Signs of the End Times? Fearful Sights of Terror

By Dianne E. Butts –

In Luke 21:11, as Jesus was telling His disciples about the End Times, He said, “There will be great earthquakes, famines, and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.” According to the booklet, 101 Last Days Prophecies, published by Eternal Productions, “The Greek word translated fearful is phobetron, which can also be translated terror” (p. 6).

Do you think the terrorist attacks on America on September 11, 2001, were signs of the End Times? Some people do. Have you read the book The Harbinger? It’s written as fiction, but it details events that have actually taken place in America starting with 9/11.

According to the author, Jonathan Cahn, several prophecies have occurred in America since 9/11. He bases this on one rather obscure verse in the Bible, Isaiah 9:10:

“The bricks have fallen down,
but we will rebuild with dressed stone;
the fig trees have been felled,
but we will replace them with cedars.”

Does that look like multiple prophecies to you? Well it didn’t to me at first either, but then I started searching the internet for more information. I found interviews with the author of The Harbinger, Jonathan Cahn. Then I read the book. It’s fascinating! Here’s some of what I learned:

• The day after the Attacks on America on September 11, 2001, then-Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle gave a speech in which, he quoted the above verse, Isaiah 9:10 in order to encourage Americans. However if you back up and read the verses leading up to verse 10, you can see it is not an encouragement but pure defiance against God. The previous verses say:

“The Lord has sent a message against Jacob;
it will fall on Israel.
9 All the people will know it—
Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria —
who say with pride
and arrogance of heart,
10 “The bricks have fallen down…(Isaiah 9:8-10a, emphasis mine).

• Three years later on the third anniversary of 9/11, then-Vice Presidential candidate Jonathan Edwards gave a speech in honor of 9/11 and he quoted Isaiah 9:10.
• A “dressed stone” was laid as the corner stone of the new building at Ground Zero.
• On the corner of Ground Zero, there stood a tree that was knocked down during the events of September 11, 2001—a sycamore (fig).
• A tree has been planted to replace the sycamore tree—a cedar.
• The church at the corner of Ground Zero was the very church where George Washington prayed dedicating America to God as his first official act as our first president. Though all the other buildings around it were destroyed, this church stands with relatively little damage, except for a crack in its foundation. Has the foundation of our nation cracked? How long before it crumbles?
• The church at the corner of Ground Zero originally owned the land on which the Twin Towers were built.
• On September 29, 2008, the Dow Jones plummeted 777 points, losing 7% of its value. Seven is the number that represents God. On the Jewish calendar every 7th year, the Shemittah year, land is supposed to rest with no crops planted or harvested and debts are cancelled. The people were to trust God with their finances. This occurs on the last day of the Shemittah year. Any guesses what the date on our calendar was of the last day of the last Shemittah year? That’s right. September 29, 2008.

There’s more, but you get the idea. What do you think? God is clearly sending us a message. Are these events signs of the End Times?

Signs of the End Times? The Blossoming of Israel

By Dianne E. Butts –

In Deuteronomy 27-30 (see 30:15-21), Moses told the people of Israel that if they lived according to the good ways God wanted them to live by, they would be “blessed” and would prosper. But if they “forgot” God, which means moving away from Him and refusing to live the good ways He wanted them to live, He would not bless or prosper them. This is because the Israelites were to represent God the world. God is good, so the people were to represent Him by being good. If they were not good, they were not representing God and needed to be removed from the land so that the rest of the world would not have a bad and wrong impression of God.

Unfortunately, Israel did indeed forget God and began to live in the same way the rest of the world was living. They did not represent God to the world, so God removed them from the land He had given them.

When Israel was taken out of the land and the people dispersed all over the world, the land became a nearly uninhabited, desolate wasteland—a picture of the condition of Israel’s relationship with God.

But the people of Israel began returning to the land after World War II, and on May 14, 1948, Israel became a nation again after nearly two millennia of being dispersed. Since then, that desolate desert wasteland has begun to blossom, just as Bible prophecies predicted. Here are two examples of those predictions:

“But you, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon come home. I am concerned for you and will look on you with favor; you will be plowed and sown, and I will multiply the number of people upon you, even the whole house of Israel. The towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. I will increase the number of men and animals upon you, and they will be fruitful and become numerous. I will settle people on you as in the past and will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the LORD” (Ezekiel 36:8-11, NIV).

