The Last Thirty Years: the Final Struggle (No.219)

The period leading up to the Advent of Messiah is a long-awaited event. Many teachers of biblical theology have misunderstood what was happening in relation to the Advent, and consequently mistimed or misidentified the events. Many people have tried to confine the sequence to a simple short period and, based on the scenario of the Two Witnesses, have tried to limit the period to their own times within a three-and-one-half year time-frame. This shows a fundamental misapprehension as to what is happening over the period involved.

By a series of papers, we have tried to show the multiple differing aspects of prophecy that have to happen before the return of the Messiah.

In Part 1 of the paper Trumpets (No. 136) we saw a synopsis of the aspects that have to be covered, and have been covered, over an extended time-frame.

Christ made a clear statement as to what was going to happen concerning the time of his coming in what is termed the Olivet Prophecy.

Mark 13:1-37 And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here! ² And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. ³ And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, ⁴ Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled? ⁵ And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you: ⁶ For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. ⁷ And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet.⁸ For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows. ⁹ But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them. ¹⁰And the gospel must first be published among all nations. ¹¹ But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost. ¹² Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. ¹³ And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. ¹⁴But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:¹⁵And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein, to take any thing out of his house:¹⁶And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment. ¹⁷ But woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! ¹⁸ And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter.¹⁹ For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be. ²⁰ And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days. ²¹ And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not: ²² For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. ²³ But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things. ²⁴ But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, ²⁵And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. ²⁶ And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷ And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.²⁸Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near: ²⁹ So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors. ³⁰Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done. ³¹ Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. ³² But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. ³³ Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. ³⁴For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. ³⁵Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: ³⁶ Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. ³⁷ And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch. (KJV)

Christ said here that this generation would not pass away, and this has been misused to argue that Christ thought it would happen in his generation. However, he had already given the prophecy of the Sign of Jonah and, at the very beginning of the text he makes the comment that not one stone would be left standing on another. He wept for Jerusalem when he was at Bethphage on the Mount of Olives.

He thus knew what the end of Jerusalem would be and he knew when. The destruction in 70 CE was thus the first element of the prophecy as the completion of the “seventy weeks of years”, in the Sacred Year 70/71 CE.

This was the completion of the Sign of Jonah in its first phase (see the paper The Sign of Jonah and the History of the Reconstruction of the Temple (No. 013)). This prophecy was not understood in later times because of the mistranslation of Daniel 9:25 in the KJV, and among Trinitarians.

The full and final phase of this prophecy deals with the time-frame allocated to the nations under the fallen Host.

Jonah preached for slightly less than three days. There were forty days left to Nineveh to repent, and they did repent and were spared.

Messiah and John the Baptist preached to Judah for slightly less than three years. There were forty years allowed for the repentance of Judah. They did not repent, and on the First day of the First month (i.e. Nisan/Abib) 70 CE, they were surrounded by Romans and destroyed. The Temple was reputedly destroyed on Atonement, but certainly in accordance with biblical prophecy.

Thus the early period was certainly a full generation of forty years before even the first phase mentioned in the Olivet Prophecy was completed.

The comment that this generation would not pass away until these things were fulfilled has a dual interpretation. Only one thing is sure: Christ was not referring to the generation of his day. If he was then he is a false prophet and, hence, not the Messiah. The explanation has an extended and a specific meaning. A generation is forty years. Moses lived three generations or 120 years. This can equate to 120 Jubilees on a Jubilee-for-a-year basis (120 Jubilees covers six thousand years).

The last phase of the life of Moses represented forty Jubilees or the last phase of the six-thousand-year Plan of Salvation. Thus, Christ was saying that the last phase would see the Messiah at its close, and that the people alive at its close would not pass away. The events at the end would all happen within one generation, and also that the third section itself of the forty Jubilees would not pass away. The explanation that the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple was a generation of forty years is approximate in that it was some forty-one years from prophecy to destruction, but the other elements were not completed. Thus, it must refer to a point further into the future.

The third phase covers the period of two thousand years from the Jubilee in which Christ was born and the Jubilee in which he commenced his ministry and judged Judah under the Sign of Jonah (see the paper The Sign of Jonah and the History of the Reconstruction of the Temple (No. 013)). Christ was born between September 6 BCE and January 4 BCE. He could not have been born later than January 4 BCE in view of Herod’s death in March 4 BCE. He was thus born one complete time-cycle – or nineteen years – from the commencement of that Jubilee, which is about September 5 BCE. The Feasts of the Seventh month of 1996, being also one time-cycle from the Jubilee of 1977/78, commemorate the fortieth Jubilee from the birth of Christ. The year 1996 also commemorates the 3000^th-year anniversary of David’s entry to Jerusalem. The period is thus charged with symbolism and prophetic significance.

