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Year
of the Countdown by
Jack Kinsella
As
discussed in previous letters, most of the major prophetic fulfillments
of the last days can trace their genesis to the same point in history --
on or near the year 1948.
This is most significant since Jesus said that the generation who
witnessed the restoration of Israel (the blossoming fig tree) 'would not
pass until ALL was fulfilled' (Matthew 24:34)
Jesus spoke, for example, of 'wars and rumors of wars', but cautioning,
'the end is not yet'. (Matthew 24:6) The Cold War was the ultimate
'rumor of war'. It lasted more than forty years without either side ever
directly confronting the other on the battlefield. Historians trace the
beginning of the Cold War to the Berlin Airlift to break the Soviet
blockade of Berlin, imposed on June 24, 1948.
The most well-known of all Bible prophecies is the Mark of the Beast.
According to Revelation 13:15-17, the antichrist will assume control of
a global system of government unlike any the world had ever known. Under
the antichrist, any person outside that system will be declared
'socially dead' -- any who refuse to accept the Mark will be unable to
buy or sell.
Consider this for a minute, but I suggest you sit down before you do.
We are so close to that system today that the SAME METHOD is ALREADY
being used to rout out and destroy terrorist cells! Every economic
transaction, every internet session, every email and every phone call --
world-wide -- is already being electronically monitored as part of the
war on terror.
To catch the terrorists in our midst, they must be isolated from
mainstream society, their sources of funding targeted and destroyed, and
their ability to engage in day-to-day social intercourse electronically
interrupted.
Such intimate control of society was impossible before the advent of the
Computer Age. Although there were clunky working computers dating back
to the 1930's, they relied on notoriously unreliable vacuum tubes, and
firing one up consumed enough electricity to light a small city.
Before the digital explosion, transistors were a vital part of
improvements in existing analog systems, such as radios and stereos.
When it was placed in computers, however, the transistor became an
integral part of the technology boom. They are also capable of being
mass-produced by the millions on a sliver of silicon-the semiconductor
chip. It is this almost boundless ability to integrate transistors onto
chips that has fueled the information age.
Today these chips are not just a part of computers. They are also
important in devices as diverse as video cameras, cellular phones, copy
machines, jumbo jets, modern automobiles, manufacturing equipment,
electronic scoreboards, and video games. Without the transistor there
would be no Internet and no space travel.
Bell Labs patented the transistor chip in 1948, launching the modern
computer Age.
Revelation 13 also highlights the career of the False Prophet, who will
lead a global religious system that John describes as 'having two horns
like a lamb' but 'spake as a dragon'.
The World Council of Churches, the UN-backed ecumenical movement, whose
stated goal is to bring about a global religious system, was created in
Amsterdam in August, 1948.
Ostensibly a 'Christian' council, the WCC doctrinal statement says, it
passes "no judgment upon the sincerity with which member churches
accept" the WCC's basic 'confession' of Jesus Christ. In other
words, NOT believing in Jesus is no barrier to membership in the WCC,
something Paul called, "having a form of godliness, but denying the
power thereof." (2nd Timothy 3)
The modern European superstate traces its roots to the 1948 Benelux
Treaty that inspired the modern revival of the old Roman Empire.
And finally, we return to Israel. In Leviticus 26:3, 7-8, the Bible says
that the army of Israel would have a supernatural power to prevail
during times of conflict. Leviticus says that 5 people would be able to
chase away 100 people, and that 100 would be able to chase away 10,000.
On May 15, 1948, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon invaded Israel.
The combined populations of these countries was at least 20 million at
the time, versus less than a million Israelis.
When the war was over, not only had Israel driven off the invaders, but
she expanded her territory by over fifty percent. The 1967 war lasted
only six days and left Israel in control of Jerusalem for the first time
in 2000 years. The 1973 Yom Kippur War was over in a couple of weeks.
The Year 1948 marked the end of one Divine Countdown and the beginning
of another. The first Divine Countdown dealt with the duration of
Israel's Diaspora.
In Ezekiel 4:5-6, the prophet
records the period determined by God as punishment for Israel's
disobedience:
"For I have laid upon thee the years of
their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and
ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And
when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou
shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have
appointed thee each day for a year."
Babylon was later conquered by Cyrus in 539 BC. Cyrus allowed the Jews
to leave Babylon and to return to their homeland. But, only a small
number returned. The return had taken place sometime around 536 BC, 70
years after Judah lost independence to Babylon as Jeremiah predicted.
Because most of the exiles chose to stay in pagan Babylon rather than
return to the Holy Land, the remaining 360 years of their punishment was
multiplied by 7. The reason is explained in Bible's book of Leviticus.
(Leviticus 26:18, 26:21, 26:24 and 26:28). In Leviticus, it says that if
the people did not repent while being punished, the punishment would be
multiplied by 7. And, by staying in pagan Babylon, most exiles were
refusing to repent.
So, if you take the remaining 360 years of punishment and multiply by 7,
you get 2,520 years. That is 2,520 Jewish lunar years. 2,520 years x the
360-day lunar calendar works out to 907,200 days. Divide that by 365 and
you come up with 2485.479 years.
2,485.479 years from 536 BC brings us to the end of the first quarter of
the year 1949 -- exactly one year AFTER Israel's restoration in 1948.
But 1 BC and 1 AD were the SAME year, so the ACTUAL date on our calendar
that Ezekiel predicted the restoration of Israel corresponds to late
spring, 1948!
1948 -- the Year of the Countdown, counts down in BOTH directions. It
counts down with staggering precision to the exact point in history when
the fig tree would once again blossom.
That event triggered the Second Countdown -- the one that signals the
end of the Church Age. It is somewhat less precise, for obvious reasons.
Jesus said no man would ever be able to calculate the exact day and
time, but He did tell us we would know when 'it was near, even at the
door', saying, "THIS generation shall not pass, until ALL be
fulfilled."
The current Prime Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, fought in the 1948
War of Independence. He is still around. And so are we. So the 'fig
tree' generation has not yet passed from the scene.
And it won't before the Return of Christ. Which could be any minute now.
