The Great Falling Away Of Tradititional Christianity

By Rick Gedeon

It is the largest religion in the western world, and now has a following of just over two billion people. This religion is none other than Christianity, mostly comprised of orthodox, mainstream or traditional Christians. For centuries, mainstream Christianity has influenced the rise and establishment of western civilization as the most influential and economically prosperous civilization the world has ever known. Although splintered into thousands of denominations since the Protestant reformation of the 1500’s, it has always been united in this one undeniable truth, THAT JESUS CHRIST IS THE TRUE MESSIAH, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD, the anointed one from God the Father who came to the earth as prophesied in the Old Testament to take away our sins by His death on the stake, AND THAT THERE IS ONE ETERNAL ALMIGHTY GOD AND FATHER WHO CREATED HEAVEN AND EARTH. Many Christian denominations teach that Jesus will also return again to the earth (called the second coming), and either establish a literal kingdom on earth with human subjects, or receive the saints at His second coming into heaven, while punishing the wicked dead and living in excruciating and gruesomely painful torment in ever lasting hellfire. While differing in many of their doctrines, this one truth is the absolute bedrock of their faith, that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, with many believing that He will return to save mankind from a world leader (anti-Christ or beast) who will deceive the world into some way of worshipping him as a God, and bring the world almost to the point of utter destruction. Much of traditional Christianity also believes and teaches that this second coming of Jesus is now imminent; that this is truly the last generation before the second coming of Christ. Is Jesus coming in this generation as many traditional Christians claim? Surely the world, especially the western world has become increasingly decadent and violent. The traditional family is declining and the rise of homosexuality and lesbianism is becoming more acceptable, even in some traditional Christian churches. Instability is on the rise, with the rise of radical Muslim extremism threatening western civilization as demonstrated on 9-11. More “rogue” nations have either created or are in the process of creating a nuclear device such as N. Korea and Iran. But the biggest event that traditional Christianity points to as the sign of Christ’s imminent return is the re-establishment of the Jewish nation of Israel in 1948. They sight a host of prophesies in the Old Testament, and Jesus’ Olivet discourse prophesy of Matt. 24:34 that point out that after their scattering into other nations in 70 AD, God would re-gather them out of all the nations, and would re-assemble them in the land of Israel in the last days. Turn on just about any T.V station on Sunday morning or any cable or satellite Christian station, and you will hear preacher after preacher talk about the astonishing rebirth of the Jewish nation of Israel after nearly 2,000 years. Go into any Christian book store, and look at the many books available that attempt to explain the imminent return of Christ through current events, and how they will affect the Jewish nation. On T.V. and in these books, all these “experts” of end time prophecy have their own scenario of how these events involving Israel will unfold, culminating with the return of Jesus in this generation. They almost all claim also that a super political/military leader will come upon the scene and will deceive the world into worshipping him as some sort of god or savior, manifested by some physical mark on their forehead or on their hand, and that by his deceptive claim, the world will obtain safety and peace. Let the writer of this article pose a question to the reader. What would happen to Christianity if Jesus did not return in this generation? Would many of those who staked much of their belief in Jesus on this premise of their religious leaders begin to lose heart and fall away from the belief that Jesus is the Savior of the world as they would see the perils in the world and upon themselves increase; the moral decadence and violence increase and overtake the world, the increase in natural disasters, extreme weather patterns and terrorist violence? Would the traditional Christian world begin to lose heart and fall away from belief in Him, and that He ever really existed, or would they hold on and continue in the faith? This website proclaims that Jesus Christ will return to the earth to establish the kingdom of God, BUT NOT IN THIS GENERATION, and that most of mainstream Christianity will have fallen away from the absolute truth that Jesus is the true Messiah (2 Thes. 2:1-12), dismissing Him as a fake, or someone who never really existed, and what little is left will be brutally stomped out by the anti-Christ and his 10 nation kingdom (Rev. 17:15-17). The traditional Christian world will have also fallen away from a belief in the eternal creator God (Psalm 14).

How long before Christ returns? Could it end up being 50, 75, or 100 years; some much further time in the future than many expect? No one knows the day nor the hour as our Lord said in Mat. 24:36, but again, we proclaim that He will not return in this generation. All that are alive today in the world will be dead in their graves long before the return of our Lord. Strange claim, eh? What this article does proclaim and witness to you is that a small remnant of true believers, spiritual virgins undefiled by women (false Christian churches in Rev. 2:14-15,20-23, and Rev. 15:4) will have not fallen away from Christ, and will press on in a time of great peril, unperceivable in this day and age, and at that time they will re-proclaim; yes re-proclaim the previously suppressed gospel of the return of Jesus Christ and His establishment of the kingdom of God (Mat. 24:24), as a witness to a, for the most part, unbelieving world. This is a claim that goes against the grain, but these very events (Apostasia of 2 Thes. 2:3) will come to pass, and are already beginning in this very day and age! This site proclaims that there will be no pre-tribulation or mid-tribulation rapture as many current mainstream Christian leaders claim. There will be no Tim LaHaye end time scenario of millions of Christians raptured off the earth into heaven. All of traditional Christianity and groups such as the Mormon church and Jehovah’s Witnesses are going to fall away or be destroyed. Satan has so polluted traditional Christianity with false idolatrous pagan doctrines that it has cast a stumbling block to salvation for millions of believers in Jesus (Rev. 2:14,20, and Mat. 7:13-14). Now that Satan has so polluted traditional Christianity with false pagan doctrines, he is now in the process as the return of Christ draws closer, of attempting to bring down and destroy the greatest truths of all; that Jesus is the true Messiah and Savior of the world, and that God exists. By so doing he will pave the way for the former traditional Christian world to “believe the lie” of 2Thes. 2:11, and give their belief and worship over to the beast of Revelation. This will take place in a future time of unperceivable world peril. Again, the great falling away will be the mainstream Christian world’s abandonment over time that that Jesus is the true Savior of the world, and the casting away of belief in the true Creator God.

But how could this be? There are just over two billion professing Christians in the world today! The great falling away has already begun, and is taking place in the very part of the world that is known as the craddle of Christianity, and where this end time beast or anti-Christ is prophesied by scholars of the bible to arise: Europe! Since about 1960, those who believe and practice Christianity in Europe have been steadily declining. Just read some of the headlines and articles from The Caledonian Call, a maistream Christian organization doing evangelical work in Europe in the hopes of staving off the dying away of Christianity in Europe! Some of the headlines on their website included:

"Christianity Will Die Out In Forty Years", "Italian Atheist Sues Priest Over Jesus’ Existence", "Is God Dead In Europe", "Is Christianity Facing A Slow Inevitable Death," "Scotts Losing Their Religion", and “Churches Act To Keep Their Flocks."

In these articles it is revealed that at the rate of decline of church attendance and belief in God, Christianity in Scotland will be extinct in forty years! Now only 1 in 10 attends church, and there are some children who do not even know who Jesus is! Twenty-eight pecent of the population of Scotland now have no religion what so ever. A quote from the website states:

“The fact that Christianity is drying up can be seen in every major congregation in the land (Scotland), the men and women in the pews are mostly old."

In a major 2001 survey the popular religion among Scotts under 35 was none! In the Czech capital city of Prague, only 19% of the residents believe in God; in fact it is pointed out that there is a higher percentage who believe in the existence of UFO’s than the existence of God! Studies have revealed major declines of church attendance in France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy. In August 2005, USA TODAY in its world section reported on this phenomenon going on in Europe. It reported that in Ireland in 1975, church attendance was 85%, but declined to 60% by 2004. In England in 2001, less than 8% of the population attended church, and less than 10% of the children attended Sunday school. In greater than 90% of England’s counties more than 90% of their populations are non-church goers. From 1975 to 2005 church attendance dropped 50%, and is expected to continue. In a large 2006 poll only 19% of teens said they had a religion, while 6% said they attended church and only 35% of teens said they believed in God; in France it was only 27%, and in Italy it was 62%. The Catholic Church in England has been described as in “terminal decline.” David Cornich, General Secretary of The United Reformed Church in Britain stated:

“In Western Europe we are hanging on by our fingernails. The fact is Europe is no longer Christian.”