Messiah commenced his ministry in 28 CE, which was “the year of return” after the Jubilee of 27 CE which, being the fifteenth year of the emperor Tiberius, saw John the Baptist commence his ministry. Christ did not begin his ministry until John had been put in prison after the Passover of 28 CE. The ministry of Messiah thus marked the new age from the start of the Jubilee. The forty-Jubilee period, or two thousand years, ends in 2027/28. The year 2028/29 begins the seventh Millennium, which anciently was termed the ‘Period of Just Rule’. The period from 1996 to 2025/26 is the thirty-year phase we associate with the life of Messiah. This period will see the Advent of Messiah and the subjugation of the planet. The Jubilee system requires a treble-harvest year prior to the seventh Sabbath of 2026/27 and the Jubilee year of 2027/28. The final period of the wars of the end and the Advent of Messiah thus commence from 1996 and continue to 2025/26. Messiah will have begun to rule from Jerusalem from that date for the Millennium. The battles concerning the false prophet and the Beast centred on Jerusalem will likewise begin from 1997 onwards.

The last aspect of the last phase, before the Earth is allowed to be harmed in this process, is the judgment of the elect. The sequence was prophesied in Ezekiel 34. In the Last Days the shepherds take care of themselves and not the sheep (Ezek. 34:4-5). The shepherds are then removed. Christ will judge the sheep by how they treat one another (Ezek. 34:17ff.). This can only be done properly by removing the shepherds. The removal and the judgment are referred to in Zechariah 11. Zechariah 11:3ff. notes the wail of the shepherds.

Zechariah 11:3-13 Hark, the wail of the shepherds, for their glory is despoiled! Hark, the roar of the lions, for the jungle of the Jordan is laid waste!⁴Thus said the LORD my God: "Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter. ⁵ Those who buy them slay them and go unpunished; and those who sell them say, 'Blessed be the LORD, I have become rich'; and their own shepherds have no pity on them. ⁶ For I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of this land, says the LORD. Lo, I will cause men to fall each into the hand of his shepherd, and each into the hand of his king; and they shall crush the earth, and I will deliver none from their hand." ⁷ So I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slain for those who trafficked in the sheep. And I took two staffs; one I named Grace, the other I named Union. And I tended the sheep. ⁸ In one month I destroyed the three shepherds. But I became impatient with them, and they also detested me. ⁹ So I said, "I will not be your shepherd. What is to die, let it die; what is to be destroyed let it be destroyed; and let those that are left devour the flesh of one another." ¹⁰ And I took my staff Grace and I broke it, annulling the covenant which I had made with all the peoples. ¹¹ So it was annulled on that day, and the traffickers in the sheep, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the LORD. ¹² Then I said to them, "If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them." And they weighed out as my wages thirty shekels of silver. ¹³ Then the LORD said to me, "Cast it into the treasury" -- the lordly price at which I was paid off by them. So I took the thirty shekels of silver and cast them into the treasury in the house of the LORD.

This text in Zechariah 11:3-13 is the prophecy concerning the destruction of the theocracy of Israel, and the failure of the priestly system. The staff of grace was the covenant with Israel. Messiah was the Messiah of Aaron who would take the grace given to Israel and extend it to the Gentiles. Here the prophecy occurs that the priesthood would destroy him and pay his betrayers thirty pieces of silver, and that the amount would be cast into the treasury. However, the money had to be removed because it was blood money. The thirty pieces of silver were seen contemptuously as the price of a slave (see Soncino; cf. Ex. 21:32), but it was also weighed out as one piece per entity of the Council of God. Also, the problems of the destruction of the three shepherds in one month is held by the Soncino to possibly refer to the three classes of rulers in Israel – namely, kings, priests and prophets.

Thus, the leadership of Israel is removed in one month. This period of one month is referred to in Hosea 5:7. This is the New Moon of the destruction.

Hosea 5:5-7 The pride of Israel testifies to his face; Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt; Judah also shall stumble with them. ⁶ With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the LORD, but they will not find him; he has withdrawn from them.⁷ They have dealt faithlessly with the LORD; for they have borne alien children. Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields. (RSV)

The Soncino develops commentaries that show various attempts to identify the three shepherds. In the Talmud they are said to be Moses, Aaron and Miriam.

