Rapture and End Times

The biblical definition of the “End Times” is not what is commonly believed. The Jews were waiting for the Kingdom to come with Messiah. The Messianic age was termed ‘the last days, the End Time’ by the prophets. So after Christ came, the Apostles declared that the coming of the Kingdom and the King had taken place. They were declaring that the ‘last days or End Times’ had begun:

Little children, it is the last time, and as you have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now there are many Antichrists: whereby we know that it is the last time. (1 John 2:18)

Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son. God has appointed Him heir of all things and made the universe through Him. (Hebrews 1:1-2)

The Lord’s first coming, His birth on earth, was the beginning of the end times. The end of the end times includes the Rapture, the Tribulation, and the second coming of Jesus Christ, and will conclude when he casts death into the lake of fire.

Many data points go into the calculation of the timing of the “End of the End Times” and the imminent Rapture of the Church. In this post, we explore 7 End Time factors in the latest news reports:

1. A Middle East peace plan that allows for the Temple to be rebuilt

He will make a firm covenant
with many for one week,
but in the middle of the week
he will put a stop to sacrifice and offering.
And the abomination of desolation
will be on a wing of the temple
until the decreed destruction
is poured out on the desolator. (Daniel 9:27)

US announces it’s renewing relations with Palestinians, seeking 2-state solution / The Times of Israel, January 26, 2021

NEW YORK — The Biden administration announced Tuesday it was renewing US relations with the Palestinian leadership, and restoring “credible engagement” with the Palestinians, as it works toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Under the new administration, the policy of the United States will be to support a mutually agreed two-state solution, one in which Israel lives in peace and security alongside a viable Palestinian state,” Richard Mills, the acting US ambassador to the United Nations, told the UN Security Council.

“In order to advance these objectives, the Biden administration will restore credible US engagement with Palestinians as well as Israelis,” he said. “This will involve renewing US relations with the Palestinian leadership and Palestinian people.”

In what were the first major public remarks on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by an official from the Biden administration, Mills specified that Washington will reopen the diplomatic offices serving the Palestinians and restore major aid allocations to the Palestinians — reversing Trump administration policies.

Egypt, Germany, France, Jordan meet to revive Mideast talks / AP, January 11, 2021

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt on Monday hosted the foreign ministers of Germany, France and Jordan to discuss ways to revive peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, a week before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.

In a joint statement, the ministers called for practical steps to launch “credible negotiations” between Israel and the Palestinians on achieving a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital in territory Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.

The ministers said they were ready to work with the U.S. to facilitate negotiations that would lead to “a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the region.”

“There is a willingness to see a close relationship with the United States on the revival of the peace process that will have to be carried out at some point,” France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told a joint news conference following the meeting.

The Palestinians suffered numerous setbacks under the outgoing administration of President Donald Trump and have complained about what they say were pro-Israeli steps from Washington. They have said, however, that they are ready to work with the incoming Biden administration.

2. Increasing “birth pains”

Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth… She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. (Revelation 12:1-2,5)

UN global climate poll: ‘The people’s voice is clear – they want action’ / The Guardian, January 27, 2021

The biggest ever opinion poll on climate change has found two-thirds of people think it is a “global emergency”.

“The voice of the people is clear – they want action on climate change,” said Cassie Flynn, the UNDP’s strategic adviser on climate change.

“If 64% of the world’s people are believing in a climate emergency then it helps governments to respond to the climate crisis as an emergency.

“The key message is that, as governments are making these high-stakes decisions, the people are with them.”

Disasters caused $210 billion in damage in 2020, showing growing cost of climate change / CNBC, January 7 2021

A record number of hurricanes, wildfires and floods exacerbated by climate change cost the world $210 billion in damage last year, according to a report by reinsurance company Munich Re.

Damages totaled $95 billion in the U.S., nearly double the losses in 2019. The country experienced a record number of Atlantic hurricanes and the largest wildfires on record in California in 2020, the second-hottest year on record.