How about Germany? In 1967, 25% attended church, but by 1992 only 10% did. In 1967, 42% of the population believed Jesus was the Son of God, but by 1992 it had dropped to 29%, and in East Germany only 17% believed. Although there has been a recent surge in Catholic church attendance (not growth) because of the new German Pope, the mainline protestant churches in Germany predict that their membership will decline from 25,000,000 now to 17,000,000 by 2030.Many of Germany’s former churches have been sold off, and have been converted into restaurants, coffee houses, clubs, apartments, and music halls as reported by the Los Angeles Times!

What’s going on in France? 88% of the French consider themselves Catholic, but only 5% attend church, and 60% said they never or practically never attend church. In certain areas of France, priests are so scarce that they have to oversee more than one church, and other churches are closing down due to lack of congregations. Priests now have to be recruited from French speaking African countries to oversee congregations. Look at the sinking church attendance in these countries: Sweden 7%, Denmark 4%, Norway 5%, Finland 4%, Belgium 18%, Spain 24%, Austria 30%, and Greece 21%. With the declining church attendance is also a decrease in the belief in God and Jesus, and a rise in agnosticism and atheism. The drop in Christianity is so bad in Europe that Pope Benedict XVI lamented the weakening of the churches in Europe:

“There is no longer for a need of God, even less of Christ. The so called traditional churches look like they are dying.”

Europe is sliding more and more into secularism, with Spain now the forth country in the world to legalize gay marriage with the others being Belgium, the Netherlands, and Canada. Again, to top things off, the proposed constitution of the European Union does not even mention one word about God or its dominant Christian past!

Now isn’t it strange that Christianity is dying out in Europe? It isn’t so strange though, if you are a student of bible prophecy. Where do most bible scholars think that the beast or anti-Christ will arise? They proclaim he will arise out of Europe! Now if this trend of declining Christianity continues in Europe, it will eventually go extinct, and a vacuum of a belief in a higher power will have been created. Now what might happen in the future if this actually comes to pass? There would be no more belief in a super-natural Almighty God; no more belief in a super-natural Savior and Son of that God: Jesus Christ, and with this mind-set would it not be impossible for the masses of these nations to be deceived into giving their belief and some kind of worship over to a powerful leader in a time when the world is on the brink of self-destruction, and to be deceived into giving some kind of worship to someone who will promise them “peace and safety” in a time of great world peril? This looks like what is going to happen in Europe, and the professing Christian world. By the time this super leader appears on the scene, the traditional Christian world, for the most part, will have dismissed Jesus as a fake, and an imposter who never existed, or lied about who He claimed to be, and will have abandoned a belief in God as testified in 2Peter chapter 2 and verses 1 and 2:

“But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, EVEN DENYING THE LORD (His existence and truth that he is the Messiah) who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many (millions) will follow their destructive ways…."
 
Just as Peter said, the denying of the Lord has been coming on the world almost without notice. Now what has been happening in Europe is beginning to happen in the U.S. Research has revealed that Christianity in the U.S. has begun to decline. All these new mega-churches that have sprung up in recent years have for the most part been shown to basically be drawing believers from other established churches, and not drawing new converts. They have been doing the“church hop!” Thom S. Rainer, Christian Post guest columnist stated:

“It now takes 86 church members to reach a person for Christ and that the reality is that the church is not reproducing herself. In just one or two generations, Christianity could be so marginalized that it will be deemed irrelevant by most observers. The numerical evidence seems clear. The American church is dying. We are not reproducing Christians. American church growth is typically the transfer of members of one congregation to another, rather than the conversion of the lost.”

Thom A. Rainer is president of Life-Way Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist. In a 2001 Aris study, 81% of Americans identified with an organized religion, while 76.5% identified themselves as Christians, down from 86.2% in 1992; a 9.7% drop in the last 11 years. If this trend continues, by 2042, non-Christians will out number Christians. Now less than 20% of the American population attends church, and 17% attend on any given Sunday, and for the past 30 to 40 years denomination attendance has dramatically decreased. Now ponder the decline in attendance with the fact that since 1990 the U.S. population has increased by over 50,000,000. What is the fastest growing religion in America today: The Wicca religion of witchcraft! Now over time the U.S. will also completely abandon belief in the Lord Jesus, the existence of God, and any morality it has left, but it will suffer a terrible fate at the hands of this end time European beast for its sins. These same patterns of mainstream Christianity’s decline are also occurring in Canada and Australia.

Now let us give recognition here that there is a current large growth spurt going on in Latin and South America of evangelical Christianity, but it appears that most are crossing over from the Catholic faith. There does not appear to be any real growth of new believers in Jesus. Over in Africa, and in Asia there has been a true growth spurt of Evangelical Christianity, and believers in Christ, but over time as the Lord "delays” His coming, as the prophecies of these modern day false shepherds about Christ’s imminent return fail, (Lk. 21:8) as signs and lying wonders from Satan deceive the world about the authenticity of Jesus in Mat. 24:24 and Rev. 12:9, and the morality of the world sinks to the level of Noah’s day noted in Mat. 24:37, and Gen. 6:5 and 11, the whole Orthodox, mainstream Christian world will abandon our Lord and His God. If you look closely you will see a pattern of growth and death of this false Christianity. As Christianity spread through Europe in a short period of time it became corrupted and overun by mixing with the ancient pagan Babylonian Mystery Religion of Rev. chapter 17, and now is almost dead there. From Europe it spread to the Americas where it is now beginning to die in the U.S. and Canada. In Latin and South America the masses are switching from one denomination to another, and in Africa and Asia where it is relatively new, it is growing, but as the pattern continues it will die out over time in these parts of the world(as a witness). Satan the Devil has so polluted all of professing Christianity with false pagan beliefs from the doctrine of the Trinity to the abominable false doctrine of punishing sinners; even those who have never even heard of the very name that can save them in excruciating torture in eternal hellfire, and now is in the process of destroying their main belief and truth that Jesus is the Christ. Why? Satan so hates the name of Jesus because by it God will reconcile the whole world; not a small part as mainstream Christianity claims, but the whole world He will reconcile to Himself, and all of mankind will eventually be born into His family (1 Cor. 15:20-25) as His very children along with Jesus (Rom. 8:29). God is a family, soon to include billions of children through a step by step plan of salvation through Jesus. Satan knows this, and from the time of the Garden of Eden he has tried to deceive,harass, destroy, and disqualify mankind from his destiny in God’s family. Being a god, and receiving worship is something Satan has coveted above all (Isa. 14:12-14 and Lk. 4:6-7), and he can’t stand the truth that most, if not all of mankind will be born into God's family. By deceiving the former Christian world in the future that there is no God or Savior that exists, he will attempt direct worship through a man in a time of great world instability, and in so doing will deceive mankind into attempting to fight a war with Christ at his second coming in Psalm 2 and Rev. chapter 19. They will think they will be fighting some kind of alien invasion! Now how is Satan now, and in the future going to deceive the world into falling away from Christ and God?

False Shepherds Claiming: "The Time Has Drawn Near"

Again, turn on the Christian T.V. shows; turn on Christian radio, or go into any Christian book store to the prophecy section, and what do you hear, see, and read? “The time has drawn near! The time of Jesus’ return is at hand!” Preacher after preacher shouting from the pulpits, and warning from the pages of their many books that we are living in the last days; that world events are going to explode at any time; that the anti-Christ is alive right now somewhere in the world and is ready to seize power, and that this will be followed by unperceivable world destruction and death, culminating in the return of Christ! Every “prophetic expert” has their own version of this end time event. Truly, since the invention of the atomic bomb, the Christian world has been suffering from "second coming prediction addiction." There are currently many books dealing with end time prophecy in Christian book stores. Now what did Jesus have to say about all these “prophets” who proclaim that His second coming is at hand? Let’s start with the gospel of Mathew, chapter 24; the Olivet discourse when Jesus revealed to His disciples what events would take place leading up to His dramatic return to save the world from complete destruction. In Matt. 24:1-2, we read:

Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

Now here Jesus was revealing to them the coming destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D. by the Roman armies, and a time in the future, at the end of this age when a similar event would happen again in Jerusalem described as the "times of the Gentiles." Now notice Mat. 24:3:

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and the end of the age?"

Now notice what Jesus answers in verses 4 and 5 of Mat. 24:

And Jesus answered and said to them “Take heed that no one deceives you. “For many will come in My name saying, I am the Christ,’ and shall deceive many.”