The advocates of a pre-exilic date identify them with the last kings of Israel: Zechariah, Shallum, and Menahem; or with the last three kings of Judah: Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah (Rabbi Kimchi). The advocates of a Maccabean date think of certain High Priests of the period: Jason, Lysimachus and Menelaus; or of Judas Maccabeus and his brothers Jonathan and Simon (Rabbi Arbarbanel), who ruled the people for one-month-of-years, i.e. thirty years. Driver remarks cautiously, “The allusion seems to be to some incident of the time, now unknown to us”. In one month is probably a formal term meaning a short time (cf. Hos. 5:7). The link to the time-frame of thirty years, on a year-for-a-day basis, is firmly fixed in the minds of the commentators. This is probably the basis of the identification of Moses, Aaron and Miriam as the three because of the first period of thirty days’ mourning. The year-for-a-day principle is identified with this prophecy. Thus, we appear to be dealing with a period of thirty years when the shepherds are removed from the sheep and the sheep are given charge of themselves. This coincides with the tribulation and the period of the Advent.

This staff of grace would act as protection until the Time of the Gentiles was completed. Thus, the wars of the end would take up from the completion of the prophecies concerning the Times of the Gentiles. This was broken, thus removing the protection of Israel (see also Soncino).

Zechariah 11:14 Then I broke my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

Here the union between Israel and Judah is broken. The two aspects of the rulership are shown to be separate. We know that the Kingdom of God was taken from Judah and given to a nation showing the fruits of the Kingdom. Therefore, the breaking of the “staff of union” required the ordination of the Seventy (plus two) (Lk. 10:1,17), as the new Sanhedrin and the new priesthood. This priesthood was to continue for many years until the final days. Then the Last Days would see the raising up of an idol shepherd (Zech. 11:17, KJV).

Zechariah 11:15-17 Then the LORD said to me, "Take once more the implements of a worthless shepherd. ¹⁶ For lo, I am raising up in the land a shepherd who does not care for the perishing, or seek the wandering, or heal the maimed, or nourish the sound, but devours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs. ¹⁷ Woe to my worthless [idol] shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword smite his arm and his right eye! Let his arm be wholly withered, his right eye utterly blinded!" (RSV)

Note the worthlessness of the shepherd is based on idolatry. The destruction of the sheep is seen as being a serious problem. The second part of this prophecy is found in Zechariah 13:7-9.

Zechariah 13:7-9 "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me," says the LORD of hosts. "Strike the shepherd, that the sheep may be scattered; I will turn my hand against the little ones. ⁸ In the whole land, says the LORD, two thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left alive. ⁹ And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, 'They are my people'; and they will say, 'The LORD is my God."' (RSV)

This speaks of the Last Days. The sheep are scattered. Two-thirds are to be cut off and one-third left alive. The remaining third will be tried in the fire of tribulation. They will buy of the Lord gold that is refined in the fire. This is the period immediately prior to the coming of the Messiah. This final aspect of the fifth, sixth and seventh seals takes some thirty years to complete. During this period, the entire nation of Israel – both physical and spiritual – is dealt with, having its leadership of princes, priests and prophets removed and many of its people killed. The remainder of that nation will be as ‘young lions’ among the nations. This process will now be explained in some detail, as we identified in Part 1 of the paper Trumpets (No. 136). Over that thirty-year period Messiah will remove the world’s government and religious systems entirely – the kings, the priests and the false prophets.

The Time of the Gentiles is a matter of biblical record, but what is the Time of the Gentiles? The Gentiles are the nations and this period is the time of the nations. Daniel the prophet speaks of the Babylonian system being a single statue with a head of gold and then progressing or regressing down to the levels of the empires of silver, then bronze, and then to iron, and then to iron and clay, and then to the ten toes of the Last Days, when Messiah comes as a rock uncut by human hands and strikes the statue on the feet, destroying it. This is dealt with in Daniel 2 and the subsequent chapters. It is examined in the papers concerning the prophecies of the nation and also the meaning of the terms last days and latter days (see the papers The Fall of Egypt (No. 036) The Prophecy of Pharaoh’s Broken Arms and Gideon's Force and the Last Days (No. 022)).

We saw that the period given to the king of Babylon was seven times. He was sent mad until seven times had passed over him; and then he would be restored to sanity and his kingdom was to be restored to him.

