As you probably realize, the Bible does prophesy future events. It’s the only book out there that you would term in the world’s eyes, “a holy book,” which dares to do that. Up to this point, it’s batting a thousand; it has been 100-percent accurate to date. But not all of its prophecies have been fulfilled yet; indeed, the Bible has many things to say about things that have yet to transpire, events that will happen at the end of this age. In fact, it prophesies end-times events very specifically.

Foremost among them is the soon return of Jesus Christ to this earth to rule and to reign. Jesus Himself declared, just before visibly leaving his disciples and visibly ascending into heaven, that He would return. The angels who were with the disciples as He ascended said Jesus would return in exactly the same way they saw Him go. According to the Bible, is that what will happen next? Well, according to the book of Revelation and numerous other Bible passages, it appears that His Second Coming will happen very soon, but not until this world suffers a seven-year period of extreme tribulation, which will follow on the heels of that glorious event called the rapture. The rapture is that single moment when all living believers in Jesus will be snatched up to be with Him in heaven. By reading Bible prophecies and comparing them to current events, it is clear to me that the rapture can happen at any time.

Certainly much happened in 2004 relating to Bible prophecy that supports my belief. The Bible gives us signs or indicators of end times — Scripture is full of them. What makes our generation absolutely unique is that all the signs mentioned in the Bible that identify the end times are lining up simultaneously. In the past, people have been intrigued by some one event that looked like it could be a sign, or by some other development that looked like it could be a sign, saying, “Maybe this,” or “Maybe that.” But never before have all signs unilaterally and completely lined up the way they are in our generation. Case in point: Revelation 12 describes two great end-times signs. Take a look at verses 1-3:

A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth [that’s the birth of Christ]. Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems.

We know from studying this passage that the woman is Israel and the red dragon is Satan himself. But he’s disguised there. He’s got seven heads and ten horns and diadems on his head; and that disguise is referred to in Revelation as “the beast.” That beast is the anti-christ and the one-world system that he embodies himself. We know from the book of Daniel that this system is literally going to be a revival of the old Roman Empire — Europe revived, and ancient Rome, in a sense, revived.

Two characters play a significant role in the end times: Israel and a revived Roman Empire. If we are truly in the last days, those two should be significant players in our current events, don’t you think? Just consider that Israel was re-established as a nation in the twentieth century for the first time since Bible times at the same time that a community of European nations is coming together, now known as the European Union. The book of Daniel says a federation of nations will come together in the last days, arising out of what was the old Roman Empire, which is Europe. It is interesting that two of the major players in end times — Israel and the European Union — were both established in the same year, 1948, and both are rising in significance on the world scene today.

We see these things seemingly lining up right before our eyes. In this study, I want to focus on some events in Europe and in Israel that could be very significant, as well as take a look at Iraq. What in the world is going on in Iraq and does it relate at all to Bible prophecy? Interesting question! Then I want to touch on some other events technologically and ecologically that I think could be very significant. As we see these things happening, it’s mind-boggling.

Earthquakes (return to top)

I want to start with what has been the big news in the last couple of weeks: one of the most powerful earthquakes, and probably the most devastating earthquake, recorded in human history: the 9.0 temblor in the Indian Ocean that triggered deadly tsunami waves on December 26, 2004. Jesus said that one of the signs of the time would be earthquakes. He told his disciples, keep your eye on earthquakes because they will be a sign of the end times. My son-in-law, Christian, has a sister who is as non-believing as a non-believer can be; she’s a Darwinian woman. She asked Christian, even before this earthquake hit, “What in the world is going on with all these earthquakes?” She noticed that something extraordinary is going on in our world regarding earthquakes.

Jesus said in Luke 21:11, “there will be great earthquakes …” as a sign of the end times.

He says, in the same context, in verse 25:

“… and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world …”

Interesting, isn’t it? Just look at the newspapers after the recent tsunami, and you see the nations wondering, “What do we do about this? How do we meet this incredible need?”

The tsunamis, the tidal waves that ensued from this massive 9.0 earthquake, have been described in news outlets as being of “Biblical proportions” in their size and their damage. I understand it was the fifth largest earthquake ever recorded and it did the greatest damage of any earthquake that has ever been recorded. The last estimate I read was that more than 150,000 people have died and they are estimating the death toll will double after the resulting pestilence and disease take their toll in the affected areas.

In the same context, in Luke 21, Jesus said:

“… and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines.”