Now mainstream Christianity tends to look at this verse and think Jesus was saying that many would come along down the road and claim they themselves to be Jesus the Christ ("many will come in My name"), but this is not what He meant! He said that many would come in His name and proclaim that Jesus was indeed the Christ and not themselves, and by their false teachings from the pagan Babylonian Mystery Religion of Rev. chapter 17 along with the truth that He was indeed the Messiah, would deceive many into a false walk with Christ. Think about it! How many people have come along in the last 2,000 years and claimed they were Jesus the Christ; not many we think? Jesus here is referring to a large number of false teachers that would come along and deceive a very, very large number of people into a false walk with Christ. This prophesy of the rise of false Christianity by Jesus correlates with the first of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse in Rev. 6:1-2:

Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer (the spread of false Christianity that appears pure(white horse)."

Now notice what else Jesus warns about these many false teachers, ministers, shepherds, prophets, or whatever else they can be described as, that would come and deceive the traditional Christian world, AND THIS PROPHECY IS HUGE!. Notice the gospel of Luke chapter 21:8:

And He said “take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying ‘I am He,’and,‘THE TIME HAS DRAWN NEAR (His second coming). Therefore do not go after them."

This is at the same time and place as in Mathew 24, but Luke ads a little more to the picture. Jesus here is telling his disciples that many of these deceived teachers would come in His name and proclaim that His second coming was at hand or near, and warned them and is warning us not to go after them, and not to believe their proclamations of the time of His second coming. This very scripture identifies these second coming prognosticators such as John Hagee, Jack Van Impe, Tim LaHaye, Brother Harold Camping, and others as false! Jesus plainly said in Mat. 24:36 that:

“...of that day and hour no one knows, no, not even the angels in heaven, but My Father only.”

And also in verse 44, He said this:

“you also be ready, For the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him.”

Why doesn’t any one believe what our Lord and Savior says! For Jesus plainly said not even the angels nor He himself knows the day of His return, yet many of these modern day false prophets ignore what He said, and boldly proclaim that He is returning in this generation. False ministers they are! For Jesus also said in Lk. 21:34-35:

“But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day (His second coming) come on you unexpectedly. “For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.”

Did you understand what Jesus was saying here? The entire world will be unaware of the time of His return! The Greek word used here for snare is pagis, which means a trap or trick. So His second coming will be like a trap sprung on an animal suddenly and without awareness. But since Jesus ascension into heaven nearly 2,000 years ago, many to this day continue to ignore what He said about His second coming, by continuing to proclaim that “the time has drawn near,” and all these false predictions are one of the tools Satan is using now, and will use in the future, to destroy traditional Christianity’s belief in our Savior Jesus, and the existence of God. Like a general of war Satan is, and will use several deceptive attack strategies to attempt to bring the authenticity of God and Christ down!

Remember Hal Lindsey’s best selling book in the early 1970's, called The Late Great Planet Earth, and his follow up to it called Countdown to Armageddon? He proclaimed through these books that this age would come to an end when the U.S.S.R and the U.S.A would destroy each other by nuclear war, due to the U.S.S.R’s attempted invasion of the nation of Israel. He also claimed King Juan Carlos of Spain was most likely the anti-Christ. He also claimed that due to the U.S.’s decline in military strength in the 1970’s and the U.S.S.R’s military and nuclear build up at the same time would allow the U.S.S.R to do whatever it wanted in the world, including being able to bring the U.S. to its knees by the mid 1980’s (a prediction in his second book). In these books he claimed these destructive events would culminate in the return of Jesus, all in this generation after the time of the re-establishment of the Jewish state in 1948. But what happened? It’s 2014, and his predictions in his 2 books were a grandiose flop! For right after his second book was published President Ronald Reagan rebuilt the U.S military and nuclear arsenals to the point where it caused the U.S.S.R. (now Russia) to collapse in 1989. And what became of King Juan Carlos, the predicted anti-Christ of Hal Lindsey? He was basically pushed out of Spanish politics in 1982 by his own democratic reforms. Another false prophet and another false prophecy of the time of Christ’s second coming. How can it be that Mr. Lindsey is the best selling “Christian” author of our lifetime? Yikes! For over 50 years Herbert W. Armstrong thundered over the airwaves and television that Jesus would return in this generation, and establish the kingdom of God, with the resurrected saints. His television program The World Tomorrow, and his magazine, The Plain Truth were watched and read by millions, and his church; the Worldwide Church of God had over 100,000 members. He claimed that Jesus would return in his life time, but he died in 1986, 26 years ago, and his prophecy of proclaiming the time of Christ’s return failed. He claimed that the anti-Christ in Europe would likely be Franz Joseph Strauss, an Austrian politician who wrote a book on how Europe should become united. Shortly after Armstrong’s death, the leadership of his church who were left in charge dismantled most of his doctrines and his church fell apart leaving thousands disillusioned and confused, and caused those who remained to descend into the apostasy of the Babylonian Mystery Religion cloaked in the name of Christ and God. And what happened to Armstrong’s predicted anti-Christ? He died after collapsing during a hunting trip in 1988. Over 5 years ago, Jack Van Impe proclaimed on his television show that Jesus’ return would likely happen in less than one year (May, 2008). He actually said this and was dead serious. He proclaimed this because the government was going to mandate that everyone receive a “chip.” He said those who resisted would be whisked into heaven, but those who complied would be plunged into everlasting hellfire. On Jan. 26, 2008 he changed his mind, and from research on a documentary by the History Channel about the Mayan calendar ending on Dec. 21, 2012, he  proclaimed through DVD's of his that Jesus would return by this Mayan date and rapture the church into heaven and return in 2019 with the church to set up the kingdom of God, but about a month before this date arrived he slithered out of it, knowing it was going to fail. Now he has jumped on the new sexy prophecy that the anti-Christ will be a Muslim. Should all those who bought his Mayan Rapture CD get a refund?! Harold Camping, founder of Family Radio proclaimed on his radio station that Jesus would return on May 21, 2011, then after that date failed he changed the date to Oct. 21, 2011, and this predictions turned out to be a farce! He caused many to sell all they had because they believed his fraudulent prediction. Now he is toast!  There are now currently over 20 new prophecy books in Christian book stores now focusing on Iraq, Iran, and the growing terrorist threat to the U.S. and Israel. Now this new scenario is, according to these “prophets,” going to culminate in the return of Jesus Christ in this generation. Who do we believe? Well, again according to Jesus, we believe none of them!:

“But of that day (A day in the bible is symbolic for a year) and hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. (Mark 13:32-33)."

We are warned by Jesus not to predict His return, but to watch and be ready when it finally does occur, but these false prophets and teachers continue to ignore His command, pedaling their predictions in books, on radio, and on T.V., making millions of dollars from the Word of God, and heaping up treasures for themselves on earth, an absolutely disgusting and abominable disgrace, deceiving millions of sincere but misguided people in the process who can not rightly discern the Word of Truth.

Now what is the toll going to be when these mainstream Christian prophets and preachers predictions of Jesus imminent return continue to fail year after year after year? Have you ever heard of the story of the boy who cried wolf? This continual error that these false modern day prophets are getting sucked into are going to, over time contribute to a disenchantment and disillusion that will help contribute to a gradual falling away in the belief in Jesus and God. This is one of the attack methods Satan will use to bring mainstream Christianity down. These continual failed predictions of His imminent return, over whatever world crisis scenario will be occurring at the time over the next several years, will help cause Jesus to increasingly look like a fake, an imposter, or someone who never existed, and this will also contribute to the mainstream Christian world to quit believing in the God who ordained and sent Him the first time. The prophesy in 2 Pet. 3:3-4 will surely be fulfilled:

"Knowing this first; that scoffers will come in the last days (years), walking according to their own lusts, and saying, where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were since the beginning of creation."

Again, because of these predictions not coming to pass, it will allow for false prophets in the future to "secretly bring in destructive heresies,even denying the Lord who bought them" (1 Pet. 2:1).

