesus comes again (Matthew 24:32-34). Not only did Israel become a nation again, it became a nation in the middle of all its enemies. How many nations do you know that have accomplished this feat? And they had to defeat several battle ready Arab states to keep their land. Since then, they have been challenged many times. In fact, in 1967 several of the Arab countries staged a surprise attack, and when all was said and done, Israel had more land than they began with. And if the United Nations had not stepped in, Israel would have taken a lot more land. Israel also took back Jerusalem, which they have not occupied for almost 2,000 years.
In the last days, the Arab world, led by Russia, will stage an all out attack on Israel (Ezekiel 38 & 39). The Bible gives us another 2,000-year-old prediction. Of course, this Russian-Arab Alliance will be defeated. If someone had said 20 years ago that these nations would be allies, most would have scoffed at the suggestion. But in these last days, Russia has been building nuclear plants on Arab soil, and many believe they are selling them weapons of mass destruction. And during Gulf War II, they issued a warning to the United States advising them not to stage an attack against Iraq and restated the warning again in February of 2002. Although both were mild warnings, it still displayed that a line had been drawn as to whose side they were on.
In years past, I always looked at this prophecy from a distance. I really didn’t see how Russia could ever fit into this League of Nations. But according to Azizi Sami of the Al-Ahram Weekly Online, Russia has been working very hard to fit into the Arab world and develop a strong alliance. He writes:
“Bilateral relations between Russia and the Arab countries are beginning to flourish again. They had receded in the early 1990s” after the collapse of the Soviet Union, said Goudev. “Now, Russia is following policies which are more in line with its aspirations in the Arab world,” he added. Russia has condemned the US-British air strikes against Iraq, and is making an active effort to resolve the crisis by urging Baghdad to adhere to UN Security Council resolutions and demanding an end to economic sanctions, said Goudev. It also supports President Hosni Mubarak’s position on nuclear disarmament.
As the Middle East continues to heat up and the prospects for peace begin to fade, I see Russia taking a more proactive position in the peace initiative. But eventually, they will lead the Arab world into battle against an unsuspecting Israel just as predicted.
In the last days knowledge will rapidly increase (Daniel 12:4). There has been more information produced in the last 30 years than since the dawn of man. This is startling! For approximately 5,900 years, man’s primary mode of transportation has been an animal of some sort (horse, donkey, camel, etc.) or walking. Of course, watercrafts have been used for centuries, but land transportation has been restricted to animals for the majority of history. Obviously, that has changed over the last 150 years and dramatically so over the past 50 years. Communications has taken a giant leap forward as well. Telephones have led the way, but computers are now taking over as the internet has opened up a new worldwide range of possibilities. An article that appeared in ZDNet News reported that artificial intelligence would soon surpass human intelligence. In the September 2001 issue British scientist Stephen Hawking portrays a very scary future.
Renowned British scientist Stephen Hawking has claimed that humans should be genetically engineered if they are to compete with the phenomenal growth of artificial intelligence.
In an interview published on Saturday by the German magazine Focus, Professor Hawking argues that the increasing sophistication of computer technology is likely to outstrip human intelligence in the future. He concedes that the scientific modification of human genes could increase the complexity of DNA and “improve” human beings.
“In contrast with our intellect, computers double their performance every 18 months,” says Hawking. “So the danger is real that they could develop intelligence and take over the world.”
The best-selling author of A Brief History of Time says “we should follow this road [of genetic engineering] if we want biological systems to remain superior to electronic ones.”
Hawking predicted last year that genetic engineers would be able to create super-humans with larger brains and an increased IQ. His latest warning calls for the development of technologies that would allow human brains to be linked to computers, “so that artificial brains contribute to human intelligence rather than oppose it.”
These are only a few of the discoveries made within the last 3 or 4 years. Things are now changing by the day instead of from generation to generation. There’s no telling what the world will be like when Jesus comes.
The Bible predicted in the last days the world would be heading toward a one-world government (Revelation 13:2-8). This will eventually come to pass during the tribulation period under the rule of the antichrist. But there are many forces behind the scenes working toward that goal as we speak. Did you know that there is a very prominent organization called the New World Order? Its main focus is to bring the world together under a one-world government.
Mikhail Gorbachev was the first to address the emergence of a New World Order in 1988 and then President George Bush Sr. after defeating Iraq in the Gulf War in the early 90s. Former President Bush spoke of a bright new future world that would lead us into global harmony and one day establish a one-world government.
Author and globalism expert Tal Brooke in his landmark book One World states that we have been heading for a one-world government for some time. In fact, a push toward a one-world religion is also in the works. Here is an excerpt from his book:
“Today, I say that no nation in the world need be left out of the global system we are constructing.” --Madeleine Albright, 1997 Harvard University commencement.
The public in America and the Western nations have been under a mounting barrage of arguments stating that separate nations must enter a federation of world states -- a New World Order.
If such a global system appears in our era, it will be the first time in history that the earth will have a world government. There have been countless tries down through history from Alexander the Great and Caesar Augustus to Charlemagne and Napoleon, but no one has ever been able to pull off “the planetary bargain.” The stakes are huge.