In this one recent quake, we have the “earthquakes,” the “roaring of the seas,” and the “pestilence” that Jesus mentioned in Luke 21. It was such a powerful earthquake that it even disturbed the rotation of the earth! It caused the earth to literally wobble in space on its axis. You know what’s interesting about that? Isaiah, referring to the last days, said in chapter 24, verse 20:

The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard and it totters like a shack…

That’s from an earthquake. The island of Sumatra was literally moved from its place by about 100 feet. That‘s not a little island we’re talking about! Sumatra is over 1,000 miles in length. It literally moved the island and changed the coastal landscape of Sumatra.

Revelation 6:14, talking about an earthquake during the Tribulation period, says:

The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

So we saw these very things happening with this one earthquake in the Indian Ocean, which is clearly a sign of the times! It’s a sign of things to come. This was not a fulfillment of these things in Scripture, but it is safe to say it was a shaking that warns us clearly, “Look! It can happen!” It’s possible to read about some of these catastrophic events prophesied in the Bible and be reluctant to believe that anything that horrifying could actually happen, “Oh, give me a break! That can’t happen!” Yet, with the Asian tsunami, we have been given a vivid example of this very thing.

It’s interesting that the Indian Ocean earthquake came exactly one year after that humongous earthquake in Iran which killed 13,000 people — exactly a year later. Jesus said great earthquakes would be a sign that the end is near, and His coming is at hand.

Some people will look at an event like this and say, “How can a God who is supposed to be a God of love do something like this? There has been a wholesale loss of life — men, women, and children. The resulting famine and pestilence will bring even more death.” I heard one guy say, “I can’t believe in a God who would do something like this.”
Well, number one, I don’t believe God did that — I do not believe that. The Bible says there’s another character out there and his name is Satan. The Bible describes him as “the ruler of this world,” because men have given him that place, they’ve abdicated it to him. He’s called “the prince of the power of the air.” It is very likely that Satan was very much behind this.

I’ll tell you something else: there is no doubt in my mind that the eternal destiny of each and every person who perished was already settled. First of all, children are in God’s protective grace. Heaven got flooded with a lot of kids on that day because God’s protective grace is over them; He’s not holding them accountable. God knows things we don’t know — whatever the age of the individual. God knew each individual and whether they would ever have received His grace or not. He knew which of them were so totally committed to unbelief that they would never have repented and received His mercy. He knew if they were saved at the moment they died, and He knew if they ever would have been had they lived for many more years.

God knows where each person is headed when his or her time is up. He knows all those things. I’ll guarantee you that not a single person died who would have accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior had he lived. In fact, there were some miraculous, astounding cases of deliverance. Look at the way some were saved in the midst of hundreds of thousands losing their lives. There is a Gospel for Asia church located on a hill right on the coast of Sri Lanka. Most of the villagers were at church on that Sunday morning when the tidal wave hit. They realized if they hadn’t been in church most of them would have died. When you hear things like that, you just know it’s all in the Lord’s hands — He knows. God is righteous, God is good, and God is for salvation. I wonder how many people are going to come to Christ and be eternally saved because this event happened. God sees the eternal and He looks at everything with an eternal perspective. I can personally see how a God of love, who sees the eternal, could allow the enemy to do something like that — because of what could come out of it for good. I think this earthquake in particular is a message to the world that the end is near; the end of this age is getting very close.

So what else is going on in our world and what about Europe and that revived Roman Empire? What’s going on in Israel? What about Iraq? If we are in the last days, does Iraq play into end-times prophecies?

Babylon and Iraq (return to top)

One thing that is very interesting to me about Iraq is that it is the site of ancient Babylon. Iraq was, in ancient times, Babylon and the Bible has a lot to say about Babylon. In fact, the Bible has much to say about Babylon in relation to the last days, to the end times. In Revelation 17:3-5, John sees a vision of this great world-dominating empire of the last days and he says:

And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality, and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”

He sees a woman decked out like a very well-to-do prostitute who is sitting on this beast, which represents the anti-christ and his whole system. John says, essentially, “Look! It’s Babylon!” Most people look at that and say it’s symbolic of what historic Babylon represents in the Bible, and in the last days Babylon could be something else. Or could it actually be Babylon? Does Iraq come to play here? If it really is Babylon, that is Iraq, it seems to indicate that the anti-christ is going to have a seat of power and authority there, where this woman is, who represents the religious system of the last days. What’s interesting about that is that Iraq is in Western hands right now. It looks like there is going to be a very strong Western influence in Iraq for some time to come. That’s interesting.

The Babylon that John saw in his vision is called the “mother of harlots” in Revelation and, of course, Babylon of Old Testament times was the birth place of spiritual harlotry, which is worshiping other gods rather than the one true living God. The tower of Babel, which was the first effort of mankind to organize together in their rebellion from God, was in ancient Babylon. When Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon in Daniel, had dreams and wanted to find out what they were, he called all of his personal “wise men” to interpret the dreams. They were simply a group of ancient psychics, into all sorts of various psychic activities from séances to communicating with the dead.