The False Sign Of The Re-Establishment Of The Jewish State Of Israel Signaling The Last Generation

What is the biggest sign that these modern day false prophets and preachers point to that signal that this is the last generation, and that Jesus’ return is imminent?: why its none other than the astonishing rebirth of the Jewish nation of Israel in 1948. This event, they say is linked to His Olivet discourse in Mat. 24 and Lk. 21. As mentioned previously, Jack Van Impe said in the recent past that Jesus would likely return in May, 2008, then through the Rapture by 2012, and the main sign of a list of 10 he gave that we are right at the time of Christ’s return; why none other than the rebirth of the Jewish nation of Israel! Now this is probably the biggest sucker prophecy that all these modern day “prophets” point to as the last generation before Jesus’ returns to the earth again. All those Old Testament prophecies that preachers like John Hagee and Jack Van Impe among many others proclaim are not the descriptions of the re-gathering of the Jews from all the countries of the world to the holy land in 1948. The prophecies in the O.T. regarding the re-gathering of these remnant people are of the 10 lost nations or tribes of Israel who descended from the son’s of Jacob, such as Ephraim (U.S.A.) and Manasseh (Great Britain), and not the Jewish people occupying the land of Israel today. Yes, good old British Israelism is true indeed! To learn about this astounding truth read about it hear at
http://www.plaintruth.com/the_plain_truth/2009/09/the-number-13-and-the-identity-of-ephraim.html The nation that occupies the land of Israel, and bears the name of Israel today are also one of the descendents of the 12 sons of Jacob named Judah, who occupied the southern part of the ancient kingdom also called Judah at the time of the removal and captivity of the 10 northern tribes called Israel, in 721 B.C. by the Assyrians (modern day Germans of 2 Kings 17:23, and 2 kings 23:27). They were never to return to the holy land. God later re-assembled them into the nations that they are today such as France, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and as mentioned earlier, Britain and the U.S.

Now lets look at one of the prophesies of Israels latter day re-gathering that one prominent preacher in his recent book claimed to describe the regathering of the present Jewish state. Notice Duet. 30:1-6:

"Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse (physical blessings for obedience to the law, and curses for disobedience) which I have set before you, and you call them to mind (there was never any mass repentance to the complete law God gave Israel during or after the W.W. II holocaust) among all the nations where the Lord your God drives you, and you return to the Lord your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you this day (the Jews in Israel today don’t practice anything near what God commanded Israel in the Law), you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, that the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you. If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you." Then the Lord your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed (millions of Jews still live in many countries around the world today), and multiply you more than your fathers. And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live."

Now during and after the Nazi holocaust there was no noted mass repentance of the Jews to return to the Lord their God and obey his voice (the entire Law of Moses or turning to Christ).They did nothing different after their Nazi captivity as before it. Notice also in this prophesy God said He would circumcise their heart. This is referring to the time when all the nations or tribes of Israel (Jacob) will be re-gathered to the promised land after the return of Christ, from punishment and captivity:

“As I live,” says the Lord God, “surely with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, I will rule over you. I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries (10 lost nations of Israel in a time yet in the future) where you are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I (Christ) plead my case with you face to face. Just as I pleaded my case with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will plead My case with you,” says the Lord God. “I will make you pass under the rod(rod of correction), and will bring you into the bond of the (new) covenant; I will purge the rebels from among you(goats of Matt. chapter 25), and those that transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the country where they dwell, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord (Ezek 20:33-38)."

At that time the Jewish people who will still be in the Promised Land at the time of the re-gathering of their lost brothers by Christ, will accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. In fact the Jews will be the first physical nation to accept Christ as Lord and King upon his return to the earth (Rev. 11:13 and Zech. 12:5-8). The Jews over in Israel in this present age still reject Christ as their Lord and Savior to this day, and therefore never fulfilled the prophecy in Duet. chapter 30, when they were granted national sovereignty in 1948.

Now lets look at another prophesy of this supposed last generation fulfillment of the re-gathering of the Jews in Israel. Hal Lindsey sighted this prophecy in his book The Late Great Planet Earth, and Jack Van Impe keeps harping about this same prophesy on his T.V. show every week  happening within the very near future . Notice Ezek. 38:1-12; this describes a time when Russia and her allies will come up upon the land of Israel and attempt to attack and plunder it. God said this event would take place in the latter years, and at a time after Israel would be re-gathered from all the nations where they were driven (verse 8). But if you notice the description of Israel at this time it can’t be describing the Jewish nation today; for it describes Israel dwelling safely without any military protection:

“After many days you will be visited (Russia and her allies). In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword (lost 10 nations of Israel) and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, AND NOW ALL OF THEM DWELL SAFELY (The Jews have not dwelt in safety since they returned to the holy land in 1948)."

Now notice verse 10-11:

Thus says the Lord God: “On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts shall arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan: “You will say ‘I will go up to a land OF UNWALLED VILLIGES; I will go to a peaceful people, WHO DWELL SAFELEY, all of them dwelling WITHOUT WALLS, and having neither bars nor gates."

Now this description of Israel’s re-gathering in the latter years does not describe the Jewish nation born in 1948. For since its birth that nation has never been in a state of peace and safety, but has been at almost constant war with its Arab neighbors, and almost constantly has dealt with terrorism from the Palestinian people and other Arab nations around it, and its current threat is now the nation of Iran, who has been highly suspected of creating a nuclear arsenol. This Jewish nation has never been at peace, rest, or been unfortified as the Israel described in Ezek. 38. If you want a description of the current Jewish nation; the descendants of their father Judah, go to Gen. 49:1 and 8:

And Jacob called his sons (12 sons) and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days (these last days/years could be 1,000 years on the tale end of 6,000 plus years of the present day creation: II Pet. 3:8)..."

"Judah(Jews), you are whom your brothers shall praise; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies."

Notice here the Jews, the descendants of Judah in the latter years would not be at peace, but would “be on the neck” or at war with it’s enemies. This does not describe the peaceful Israel described in Ezek. chapter 38, but is describing the Jews of today constantly having to beat back their Arab enemies to continue to exist as a nation. This end time exodus in Ezek. 38 is again the re-gathering of all the nations of Israel (10 lost tribes) after the return of Christ. This is describing a time when Russia and her allies will attempt to attack Israel after Christ has settled them peacefully back in the Holy Land, a time when they will have no need of conventional military protection and at time where Christ will not have dealt with the rest of the nations(Gentiles) yet. This does not describe the Jewish state today, for it is fortified to the max militarily against its Arab enemies. This attempted attack by Russia and its allies in Ezek. chapter 38 only confirms that at the return of Christ, and even shortly after, the world will be so far removed from the knowledge of who He is that these invading nations will probably think they are attacking some alien invader (Psalm2).

Now if this is the last generation before Christ returns because of the re-establishment of the Jewish nation in 1948, are we not near the end of this so called last generation? Is not a generation in this day and age considered about 70 years? Lets see; if the Jewish nation was re-established in 1948, and that event is the main sign of the last generation, then we have 4 or so more years (to 2018) until this last generation second coming prophecy is fulfilled. So we have about 4 or so years left for the Jews to supposedly rebuild a temple that the anti-Christ will enter and make desolate with his blaspheming of God, and by proclaiming that he himself is above anything that is called God (2 Thes. 2:4). We have 6 or so years for one third of the trees and all the grass of the earth to be burned up (Rev. 8:7), for every living creature to die in the sea (Rev. 16:3), and for Europe to become a mega super military power with a super military political leader that will tread down and devour the whole Earth(Dan. 7:23) with a 200,000,000 man army (Rev. 9:16), and cause a third of mankind to be killed( 9:15-18). We have 6 or so years for cosmic disturbances to strike the earth (Rev. 6:12-13). Throw on top of this a 7 year reign of the anti-Christ before the return of Jesus Christ, and they are looking at all this starting yesterday! We think not! The European Union at this time couldn’t beat a team of rented mules, let alone defeat, destroy, and take captive the U.S and Britain as prophesied before the return of Jesus (Isa. 10:5-6), or over-run the Middle East (Dan. 11:40-41). A cheap Hanna-Barbara cartoon script would be much more believable than the scenario mentioned above taking place in the next 7 year time frame.

Whether you believe a generation is 70 years, 80 years, or 100 years, one thing is certain; this end time prophecy of the establishment of the Jewish state in Israel as the main sign that we are the last generation before the return of Christ will fail! It is another great blunder about end time prophetic events, especially by evangelical Christianity. This present generation will pass, and Jesus will have not returned! So what will be the effect of this false prophecy on mainstream Christianity? Are you starting to see a pattern established by Satan the Devil? This deception will be another huge crack in their belief over time that Jesus and God are real; that They exist and are who They claim to be. Because Jesus will have not returned in this generation, as their leaders proclaimed by the sign of the re-establishment of the Jewish state, it will help sow the seeds of doubt in many believers and help contribute to the the present and future great falling away of traditional Christianity’s belief that Jesus is the Christ, and that God exists.