Climate change is causing more frequent and intense disasters like storms, heat waves and wildfires, and economic losses are also growing as more people build in disaster-prone areas.

“Natural catastrophe losses in 2020 were significantly higher than in the previous year,” Munich Re board member Torsten Jeworrek said in the report. “Climate change will play an increasing role in all of these hazards. It is time to act.”

The single worst disaster last year was flooding across China from summer monsoons, which amounted to $17 billion in damage, of which only 2% was insured. Cyclone Amphan hit India and Bangladesh in May, causing $14 billion in damage, very little of which was insured, the report said.

3. The invasion of Israel

God, do not keep silent.
Do not be deaf, God; do not be idle.
See how Your enemies make an uproar;
those who hate You have acted arrogantly.
They devise clever schemes against Your people;
they conspire against Your treasured ones.
They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation
so that Israel’s name will no longer be remembered.”
For they have conspired with one mind;
they form an alliance against You—
the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Moab and the Hagrites,
Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek,
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre.
Even Assyria has joined them;
they lend support to the sons of Lot. (Psalm 83:1-8)

Iran launches ground forces drill, fourth in snap military exercises / DEBKAfile, January 19, 2021

State media report that commando units and airborne infantry were taking part in a new exercise launched on Tuesday along the Gulf of Oman coast, backed by fighter jets, helicopters and military support aircraft. It is overseen by Iran’s National Army chief Abdolrahim Mousavi. Since last Wednesday, Iran’s army, warships, long-distance missiles and combat drones have conducted a series of exercises amid high tension with Washington.

They were timed to apply pressure during the tense transition period between US presidents and demonstrate that Iran held US interests and regional allies within range of attack. The Trump administration marked its final days by sending B-52 bombers over the region as well as the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and a nuclear submarine.

Iran test-fires “new generation” ballistic missiles able to reach Israel / DEBKAfile, January 16, 2021

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Saturday test-fired anti-warship ballistic missiles against targets in the Indian Ocean, wrapping up its third military exercise in two weeks, following a naval maneuver in the Sea of Oman and an army drone drill.

Also tested in the latest exercise were “new generation” surface=to-surface ballistic missiles “of various classes” which were said to have destroyed their target from a distance of 1,800km. – far enough to reach Israel and US military bases in the region.

4. The rise of the Beast

They worshiped the dragon because he gave authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to wage war against him?”

A mouth was given to him to speak boasts and blasphemies. He was also given authority to act for 42 months. He began to speak blasphemies against God: to blaspheme His name and His dwelling—those who dwell in heaven. And he was permitted to wage war against the saints and to conquer them. He was also given authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation. All those who live on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name was not written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered. (Revelation 13:4-8)

Erdogan seeks better ties with US and EU, but on his terms / Al-Monitor, January 25, 2021

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking a new chapter with the new US administration in order to overcome Ankara’s deeply strained ties with Washington. He signaled this in the letter of congratulations he sent to newly elected President Joe Biden on Nov. 10.

“I believe that the strong cooperation and alliance between our countries will continue to contribute to world peace in the future as it has been until today,” Erdogan said in his letter.

Erdogan, however, wants to improve these ties on his terms; he is not willing to compromise on issues that have damaged the “strong cooperation” he referred to.

Washington has also provided no indication that it is willing to compromise on these issues. The stalemate appears set to remain for the foreseeable future.

The most notable issue — although there are others that have clouded ties — remains Ankara’s purchase of Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems.

Erdogan’s dilemma is that Turkey’s economy has been going downhill in line with its deteriorating ties with the United States and Europe.

It is not a newfound love for the West that is forcing him to try and reach out to the United States and the EU now. Erdogan has no other option but to look to the West again for much-needed foreign capital and investments.