Daniel 4:20-27 The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth;²¹ Whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation: ²² It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth. ²³And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him; ²⁴ This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king: ²⁵ That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. ²⁶ And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule. ²⁷ Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity. (KJV)

The false system is known as the Babylonian system, but it is also referred to as King of Tyre. This Being is the anointed Covering Cherub (Ezek. 28:11-19).

What we are seeing here is the duplication of the systems as prophesies concerning the nations, and also the times of the nations under the fallen Host.

Seven times can be seven years as 2,520 days (i.e. 12 months of 30-day months in a prophetic year), but it also can be the equivalent of seven times on a year-for-a-day basis.

We saw that the time-frame from Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BCE taken in a block of seven times, or 2,520 years, ended with the 1914/18 War. Thus, the beginning of the period was commenced from then. The prophecy of Pharaoh’s Broken Arms shows that the period involved in the promise concerning the Fall of Egypt was two arms of forty years, ending in the invasion of Egypt by Cambyses in 525 BCE. The seven times application to this period ended in 1996 (see the paper The Fall of Egypt (No. 036) The Prophecy of Pharaoh’s Broken Arms).

The year 1996 was a powerful year in terms of symbolism relating to biblical events. David entered Jerusalem 3,000 years before, and Messiah was born 2,000 years before; thus 1996 was charged with symbolism.

Does this then mean that the Sacred Year 1996/97 would see the Advent of Messiah? No, it does not and it could not mean that. There were a number of other prophecies that had to be fulfilled before the Advent could eventuate. We know that the two Witnesses have to take their places (see the paper The Witnesses (including the Two Witnesses) (No. 135)). Thus there cannot be an Advent of Messiah any earlier than three-and-one-half years from the arrival in Jerusalem of the two Witnesses, and the commencement of their prophecy.

As the Witnesses have not taken up their places yet, and as Scripture cannot be broken (Jn. 10:35), we know that Messiah could not and will not be here any earlier than the year 2001.

We know that the period is actually much longer than that as the period in which the destruction of the nation and its rulership is effected is some thirty years. This is done from the end of one phase and the establishment of the next. The examination of the nation (Israel) and the elect is covered in the paper Measuring the Temple (No. 137).

There will be consolidation of Israel for the last period. The attempts at establishing a world trans-national empire by the fallen Host was frustrated by the direction of God. This frustration actually occurred over a long period of time. In fact, the Host had tried to set up a world system under Nimrod at Babylon. Nimrod means mighty man conceptually, in the sense of hunter, but based on the word gibbowr. This also has association with the fallen Host. The gibbowerim were the mighty men of old.

Nimrod tried to establish a world system at the tower of Babel, and God had determined that the attempt was to be frustrated because the knowledge and power of such a system would reach destructive capacity much earlier than God would allow. He intervened because the entire world would have destroyed itself much earlier. We take up the story in Genesis 10:8.

Genesis 10:8-12 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.⁹ He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. ¹⁰ And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. ¹¹ Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, ¹²And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city. (KJV)

The building of Assyria is attributed to Nimrod, from the RSV. This was the power of the northern system, and his relative Mesraim (Mesir) or Egypt founded the nations associated with him, and the Canaanites occupied the land in between (Gen. 10:13-20).

The migration from the East saw Shinar, or the plain, in the Tigris-Euphrates basin occupied.

Genesis 11:1-9 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.² And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.³And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. ⁴And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. ⁵ And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. ⁶ And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. ⁷ Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. ⁸ So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. ⁹ Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. (KJV)

This was actually the start of the time of the nations as separate peoples. Until that time, they had one language and few words. They were confused deliberately to retard their progress and development in order to preserve the Earth for the Plan of Salvation. Otherwise they would have destroyed it.

This was in the post-Flood period and a significant period prior to Nebuchadnezzar. Nimrod is identified with Gilgamesh by some and with Marduk by others. Gilgamesh is credited with the defeat of the ox-faced man who later became his friend. This is probably the early form of the bull-slaying typology of the Mysteries. The typology mirrors the battles in the heavens. Thus we are seeing an early cosmology reflecting the control for the planet under one or the other system.

