Chapter 1

What Is This World Coming To?

Most intelligent people know and realize that this earth is not going to last forever, it will have an end.  Even if you do not believe the Bible's account of the end, you should know that our earth's resources are almost exhausted.  In spite of the fact that many organizations are on a mission to save the earth, in my opinion, that is impossible.  There are just too many natural destructive forces in place that humans can no longer control.

I am in no way attempting to perpetrate fear on you the reader.  Jesus does not normally utilize fear to get His point across.  The Bible says that His perfect love casts out fear.  However, if you have been uninformed about what could possibly happen here on earth, it is possible that you may react in sort of a "wake up" way like I did in 1979.  That was a healthy thing for me.

The Bible is clear about the earth finally coming to an end.  Jesus spoke about it and the first apostles and writers of the New Testament wrote about it under the inspiration of God.

2 Peter 3:10 13says,

"10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,

12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?

13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells."

Matthew 24:4 31says,

"4 And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you.

5 "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.

6 "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

7 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.

8 "All these are the beginning of sorrows.

9 "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.

10 "And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.

11 "Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.

12 "And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.

13 "But he who endures to the end shall be saved.

14 "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

15 "Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand),

16 "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

17 "Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house.

18 "And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.

19 "But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!

20 "And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.

21 "For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.

22 "And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.

23 "Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it.

24 "For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

25 "See, I have told you beforehand.

26 "Therefore if they say to you, 'Look, He is in the desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it.

27 "For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

28 "For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.

29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

30 "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

31 "And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

Notice Jesus said something interesting in verses 15 and 16:

15 "Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand),

16 "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

While I do not claim to understand all of the future events of history, and I don't think anybody does, there is something in verses 15 and 16 of Matthew 24 that is one of the foundational blocks of this book.  I believe that Jesus was telling us that there would be a future season of time that we would be able to discen.  That season would be a time for each of us to beware of.  I believe that this world is quickly entering into an "end time new world order."

Israel is the time clock.

The primary evidence in my opinion that we are in an end time season is the fact that Israel is again a nation.  They became a nation in 1948 for the first time since Titus drove them out in 70 AD.  The Old Testament is full of prophecies that Israel would again become a nation.  To my knowledge, Israel is the only civilization that survived without a homeland in the history of the world.  Certainly they are the only people whose re gathering into their homeland was so perfectly prophesied in Scripture.  There is a set of prophecies that predict the exact date of their re gathering.  [i]

The final attempt.

This new world order will be a final attempt of humans to make a heaven out of this earth without God.  This world has seen wars, inhumane treatment of people, genocide and so many horrible attrocities for thousands of years.  All one has to do is make an honest appraisal of world history.  There has been more brutal wars with inhumane killings than we can ever study or even imagine.  Mankind has been brutal. I believe that such evil events have been more prevelant than the "good times."

Many in the Western world are oblivious to this, but many in Africa and other Third World nations have a first hand and personal knowledge of how absolutely savage others can be.

Yet the humanists still feel that they are able to control this world and bring order.  It amazes me that good intelligent people who have access to thousands of years of history, could still hold any hope for the prosperity of this world in it's present system.  However this new world order will have the look of something different than the "world's system."  It will look to many like God has finally intervened.

Hitler claimed to be the one who could bring order.  World rulers for centuries have claimed that they have the final solution to mankind's woes, but all have failed.  Now, at the end, there will be a different kind of attempt, one that will baffle even the elect of God and deceive even some Spirit filled believers. [ii]

The idea of the abomination of desolations has been written about by many people who thought for sure that they understood all the future history that the term infers.  I do no claim to be an expert in end time prophecy nor do I totally understand all the timing of future events.

However this I believe, that the abomination of desolations represents a lifeless idol that will attempt to bring peace, security and financial well being to the world.  The online encyclopedia Wikipedia offers this definition;  "In both Biblical and rabbinical Hebrew abomination is a familiar term for an idol."

During this end of time false teachers who have a form of Christianity will lead many astray.  We have seen this for many years, but now in 2009 it is increasing exponentially.

In a later chapter I you will read some detail about the history of the major empires of this world as viewed by Daniel in Daniel chapters 2 and 7.  The last kingdom is both spiritual and physical.  It is inferred in Scripture that this last kingdom will rise up just before the end of time, and will for awhile seem to be the first glimmer of hope for peace and prosperity on this earth.  But it will not last long, and it will be a deceitful attempt at world control by evil spiritual powers.

1 Peter 2:1 3 says,

"But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber."

The solution is not in this world's governments.

Isaiah saw the Lord as recorded in Isaiah chapter 6 when Uzziah died, Uzziah was one of the stongest government leader in Israel's history.  Isaiah had to become desperate and to be convinced that a stong earthly government did not become his idol.  Read Isaiah chapter 6:1 11. [iii] This book will cover Isaiah's experieicne in a later chapter.