Something else interesting is in Revelation where two mighty fallen angels, demons, are bound in the river Euphrates waiting for the time during the Tribulation in which they are going to be set free. When they’re set free, one-third of the population of the world is going to die; that’s how bad those demons are. But for now, they are bound in the river Euphrates and guess where that’s at? Iraq, Babylon. Considering all the demonic influence the Bible talks about in that part of the world, maybe that’s why our troops are having so much trouble over there. On the other hand, the Babylonian influence has gone all over the world. For instance, many of the things the Catholic Church does and their traditions have Babylonian roots.

There are all kinds of speculation as to what this end-times Babylon really is. Scripturally, however, there are some valid reasons to believe that it may actually turn out to be ancient Babylon in Iraq. First of all, in the Bible, it’s called “Babylon” on several occasions and that does point you to that part of the world. Secondly, the prophecies of Babylon’s destruction in Jeremiah and Isaiah don’t seem to fit what happened to ancient Babylon. It seems like the destruction described by those two prophets is a lot more catastrophic and rapid than what happened when the Babylonian kingdom fell, leading many Bible scholars to believe that those prophecies have not yet been fulfilled. So maybe something’s going to happen there. Revelation 18 says when the modern “Babylon,” part of that whole world system in rebellion against the living God in the last days, goes, it’s going to be destroyed very suddenly and catastrophically. It will clearly be the judgment of God. So maybe it will literally come back for that to happen.

There’s another interesting scripture in Zechariah 5:5-11 when the prophet Zechariah sees a vision.

Then the angel who was speaking with me went out and said to me, “Lift up now your eyes and see what this is going forth.” I said, “What is it?” And he said, “This is the ephah going forth.” [An ephah was a unit of measurement, like a basket. It was often used for commercial measuring.] Again he said, “This is their appearance in all the land (and behold, a lead cover was lifted up); and this is a woman sitting inside the ephah.” Then he said, “This is Wickedness!” And he threw her down into the middle of the ephah and cast the lead weight on its opening. Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and there two women were coming out with the wind in their wings; and they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heavens. [A stork was considered an unclean bird in the Bible.] I said to the angel who was speaking with me, “Where are they taking the ephah?” Then he said to me, “To build a temple for her in the land of Shinar; and when it is prepared, she will be set there on her own pedestal.”

The land of Shinar is Babylon. It looks like this woman who represents an ecclesiastical world religion is in the ephah, which symbolizes commercialism. These women with wings of the stork, which seem to imply demonic-type evil, move the ephah and plant it in Babylon and it has its last days’ abode right there in Babylon. Maybe this is what’s going to happen in Iraq. We’ll just have to wait and see.

As I said before, Babylon is used symbolically in some places in Scripture. So it could simply be symbolizing what’s going to happen in last days, which are going to be very Babylonian in the sense of the satanic activity and the rebellion against God. The jury is still out on this issue.

Somewhere along the line, the United States will lose its place of dominance in the world and maybe Iraq is going to be a player in that whole thing. We’re pouring men, material, and money into a situation that seems like a bottomless pit. Also, our presence there seems to be engendering more and more anti-American sentiment throughout the world.

While this is going on with the USA, the European Union is catering to Islam by doing everything it can to increase its place of leadership and obtain greater influence in the middle-eastern Muslim world. One of the issues in Europe right now is the inclusion of Turkey as one of the nations in the European Union. They’re wrestling with this question: “Will we let Turkey become part of the European Union?” It seems like it’s going in that direction. Turkey is a moderate Islamic nation; so, what is the European Union doing here? It would appear that they are trying to develop a friendship with the Islamic world.

Furthermore, the pope himself has made overtures toward Islamic leaders in the spirit of friendship and cooperation: He points out that the church and Islam have many similar ideals. Among other things, they’re both for marriage and against homosexuality and abortion. The European Union even has a policy known as “Eurabia” which is an effort to build friendships with the Islamic nations in the Mediterranean part of the world.

A lot of people believe that policy is an effort by the European Union to undermine American influence in that part of the world. Clearly the European Union is attempting to gain supremacy over the United States on the world platform. The point that I am making is that the European Union is gaining more and more acceptance in the Middle East, especially among the Muslim nations. Is Iraq going to play into that? That’s yet to be seen. But Europe is on the rise and the United States’ influence is lessening and that’s a fact. That’s happening.