The planet was not allowed to form a one-world system from that time. The Babylonians have moved to do this since their inception as a civilisation. The “seven times” expired in the sacred year 1914/15, and from that time the movement of the forces involved has been leading up to the end of the eighty-year period, ending in 1996. Thus, the Sacred Year of 1996/97 is the end of the period of the nations. This structure was not understood by some Bible-based organisations like Jehovah’s Witnesses, and they made a further serious prophetic error. The same types of errors were made by other Bible evangelists in the USA. Most of the errors stemmed from a failure to understand European and world history in relation to those prophecies (cf. the paper The Pre-Advent Judgment (No. 176)).

The period of the end involves a significant number of prophecies, which indicates that the elimination of national sovereignty is involved. The time sequence is dealt with in Revelation chapters 12 to 14. The fifth seal of the tribulation is dealt with in chapter 12. This is examined in the paper The Seven Seals (No. 140).

Prior to the Advent of the Messiah to Zion and the 144,000 depicted in chapter 14, we see a system developed that has frightening power.

Revelation 13:1-18 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. ²And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. ³ And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. ⁴ And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? ⁵ And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. ⁶And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. ⁷ And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.⁸ And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. ⁹ If any man have an ear, let him hear. ¹⁰ He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. ¹¹ And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. ¹² And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. ¹³ And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, ¹⁴And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. ¹⁵ And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. ¹⁶And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: ¹⁷And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.¹⁸ Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. (KJV)

This system has been traditionally identified with the empires mentioned in Daniel, and the Roman system is the last of those systems of true metal, being the power of iron. However, the system of iron and clay that followed was also an empire and this can only have been the Holy Roman Empire. This system lasted for, or covered, two phases. The first of the phases was 1,260 prophetic year-days, also symbolised by the forty-two months comment. This last empire was declared by Gregory 1 in 590 CE and ended in 1850 with the disbanding of the Holy Roman Empire, arising from the plebiscite after the last Inquisition of 1823-1846 (cf. Malachi Martin, Decline and Fall of the Roman Church, pp. 250-254; cf. the papers The Seven Seals (No. 140), The Seven Trumpets (No. 141) and The Role of the Fourth Commandment in the Historical Sabbath-keeping Churches of God (No. 170)).

This empire in its final phase is one of a false religious system, symbolised by the lamb that spoke like a dragon. This system is able to make war with the saints this last time and to overcome them.

This system has total economic power and control. This will be effected in a number of ways that have hitherto been impossible.

The thirty years will commence from 1997. The setting up of the system of international law is done to establish a world network of control. The economic control will be made possible in the following manner.

Over the period 1997 to 2001, the new Internet trading facilities will be established as a trans-national system beyond the power of individual nations. At present, it is simply bedding in and is only a nuisance factor to national sovereignty.

The United Nations has set up an Internet Trade and Exchange Control Office in Melbourne, Australia. That office will monitor all Internet trade transactions.

The aim will be to break down the nation state by default. The communications systems will tie into East and West. The populace will be forced into city states and all trade in the state will be regulated by Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs). The aim is to have this system effected by 2001 when the system will then commence all trade direct within city states. On an ABC Radio interview of 4 September 1997, the head of the UN office in Melbourne said that they hoped to be trading direct within cities, for example, Melbourne to Shanghai – all of which would be using ATMs by 2001.

Thus, trade from New York, London or Tokyo will be monitored by the UN from Melbourne. The sovereignty of the nation state is thus irrelevant. All transactions and activities will be monitored under International Law. Thus the national legal systems will be deemed redundant.

[Note: By 2001 the system was bedding in and is now at the point where it can be implemented into city states as a cashless system.

Progressively, cities within the West will be taken over on “smart card” systems. The trials were conducted in Australia from 1997 to 2001. Starting with suburbs, they will now be progressively implemented to cities.

The trade system is now in place and it is only a matter of time before it progressively comes into action.

In early 2002, 66 nations ratified the treaty establishing the International Court for the prosecution of major crime beyond nation states. This action happened with lightning speed. The destruction of the sovereign nation states is now only a matter of time. Ed.]

This is not a pipe dream – it is a reality, and it is here. The internationalists in each of the nations have actually sold their own nation states down the drain progressively for years.

From the signing of the Lima Agreement in 1975, the Australian political system on both sides of the House, no matter who has been in power, has systematically dismantled the manufacturing and defence capacity of the nation. That this was systematic and deliberate seems hard to dispute. It would have been difficult to get so much collective incompetence in one place at one time.

This is happening in all countries. Only the speed varies. From 2001 a sustained effort to vest control of all international trade will be made by the UN systems. Originally the USA considered that it would control this New World Order and, indeed, that was one of the long-term goals on which the nation was founded (i.e. the Novo Ordo Seclorum). It is forming trade blocs in order to take its place in this system.