In order to woo Europe, Erdogan has announced that his government is working on a “radical legislative reform package.” He also wants to restart the stalled Turkey-EU membership talks as a means to support Turkey’s failing economy.

The past few weeks have seen a flurry of diplomatic activity involving an exchange of letters between Erdogan and French President Emmanuel Macron, and visits by the Italian and German foreign ministers to Ankara and the Turkish foreign minister to Brussels.

Biden team wants better ties: Turkish presidential spokesperson / Hurriyet Daily News, January 11 2021

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team wants to develop a good relationship with Ankara, Turkey’s presidential spokesman has said.

“Biden, while he served as [Barack] Obama’s vice president, came to Turkey four times and knows the region. Our contacts with the transition team so far are very positive,” İbrahim Kalın told Turkish broadcaster, CNN Turk, on Jan. 10.

“They say they want to develop good relations with Turkey and turn a new page,” Kalın added.

He underlined that there were three main outstanding issues between Ankara and Washington, namely the US’ support for the YPG/PKK terror group in Syria since the previous Obama administration, as well as its complacency against FETÖ and F-35 embargo against Turkey.

Kalın said that if steps are taken on these three areas, the two countries could turn a new page in their relations.

During the interview, Kalın also spoke against a recent mandatory update by popular messaging app WhatsApp’s privacy rules. Expressing support for widespread backlash against the Facebook-owned smartphone application, he said he would likely delete it from his own device.

Pivoting to the state of the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak in Turkey, he noted that there had been a drop in case and fatality numbers. “This isn’t enough. The vaccination process needs to start,” he said, adding that current precautions to curb the virus, including a weeknight and full weekend curfew would remain in place “for a while.”

He also stressed that Turkey hoped for positive developments in its relations with Greece, adding that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had an amicable phone conversation with the head of the European Commission and that two EU presidents would visit Turkey at the end of the month.

Kalın added that Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu would soon go to Brussels.

“There is a favorable ground there to create a positive atmosphere. I can say that work on this will give good results soon,” he stressed.

5. The rise of the False Prophet and the roll-out of the Mark of the Beast

Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or 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 it is the number of a man: His number is 666. (Revelation 13:11-18)

BOMBSHELL: Vatican Whistleblower Archbishop Viganò Tells Bannon Why Trump’s Leadership Key to Defeated Deep State, Deep Church & Pope Francis’ Alliance with Red China / The Georgia Star News, January 6, 2021

The former papal nuncio to the United States, now a retired archbishop, told Stephen K. Bannon that if Joseph R. Biden Jr., becomes the president Jan. 20, it is one more step in the linkage of the so-called Deep State, the Deep Church and the ultimate primacy of the Chinese Communist Party.

“It would be an irreparable disaster if Joe Biden, who is heavily suspected of being complicit with the Chinese dictatorship, would be designated as President of the United States,” said Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, who from 2011 to 2016 served at the Holy See’s ambassador to the Washington, a role that also made him the principal liaison between the American bishops and the pope and the Vatican bureaucracy.

“Bergoglio’s subservience to the globalist agenda is obvious, as well as his active support for the election of Joe Biden,” he said.

“The dictatorship of the Chinese Communist Party is allied to the global deep state, on the one hand so that together they can attain the goals that they have in common, on the other hand because the plans for the Great Reset are an opportunity to increase the economic power of China in the world, beginning with the invasion of national markets,” Viganò said.

“At the same time that it pursues this project in its foreign policy, China is pursuing a domestic plan to restore the Maoist tyranny, which requires the cancellation of religions, primarily the Catholic religion, replacing them with a religion of the State which definitely has many elements in common with the universal religion desired by globalist ideology, whose spiritual leader is Bergoglio,” he said.

The archbishop said Chinese may have also played a role in Bergoglio’s election to the papacy.

“The suspicions that the resignation of Benedict XVI involved China are quite strong and coherent with the picture that has been emerging in recent months,” he said.