We are such a strong country still; so, how is the United States going to lose that place of dominance? I generally see three possible scenarios. One is an economic crash; America and Americans are just so overextended economically that the bottom falling out is a real possibility. If we crumble economically, Europe could just step right into the void.

Another possibility is, and I pray this is not the case, the U.S. gets blasted by terrorism. I really believe the thing that’s keeping this country safe is not Homeland Security, but it’s the protective hand of our God. When you consider that the technology exists to fit an atomic bomb in a suitcase, it’s amazing that one hasn’t been deposited in one of our major cities. If the protective hedge that God has about our country is ever lifted, anything could happen. After Israel, the United States is the number one enemy of the Islamic world and they are the people who are just crazy enough to commit that sort of terrorism here in the states.

A third possibility, and the one that gets my vote when it comes to how the USA will lose its place of leadership and dominance in the world, is that this country gets decimated by the rapture of believers. When the believers of this country suddenly exit this place, the political-economic infrastructure of our country gets so decimated that the United States just sort of folds and falls in behind. We’ll have to see what happens there.

Europe and the Revived Roman Empire (return to top)

I think one of the most interesting things going on in our world today is what’s going on in Europe with the European Union. Daniel makes it very clear that it’s going to be out of Europe that the world-dominating kingdom of the anti-christ will come; it will be virtually a revival of the old Roman Empire. Daniel sees it in the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in chapter 2. That image is laid out right to the feet and the toes. Those ten toes represent the empire of the last days, coming out of the old Roman Empire.

In Daniel 7:7-8, Daniel is given another vision of the anti-christ’s kingdom:

“After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts.”

This is where he looks at the last days and the end times. The fourth beast is the Roman Empire, conquering the civilized world. We know from the image of Daniel that these ten horns correspond to the ten toes. The ten horns are ten kings or national leaders that make up the basis for the revived Roman Empire of the last days. The eleventh little horn is the anti-christ. In verse 20, Daniel gets the interpretation of that dream.

… and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head and the other horn which came up, and before which three of them fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts and which was larger in appearance than its associates …

Horns in the Bible signify authority and governmental leadership. There are ten kings or national leaders, and there’s this eleventh one, this little one, butting up amongst them. But when he’s looking at the interpretation, it’s changed. The little eleventh horn is suddenly bigger than all the others. It’s suddenly become the leader of the whole thing. That’s the image, that’s the vision Daniel saw. That very same beast is seen in Revelation chapter 17:

“The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.”

There it is. There is that same monster in Revelation, that anti-christ in this whole system. In Revelation 13:18, you discover that the number 666 plays into this whole scenario:

Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.

So what do you have? You have this federation of nations, which is the ancient Roman Empire. You’ve got this eleventh leader coming up who starts out kind of small but soon gains total ascendancy. And, the number 666 plays very prominently in the whole thing. Brethren, it’s possible we’re seeing all this happen before our very eyes.

First of all, you’ve got the European Union, a federation of nations centered in the old Roman Empire. Right now, there are twenty-five of them, but do you realize in January 1995 a group within the European Union started coming to the fore, the Western European Union, or the WEA. There just happen to be ten nations in the Western European Union. They have become the defense arm of the European Union, with the most clout and control. Isn’t that interesting? Ten nations.

In December 1998, the European Union created a new office for the union. The person filling this new position would be called the High Representative of Common Foreign and Security Policy for the European Union. He would be the representative for the European Union in all international affairs, especially relating to the Mediterranean world. He would be in charge of international affairs for a unified European Union in defense and security. The legal document that instituted this position for the European Union was document number 666. Isn’t that interesting? Just a coincidence, I’m sure.

In November 1999, a fellow named Javier Solana filled that position. Formerly the Secretary General of NATO, he is the first person to fill that position and he remains there to this day. He also was named the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, which is the main decision-making body for the European Union. One month later, he became the Secretary General of the ten-nation Western European Union. So he holds three very powerful positions in the EU: high representative for all foreign affairs, Secretary General of the Council of Europe and Secretary General of the Western European Union. It looks like this little horn has really started to bud. Holding these three positions, Solana has suddenly become a very powerful player on the world scene.

In June 2000, the Western European Union adopted an assembly recommendation that would increase the power of the Secretary General of the Western European Union and the high representative of the European Union. The assembly recommendation that gives him emergency controlling powers, and you can look it up and see for yourself, is Assembly Recommendation 666. It’s a recommendation that could catapult this man into a place of incredible power and control during an emergency.

