229 How close are we the end of age

How close are we to the end of the age?

What time is it on the doomsday clock? I have heard some modern day ‘prophets’ telling us we are about 3 minutes before midnight or the end of this age. We who have been keeping YHVH’s Feast days for a number of years, should know that time is getting short. We should also fully understand the signs of the times as Rav Shaul explained in 1 Thessalonians 5: 1- 6, saying: “Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. (2) For you yourselves know full well that the day of YHVH will come just like a thief in the night. (3) While they are saying, “Peace and Safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. (4) But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief; (5) for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; (6) so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.”

We, who keep the Set-apart days of YHVH as a shadow of things to come, know that Yahshua will return one day on the Feast of Trumpets, as Rav Shaul also confirmed in 1 Thessalonians 4: 13 – 17, saying: “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope. (14) For if we believe that Yahshua died and rose again, even so Elohim will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Yahshua. (15) For this we say to you by the word of YHVH, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Master, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. (16) For the Master Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of Elohim; and the dead in Messiah shall rise first. (17) Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Master in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Master.” These are very comforting words, which those who do not keep the Feast days of YHVH do not understand. This is perhaps why there is no urgency in the way they live. People do not plan for anything and live from one day to another, with no real hope of the future. After World War II, most people in the western world went on a spending spree, believing that we may continue to buy all our wants on endless credit. Whatever we desired we bought with money which we did not have, but thought we will earn at some future date. Even though most people who live in the western world say that they believe in ‘The Bible’, most of them are totally unaware that this very practice is condemned by Elohim in the Ten Commandments. Consumerism became king and whether it is about vitamins, toothpaste or a new vehicle, the message of the media is that the way to happiness is your next purchase. But what they do not advertise: is that according to Proverbs 22: 7, ‘The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.’ Most of us do not realize that wrong actions eventually have consequences. Have you ever heard the saying: We reap what we sow? Because not many study the Scriptures on a regular basis, they do not realize that this is in fact a Scriptural principle, as we read from Galatians 6: 7, “Do not be deceived, Elohim is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.” The Ten Commandments cautions us against being greedy and coveting things that do not belong to us, until such time as we have earned enough money to buy it for ourselves. Yahshua also warned us in Luke 12: 15, saying: “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” It is all about whom or what we worship. Those worshipping materialism, will eventually fail, as King Solomon, the wisest man ever, wrote in the first part of Proverbs 11: 28, saying: ‘He who trusts in his riches will fall.’ A lack of understanding and the application of Scriptural principles to our lives inevitably lead to trouble and the same principle that applies to an individual also applies to a nation.

Elohim gave us His teachings and if we obey Him, people would not exploit the less fortunate, as witnessed in Leviticus 25: 35 & 36, as follows: ‘Now in case a countryman of yours becomes poor and his means with regard to you falter, then you are to sustain him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you. (36) Do not take usurious interest from him, but revere your Elohim, that your countryman may live with you.’ Because of the house of Israel’s rejection of Elohim’s commandments, He warned them through the prophet Hosea in Chapter 8: 7, saying: ‘For they sow the wind, and they reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; it yields no grain. Should it yield, strangers would swallow it up.’ Due to the duality principle that runs throughout the Scriptures, this verse applies equally to us the modern day descendants of the house of Israel, but we are a lot closer to the return of our Messiah than ever before. We read about the time we are living in from the book of Revelation 1: 1 - 3, in this way: ‘The Revelation of Yahshua Messiah which Elohim gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must shortly take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant Yochanan, (2) who bore witness to the word of Elohim and to the testimony of Yahshua Messiah, even to all that he saw. (3) Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.’’ Yahshua warned believers in Matthew 6: 24, saying: ‘No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve Elohim and mammon (or riches).’ Most people in the world believe that materialism is the ultimate objective in life and will also save them during bad times. In the parable of the sower in Matthew 13: 22, Yahshua further warned that deceitfulness of riches will ultimately choke the Word of Elohim and it will become unfruitful.