There are a series of false religious movements sweeping the globe at present. The charismatic ones are aimed at producing a mindless unstable mass manipulated by religious hysteria. The Salem witch-hunts will pale into insignificance when this monster unleashes itself.

The European system is aiming at seizing control of the New World economic system. The USA at present is deluding itself that it is leading this monster (cf. article America Rules: Thank God, Time Magazine, Aug. 11, 1997, pp. 60-61). In that article, Charles Krauthammer bragged that the USA won WWI, WWII and the Cold War. He sees only a unipolar system for some time. Unfortunately, his views are not shared by the rest of the world.

In order to effect the bloc, the British Commonwealth, which was the only organisation capable of acting independently, was undermined. To destroy the national and international unity of the Commonwealth, the monarchy had to be destroyed. This has been the objective of the internationalist press for the last few decades. The attacks on the Monarch by the expatriate and internationalist news organisation, using United Kingdom, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian media, is non-stop. Even the death of the Princess of Wales was used to mount a direct attack on the Monarch led by News Ltd’s Sun newspaper. The people are being socially conditioned and engineered to republicanism. When this is effected, the city state will take over. The politics of division will actually tear the English-speaking nations apart.

The republican movement is touted by the same people that are working towards this internationalist structure.

The situation spoken of by the prophets shall occur where the cities of the south shall be shut up from the Queen Mother and the Prince (cf. the paper Measuring the Temple (No. 137)). [The Queen Mother, the Last Queen Empress, died aged 101 years, at the end of the Feast of Unleavened Bread 2002. Thus this prophecy cannot apply to her but to her successors (Ed.).]

The USA has actually assisted in the break-up of the only allied trading bloc that would have ensured its national sovereignty. The British Commonwealth of Nations and the United States, together with Judah (which is now joining) and other desirous groups, could have ensured the survival of the basic Common Law systems of the English-speaking heritage.

This is not a situation of human contrivance. This is planned for and organised by the demonic Host using all resources in all nations, aided and abetted by the spiritual state of the nations involved.

The Power Blocs

The European system is now reforming under the papacy to recreate the Holy Roman Empire. To lead this revamped Europe, we see the declaration of Mariolatry urged where Mary is to be co-redemtrix.

A growing movement in the Roman Catholic Church wants the pope to proclaim a new, controversial dogma: that Mary is a Co-Redeemer. Will he do it, maybe in time for the millennium? Should he? BY KENNETH L. WOODWARD

This week a large box shipped from California and addressed to "His Holiness, John Paul II" will arrive at the Vatican. The shipping label lists a dozen countries – from every continent but Antarctica – plus a number 40,383, indicating the quantity of signatures inside. Each signature is attached to a petition asking the pope to exercise the power of papal infallibility to proclaim a new dogma of the Roman Catholic Faith: that the Virgin Mary is Co-Redemtrix, Mediatrix of All Graces and Advocate for the People of God. (Lead article: Hail, Mary, Newsweek European Edition, 25 August 1997, p. 39 and [Australian] Bulletin with Newsweek magazine, 2 September 1997, pp. 61-68).

The third element of the equation is the Islamic power bloc. It is unstable, but determined.

The fourth element in the power equation is the Russian-Chinese bloc. In 1997 these two powers declared that they were to form one nation from pole to pole. Such a declaration includes South-East Asia and Australasia and also Antarctica. Effectively, that was a declaration of war on all peoples in the eastern hemisphere.

We are now set for the conflicts of the End Days. The New World Order will establish itself and power will pass from the nation states on a progressive basis.

The first major conflict will be the last phase of the wars of the Kings of the North and South. Islam will strike at Europe when the secular system tries to enforce total control. The forces of Islam will push at the King of the North. These wars are described in Daniel 11.

Daniel 11:40-45 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. ⁴¹He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. ⁴² He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. ⁴³ But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. ⁴⁴ But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.⁴⁵ And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. (KJV)

Many people tried to interpret this text in the sole context of WWII. It is important to understand in interpreting these prophecies that whoever controls Egypt is the King of the South. Thus, at the start of WWII, the King of the South was the British Empire. The wars saw England declare war on Germany because of Poland and the other acts of aggression.