So what do we have here? We’ve got those ten horns in Europe, which by the way, including all the countries, looks almost like an outline of that part of the ancient Roman Empire. You’ve got this eleventh guy coming along that is suddenly rising to a place of incredible power and influence in the European Union. Is Javier Solana the anti-christ? I’m not going to go out on that limb. I don’t know. We’ll just have to see what develops. It might be somebody coming from a whole different angle, but I find this interesting.

That’s review. Now some more recent developments. This last year, the European Union went from fifteen nations to twenty-five nations and restructured the whole thing with a new constitution. Interestingly, do you know what they called their constitution? It’s the Constitution of Rome because it was signed in the city of Rome. It has an interesting kind of revival-of-the-Roman-Empire look about it. Under the new constitution, the European Union has formulated what they call the European Neighborhood Policy, or ENP, and the ENPI, which is the European Neighborhood Policy Instrument, which simply implements the European Neighborhood Policy. Solana is one of the architects of this whole thing. In a nutshell, the European Neighborhood Policy is foreign policy particularly directed to relationships with other outside nations, especially nations in the Mediterranean part of the world. It will attempt to use economic weapons, or economic incentives, to deal with some of the international issues for the European Union; in other words, they will attempt to fight their battles economically.

The United States is more military-oriented. When there’s a problem we send the Marines, that’s sort of been the American tradition. The European Union is trying a different approach, an economic-stimulous approach. Which is interesting, because in Daniel it says the anti-christ will be a wise and crafty man who will use intrigue to gain his position. The whole purpose of the European Neighborhood Policy is to provide a huge package of economic deals for each participating nation. They are offering a lot of incentives. It’s really saying we’re going to give you a very, very special economic deal with the European community if you sign our agreement.

The European Neighborhood policy has a monitoring program in it. About halfway through each agreement, they can re-evaluate and, if need be, make changes, which could be very significant. The ENP is the big thing going on in the European Union right now. It was formulated this last year and plans are to put it into effect with various nations.

In fact, they’ve got seven nations already picked out, who are lining up to say, “Yes, count me in, count me in.” Here’s what’s very interesting about this whole thing. In Daniel 9:27, talking about when the anti-christ rises to power:

“And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”

One week in that context is a week of seven years, so he’s going to make a firm covenant with “the many” (Israel and possibly other nations) for seven years. But in the middle of the seven years, the week, he’ll put a stop to the sacrifice and grain offering which the Israelites will be doing in Jerusalem at the time.

So, what will start that last seven-year Tribulation is when the anti-christ makes a seven-year peace treaty with Israel in the Middle East. In the middle of that treaty, he’s going to break it and stop them from utilizing the sacrificial system in the new temple which will be in operation in Jerusalem at that time. That will begin the Great Tribulation when all hell will literally break loose on planet Earth, and the only thing that saves the world from absolute destruction will be the return of Jesus Christ. That, in a nutshell, is what Daniel is saying here.

Now here’s the thing: the European Union budget term is a seven-year term and Solana’s task right now is to draw up a new funding plan that implements the ENP with these various nations. It will go into effect when the new budget is implemented which will happen on January 1, 2007. He’s got the next couple of years to completely formulate European Union policy for these various nations and present it when the budget goes into effect. These incentives and agreements, “covenants” if you would, with these many nations, “the many,” will be a seven-year plan. Isn’t that interesting? In the middle of it, it will be monitored and checked to see if it’s working the way they want it to work and adjustments can be made to it. The results of the monitoring will be completed by December 31, 2011, the end of the fourth year. So, in the third and fourth year, they will be able to make those various adjustments.

So I find it interesting that Solana is at the head of the European effort to get various nations to enter into what will probably be a seven-year covenant, which again could be altered at the middle of that covenant. This is what you see happening in Daniel 9:27. On top of that, the Constitution of Rome has set what is known as a deadline goal for 2010, right in the middle of when this ENPI will be happening, to make all of Solana’s civilian and military peacekeeping capabilities fully deployable. In other words, he’s been given some pretty incredible powers by the European Union to have all this in operation by 2010. It includes control over nine battle groups, heavy lift aircraft, an aircraft carrier, satellite communications and many other things. So, by the middle of that seven-year period, he’s going to have at his disposal all this extra power and authority.

Here’s another point. Israel has agreed to be a part of the ENP. There are now twenty-five European Union nations, and seven other nations that are going to be a part of the ENP. They are Israel, the Ukraine, Moldova, Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority — Palestine. The European Union’s goal is for Palestine to be an independent nation alongside Israel. So their plan is to establish neighborhood accords with each of these countries, and there may be others by 2007.