We read about an international trade system supported by an existing financial/political/religious system which will again dominate the economic, religious and political scene before the return of Yahshua our Messiah, in Revelation 18. This system will again at the end-time exercise control over the lives of the inhabitants of the earth and no one will be able to buy or sell anything, without the approval of this system, as may be read from Revelation 13: 16 & 17, in this way: ‘And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand, or on their forehead, (17) and he provides that no one should be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.’ But, who in their right mind will give control of the finances to such a system. This system will stringently control all commercial transactions throughout the world, but will collapse just prior to Yahshua’s return to rule the world from Jerusalem. The world-wide collapse of the entire world economic system some eighty years ago resulted in trade wars and the Great Depression. This helped to put Adolf Hitler into power in Germany and he restored Germany to become a powerful nation, whilst he became a hero in the eyes of most of his people. But because it happened more than 80 years ago, most of the people alive today are beginning to forget what lead to the war and the atrocities that played out during it. The parents of those of us in their late sixties, fifties and early seventies lived during and after the Great Depression, but there are not many of that generation alive today. Their accounts of loss of homes, jobs and the lack of food seem so long ago, that most people alive today, cannot remember the tragedies that played out during that time. Suicide was rampant immediately after the collapse of the stock markets in the western world during 1929. People lost their jobs and the wages of those still employed were drastically reduced. People could not pay their debts and their properties were taken back by the banks. Eventually even the banks went bankrupt. Many of the people in the world walked around hungry, looking for jobs and food.

It is during times of such economic disasters, that the citizens of the world respond favorably to the extraordinary decisions made by their leaders that show promise of bringing an end to the chaotic economic conditions. Often times, major problems require drastic solutions and people want immediate action to put an end to their suffering. The prophecy in Revelation 17 shows that a similar scenario will occur again prior to Messiah’s return. The Scriptures describes a super leader who will control the citizens of this world like a powerful beast, in verses 11 – 13 of Revelation 17, as follows: “And the beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction. (12) And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. (13) These have one purpose and they give their power and authority to the beast.” The economic problems that will soon be experienced world-wide may ultimately require such drastic steps to try and correct matters from spiraling out of control. However, as in the recent history that most have already forgotten, the leaders with enough drive to spur their followers to do what is required are those who have no objection to walk over the rights of others to achieve their own agendas. Such leaders get things done at the cost of the freedom and self-respect of their followers. This is what happened time and time again in history, where such despotic leaders only rewarded those who supported them to remain in power. This also happened in South Africa over the past 10 years where money hungry, corrupt leaders and mismanagement almost destroyed the economy. Because of greed, this is prophesied to eventually happen in most of the Israelite nations of the world. In the book of Revelation, Yahshua the Messiah showed Rav Yochanan the things which must take place shortly. Rav Yochanan starts explaining his vision by introducing us to the evil spiritual roots of this political, religious and economic system. Presently the fallen archangel called Satan the devil rules the earth and he is getting angrier as he knows that the time of his rule and influence over the world is getting short. Yochanan refers to Satan as the great dragon, the serpent of old who deceives the whole world in Revelation 12: 9. He is preparing himself at present to make war with true believers, who ‘keep the commandments of Elohim and hold to the testimony of Yahshua’, as shown in verse 17.

In fact Satan is the driving force of what is happening behind the scenes at present. Yochanan describes this for us in Revelation 13: 1 & 2, as follows: ‘And he stood on the sand of the seashore. And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems (crowns), and on his heads were blasphemous names. (2) And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.’ Being familiar with the Scriptures we recall that these are the same characteristics that Daniel attributed to the ancient kingdoms of Greece, Persia and Babylon. In fact Yochanan tells us that there is a direct connection between these kingdoms and the kingdoms that Yahshua will destroy at His return. The ancient Babylonians were responsible for the destruction of the temple that King Solomon built, when they invaded and conquered the kingdom of Judah. We see from verse 2 quoted above, that it is Satan who will control the world’s final dictator. Satan’s agenda has always been to have an effect on the policies of those in charge of the governments of the world. However, the end-time system described in Revelation embodies much more than just the political aspects of the control of the world. We read from verses 11 – 14 of Revelation 13, that it also has strong religious support, as follows: ‘And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. (12) And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. (13) And he performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. (14) And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life.’