The Great Reset and Klaus Schwab / American Thinker, December 5, 2020

Klaus Schwab, the chief proponent of a global project called the “Great Reset,” may be the most influential “intellectual” in the world today. A former member of the UN Advisory Board on Sustainable Development, he is the founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF) that meets annually in the Swiss resort town of Davos. Business Insider explains, “Each year, business leaders and heads of state give lectures and speak on panels about topics ranging from gender equality and venture capital to mental health and climate change.” And as the WEF website states, “The non-profit organization’s aim is to engage the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.”

The “Great Reset,” a term coined in a 2011 book by economist Richard Florida and wholeheartedly adopted by Schwab in the context of the United Nation’s Agenda 2030 for sustainable development, proposes to determine “the future state of global relations, the direction of national economies, the priorities of societies, the nature of business models and the management of the global commons.” It presents itself as a humane and compassionate means to inaugurate a beneficial root-and-branch transformation of the social, economic and political structure of the world’s “operating systems”: capitalism, the free market and democracy.

Even the Pope is a passionate believer in the Great Reset, though knowing Francis’s affiliation with Liberation Theology, this comes as no surprise. As the Pope said in a recent interview, “We need change. The pandemic brought our organizational and developmental models into a crisis; it exposed many injustices, the troubling silence and social and health failures, subjecting a great number of our brothers to the processes of social exclusion and degradation.” Typical fare. One recalls the Pope’s 2014 message to Schwab urging “an openness to the transcendent” from which “a new political and business mentality can take shape, one capable of guiding all economic and financial activity within the horizon of an ethical approach which is truly humane… I ask you to ensure that humanity is served by wealth and not ruled by it.”

Of course, attendees of the Davos conference number among the wealthiest people on the planet, including Bill Gates, George Soros, Prince William, Jamie Dimon (JP Morgan Chase CEO), Jack Ma and many others, who fly in by private jet and have no problem with membership fees ranging up to $620,000 per year and chalets that go for up to $140,000 per week. These great benefactors of suffering humanity received the Pope’s “divine blessings on you and the participants of the Forum, as well as on your families and all your work.” That’s a pretty good gig, if you can get it.

The topic for the 2021 Davos conference, which has been postponed from January to the summer, is, naturally, the “Great Reset” and the expedient arrival of the pandemic. So COVID it is. In his July 2020 book COVID-19: The Great Reset, co-authored with Thierry Malleret, Schwab regards the virus as a providential pretext to remake the world and unleash a “fourth industrial revolution” that, as we have observed, will eliminate private property, restrict travel and establish a surveillance state in which everyone is chipped and monitored. The authors admit that COVID-19 is not “an existential threat” and that it is “one of the least deadly pandemics the world has experienced in the last 2000 years,” but surreptitiously convert it into a pretext for unprecedented social and economic change. The lockdowns are a way of softening up the population to accept a global techno-fascist revolution presided over by a club of billionaires, their political adjutants and chosen “experts,” and UN mandarins. Schwab’s books make this clear.

Accordingly, Schwab takes to task “some rich countries endowed with sophisticated health systems and strong assets in research” that will be perceived to have failed their citizens. He targets their “social fabric and socio-economic system” as the “real” culprit guilty of “failing to guarantee economic and social welfare for the majority of citizens.” This is true, but not in the way Schwab intends, for it is precisely the draconian measures these countries have imposed that have ruined their economies, helped to unravel the social fabric, and caused needless suffering and unnecessary deaths.

6. Global Persecution of Christians

Then they will hand you over for persecution, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of My name. (Matthew 24:9)

Prepare for Persecution: Domestic Terror Law, Big Tech, and Big Media May Target Christians / CBN News, January 26, 20201

“It’s not going to have gulags, secret police – the thing the Soviets had. Rather, this is something that is going to be done mostly by Big Tech limiting access to the economy, keeping it so only those who conform with what the regime wants can participate in the economy,” explained Dreher.