However, the final phases of the prophecy were not fulfilled. The comment in verse 44, tidings from the east and the north shall alarm him, was taken to be the invasion of Russia by Hitler, but it was not. The Ukraine is not east and north of Jerusalem; it is north-west. The east and the north are in the steppes in the Central Republics. The force that leaves the Middle East is pulled into a massive war in the Central Republics. Also, the British Empire is no longer the King of the South. Egypt is nominally a secular state but, in fact, it is a fundamentalist Islamic state by default and is acknowledged as such by world experts.

When the monetary system is fully established, the world-power systems will precipitate the conflict of the North and the South.

Islam will attack Europe. This will probably be done by multiple invasions over the Mediterranean via Spain, Sicily and through Turkey. The religious conflict in Turkey is building up to this point.

Global warming will accelerate and may even be deliberately induced in conflict to place additional pressure on north-west Europe by inundation of the Low Countries (see also the paper Global Warming and Bible Prophecy (No. 218)).

The defence of the European system will, of necessity, involve an invasion of the Middle East. Once this occurs then the Islamic states in the Central Republics will accelerate the war into a nuclear conflict. This could happen at any time over the period 2001-2020. Perhaps it might be as early as 2003-2005.

[Note: On 11 September 2001, an attack was contrived by hijacking four US airliners and crashing them into the World Trade Centre buildings in New York and the Pentagon, utterly destroying the Twin Towers and killing over 3,000 people of many nations. There was very little damage done to the Pentagon of significance. There seems little doubt now that the situation was known and troops were deployed well in advance of the action. A very large contingent of British troops was deployed to the Gulf the day before it happened. As a result of the damage, the Allied forces of The US and British Commonwealth invaded Afghanistan, using Northern Alliance troops of the Tajik people, on the assertion that they were going to remove the Taliban and the terrorist Al Qaeda network of Bin Laden. Osama bin Laden appears to have been actually treated and interviewed by CIA operatives in the few months before the action. Subsequent activities seem to indicate that the attack and subsequent action in Afghanistan was done in order to open up the oil pipelines in Kazakhstan (and the former central Soviet states there), which travel through Afghanistan and Iran to the Gulf for the sale of oil to the west.

At the Feast of the Passover and Unleavened Bread of 2002, Palestinian terrorists provoked an Israeli counter-attack. The Israelis commenced a “war on terrorism”, killing large numbers of Palestinians in the West Bank and other territories. Israeli troops are able to muster some 19 divisions and also to fly some 3,000 air sorties daily, of improved F15 and F16 fighters, by manning planes with multiple crews and using large supply dumps of US origin. They have more military muscle now over the short term than the US.

Europe is placing the Galileo global satellite navigation system in place, to replace reliance on the USA. They are now stepping up pressure to occupy the Middle East with a UN force based in Jerusalem, aimed at limiting Israeli influence and strength and appeasing the Arab opposition. This will continue now until the European system is in place and takes over from the US.

This will be the real system of the New World Order, and the USA and the British Commonwealth will be victims of their own bureaucratic duplicity.

The nuclear operations of WWIII will emerge from the conflicts that are growing in India and Pakistan, and the old Soviet systems to the west and north of them. The US announced plans at the beginning of 2002 for nuclear reactions against Russia, China, North Korea, Iraq and Iran.

Large numbers of nuclear and bio-chemical weapons are missing, their whereabouts unknown or suspected to be in place in Iraq and elsewhere.

As a result of the failure in 1991 of “Operation Desert Storm” to realise any significant strategic goals and remove Saddam Hussein, the US is now preparing to reinvade Iraq. Also, Iraq in its turn is preparing to support Palestine in the invasion of Israel. Saudi Arabia is trying to stabilise its position, but is losing influence and the push against the King of the North is rapidly advancing.

The Islamic/Western conflict is now being speedily contrived.

The stage is set for WWIII and indeed it has commenced, as we said it would in 1997.

Global Warming is now increasing and the tides have risen a half metre since the paper Global Warming and Bible Prophecy (No. 218) was issued in 1997. The Pacific Islands are being inundated and that will increase now worldwide. The El Nino of 2002 is superheating the Pacific. The West Antarctic Ice Shelf is ready to calve the largest iceberg in its history and the remaining Larsen B shelf has just gone. Glacial flooding is increasingly evident. (Ed.)]