Great Signs And Wonders

What could some of these great signs and wonders be that that Jesus said that if possible, could deceive the very elect (chosen) of God? In Mat. 24:24 Jesus warned:

“For false christs and false prophets (pretended for-tellers) will arise and show great signs and wonders (something that arouses awe, astonishment; feelings of puzzlement or doubt) so as to deceive, if possible, the elect.”

Have you noticed over the last 25 plus years the increasing number of books, movies, documentaries, news reports, and specials that are attempting to discredit Jesus; who He claimed to be, and discredit what the gospels and apostles testified about His life and death on the stake for all mankind, and His miraculous resurrection from the dead? Have you noticed the growing interest and attention on works such as The DaVinci Code, The Gospel of Judas, or the recent documentary by producer James Cameron entitled The Lost Tomb of Christ? In Cameron’s documentary he claimed that a tomb discovered near Jerusalem in 1980 contained the ossuaries (coffins) of Jesus, His “wife” Mary Magdalene, their son named Judah, Jesus’ mother Mary, father Joseph, and brother James, the apostle who wrote the epistle of James. Then there was the Italian amateur scholar, Slavisa Pesci who super-imposed DaVinci’s Last Supper painting with its mirror image to produce what appears to be a woman holding a baby (supposedly Mary Magdalene with Jesus’ child), and transforming two people at the table into what appears to be two knights. This caused such a stir of interest on the internet that it caused over 15,000,000 web sight hits! What’s up with all this stuff coming on the scene in recent years putting doubts in the minds of many that Jesus may not be who He said He was? Watch documentaries today about Jesus on cable or satellite T.V. such as the Discovery or History Channel, and what you see and hear are increasingly slanted reports on the authenticity of Christ and more distorted views on His relationship with Mary Magdalene. What about the documentary film floated around the world in theaters and now available on DVD called The God Who Wasn’t There? This documentary claims that Jesus was a complete hoax, and never existed at all! The traditional Christian world is like a frog that is slowly being boiled in water by all these lies! All this garbage is just another one of the growing coordinated deceptions by Satan the devil to again, assist over time in destroying the faith of millions who believe in the existence of Jesus and God, and pave the way for this end time anti-God, anti-Christ leader to dupe the former traditional Christian world into believing “the lie” (2 Thes. 2:11). After the documentary The Lost Tomb of Christ aired in the spring of 2007, one prominent Christian scholar lamented in the newspapers that there recently seemed to be more attacks on the authenticity of Christ around the traditional Christian holidays, and warned that if there was ever uncovered any type evidence that strongly appeared to make Jesus look like a fake it would devastate the faith of Christian world.

The book that seemed to get the ball rolling on all this blasphemy was The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail published in 1982. This book claimed that Jesus and His disciples planned and faked His death on the “cross” (he was crucified on an upright stake and not a cross). The book went on to claim that Jesus went on to marry (of course) Mary Magdalene and father children that would later become the royal Merovingian bloodline in southern France (symbolized by the Holy Grail). Since the time the publication of this book there has been a growing number of works on this same subject leading up to the DaVinci Code in 2003, and The Lost Tomb of Christ in 2007. Now look for an increasing number of works like this to discredit Jesus and God. What the apostle Paul warned about is definitely happening in this day and age:

“For the time will come (end of the age) when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth (that Jesus is the Christ), and be turned aside to fables (2 Tim. 4:3-4)."

Now in the future, don’t be surprised if astonishing things; documents, archeology discoveries, scientific discoveries such as life, or former life forms on other planets are discovered that will absolutely shake the foundations of the traditional Christian world’s belief that Jesus and God are real. Don’t be shocked if things are discovered that look so real and so authentic that shows Jesus was a fake that they will cause many who profess Jesus to quit believing and fall away from the truth!

The Growing Spirit Of Anti-Christ

No one in this nation who believes in Jesus Christ can deny a spirit of anti-Christ has been growing over the last few decades (orchestrated by Satan the devil at a convenient time). More and more our government has been banning or discouraging worship, prayer, and the mention of God and Christ in government institutions and functions. Prayer has been taken out of the public schools, and in these schools and in state universities the utterance of God and Jesus or the writing of their names on class papers are now discouraged, or outright banned, and in their official assemblies such as graduation ceremonies, the mention of God and Christ are forbidden. Plaques and frames of the Ten Commandments have been removed from government buildings and the public schools. The use of the term Christmas for this mainstream Christian holiday (in actuality an abominable Pagan festival) is now under attack and its name is slowly being watered down for the main purpose of removing the word Christ out of public places, government institutions, mainstream Christian festivals, and in the end, out of the publics mind. Now it is “politically correct” to say “Happy Holidays” or “Seasons Greetings” instead of “Merry Christmas.” “We don’t want to offend anyone who is of a different faith, or an atheist;” says the modern day politically correct liberal thinker. Over in Europe secularism reigns. When once the Christian theology weighed heavily in influencing their governments; now the European Christian heritage or anything to do with Christianity again is not even mentioned in the European Union’s constitution! Again, it is merely another attack strategy Satan is using to wipe out God and Christ from the minds of those who believe He exists. An interesting note here is that it is Satan through the false teachers Jesus warned us about in Mat. 24:4-5 who changed the abominable worship of the birth of the new sun (Baal) on Dec. 25 to the worship of the birth of the Son of God on Dec. 25; hence the holiday Christmas came to be. Now as millions of unwittingly deceived believers incorporated and transformed this filthy pagan celebration, in which even human sacrifice was attached to at one time (go to this site and read about this at http://www.thechurchesofgod.com/Good%20Old%20Time%20Religion.htm) they, through this deception (and many others) of Satan polluted their walk with Christ (Rev. 2:14,20-21), and entered the broad gait (Mat. 7:13-14). Now many are fighting to keep "Christ in Christmas," when all the while Satan, who was the one who deceived mainstream Christianity into keeping this pagan holiday for Christ, and cause them to stumble over it spiritually in the first place, is the same deceiving spirit who is now in the process of removing the name of Christ back out of this pagan holiday for the sole purpose of attempting to over time blot the main truth that Jesus and God are real. What a deceiving, cunning and clever devil this present evil world is under the sway of!!

Now with morality sinking like a stone in the western world to the point of absolute immoral filth, attached to it also is a rise in the spirit of anti-Christ. For truly these are the beginning of the days the Lord God testified in Isa. 5:20-21:

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!”

More and more in our modern society evil is truly now looked upon as good. Homosexuality is becoming more accepted to the point where gay churches are growing with the acceptance also of gay clergy in some mainstream Christian denominations. Homosexuality and lesbianism is now basically accepted as part of television entertainment and culture. It is truly shocking how T.V. has so rapidly become such a cesspool of immoral filth from movies, T.V. series’ to even the commercials. Many states in the U.S.A. have had to deal with, or are in the process of dealing with the legalization of same sex marriages. As the DSM III dropped homosexuality as a mental disorder in the the early 1970’s; so now psychiatrists and psychologists are now beginning to debate on whether pedophilia is also not a mental disorder!:

“But evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Tim.3:13).

Now living together especially for the younger generation appears more common than marriage, and when and if they finally marry it is usually after sexual relations with multiple past partners.All of this immoral garbage is becoming more accepted as normal, and if thought of as normal than it is also becoming accepted as right or good. Now as all this sin is now thought of as good, what do you think is slowly being looked upon as evil? Why of course it is Jesus and the righteousness He stands for that is slowly being looked upon more and more as evil. Jesus and the teachings of the bible are looked on more and more as bigoted, ridged in thought, judgmental in lifestyle and also is branded as homophobic. As for this nation; when we have completely cast off all morality the prophesy of Hosea 4:1-3 will be fulfilled:

Hear the word of the Lord you children of Israel(U.S.), for the Lord brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “There is no truth or mercy, or knowledge of God in the land. By swearing and lying, killing and stealing, and committing adultery, they break all restraint with bloodshed after bloodshed (as in the days of Noah; only evil and violence continually). Therefore the land will mourn; and everyone who dwells there will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea (Rev. 16:3) will be taken away.”

Notice in this prophecy at the end of the age there will be no knowledge of God; there will basically be no more belief in Jesus, God, or the truth that they stand for. Notice what the prophet Amos testified about this:

“Behold the days are coming,” says the Lord God, “that I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst of water, but of hearing the words of the Lord (Amos 8:11)."

