Another False Prediction Disproved, More Phony Prophets Humiliated

Israel's 70^th Anniversary Passes Without the

Predicted Happenings of Biblical Proportions

By Pastor Paul J. Bern

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Here we go, people, another predicted date of great import and spiritual significance, not to mention a big event for Judaism as well as Christianity, has come and gone, almost without incident. I write 'almost' out of a sense of shame and regret towards my Jewish brothers and sisters, whose country Israel sent armed forces to shoot dozens of Palestinian protesters just for protesting. Israel seems to have forgotten that theirs is the only democracy in the Middle Eastern region, and that one of the basic tenets of democracy is the right to freedom of expression. The Israeli Defense Force is actively preventing the Palestinian people from exercising this fundamental human right while forcefully exercising it themselves. The whole world sees this glaring double standard, and it is no coincidence that the American people are experiencing this same set of circumstances here at home. I have predicted in the past that this entire situation is unsustainable, and I continue to predict this will result in civil unrest globally (not just here in the US). But I digress....

This 70^th anniversary of the founding of Israel as a nation was alleged to be accompanied by the arrival of Christ for the “rapture” of the Church, and this is based on Scripture, which I will get to in just a minute. But for right now, the most harmful consequences of such false predictions is that it discourages people from making the necessary preparations for the real event when it actually occurs. At least some will join the chorus of cynics whom the Bible predicts will mockingly say, “Where is the promise of Christ’s coming?” (2 Peter 3: 3-4). Let's not forget that it was Jesus himself who said to his apostles that no one knows when he is coming back to the earth, not even himself, but only his heavenly Father.

Let's pause and look up what He said about that. “As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. 'Tell us', they said, 'when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?' Jesus answered, 'Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come, claiming, 'I am the Christ', and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.” [Matthew chapter 24, verses 3-8]

I'm sure you noticed the very first sentence of Christ's response, “Watch out that no one deceives you”. At this point it is easy to see that Jesus was talking about the times in which we are currently living. There are and will be a lot of “false Christs” who will deceive an awful lot of people. Jesus wasn't only talking about people claiming to be Jesus Christ in the flesh, he was talking about entire churches or even denominations. 'Ours is the true way', one church might say, and yet another different from the first may say the same thing. Jesus was talking about divisions within the body of believers, as well as phony con artists operating from without. Or on television. The increased number of earthquakes that have been recorded over the last decade or more are also in the news almost on a daily basis. When it comes to famines, humankind has them in spades, starting with a 2014 United Nations report saying that 50,000 children per day, ages 5 and under, die from starvation globally. Pause and reflect on that for a minute. Moreover, 1 in every 5 American school children will experience homelessness at least once before they turn eighteen. But these things, our Lord said, are “the beginning of birth pains”.

At this point, I really should add some additional background to add more clarity to this week's message. I'm going to mention 2 things here – the Great Tribulation and the coming of the Antichrist. Whatever anyone has read or heard elsewhere, get ready to be warned about the truth about the world's future as the Bible tells it. Most everybody knows about the 7-year Great Tribulation that is prophesied elsewhere in the Bible, mainly in the books of Daniel and Revelation, but which were written many hundreds of years apart. This 7-year period will be the final time period leading up to the return of Jesus Christ, who will proceed to rule the world from its new capital in Jerusalem for 1,000 years.

The main argument revolves around the timing of this 7-year period. Some say it hasn't started yet, others insist we 're already in it. There are many details I could delve into regarding this matter, but it all boils down to what Jesus told his apostles: “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father”. [Matthew 24: 32-36]

Many Biblical scholars and pastors, unfortunately, take the phrase, “this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened”, and try to add something that isn't there. You probably know that the nation of Israel was founded on May 14, 1948. You likely also know that a 'generation' in the Bible was considered to be 40 years when those words were originally written. For all you long-time Christians like myself, it was widely prophesied on the then-relatively-new Christian TV stations that Jesus would return one generation after Israel's founding, or May 14, 1988. Much to the discredit of certain elements within main stream Christianity, we all know what happened back then, and one of the purposes of this week's posting is to try and prevent this from happening a second time during these last days. I am sick and tired of bogus ministers who give a bad reputation to the name of Christ! But if 40 years isn't what Jesus meant, many Christians were saying, and the average life expectancy here in the 'end times' is a little over 70 for men, then 1948 plus 70 years equals 2018. Aha!! So that's when our Lord will return! Got it, now let's get ready!

Nope, hold on a minute. Wait, wait – stop. Just like May of 1988, May 14, 2018 just came and went unceremoniously (excluding all the Palestinian unrest I mentioned at the top of this posting). Let's all think back to what the Bible says: “No one knows the day or the hour”. Isn't that what the Lord said? Not even himself, He stated. OK, now let's look at this from another angle. If May 14^th, 2018 was the day of Christ's return, and since the Great Tribulation is of 7 years duration, then the 'tribulation' should have started back in the Spring of 2011, and the Antichrist should have come to power about the same time. Clearly, since none of these has occurred, all those other “predictions” won't come true either.

So, now let me move on to the second topic, and that is the coming of the Antichrist, who will come upon the world scene according to the prophet Daniel (see Daniel chapter 12 in the Old Testament), as well as the book of Revelation chapter 13. As before, without having you all plunge headfirst into the murky pool of end times prophecy, let me make a generalization or two. In the first place, World War Three and the Gog-Magog war of Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 in the Old Testament are one and the same. Moreover, the Antichrist will not come to power until just after this war's conclusion. While I would be quick to agree that the stage for WW3 is currently being set, we aren't there just yet – but, continue to watch events unfold in the Middle East very closely, because that's where it's going to start. 

 

t will not be until the conclusion of that war that the Antichrist will come to power to enforce his own brand of peace. Three and a half years later he will break his own peace treaty, and that is when the countdown to the final 3.5 years will commence before Christ's return. The final event before our Savior's return in this context is the Battle of Armageddon, which is not the same as the God-Magog war of Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39. So, to dispel another myth or false teaching (take your pick), World War Three and Armageddon are two different battles set approximately seven years apart.

So you can pretty much disregard all the predictions on “Christian TV”, as well as all the cult churches, some of which are operating right here in the US, regarding the return of our Lord and Savior. Once again, Jesus has proven them all wrong while proving himself absolutely right. “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father.” Jesus told his apostles he had no idea when his return would occur. That return and its timing are on a need-to-know basis, and frankly we don't need to know. Still, the stage is being set and the players are taking their places for the Ezekiel 38-39 war as I write this. Therefore we must all remain vigilant. Remember what else Jesus mentioned about this in another part of the gospels: “The Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” That statement still holds true because it comes from the Son of God.