The term in Daniel to destroy (SHD 8045, shamad) means to make desolate or exterminate, and devote to destruction; and charam (SHD 2763) has the effect of meaning to seclude; and also can have the effect of by ban devoting to religious uses, hence it is rendered as utterly destroy many. This system then is about occupation of the Middle East and a war of extermination, and seemingly a war of religious extermination or setting aside by ban. This text, together with the comment regarding the palatial tents between the sea and the glorious holy mountain, indicates the final phase is a religious occupation.

The terms in Daniel 11:38 refer to the god of fortresses and the god that did not know or was not known by his fathers. These two terms are quite interesting. The Hebrew consonants are allegedly based on the masculine singular Eloah, but the words are VLALH and the vowel points indicate the word form is similar to Valhalla. This is the tradition of the Norse of the battle of Ragnarok. The second word here is given by Green as SHD 4501, but that is an error and it is SHD 4581, meaning fortresses. The second incidence is VLALVH. This is another variation on the theme. The next verse mentions an alien god (elovah). Thus, the structures may be different from WWII and the Aryan Nazis. Then another aspect in Daniel 11:39 is where the alien god is honoured in the fortress of fortresses with rule over many and increased glory; and then is the time of the end.

This period is the time of trouble mentioned as being under the Archangel Michael.

Daniel 12:1-4 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. ² And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. ³ And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. ⁴ But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. (KJV)

The system is finally destroyed. However, note also the power of the holy people is scattered.

Daniel 12:5-13 Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river. ⁶And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? ⁷ And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. ⁸ And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? ⁹ And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. ¹⁰Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand. ¹¹ And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. ¹² Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. ¹³ But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days. (KJV)

This is another aspect of the time-frame which is to be interpreted also from the time of the end. All of these things were shut up until the time of the end.

Let us now look at the timing from the end of the forty Jubilees and see if we can fit some of these things together.

The fortieth Jubilee ends in 2027/28. 2028/29 is the beginning of the new system. If we look at the fall of the nations depicted in the story of Joshua or Yehoshua, we see a number of things happening (see the papers The Fall of Jericho (No. 142) and also The Seven Trumpets (No. 141)).

The son of Nun had the same name as the Messiah. He was the war leader of Israel. He crossed the Jordan after leaving some tribes of Israel in their inheritance across the Jordan. These were half of the tribe of Manasseh, the Reubenites and the Gadites (cf. Josh. 13:8-13).

The armed forces of Manasseh, Reuben and Gad entered Israel, leaving their families behind. The wars of the Last Days involve the armed forces of Israel, and the power of the holy people is scattered. The text says: “And when they finish breaking the holy peoples’ power”. Holy peoples’ power is YR-’AM-QDS, with holy being qodesh (SHD 6944), meaning the consecrated or saints.

Israel was circumcised at Gilgal, which marked the repentance and induction into the new system, and they were then joined by the Captain of the Army of the Lord. This event is symbolic of the return of the Messiah in power as Captain of the Host (cf. Josh. 5:10-15).

Messiah joined Israel after its circumcision and consolidation as a dedicated army of God, following on from its time in the wilderness where the old order died. This event symbolises the conversion of Israel and Judah.

The army was told to march round Jericho seven times. The term seven times can also mean a prophetic time and thus the seven days here can be seven years. At the return of Messiah we are looking at a series of events that are to take place for the seven trumpets – thus, the seven trumpets blown at Jericho (cf. Josh. 6:3-5).

Joshua 6:3-5 And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.⁴And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams' horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. ⁵And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him. (KJV)

The seventh day involved seven circuits in the same way the seventh trumpet has seven vials of the wrath of God. We see the entire structure of the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets relates also to the seven angels of the Seven Churches, and the Seven Churches themselves. The seven circuits seem to be a period of seven years, given the activities in Revelation in the seven trumpets.

Thus it would appear that Messiah would have to arrive by the treble harvest year before the Jubilee to effect the activities in the seven trumpets.

These wars of the end indicate a destruction of the Babylonian system, and then the kings of the East are called into the wars of the Valley of Megiddo over the dried-up bed of the Euphrates.

This time may be cut short also in order to preserve the elect. Thus it appears that the wars of the end, and the economic structure that provokes it, commence from at least 2001 and goes through to perhaps the treble harvest year before the Jubilee at the Advent of Messiah to subjugate the planet and remove the entire old system of the fallen Host.

For the table of events that displays the possible time-frame leading up to the millennial system in 2028/29, see the paper Outline Timetable of the Age (No. 272).

This work is continued in the paper World War III: Part I The Empire of the Beast (No. 299A).

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