The result will be gross unrestrained wickedness prompting the defeat and captivity of this country at the hands of this end time beast, whose kingdoms under him will also have cast off the belief in Jesus and God and given their authority to him (Rev. 17:12-13).

“For I will no longer pity the inhabitants of the land,” says the Lord.“But indeed I will give everyone into his neighbor’s hand and into the hand of his king. They shall attack the land (U.S. and the U.K.), and I shall not deliver them from their hand (Zech. 11:6)."

Near the very end of the age,  when the mainstream Christian world has cast away its God and Savior, and sunk to the wickedness of Noah’s day; what will be the fate of many of the pure and undefiled believers; those few who have come out of Babylon (Rev. 18:4) who have not been deceived and fallen away from the truth?:

"Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman (church) who brought forth the man child (Rev. 12:13)..."

and:

“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for my names sake”(Mat. 24:9).

Notice Psalm 14:1-7. This is actually a prophecy of persecution and martyrdom of the saints leading up to the end of the age by those who have abandoned belief in Jesus and God:

"The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good (as in the days of Noah). The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are who any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one. Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat my people up as bread (persecute and murder those who continue to confess Christ), and do not call on the Lord? There they are in great fear, for God is with the generation of the righteous. You shame the council of the poor, but the Lord is his refuge."

Now how do we know that this persecution pertains to the end of the age? Notice verse 7:

"Oh that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When the Lord brings back the captivity of his people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad."

Notice that this Psalm mentions this will be at the time of the whole house of Israel’s re-gathering out of the nations by Jesus Christ back to the land of Israel from captivity at the end of the age (again, not the Jews in 1948). This could not be talking about Israel at the time of the writing of this Psalm; for the writer of this Psalm was King David, and during his reign the 12 tribes of Israel were for the most part established and united under his reign in the land of Israel. It is describing a time at the end of the age when the formerly mainstream Christian nations will have fallen away from belief in God and Christ (The fool has said in his heart “There is no God..."), and the result will be hatred and martyrdom for many of the remaining undefiled believers:

When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the alter the souls who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the Earth?” (Rev. 6:9-10)."

Notice in this vision the saints are crying out to God. “How long O lord, how long is this going to go on!" They are crying out; "how long are you going to “delay” your coming, and avenge our blood!" This seems to imply that the Lord’s coming will be a lot further in the future than we expect. Now notice Lk. 18:7-8:

“And shall God not avenge his own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them (for a long period of time)? I tell you He will avenge them speedily (upon his return). Nevertheless when the Son of Man comes (finally returns),will He really find faith on the earth?"

This scripture seems to imply that when Christ does eventually return to the earth there will be very few left who will have remained faithful to Him. The world will gradually turn on the remnant believers in part because of the light of Christ, and His truth in them will expose the world’s works of darkness; therefore the world, because of their evil deeds will turn on them to attempt to destroy the light, culminating with a reign of terror and persecution by the end time beast:

“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed (John 3:17-20)."

Because of this rampant, overwhelming anti-Christ, anti-God spirit of wickedness in the world at the end of the age, it will greatly contribute to another wave of martyrdom of the remnant believers in the future.

Rising World Peril As The Lord Delays His Coming

It’s hard to believe how the world has grown more gloomy and unstable over the past few years. The U.S. national debt continues to soar with no end in sight while other nations continue to finance this debt. The dollar is sinking to record lows against other currencies, especially against the European Union's currency; the Euro. The price of oil and gas has shot way up and our government is still paralyzed when it comes to energy independence. The war in Iraq is still unresolved, and Iran appears close to obtaining a nuclear bomb, while at the same time it continues to breathe out threats against Israel. Russia again appears to be moving away from the U.S. as an ally while China is exploding in economic growth, mostly at the expense of the U.S. consumer, and is committed to becoming a dominant world power. Here at home in the U.S., our two political parties have become so polarized that it appears that they have thrown out the interest and good of the country for the specific purpose of keeping themselves in power. It truly appears that every politician in Washington is “eating the flesh of his own arm” (Isa. 9:20). Then there is the illegal immigration problem that threatens our national security, and down the road, our identity.

With all its faults the U.S. for the most part has been the stable force in the world in this modern era. For a superpower it has to probably be the most benevolent world power ever. At the end of WWII, as the only nation with the atomic bomb, it conceivably could have conquered the world. Instead it poured billions of dollars into the rebuilding of the nations it defeated. Now it has become the world’s biggest debtor nation. It has poured trillions of dollars into social programs and now is pouring billions into the Iraq and Afghan war; with the result of a national debt of over 14 trillion dollars. Our economy is now in decline, and as this trend continues it will soon collapse like a house of cards on a sandy beach, and with our economy gone, soon to follow will be our military and the ability to defend ourselves. Now as the U.S. begins to recede from world power as the bible prophesies it will in Deut. 28, the world will surely become a more dangerous and unstable place. Nations with despotic leaders will become more bold and unrestrained in pursuing agendas that will destabilize the world, and rising powers such as China and Russia will flex there growing economic and military muscle in pursuit of their national interests. Last but surely not the least the decline of the U.S will open the door for the revival of the Roman Empire, the beast of the book of Daniel and Revelation that will ultimately wreak havoc on the physical nations of Israel and on the spiritual nation of Israel; the saints of God. The United Nations for the most part has been a failure to facilitate peace among the nations, and has been riddled with corruption. Look also for this organization to ultimately fail and eventually dissolve, contributing to increasing world instability in the years ahead, and creating a vacuum for another power to rise and attempt to unite the world.

What about all this global warming stuff, and rising extreme weather patterns? Something is truly happening to our weather; it has truly changed over the past 20 plus years or so. One thing is for certain, the precipitation patterns have changed. There appears to be no more consistent rain in due season, and this appears to be happening worldwide. We either get to much rain or not enough for extended periods of time. Just look what happened over in England in 2007; flooding rains that were the worst ever recorded in modern times. Look at Texas in 2007. It recorded its wettest season ever, and the year before (2006) it’s driest. Here in northeast Ohio, since about 1986, the seasons have been either to dry or to wet over extended periods of time. The rain does not appear to come in due season any more. Our weather patterns have become stagnant over long periods of time. Does the bible have anything to say about our inconsistent precipitation problems? It most surely does and the prophecy is specifically for us, the physical nations of Israel!:

“The Lord will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe burning fever, with the sword, with scorching (blasting heat), and with mildew (rotting due to too much rain); they shall pursue you until you perish. And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth that is under you shall be iron. The Lord shall change your rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you (flooding rains) until you are destroyed” (Duet. 28:22-24).

Read what the prophet Amos had to say about this current precipitation pattern in chapter 4, and verse 7 and what affect it will have on us in the future.

“I also withheld rains from you, when there were still three months to the harvest. I made it rain in one city, I withheld rain from another city. One part was rained upon, and where it did not rain the part withered. So to or three cities wandered to another city to drink water, but they were not satisfied; Yet you have not returned to me."

One farmer in Texas a few years back was amazed that one part of his farmland kept getting rain over and over while the other part continually received no rain at all, making it completely parched. Sound like the above prophecy of Amos? Could these extreme moisture patterns, if they get worse, eventually threaten all the plant life on the earth? Notice Rev. 9:3-4:

"Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads."

Sounds like this scripture is describing a time in the future when plant life is so scarce that what is left will try to be protected from any more destruction.

Now if you think things are bad in the world now, "you ain’t seen nuthin yet!" The conditions of the world are going to get much worse. World instability is going to increase. Terrorism will increase for the nations of Israel (Lev. 26:16). Weather patterns and environmental problems will increase, and the wickedness of man will increase to the point testified by our Lord in Mat. 24:36-39, and described in Gen. 6:5:

"Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

The spiritual state of mankind is no where near this point yet! World conditions are going to get worse and worse over the next several years and decades, and our Lord will have seemed to delay his coming as he hinted that he would (Mat. 25:5). In the years ahead false prophets and false christs will arise as our Lord delays His coming, and will continue to turn the minds of many away from the greatest truths of all. Again how long until the Lord Jesus returns: 50, 100, or 200 years? But again, when he finally does return will he find any faith left on the earth?

Knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation (2 Pet. 3:3-4)."