To close the deal, the arguments must be compelling enough to convince nations and their citizens to surrender their sovereignty and freedoms for the higher good of the planet. They warn of dire consequences if this does not take place. Descriptions of the good life are then added, ranging from heaven on earth, the end of poverty, war and disease, to the inauguration of the anticipated New Age of spiritual brotherhood, peace and enlightenment. We are told the global state is worth the sacrifice. But at stake for Americans, among others, is our history and legacy as we have known it. The anticipated change could be far greater than when history leapt from the Medieval period to the Renaissance. That’s why it’s a “New Age.”
Soon after the first edition of this book came out -- almost overnight -- the Berlin Wall came down, the American president introduced the term New World Order, and the death of communism was declared. The subtitle, “The Coming New World Order,” appeared a full two years before the term “New World Order” was known by more than a fraction of the public, yet global change is only in its early phases. Everything that the book anticipated has unfolded on schedule with much more ahead.
The political, military, and economic pillars of this long-range plan cannot fully support a World Order without the fourth pillar -- a global religion -- standing beneath the fourth corner, lest the structure collapse. It is that simple.
Let’s briefly consider the spiritual part of this agenda:
Religious differences are seen as the final barrier, separating various ethnic populations. Until these differences are broken down, divergent cultures will never fully meld into a One World Order.
Preparation for religious fusion has been well under way for quite some time. Recently, things have speeded up with talk of a United Religions, a UR, mirroring the United Nations.
An international Who’s Who of statesmen, intellectuals and financial leaders met on June 25, 1995 at the U.N.’s 50th anniversary in San Francisco at Grace Cathedral. At the key ceremony, it was revealed that Mikhail Gorbachev, the former head of the Soviet Union, had the backing of world leaders to set up a United Nations sister organization in San Francisco called the United Religions. Modeled on the U.N., it would have a 500-member assembly, a 36-member executive council, and a general secretary. Multi-faith peacemaker teams would be dispatched around the world by the “U.R.” to trouble spots, just like the U.N. In the summer of 2000, in Pittsburgh, the charter for the United Religions was signed right on schedule.
Is it any mystery, then, that perhaps the most powerful force to move across the church in 2000 years is now trying to prepare the way for such a global religion? The momentum of this ecumenical movement is astounding. From another angle, the New Age and Neo-pagan alternatives are perfect fits for this grand spiritual synthesis. When Christianity absorbs the new spiritualities, then it will be ripe for a merger.
I would have never believed that such prominent world leaders would be identified with such a movement. But as the world gets smaller and smaller I can see the day fast approaching when a one-world government will become a reality.
The Bible predicted in the last days that a nation from the East would march across the Euphrates River with a standing army of two hundred million soldiers (Revelation 9:13-19). One part of this prophecy states that they will cause the Euphrates River to dry up so that it does not hinder their march of destruction. This has already been done by Turkey to complete maintenance work on a dam back in 1990.
During the tribulation period they will dry up the Euphrates River again. This could only have happened in this generation. They will kill one-third of the world population. There has never been a nation in the history of the world or today that could field an army of that magnitude, except one, modern day China. With a population nearing 1.3 billion they could easily raise an army of that magnitude. It is estimated that by 2010 the 20-49 year old age group will number over 660 million. That’s almost 50 percent of the projected population. And they won’t be alone. I also believe that Japan, North and South Korea will join in on this march of terror.
During the tribulation period it is predicted that two of the Lord’s witnesses will be killed and their bodies left in the streets for all nations to view for three and one half days (Revelation 11:3-10). Obviously, this could only have been possible during this generation via satellite transmission.
I don’t know if you have noticed, but CNN and other major news organizations have been using the internet and cell phone technology to transmit live video from remote locations. As this technology develops, we will literally be able to see events live as they happen throughout the world.
The Arab peoples will claim the land of Israel, which God gave to their brothers, the Jews. The prophet Ezekiel says this claim will be made in the end times (Ezekiel 35:5, 10; 36:2, 5). This prophecy has been fulfilled in this century. For almost 2,000 years the Jews were dispersed from the land which God gave them, and during that time period, there was never an Arab state in the area that the world called Palestine. The Arabs who lived in that area considered themselves Syrians. They had no consciousness as Palestinians, and no effort was ever made to create a Palestinian state. When the Jews began returning in the late 1800s, the Arab’s gleefully sold them the land at inflated prices because it was considered worthless. It was World War I that changed the Arab viewpoint. The war resulted in the land of Palestine being transferred from the Turks to the British, and the British immediately proclaimed it to be a homeland for the Jews. Suddenly, the Arabs were confronted with the prospect of a Jewish state, and they began to dig in their heels, claiming the land as their own. The British gave into Arab pressure, and in 1922 they gave two-thirds of Palestine to the Arabs, creating the state of Jordan. This was land that they had promised to the Jews. But this action did not satisfy the Arab appetite. They wanted all the land God had given to the Jews, and they still covet it to this day, just as prophesied.
Of course, the seven predictions I have listed are just a few of the prophecies slated for the last days. But every one of them has either happened or they will happen. And this is the only time all these predictions could have happened at the same time. All the criteria could not have been meet a hundred years ago. We are living in the last generation.
Pastor Malone