I recently read some statements by the European Union external affairs commissioner, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, talking about Israel. She said this: “The EU-Israel neighborhood agreement also means that ‘Israel clearly acknowledges the role of the EU in the quartet” that has written the ‘road map’ to a peace plan [for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict] … the neighbors will qualify for easy access to the EU’s 450 million consumers, ‘the biggest single market in the world,’ if they bring their laws in line with EU rules and regulations.

The quartet of nations, including the United States, got together and made a road map for peace. She is saying Israel realizes the importance of the European Union and the easy access to the EU’s 450 million consumers. The EU is going to go to Israel and say we’ve got certain rules and regulations but if you cooperate, we’re going to open up our entire market to your country. That’s the incentive and Israel has lined up and said, “Count us in.”

Here’s one possible scenario: It’s the year 2007, and Solana has this huge expense account to implement the European Neighborhood Policy, ENP, for seven years. He makes a covenant with the many, many nations, and Israel is included. For whatever reason, things kind of fall apart and at the midpoint monitoring, three-and-a-half years later, when his civil and military capabilities are in place, he steps in and takes control to solve the world problems. Here’s just a possibility that 2007 may be the year that the many, including Israel, will sign a covenant with the anti-christ. And that just might herald the beginning of the seven-year Tribulation.

Now that’s an interesting scenario. However, it may not be the case at all. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Israel (return to top)

That brings us to Israel which, of course, desires peace more than ever. They’re at the point where they’re willing (I hate to put it in these terms but I think for many it’s come to that point); they’re willing to sell their soul to the devil for peace. And so now the European Union is saying we’re the ones who can really ensure you peace, because we made friends with the Muslim world and we have a neighborhood policy that will make us all brothers together. I can see Israel saying, “We’re in. Please do that.”

I think Israel becoming part of the ENPI could be very significant. This is exactly the kind of thing that the Bible says is going to happen. Israel will be restored as a nation and will enter into a covenant with the world, the anti-christ, the last days system, and then be double-crossed in the middle of that seven-year agreement. There are apparently some secret negotiations going on even now between Solana and some of these Arab nations which makes me wonder, “What’s his bargaining chip?” He seems to be getting a lot of cooperation from places you wouldn’t expect to be fully cooperative. Is it possible the scenario described in Daniel 9:27 is even now being planned behind closed doors? Only time will tell.

What about that big wall in Israel? I think the wall is pretty significant, to be honest with you, because there is going to be an invasion in the last days from what the Bible calls Gog and Magog. This is apparently Russia and some Islamic allies which will make a military strike on Israel. When they make that strike, they’re going to look at Israel and here’s literally what they’re going to be seeing in Ezekiel 38:11:

… and you will say, ‘I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will go against those who are at rest, that live securely, all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates …

So Israel has this big wall going up, but Ezekiel 38 says there will be no walls there when this strike is made in the end times. I’m telling you that when Russia and her allies make that attack on Israel, there will be no walls. That big will will be gone. I find that interesting because when the European Union steps in and says, “OK, we’re going to have our neighborhood policy now, and Israel we’re going to give you great deals to enter into commerce with the European Union,” I bet one of their stipulations is that the wall has to go. The European Union will look at that wall and say, “Take it down.”

When that covenant of peace has been made and Israel for the first time in its history rests, it looks to me that if Russia and those Islamic countries are going to make a move for dominance, this could be a window of opportunity to make the attack on those “unwalled villages.” Of course the Bible says it’s not going to work, they’ll be wiped out. And thus, Ezekiel 38 and 39 could be fulfilled at the beginning of the seven-year Tribulation.

I’ll tell you something else interesting that happened this year. For the first time since Biblical times, a Sanhedrin was established in Israel. They admit that the group is not official at this point, but it’s a step in that direction. In the Bible times, the Sanhedrin played a central role in the control and regulation of the religious community of Israel and the operation of the temple. As of October 14 of this year, they now have a Sanhedrin. So Israel seems to be right there.

The Mark of the Beast (return to top)

At the same time, there’s the “mark of the beast,” the universal implementation of a cashless society in which everyone buys and sells by number, a number that will be literally implanted upon their bodies. Revelation 13:16-18 talks about what will be implemented under the anti-christ on a world scale:

And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.

Six-six-six: no one will be able to buy or sell without the use of that number. He’s talking about a cashless economy. Two thousand years ago in the days of the Roman Empire, John comes out with a prophecy that in the last days there will be a cashless economy. That would have been the most far out thing — how in the world can you have a cashless economy? But here we are on the brink of it.