Old Testament Shadow Of The Great Falling Away

The Old Testament Law is referred to in Heb. 10:1 as a shadow of the good things to come (in Christ). Col. 2:16-17 refers to the Old Testament weekly Sabbath and holy days also as shadows of things to come in the future (through Christ). The Old Covenant and Law given to Israel are none other than an outline of Jesus Christ; what He did when He came to the earth the first time and accomplished, and what He will yet do in the future for all of mankind. Jesus is none other than the spirit, intention or reality of the Old Testament Covenant and Law. He was symbolized by the tree of life in the Garden of Eden by His death on the tree. He was the fulfillment of the Ten Commandments by loving and obeying His Father with all His heart, soul, and mind, and loving His neighbor, actually even above Himself (Mark 12:29-32 and Philip. 2:5-8). He was the sacrificial lamb of the Passover (John 1:29) fulfilled when He was slain on that very day for the redemption of the whole world. He is the unleavened bread from heaven that comes down into us through the Holy Spirit and sweeps all the sinful leavening out of our lives forever (John 6:51); fulfilling the Old Testament feast days of Unleavened Bread, and He is the reality of the shadow of all the Old Testament festivals in the future that will ultimately bring salvation to all mankind. He is the reality of the shadow of clean and unclean meat, giving the believer by the power of Christ in him through the Holy Spirit to discern between clean and unclean doctrine (Lev. 11:46-47 and John 6:54-57). Jesus fulfilled the physical 7th day Sabbath by becoming our eternal spiritual Sabbath rest when we believe in Him as our Savior and allow Him through faith to live His righteous life in us (Mat. 11:28, Heb .3:7-19 and Heb. 4:1-11). Basically just about all the physical acts that God made the Old Testament Israelites perform were a shadow of Jesus (I Cor. 10:3-4); what He fulfilled during His first coming, and what He will yet do in the future. He is the Zerubbabel of the book of Haggai who will once again rebuild the (spiritual) temple from pagan pollution and ruin through a small remnant group of believers. He is the Elijah to come through these remnant believers who will continue to hold fast to His word and not deny His Name at the end of the age when the rest of the world will have dismissed Him, and through Him they will prepare the way for His second coming by declaring His imminent return, and the establishment of the kingdom of God by Him (Rev. 3:7-11 and Mat. 24:14).

Now in the Old Testament God also had people act as shadows of the Savior Jesus. Isaac was a shadow type of Christ when Abraham was commanded to kill and sacrifice him as a burnt offering (Gen. 22:1-12). David was a type of Christ in the example of his unwavering faith in God (1 Sam. 17:26 and 36-37) and being a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam 13:14).But the one individual in the Old Testament who foreshadowed Christ the most was Moses. It was Moses who led the Israelites out of the bondage of Egypt (symbol of bondage to sin) as Christ leads us out of spiritual sin. The Israelites were baptized unto Moses (1Cor. 10:1-2) as we are baptized into Christ. Moses led the Israelites through a physical wilderness with pitfalls and traps that tested their faith; just as Christ leads His followers though a spiritual wilderness of deception, traps and sinful snares to test and change our sinful nature into His perfect, holy nature. Again, the Old Testament experiences of the Israelites were none other than a shadow type of what was to come through Christ and His church in an unconverted heathen world. Since the Old Testament was a shadow of events to come in the New Testament involving Christ, is there an event in the Old Testament that for-shadows the great falling away of the professing Christian world in the future before the return of Christ? The answer is an astonishing yes!!

Now let’s examine the incident in the Old Testament that for-shadows this end time great falling away. This event takes place in the book of Exodus. Now after God gave His Ten Commandments, statutes and judgments, and the Israelites accepted the terms of the Covenant in Ex. chapters 21 through 24, God commanded Moses to go up into Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments in stone, and further instructions regarding the sanctuary, tabernacle, and instructions concerning the service of the sanctuary by Aaron and his sons. Notice Ex. 24:12-13:

Then the Lord said to Moses, “come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.” So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up to the mountain of God.

Now notice what Moses said to the elders with him before he went up into the mountain in verse 14:

And he (Moses) said to the elders, “Wait here until we come back to you (in other words; it might be a while, hold on until we return). Indeed Aaron and Hur are with you. If any man has a difficulty, let him go to them."

Now notice Ex. 24:16-18:

"Now the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. The sight of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights."

Notice Moses ascended the mountain into a cloud. Now who else in the bible did something similar to this? It was none other than the reality of the shadow Moses: Jesus the Christ in Acts chapter 1! In Acts 1:8, before His ascension into heaven, Jesus commanded His disciples to wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit. Now notice verse 9:

"Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight."

Moses was the shadow who ascended up a mountain into a shadow type of heaven; into the cloud in the presence of God for an extended period of time to receive the Law, the Covenant in stone, instructions in the building of the sanctuary, instructions in the order of the Levitical priesthood through Aaron and his sons and the service of the sanctuary by that priesthood, and then was to descend to the Israelites from the mountain to implement these laws and instructions over the people. Now back to Acts 1:9:

"Now when He (Jesus) had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight."

They both were received up by a cloud with Moses being the shadow of this event, and Christ the reality of it. Now Moses was on the mountain out of the sight of the Israelites for a prolonged period of time (40 days and 40 nights). This extended time period was not revealed to the Israelites encamped at the foot of the mountain. As we shall see, so also Christ ascended to heaven without revealing to us when He would return a second time. Notice Acts 1:6-7:

Therefore, when they came together, they asked Him saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put into His own authority.”

Again, Christ the reality is fulfilling the shadow of the Old Testament actions of Moses by ascending into a cloud and into heaven for an extended unknown period of time.

Before revealing the shadow of the great falling away lets read what the last instruction God gave Moses on the mountain before he descended back down to the Israelites. God instructed Moses about the Old Testament weekly and annual Sabbaths to be given to the Israelites as physical rest days as a sign, or as the original Hebrew word describes it; a mark between God and Israel that that they would be His people. The Sabbath commands were given just before the Old Testament shadow of the end time great falling away. These physical Sabbaths are a shadow of the spiritual step by step rest in Christ that He will eventually fulfill, and bring spiritual rest and salvation to the whole world. The weekly physical Sabbath rest (not binding on Christians any more) is the shadow of the eternal spiritual rest of the Christian upon belief in Jesus as his or her Savior (Mat. 12:28-29), and is the mark of those who have ceased from their own works, and this worlds pursuits, and allows Christ to live His righteous life and purpose through the believer (Isa. 58:13-14, Gal. 2:20 and Heb. chapters 3 and 4). At the end of the age this will be the sign to God who the remnant believers are, for the rest of the professing Christian world will have fallen away from belief in God and Christ and will give their belief to a man symbolized by the number six (6), the number of spiritual incompleteness. The remnant believers will not have fallen away from the truth that Jesus is the Christ, symbolized by the seventh day, the number of spiritual completeness (7). A derivative of the Hebrew word for sign; owth is mentioned also in Ex. 12:13, when God called the keeping of the Passover a sign or mark.

"Now the (Passover) blood shall be a sign (mark) for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt."

Now the reality of this shadow event is when someone believes and accepts Christ’s shed blood it becomes a mark, sign, or beacon to God that sets him or her apart from the rest of the world, as His own chosen spiritual people.

Now lets read Ex. 31:12-18:

And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, “speak unto the children of Israel, saying: ‘surely My Sabbaths you shall keep (physical holy days that shadow the step by step spiritual redemption of mankind in Christ.), for it is a sign (mark) between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord that sanctifies you (sets you apart). ‘You shall keep the Sabbath (future spiritual rest in Christ); therefore it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death. Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign (mark) between Me and the children of Israel forever (just as belief in Jesus is the spiritual Sabbath sign between God and spiritual Israel, the church, forever); for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth (and on the sixth (6) day created physical, and spiritually incomplete mankind), and on the seventh (7) day (mans spiritual completeness in belief and rest in Christ) He rested, and was refreshed.' "

Now to the Old Testament shadow of the New Testament great falling away of all of traditional Christianity from the belief in Christ and God. We will parallel the shadow to the reality verse by verse. Notice Ex. 32:1-6:

Now when the people (traditional Christianity that will fall away) saw that Moses (shadow of Christ) delayed coming down from the mountain (as Christ will delay his return from heaven), the people gathered together to Aaron (becomes a type of the false prophet?), and said to him “come, make us a god (end time human ruler possessed by Satan) that shall go before us (attempt to unite and save the world); for as for this Moses (Christ), the man (Savior) who brought us up out of the land of Egypt (sin), we do not know what has become of him (Jesus is a fake, a phony, or someone who never really existed, or is never returning as He promised)."
 