Social media speech censorship and Amazon’s recent shutdown of servers for the popular conservative website Parler could provide a clue as to what may lie ahead.

“It’s going to come from big business and Big Tech who will be using their freedom in our free-market society to marginalize and oppress ‘deplorables,’ which includes political conservatives and religious conservatives,” Dreher insisted.

Dreher and some civil libertarians predict members of the US Congress may use recent events as an excuse to revive domestic anti-terrorism legislation. They fear the effort could potentially target innocent Americans.

“We’re going to see people designated as terrorists – people who have no interest in terrorism at all who do not support violence, but who simply question the way things are done in this country and they do so from the right,” predicted Dreher. “I believe that Christians – conservative Christians – are going to be targeted too and there will be no discrimination between us peaceful conservative Christians and those who want violence.”

And Dreher believes while the COVID-19 pandemic is a serious issue, it is also pushing an already-dependent American society toward a willingness of being controlled.

“It has put us in a position and a mindset of fear and control and where we can be open to being told what to do by the government. And I think that this has been a dry-run, if you will, for greater control,” he said.

One that covers nearly every aspect of your life courtesy of Big Government, Big Tech, and Big Media.

It’s already happening in China where the communist government has implemented a social credit system that forces citizens to conform to what the government wants. Those deemed to be good communists are rewarded with full access to the economy, travel, higher education, and good jobs.

“I think we’re going to see an informal version of that happen right here in America,” said Dreher. “And the hammer is going to come down on conservatives and traditional Christians.”

Dreher warns U.S. Christians need to prepare.

“We in the American church know nothing about suffering. We have had it good for a long time. The people who grew up under communism – I talk to in my book Live Not By Lies – they know what it’s like to suffer for the faith,” Dreher explained. “We have to start learning from their experience and we have to be prepared to be steadfast and to suffer without hating our enemy.”

7. The Time being Fulfilled

After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the good news of God: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the good news!” (Mark 1:14-15)

What does the Bible say about the timing of the end of the End Times?

Dear friends, don’t let this one thing escape you: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. (2 Peter 3:8)

What is the Lord telling us, through Peter? The Millennial day theory is a belief in Christian eschatology in which the Second Coming of Christ will occur 6,000 years after the creation of mankind, followed by 1,000 years of peace and harmony. The Sabbath Millennium is believed to be synonymous with the Millennial Reign of Christ that is found in Revelation 20.

The common belief and teaching was that a millennial reign would come after a literal six thousand year reign of Man.

How do we know that time?

The year 2000 was indeed the beginning of the “end of the end times.” Dark days are ahead.

Summary

7 factors pointing to the imminent Rapture of the Church include:

1. A Middle East peace plan that allows for the Temple to be rebuilt

2. Increasing “birth pains”

3. The invasion of Israel

4. The rise of the Beast

5. The rise of the False Prophet

6. Global Persecution of Christians

7. The Time being Fulfilled

Based upon the convergence of these 7 factors, there is a very high probability that the Rapture is imminent, and that the 7 year Tribulation starts shortly.

This is what the Lord gave me:

“Ask for My mercy. Judgement is about to befall! Pray mercy! They feel safe, but it’s a false flag!”

Speak and act as those who will be judged by the law of freedom. For judgment is without mercy to the one who hasn’t shown mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. (James 2:12-13)

If you are not sure that you are saved, you can accept Christ into your life right now, by praying:

“Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins.  Please forgive my sins and give me the gift of eternal life.  I ask you in to my life and heart to be my Lord and Savior.”

Reader Comments:

I appreciate every bit of it! Graphics and pics are very good to the Word! I like it!

Gail, February 1, 2021

The removal of the church marks the end of the present church age, not the end of the world. It marks the beginning of the new age. The Millennial age when Christ will reign on earth with His saints the [then] converted Jews.

Billy, Jan 31, 2021

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