“This is what the Sovereign LORD says: ‘On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt. The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through it. They will say, “This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited.” Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the LORD have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it’” (Ezekiel 36:33-36).

Today, according to 101 Last Days Prophecies by Eternal Productions, “Israel’s increased rainfall and world renowned irrigation technology have caused the land to blossom. Incredibly, as foretold, they currently export over 1,200 million dollars of fresh produce each year, including over 100 million in flowers and ornamentals plants. Amazingly, this recently re-gathered, often attacked, tiny nation exported over 54 billion dollars worth of goods in 2010. This was inconceivable a century ago. In contrast, their neighbor, Jordan exported less than 8 billion in 2010” (p. 9-10).

Could the re-blossoming of Israel be a fulfillment of prophecy and a sign of the End Times?

Signs of the End Times? Traveling Here and There and the Increase of Knowledge

By Dianne E. Butts –

Did you ever think people traveling everywhere would be a sign of the End Times? It was about 2,500 years ago when God’s prophet, Daniel, received and wrote down the vision from God of the End Times. Toward the end of the vision, Daniel was told:

“But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge” (Daniel 12:4).

Now, frankly I have to admit that my gut tells me that phrase, “Many will go here and there” might not actually mean traveling around. To me, that doesn’t make sense in the context. But since I have yet to figure out what it does mean, let’s take it at face value for now.

Think about this: In Daniel’s time the only modes of transportation were by foot, by animal—including horses and camels—or by boat. Not long ago, it was rare for people to travel much beyond their own communities.

Today think of all the modes of transportation we have. Cars, motorcycles, and other motorized contraptions. Airplanes. Trains. Subway. Large ships and small boats. Even the space shuttle. Unless someone is about to invent the Star Trek “Transporter,” and I really don’t think that one’s possible, except for variations on what already exists such as car motors that run on different types of fuels, I can’t imagine many more modes of transportation humans might invent. But then, I’m sure Daniel couldn’t have imagined some of the modes of transportation we have now. So maybe there are some more coming down the pike before the End Times.

Also, the end of that sentence to Daniel states people would be going here and there “to increase knowledge.” Since computers and the internet have come on the scene and become used among the general population—which was, what, just since the 1980s?—knowledge has increased exponentially. We are said to be in the “information age.” We can jump on the “information super highway” just about any time we want, even through the phones we now carry in our pockets everywhere we go…as we’re going here and there.

According to the booklet 101 Last Days Prophecies by Eternal Productions, “Today we are witnessing an explosion of available knowledge. With the advent of the internet, it is estimated that our cumulative knowledge is doubling every five years” (p. 6).

And yet, “knowledge” is not going to help mankind at all. It is the knowledge of God that mankind needs to possess. In the Bible, Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.”

Our ability to travel, the information available, and the increase in knowledge are incredible developments unlike anything we’ve seen in our human history books.

What do you think? Are these fulfillments of the prophecy in Daniel? And are they, therefore, signs we are in the End Times?

Signs of the End Times? – Rebuilding Babylon

By Dianne E. Butts –

Zechariah 5:11 and Isaiah 13 talk of prophecies against Babylon. But Revelation 14:8, 16:19, and chapters 17-18 talk about the fall of Babylon in the End Times. It seems the literal city of Babylon will again exist in the land of Shinar for these prophecies to take place. The remains of ancient Babylon are found in present-day Iraq about 55 miles south of Baghdad.

Saddam Hussein was the fifth President of Iraq, serving from July 16, 1979 to April 9, 2003. According to an About.com article, “Saddam Hussein said that Babylon’s great palaces and the legendary hanging gardens of Babylon (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world) would rise from the dust.” During his more than twenty years in power, Saddam worked toward rebuilding the ancient city of Babylon.