Today so many modern Christians are looking to our governments, both national and worldwide, to solve the problems of our age. While I believe in praying for our governments, we are not to look to them for our solutions in life.  We are not to make an idol out of our governments.  The best of governments belong to the world's system.

Going back into all the past kingdoms of this world, (referred to in the next chapter), either they all attempted to provide some sort of security for their own people, or they were operated by an evil dictator that only cared about his own power.  They have all failed.  Even the wonderful United States of American has not been able to provide security in health care, financial matters, and even solid law and order for its people.  One would think that people would finally see how the world system has failed, but interestingly, new movements and governments still try.  New humanitarian efforts by well intentioned people have failed.

No blurred distinctions.

Too many Christians get blurry eyed when they consider the Kingdom of God.  Many believe that it is reserved for after we die.  Some think it is for the "Millennium" as described in the Book of Revelation.  However some do believe that it is for the now, and for the future.  Groups of people have, for thousands of years, attempted to create the Kingdom of God here on earth as an earthly and physical government.  I believe that the Kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom that we may bring to earth right now.  Certainly it is also for the time after we die and go to Heaven as well.

However many blur the Kingdom of God with the kingdoms of this world.  They feel that just improving our national governments will bring God's will and kingdom into this earth.

Satan is in control of all the kingdoms of this world.

Satan offered the kingdoms of this earth to Jesus when he tempted Jesus as told in Luke chapter 4.  Satan and Jesus agreed upon this in Luke 4:5 8.[iv] Jesus passively admitted that all the kingdoms of this world belonged to Satan at that time.  Even the best governments, banks, financial systems, and yes, even religions that are not based upon the truth of the Gospel, are under the control of Satan.

Revelation chapter 18 makes it clear, that taken together and named Mystery Babylon, all the kingdoms of this world will destroy themselves.  Revelation chapter 11 also makes it clear that Jesus finally will rule in every area that the kingdoms of this world are now ruling.  In my opinion that will not be by improving them from their present state but by allowing them to destroy themselves as stated in Revelation 18:1 13, which says,

"1 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory.

2 And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!

3 "For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury."

4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.

5 "For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.

6 "Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her.

7 "In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, 'I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.'

8 "Therefore her plagues will come in one day  death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.

9 "The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning,

10 "standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, 'Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.'

11 "And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore:

12 "merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble;

13 "and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men."

Therefore we should not stand around and wait for our governments, our schools, our health care, or our finances to improve because our governments will improve.  We need to repent, and turn to the Kingdom of God.

It is normally accepted that dictator and communist governments are often corrupt and offer no hope for their people.  Why is this true?  It is simply because the dictators and the leaders are corrupt.  It is the same even in a democratic government.  While I love the United States of America, and I would rather live here than anywhere else in the world, our government is still of the world's system.  I recognize that America is a very special government even in the history of the world; nevertheless it is only as good as the people in control.  Who is in control in a democracy?  The voters.  And you can be sure that the majority of the voters who rule most democracies in world history, including America, are corrupt, or at least not godly.

Jesus told us to repent, which is to take a 180 degree turn, because the Kingdom of God is now at hand.  He said to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all the things that non believers sweat and work hard for will simply be added to us as fruit, Matthew 6:33.  Not only will we see fruit in our lives for our character, our provisions our ministry, but also our relationship with Jesus will be very real and tangible.

A sinking ship.

If you were on a ship, like the Titanic, that was sinking slowly but surely, what would be your reaction?  Would you attempt to fix the ship so that it would not sink?  Would you go down to the saloon, the bar, and just have some wine or whiskey with the other passengers and attempt to drown yourself in becoming drunk so that you could avoid reality?  Or, would you attempt to gather as many passengers as possible and bring them into the life boat that you knew for sure would not only save your life but theirs as well?

That is our task.  It is to rescue people from this world's system and bring them into the Kingdom of God, now. When your kings die, rejoice for the Kingdom of God is near to you then. Also, keep your eyes open for those people whose "kings have died" and give them the good news of the Kingdom.

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[i] Daniel 's prophesy about the coming of the Messiah to Jerusalem.

One of the most amazing prophecies in the Word of God is Daniel 's prophecy in Daniel Chapter 9 telling the exact day that Jesus would enter Jerusalem to be crucified, 500 years before it happened!

Daniel had been shown many prophecies in visions.  Chapter 9 of Daniel records the angel Gabriel coming to Daniel and speaking the most amazing prophesy to him.

He told him that God 's people would have a period of 70 weeks cut out of history for them, during which time several things would take place.