Somebody gave me an article right out of Reader’s Digest entitled, “Bank on it, the greenback’s days are numbered.” In it, the writer says, “Last year for the first time America used plastic, credit, debit and other cards more often than cash to buy goods and services. Why not? With one swipe you can pay a speeding ticket, make a church donation, even do the wash. Spending has never been easier, but our collective credit card debt has doubled in the past decade and consumer advocates warn that those who say, “Just charge it,” often spend more than they have. At the same time, the use of debit cards has fueled much of the plastic surge. They save time, block overspending and can cost less than cash to use. A Washington Think Tank concluded recently that the death of cash may well be good for society. Agreed. Now if we can just remember our pins.” Isn’t that interesting? The government wants us to have this for several reasons; one is just a plain economic reason. To process one check, it’s said to cost somewhere between 35 and 65 cents. An ATM transaction costs less than a penny. It is also estimated that one trillion dollars annually is exchanged underground, under the table, through cash. That means the money is untraceable and, from a government point of view, tragically untaxable. A trillion dollars, annually. If you get everybody on a number, that problem goes away. If you put a number on your body, you don’t have to worry about remembering your pin and even more appropriately, that eliminates identity theft which has become a big problem. We know it’s coming, we can see it coming, and it’s creeping ever closer. This is not coincidence and it lines up with everything the Bible says prophetically.

An electronic chip has just been developed for diabetics that is the size of grain of rice, to be implanted under the skin on the right arm. It gives information about the diabetic, possibly lifesaving information. An article entitled, “Diabetics Get Chipped,” talks about it and the concerns about personal privacy and Big Brother.

Dr Michael Gerardi, one of the implementers of the chip program, said: “Everything has its drawbacks and its positives. I refuse to let civil libertarians get in the way of a good idea. People out there fear information on a chip. They fear Big Brother. I think that’s nonsense. … I think life’s more important than the remote possibility of loss of confidentiality. [With a chip] you can markedly improve the efficiency, accuracy, and safety of care to people unable to communicate their health needs.”

In other words, the benefits far outweigh the negatives when it comes to Big Brother. Nick Minicucci, founder and president of Molly Foundation for Diabetes Research, has a diabetic daughter. He said, “Tell me about Big Brother when your daughter or loved one is run over by a truck. I don’t want to hear about it.”

The point is when something like this comes up, people say this will be good for you, this will be security, and this will really help you. People are so willing to give up their freedom for security. “Don’t tell me about Big Brother because this will save lives; this will help people.” You see how easily it will be implemented by the anti-christ: bow down, worship, become part of the system; the Age of Aquarius has arrived. You get your own little mark and you’re part of this golden age. No doubt, when it comes, the world’s going to rush to it.

“As the Days of Lot Were ...” (return to top)

Here are just a few miscellaneous things that it’s important to point out before we wrap up. One is, again Jesus said, “As the days of Lot were so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.” Lot lived in Sodom and the characteristic of that age was absolute out-of-control sexual perversion. In the area of homosexuality and all forms of pornography, we look at our society today and thanks to the Internet, pornography has become a worldwide epidemic. It’s wiping people out. Brothers, this is an instrument of the devil to neutralize and destroy Christian men. Beware. We are being challenged in this area of sexual purity like never before. Furthermore, homosexuality, which God describes very clearly as an abomination, is being stuffed down our throats on a daily basis. It’s touted as acceptable, normal, fun, and almost any movie Hollywood puts out these days will have its token homosexual who will be the nicest guy in the world. It’s being thrown in our faces to accept it. “As the days of Lot were ...” — we’re being attacked in this area as this world has never been attacked in this area before. It’s as big on the moral scale as that earthquake was on the Richter scale. And brothers and sisters, God’s calling you to walk in sexual purity in these last days for the sake of your soul and your family, and your brethren, and your witness to the world.

“As the Days of Noah Were ...” (return to top)

Jesus also said as in the days of Noah so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. In Noah’s day, the Bible says, the world was filled with violence. It was an age of out-of-control violence. Jesus said, “... kingdom against kingdom, nation against nation ...” — that’s “ethnos” in the Greek, or ethnic group against ethnic group as well as domestic violence.

There were a couple of other characteristics that were kind of interesting in the days of Noah. One was the longevity of life. People lived ten times longer in those days than compared to today. What’s interesting is that longevity is coming back in the news. I heard Paul Harvey just a few weeks ago say that methods have been developed to extend the life of rats and mice in the labs as much as doubling, tripling, or quadrupling their age. Now it’s just a matter of getting approval to use them for humans. They say, with these methods, even somebody in their 60s could live 200 to 300 years. A New York Times article entitled, “Just How Old Can He Go,” quotes Mr. Ray Kurzweil, a renowned inventor and computer scientist (according to the Times), “I am serious about it. I think death is a tragedy. I think aging is a tragedy. And going beyond our limitations is what our species is all about. … Genes are sequential programs. We are learning how to manipulate the programs inside us, the software of life. And personally, I really believe that what I’m doing is reprogramming my biochemistry. … [Technology is] the continuation of evolution by other means.’ Just as the boundaries of computing will soon seem limitless, Mr. Kurzweil insists that improving knowledge and technology will make death avoidable.”