Satan is fully aware of the potential that true believers have in the world to come and will do everything in his power to try and get as many to fail, as possible. This is why he deceives those who dwell on earth, so that they cannot have the type of position that he had before he was thrown down to earth. Satan will have an enormous effect on the world, just prior to Messiah’s return. By totally supporting the false religious system of the world, the false prophet will easily persuade humanity to accept and support the end time development in the world’s economic, religious and political structures. He will help the merchants to make this system, referred to as Babylon the Great in Revelation 17: 5, to function. This system will trade in gold, silver, precious stones, pearls, fine linen, silk, scarlet, wood, bronze, iron, marble, flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, chariots and even in human lives, as we read from Revelation 18: 11 – 13. Today as the economies of the world stagger on the brink of collapse, it becomes necessary to consider on how the greed of men will affect the future of mankind in the near future. We do not exactly know when the final collapse of the system will occur, but the Scriptures reveal that sometime in the near future a general breakdown of the world’s economy will activate a major paradigm shift in the social, political and economic assumptions. Out of the chaos that will result from all the wrong decisions of the recent past, an extremely smart and powerful political leader will emerge. His economic policies will allow some people to take pride in their power and wealth. No opposition to this system will be tolerated and those who refuse to submit to it will be killed, as we read from Revelation 13: 15, as follows: ‘And there was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast might even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.’ This will result in the Great Tribulation, spoken about in Matthew 24: 21, like this: ‘For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall.’

But, as we read from Revelation 19: 1 & 2, Yahshua our Messiah will return to put an end to man’s economic, political and religious woes, in this way: ‘After these things I heard, as it were, a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Halleluyah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our Elohim; (2) BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER.”’ The economic/political/religious system introduced by ancient Babylon will be destroyed for-ever. But at that time the merchants who benefited from these things will stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning. We read their reaction in verses 16 – 18, of Revelation 18, as follows: ‘Saying, “Woe, woe, the great city, she who was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls; (17) for in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!’ And every shipmaster and every passenger and sailor, and as many as make their living by the sea, stood at a distance, (18) and were crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What city is like the great city?’ (19) “And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became rich by her wealth, for in one hour she has been laid waste!’ Immediately prior to the first resurrection; the resurrection of the first fruits at Messiah’s return; as Moses brought the ancient Israelites out from slavery in Egypt, so will Messiah come to deliver the modern day descendants of Israel from the religious, political and economic confusion (Babylon), by which they were enslaved. We read accordingly from Jeremiah 23: 5 – 8, “Behold, the days are coming,” declares YHVH, “When I shall raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. (6) In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, ‘YHVH our righteousness.’ (7) Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares YHVH, “when they will no longer say, ‘As YHVH lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ (8) but, ’as YHVH lives, who brought up and led back the descendants of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ Then they will live on their own soil.” We notice from Isaiah 47: 1, that this end-time prophecy is directed at the ‘daughter’ of Babylon, as follows: “Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans, for you shall no longer be called tender and delicate.”