69 of the 70 weeks have been fulfilled in actual history.  There is a pause of thousands of years, and then the last week will be fulfilled.  This is a common thing in Bible prophecy. In a spiritual way we are in the last week, now in our lives today.

The word week is "shabua," which in Hebrew means seven; it is like saying a dozen.  The entire Old Testament proves this out; when a week is spoken of it means seven, and it usually associated with years (Leviticus 25).  Daniel was thinking in terms of periods of seven years for each "week."

We are going to focus on the 69 weeks, which now is history and prophecy fulfilled in a supernatural way.

The year in Old Testament terms was not 365 days but 360 days; proven in Genesis 7:11  8:3.  It verifies that the flood lasted 150 days and then it gave us the five month period by dates.

The starting point for this prophetic event was to be the issuance of a command to rebuild Jerusalem, including the streets, the walls, and the moat as a protection against the enemies.

"Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven  'sevens ', and sixty two  'sevens. ' It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble" (Daniel 9:25).

The starting point was the command to rebuild the City, and that was given in Nehemiah 2:1.  It was the month of Nisan in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes.  He began his reign in 465 BC, + 20 years = 445 BC, so the decree took place in 445 BC the month of Nisan.  445 BC Nisan = March 14.

69 weeks X 7 X 360 days = 173,880 days.

Now for the rest of the math:

Add to March 14, 445 BC 173,880 days = April 6, 32 AD, which is the very day Jesus rode into Jerusalem in his triumphal entry.  What an amazing prophecy and fulfillment!

One of the most amazing prophecies was given by Ezekiel. Quoted from our book Is There A New World Coming? )http://www.isob bible.org/world.htm)

It was the foretelling of the very month (maybe even to the day) of Israel 's return to the Promised Land after being away over 1,900 years.  The year was 1948!

In 70 AD, a little more than 30 years after Jesus was resurrected, the Roman General Titus came and destroyed Jerusalem.  The Jews dispersed all over the world. Multitudes of civilizations have come to Israel to steal God 's promise. Later, in the 1940s, Hitler tried to destroy the last traces of Jews from the face of the earth.

They are the only race of people to survive thousands of years without a country!  In 1948 (during my own lifetime) after World War II and Hitler 's failure, the Jews came back and formed a new country called Israel.  I watched it on TV!  I saw the United Nations vote to ordain this.

Ezekiel was given this prophecy in a most unusual way from God.

"Moreover take for yourself an iron plate, and set it as an iron wall between you and the city. Set your face against it, and it shall be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel.

Lie also on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it. According to the number of the days that you lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity.

For I have laid on you the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days; so you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

And when you have completed them, lie again on your right side; then you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days. I have laid on you a day for each year" (Ezekiel 4:3 6).

God said this would be a sign to Israel.  He told Ezekiel to lie on his left side 390 days (representing 390 years), and then lie on his right side 40 days (representing 40 years), or a total of 430 years.   This would be a sign to Israel that their punishment would be for 430 years.

In the spring of 536 BC they were released from Babylon.  If you count the 70 years of captivity in Babylon, they still had 360 years left (430  70 = 360).

However, nothing happened at the end of this 360 year period.  The majority of the Jews were still in Babylon, now known as Iraq and Iran, and they were still backslidden people.  They had failed to repent of their disobedience.

The solution to this mystery is in Leviticus 26 where it states that the punishments for Israel are based on her obedience and disobedience to His commands.  God said here that if Israel did not repent, the punishments would be multiplied by 7 [i].

This means that the 360 years of further punishment prophesied by Ezekiel was multiplied by 7 (360 X 7 = 2,520 Biblical years).  A Biblical year was 360 days.  Converting this to our calendar years that would total 2,483.8 years (2,520 X 360 = 907,200 days) / 365.25 = 2,483.8 years)

Ending of Babylonian

Captivity was in                                    536 BC

Plus                                                        2,483.8 calendar years

Equals                                1,947.4

Adjust for no zero year.

between 1 BC and AD 1                                          1

Therefore the captivity of

Israel would end in                               May 1948

Which was the date Israel became a nation; May 14, 1948.

This great day marked the first time since the days of Solomon that a united Israel took its place as a sovereign and independent state among the nations of the world.

This is more proof that God is the Author of the Bible.

Such prophecies being fulfilled in this way are beyond human manipulation.  It also shows that Israel is part of God 's plan and that we are living in very special days; some call it end times.  We do not know when things on this earth will change, when Jesus will come back, when anything will happen, but we do know that in 1948 a major Bible historical event took place!

"In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate," Isaiah 6:1 11, KJV.

[iv] Luke 4:5 8

"5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

6 And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

7 "Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours."

8 And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'""