Babylon flourished in 1894 BC under the Amorite king Hammurabi who created the short-lived Babylonian Empire, but it quickly dissolved after his death. It rose to power again and was the seat of the Neo-Babylonian Empire from 612 to 539 BC. Nebuchadnezzar II ruled from 605 BC to 562 BC and, according to the Bible, conquered Judah and Jerusalem and sent the Jews into exile in Babylon. According to Wikipedia, “He is credited with the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.”

The About.com article says Saddam’s workers began reconstructing the 600-room palace of King Nebuchadnezzar II in 1982. Saddam’s reconstruction took place right on top of the ancient ruins which horrified archaeologists and historians, but they were powerless to stop him. The About.com article says, “The original bricks, which rise two or three feet from the ground, bear ancient inscriptions praising Nebuchadnezzar. Above these, Saddam Hussein’s workers laid more than 60-million sand-colored bricks inscribed with the words, ‘In the era of Saddam Hussein, protector of Iraq, who rebuilt civilization and rebuilt Babylon.’ The new bricks began to crack after only ten years.”

That’s not all Hussein set out to build. About.com says, “Adjacent to Nebuchadnezzar’s ancient palace and overlooking the Euphrates River, Saddam Hussein built a new palace for himself…a monstrous hill-top fortress surrounded by miniature palm trees and rose gardens. The four-storey palace extends across an area as large as five football fields. Villagers told news media that a thousand people were evacuated to make way for this emblem of Saddam Hussein’s power.”

Ceilings and walls in the palace depicted 360-degree murals from ancient Babylon, Ur, and the Tower of Babel. Plumbing fixtures appeared to be gold-plated and pediments were engraved with Hussein’s initials “SdH.”

About.com continues: “When American troops entered Babylon in April, 2003, they found little evidence that the palace had been occupied or used. Saddam’s fall from power brought vandals and looters. The smoked glass windows were shattered, the furnishings removed, and architectural details – from faucets to light switches—had been stripped away. During the war, Western troops pitched tents in the vast empty rooms at Saddam Hussein’s Babylonian palace.”

U.S. Marine Daniel O’Connell, Gunnery Sergeant, took photographs of many of these sites in 2003 and you can see 26 of his photos in a photo gallery on About.com.

So what do you think? Is Saddam’s rebuilding of Babylon a sign of the End Times? Or do you think the city of Babylon will be rebuilt to a greater degree and occupied by the Antichrist?

Signs of the End Times? – Birds of Prey

By Dianne E. Butts –

A booklet titled 101 Last Days Prophecies published by Eternal Productions lists “birds of prey” in Israel as one of the Last Days prophecies. You can see an online version of the booklet on the “101 Prophecies” page on Eternal-Productions’ web site.

Number 58 of their 101 says, “It is a little known fact that Israel is the bird migration capital of the world.” Do you find that interesting?

According to the booklet, “During the spring and fall migrations, billions of birds fly over Israel. Many of these migratory birds are raptors—carrion (dead flesh) eating birds of prey. In fact, 34 species of raptors migrate over Israel.”

If you search the internet on birds of prey in Israel, there’s a lot of interesting information. I even found some bird-watching tours that visitors can take.

This fact itself is not a prophecy of the End Times, but the booklet links the fact to Scripture verses that talk about many birds gorging themselves on the flesh of God’s enemies—people who fight against God in the final battle of the End Times.

Here are three such verses:

Ezekiel 39:4: “On the mountains of Israel you will fall, you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to all kinds of carrion birds and to the wild animals.”

Ezekiel 39:17: “Son of man, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Call out to every kind of bird and all the wild animals: ‘Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrifice I am preparing for you, the great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood.”

Revelation 19:17-21:

17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great.”

19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse [who is, in verse 16, the “King of Kings and Lord of Lords”] and his army. 20 But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. 21 The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.”

In that last sentence, “the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse” refers back to verse 15, which describes the rider on the horse, who is Jesus Christ, and says, “Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.”

If you don’t know what that sharp sword is, here are two hints:

Revelation 19:13: “…his name is the Word of God.”

Ephesians 6:17: “…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

Jesus is the Word of God personified. Everything God ever said or promised with His words has come to fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

Do you believe an entire army of all God’s enemies combined can be defeated with one Word?

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