Death is a disease that we can conquer? Not me! I want to go to a better place! Longevity is not my goal.

The other thing about the age of Noah was what could be termed hybrid humans. Remember in Genesis 6:4:

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

These were probably fallen angels, demons, who co-habited with the daughters of men who bore children to them. Those were the mighty men of old, men of renown. You may think that Greek mythology was all made up, funny little mythological stories, but there could be an element of truth right to them out of this verse. How did Hercules come about? Zeus, the Greek god, had relations with a human woman and the result was this great strong man of renown, a man of old, Hercules. It fits right into that verse because the Bible says idol gods of the ancients are actually demons. The point is that Hercules was not wholly human; he was a hybrid. He was different. He had human characteristics but he wasn’t human. There are all kinds of things going on now in the area of cloning. If you take somebody’s genetics and clone them, I wonder what we’re going to have. Is it going to be a true human being — body, soul, and spirit? Or is it going to be some sort of hybrid human that’s not wholly and completely human. God is the creator of life. When man starts fooling around with that, believe me, it gets weird.

Recently, a lady paid $50,000 for a cloned kitty. She loved her kitty Nicky so much that she had Nicky cloned for $50,000. Now she’s got this little kitty that is just like Nicky; she calls him “Little Nicky.” A $50,000 kitty (up here in the mountains we call kitties “coyote bait”).

“As the days of Noah were, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.” Interesting stuff.

Diminishing Oil (return to top)

One other thing. This last year there was a big conference regarding the finite supply of oil. In 1956, a geophysicist named Dr. M. King Hubbert estimated that by the early ‘70s, the oil supply in the United States would peak and then go down. That’s literally what has happened. He called it exactly. Taking his methodology and applying it to the world, they’re saying in late 2005 (right around Thanksgiving, according to this theory), the world supply of oil will peak and start going down. When that happens, we’re going to have an oil crisis on our hands. It’s going to bring society to its knees because we are an oil-driven society. Another source of fuel and energy will have to be developed pretty quickly because once the old supply starts to give, things are going to get pretty crazy. The two biggest consumers of oil in the world are the United States and China, which could set up for a major East-West conflict. You can’t say for sure, because we don’t know what the supply of world oil really is. We’re just pumping it out of the ground like mad and we know it’s finite, that’s all we know. But when it peaks and it starts its decline, things could get really interesting on a world scale.

So brethren, we’re living in interesting times that should have Christians on the alert. Yet on television a couple of weeks ago, Hank Hanegraaff, a good conservative Christian and known as “the Bible Answer Man,” was on the “Good Morning America” television show because he’s written a book entitled “The Last Disciple.” In it he asserts that we are not in the end times. According to him, no Tribulation is coming, there will be no rapture — they are not going to happen — because all the events of Revelation took place in the first century in ancient Rome. So here we are — in this world with these things happening and the cry — even going out from part of the Christian community is, “don’t worry, peace and safety, nothing’s going to happen.” The Bible says when the world is crying peace and safety it will hit them unawares. Our Lord said in Luke 21:28, describing these events in the end times:

“But when these things begin to come to pass, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws nigh.”

Do you know what that says to me? Live today for our Lord because time is short and that’s all that matters. Knowing and serving Jesus Christ is the only thing that really matters in this world.

Heavenly Father, Lord, thank You for Your incredible wisdom that knows just what to tell us and what not to tell us and has laid out Your plan for the ages that we might be encouraged and comforted and strengthened in our faith in You, especially in these last days. So Father, thank You that Jesus Christ is still the Savior of this world and the offer of that salvation is absolutely free for all. Thank You Lord, thank You. Thank You that we can go to anybody, anywhere, anytime and tell them that God loves them. You love them and You want to save them eternally from the mess this world is obviously in. Thank you, Lord. So Lord I pray for my brothers and sisters as we venture further into 2005, not knowing what this year will bring, but knowing that You’re our Lord and You are our Savior and we are in the palm of Your hand. We have the privilege of knowing You and simply being just a little servant, a servant of Yours in our daily life, whatever it brings and the outcome and our safety and security and future is in You. Thank You, Lord! In Jesus’ name, thank You! Amen.