This is not the Babylon of ancient times, but the daughter of that Babylon, alive during the twenty-first century. This is the Babylon pictured in Revelation 17, as the great whore sitting and ruling over many waters, which are interpreted in verse 15 as peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. A woman in prophecy usually refers to a religious or church system. This is the same religion of ancient Babylon; but has since grown to become great and ruling over many nations of different languages. We read (YHVH)’s words to this system in Isaiah 47: 5 – 6, saying: “Sit silently, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for you will no more be called the queen of kingdoms. (6) I was angry with My people, I profaned My heritage, and gave them into your hand. You did not show mercy on them, on the aged you made your yoke very heavy.” The yoke of slavery will be laid upon the modern day lost ten tribes. At this time it becomes very clear that the great tribulation is the sevenfold intensive corrective punishment which Elohim is now soon going to unleash on specifically Ephraim and Manasseh, better known as the English speaking nations of the world. Ezekiel describes this coming great tribulation, in Ezekiel 5: 12 & 13, as follows: “One third of you will die by plague or be consumed by famine among you, one third will fall by the sword around you, and one third I will scatter to every wind, and I will unsheathe a sword behind them. (13) Thus My anger will be spent, and I will satisfy My wrath on them, and I shall be appeased’ then they will know that I, YHVH, have spoken in My zeal when I have spent My wrath upon them.” We read further about the punishment to be unleashed upon the latter day descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh from Ezekiel 6: 6, in this way: “In all your dwellings, cities will become waste and the high places (places of religious worship) will be desolate, that your altars may become waste and desolate, your idols may be broken and brought to an end, your incense altars may be cut down and your works may be blotted out.” Those who saw movies or pictures about Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan will realize that this is talking about nuclear war. Elohim is warning us in a Prophecy that our national sins are mounting up, and soon the day of reckoning will come. World War III will commence with nuclear devastation on mainly the English speaking peoples of the world including South Africa. This severe punishment is simply the correction of mainly the modern day descendants of the house of Israel and Judah and is in fact for our own good.

Nevertheless, if we as individual believers in Yahshua repent and return to full Torah observance, we will be protected during the coming great tribulation, as we read from Luke 21: 34 - 36, as follows: “Be on guard, that your hearts may not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day come on you suddenly like a trap; (35) for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. (36) But keep on the alert at all times, praying in order that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” When Yahshua returns, He is going to bring an end to the political, economic and religious systems and its confusion called Babylon. Only then will the suffering caused by sin and debt comes to an end and Yahshua and the resurrected first fruit believers will begin to rule the world for a thousand years. During this time Satan will be out of the way, and those in the first resurrection will assist Yahshua to restore the earth to the condition in which it was before Adam and Eve sinned and was driven from the Garden of Eden. But, until Messiah returns one day our heavenly Father wants us to be careful what we eat and how we live for the rest of our lives. He wants us to obey him by our actions and have no other interests that could come between us and Him. He is a jealous Elohim and wants us to serve Him in Spirit and in truth. YHVH is longsuffering towards us and wants to give us the full opportunity to make it into His Kingdom. If YHVH was only half as harsh a Judge as we are when we judge our fellow human beings, we would have been destroyed long ago. We need to start judging ourselves, instead of our neighbor. Let us not be arrogant, thinking ourselves better than other people. Remember Satan cannot repent any longer as he sinned with full knowledge. Human beings do not have all knowledge. In addition we can misunderstand and are also partly blinded. However, because YHVH has called us, we are supposed to have more knowledge and understanding about Him and His will for us. Therefore we need to be very careful how we judge our neighbor, who has less understanding and knowledge about YHVH and His ways.

We should be able to discern the times and know from the Scriptures that we are very close to the time of the great tribulation. We like our Jewish brothers are currently in the same boat and unless we mend our ways, YHVH will stop to provide or supply our bread and water. If we study these Scriptures we will soon be able to discern that we are living right at the time of the fulfillment of these prophesies. Let us read about this in Isaiah 3: 1 to 26 and see the punishment that is going to be meted out to Jerusalem and Judah at this end time, as follows: “For behold, YHVH Elohim of hosts is going to remove from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support, the whole supply of bread, and the whole supply of water; (2) the mighty man and the warrior, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder, (3) the captain of fifty and the honorable man, the counselor and the expert artisan, and the skillful enchanter. (4) And I will make mere lads their princes and capricious (whimsical) children will rule over them, (5) and the people will be oppressed, each one by another, and each one by his neighbor; the youth will storm against the elder, and the inferior against the honorable. (6) When a man lays hold of his brother in his father’s house, saying, ‘You have a cloak, you shall be our ruler, and these ruins will be under your charge,’ (7) on that day will he protest, saying, ‘I will not be your healer, for in my house there is neither bread nor cloak; you should not appoint me ruler of the people.’ (8) For Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen, because their speech and their actions are against YHVH, to rebel against His glorious presence. (9) The expression of their faces bears witness against them. And they display their sin like Sodom; they do not even conceal it, woe to them! For they have brought evil on themselves (this is the 1st time that Jerusalem has had a gay parade since the beginning of time – this is really a sign that we are very close to the final near destruction of Jerusalem). (10) Say to the righteous that it will go well with them, for they will eat the fruit of their actions. (11) Woe to the wicked! It will go badly with him, for what he deserves will be done to him. (12) O My people! Their oppressors are children, and women rule over them. O My people! Those who guide you lead you astray, and confuse the direction of your paths. (13) YHVH arises to contend, and stands to judge the people. (14) YHVH enters into judgment with the elders and princes of His people, ‘It is you who have devoured the vineyard; the plunder of the poor is in your houses. (15) ‘What do you mean by crushing My people, and grinding the face of the poor?’ declares YHVH Elohim of hosts. (16) Moreover, YHVH said, “Because the daughters of Zion are proud, and walk with heads held high and seductive eyes, and go along with mincing steps, and tinkle the bangles on their feet, (17) therefore YHVH will afflict the scalp of the daughters of Zion with scabs, and YHVH will make their foreheads bare.” (18) In that day YHVH will take away the beauty of their anklets, headbands, crescent ornaments, (19) dangling earrings, bracelets, veils, (20) headdresses, ankle chains, sashes, perfume boxes, amulets, (21) finger rings, nose rings, (22) festal robes, outer tunics, cloaks, money purses, (23) hand mirrors, undergarments, turbans, and veils. (24) Now it will come about that instead of sweet perfume there will be putrefaction (rotting or decay); instead of a belt, a rope; instead of well-set hair, a plucked-out scalp; instead of fine clothes, a donning of sackcloth; and branding instead of beauty. (25) Your men will fall by the sword, and your mighty ones in battle. (26) And her gates will lament and mourn; and deserted she will sit on the ground.”

We need to become much more urgent about our salvation at this time. YHVH has already called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. We need to operate as a set-apart nation, as a kingdom of priests and in all earnest start getting the good news about the coming Kingdom of Elohim out into the entire world, before the end of this age will come. This is when the true peace of Jerusalem will come, when Yahshua will rule the world from Jerusalem for a thousand years. It is time for us to pray, asking YHVH to give us back the city where our fathers worshipped Him as given in Isaiah 64: 1- 12 “Oh, that Thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at Thy presence – (2) as fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil – to make Thy name known to Thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Thy presence! (3) When Thou didst awesome things which we did not expect, thou didst come down, the mountains quaked at Thy presence. (4) For from old they have not heard nor perceived by ear, neither has the eye seen an Elohim besides Thee, who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him. (5) Thou dost meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness, who remembers Thee in Thy ways. Behold, Thou wast angry, for we sinned, we continued in them a long time; and shall we be saved? (6) For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. (7) And there is no one who calls on Thy name, who arouses himself to take hold of Thee; for Thou hast hidden Thy face from us, and hast delivered us into the power of our iniquities. (8) But now, O YHVH, Thou art our Father, we are the clay, and Thou our potter; and all of us are the work of Thy hand. (9) Do not be angry beyond measure, O YHVH, neither remember iniquity forever; behold, look now, all of us are Thy people. (10) Thy Set-apart cities have become a wilderness, Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. (11) Our Set-apart and beautiful house, where our fathers praised Thee, has been burned by fire; and all our precious things have become a ruin. (12) Wilt Thou restrain thyself at these things, O YHVH? Wilt Thou keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?

Brethren it is time to start judging ourselves, lest we be judged by Elohim. We need to start questioning ourselves and make amends. We need to look into the perfect Law and see where we fall short. Then we need to repent and return to Torah and the testimony of Yahshua – that is if we are serious about our future in the coming Kingdom of Elohim. Think about it!