This is an absolutely astonishing event that foreshadows the end time falling away from belief in God and Christ; for in this event they gave up on Moses because they didn’t think he was coming back to them, and completely cast away the Lord God by making Aaron create a graven image to worship and be their God!:

And Aaron said to them, “Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people broke off golden earrings which were in their ears, and they brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand, and fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said “this is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt. So when Aaron saw it, he built an alter before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.”

What in the world happened to Aaron that he so willingly cast away Moses his brother for whom he was the spokesman for, and cast away the God through whom he performed some of the first miracle 10 plagues in Egypt? How could he change so quickly to allow the Israelites to commit such idolatry? He proclaimed a feast unto the Lord for this golden calf that he made! Note that at the end of the age there will be a great religious leader (Rev. 13:11-16) who will also deceive the world into making some kind of image to this end time beast ruler and cause them to receive a mark (simply belief) in their forehead and on their hand. Could Aaron, who was the leader of the Levitical priesthood been a shadow for a short time, of this end time false prophet?

Let’s read now what Moses did after he descended from the mountain after God revealed Israel’s sin to him:

"Then he (Moses) took the calf which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder(Ex.32:20)..."

Now what does Christ do to the beast at his second coming? He casts him into fire also, and burns him up (Rev. 19:20). Now what was this golden calf idol and where did the Israelites get it from? Obviously, they got it from Egypt where they were in bondage for hundreds years. This calf was probably none other than the most revered god in Egypt; the bull god Apis, and the English word bull is actually derived from the word Baal, who was the most abominable detestable idol the Israelites worshiped in the Old Testament. Now this bull or calf, depicted in Egypt with a sun disk between its horns and a serpent (Gen. 3:1 and Rev. 12:9) protruding out of the top of its head represented none other than Satan the devil. It is also stunning to note that when the Greeks later ruled Egypt they changed the image of Apis the bull into the image of a man and renamed him the god Serapis. Since the time of the flood Satan has for thousands of years, been able to deceive mankind into indirectly worshipping him though pagan idolatry; even to this very day he also does through the pollution of mainstream Christianity, but at the end of this present evil age will attempt direct worship through a man after the falling away comes first:

"So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” (Rev. 13:4)."

And:

"Let no one deceive you by any means; for that day will not come unless the falling away (or final rebellion agaist God) comes first, and the man of sin is revealed (Satan possessing a mortal man), the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God...

And also:

"The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs and lying wonders (2 Thes. 2:3-4,9)."

This falling away which, again is happening at this present time, will continue over an extended period of time; perhaps hundreds of years. The Lord is going to appear to delay His coming. Notice Mat. 25:5:

"But while the bridegroom was delayed they all slumbered and slept,..."

And in Mat. 24:48 it says:

But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’...

And also Lk. 12:38:

“...and if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would have come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

What do you think would happen if this “man of sin” who will claim to be God or a god appeared on the world scene within the next few years (as many false prophets today predict), and made this claim? Why he would be laughed to utter scorn by the current professing Christian world, and probably cast into an insane asylum, or shot. Again, mainstream Christianity has been poisoned by false idolatrous pagan doctrines but they still hold the truth that Jesus is the Christ, and they believe in an Almighty Creator God. They would never fall for this satanic imposter at this present time, and receiving a “chip” somewhere in your body in in itself isn't going be the mark.” It will be so bad, it will come down to, in the end, the simple confession of Christ (7) or denial (6), and the world will not fall for this satanic hoax until the truth of Christ and God are taken out of the way. Then the lawless one  through Satan will deceive an unbelieving world, and will for a short time be able to pull off “the lie” (2 Thes. 2:1-12).

Let’s look at one more event in Ex. 32:26 that foreshadows the return of Christ to the earth after the great falling away. This event took place after Moses descended from the mountain and destroyed the golden calf:

Then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp, and said, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side let him come to me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him.

The tribe of Levi did not participate in the sin of idolatry as the other tribes did, but remained faithful to Moses (who also was a Levite), as he was on the top of the mountain for this extended period of time, and at the command of Moses they went out into the camp and slew 3,000 men who par-took of this rebellion against God. Then Moses said to these Levites in verse 29:

“Consecrate (purify or sanctify) yourselves today to the Lord, that he may bestow on you a blessing this day, for every man has opposed his son and his brother.”

From that time the Levites were set apart for the service of God and the tabernacle:

"At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister to Him and to bless in His name, to this day (Duet. 10:8)."

This gathering of the Levites to Moses is none other than the shadow of the reality of Christ gathering the saints to Himself at His second coming downfrom heaven! Notice Moses descended the mountain to a huge mass of people (shadow of nominal Christianity fallen away) who had given up on him, and rebelled against the true God for a false god. But the tribe that was the least among the other tribes of Israel; Levi, whom Moses was also from, stayed faithful and did not fall away as the other tribes did while Moses delayed his coming down from the mountain. Notice the characteristics of this tribe of Israel. When Jacob told his 12 sons what would happen to their descendants in the latter days he told Levi his descendants would be scattered among the other tribes; or in other words they would not become a physical nation with territorial boundaries as his brothers would (Gen. 49:5-7). Instead of any physical inheritance the Levites were ordained to be God’s inheritance:

Then the Lord said to Aaron (Levite high priest): “You shall have no inheritance in their land, nor shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel (Num. 18:20)."

and:

“Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brethren; the Lord is his inheritance, just as the Lord your God promised him (Duet.10:9).”


The Levites were also forbidden to perform military service in Israel because they were ordained to the service of God and the tabernacle (Num. 1:45-53).In short, the Levites were a shadow of the reality; the church of God founded and lead by their High Priest and King Jesus Christ; a small remnant (very small at this time, the church of Sardis) that do not adhere themselves to this present evil Babylonish carnal world under Satan (Lk. 4:5-6), nor involve themselves in corrupted mainstream Christianity which has committed fornication with the politics of this world. They do not put their faith and trust in corruptible men (Rev. 17:2), but look and hope for the inheritance of God through Christ, and the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth by Christ; in which the saints will administer the service of the throne of Christ; the Temple of the living God. As Christ descends from heaven He will gather the spiritual Levites (as Moses did with the physical Levites), the church of the living God; those who are called, chosen and faithful, from righteous Abel to those few at the end of this age who will have kept the word of Christ, and not denied His name (Rev. 3:8).

In conclusion the writer of this article is sending a message to the called and chosen remnant few of God’s people at this time. It is a message to those who have come out Babylon; who have come out of this present time of religious and political confusion that will, down the road, blow up in the faces of those who continue to adhere to it, and at the end of this present evil age they will, in a time of great world instability and peril, reject and scoff at a man named Jesus returning to save them in that time of great instability and uncertainty, and will give some kind of allegiance and trust in a man; a mortal carnal spiritual incomplete man (6), who will be so high minded that Satan will use him in the disguise of peace to attempt to destroy the physical and spiritual people of God. This is a message to those “puny” and very small remnant believers of today (Sardis: Rev. 3:4) who are spiritual virgins, who walk in the spirit of the O.T. law that reveals the reality, (Jesus Christ), who have not been defiled with women (the churches of Babylon).The remnant few are now commanded by our Lord and Savior Jesus to hold the battle line, become awake and watch; watch and strengthen the remnant of undefiled believers that remain, that were almost ready to die. For there is coming on the earth such great deception and disillusionment that it will cause the professing Christian world to fall away from belief in God and Christ. As the years go by, the world, because of it's increasing wickedness, will turn on this scattered group of believers who have continued in the faith, and persecute them, causing them to come together, and through Christ this future organized remnant will have enough strength to re-proclaim the gospel of the kingdom of God to all nations and then at that time, a time many years from now, our Lord and Savior will return and all the saints with Him and establish His kingdom forever. This article will end with the words of our Lord in Mark. 13:32-37:

"But of the day and hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming-in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning-lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. AND WHAT I SAY TO YOU, I SAY TO ALL: WATCH!"

Additions To The Article: The Great Falling Away:

Update: Oct. 8th, 2012: Here is a devastating article about the rapid decline of any religious beliefs in one third of Americans ages 30 and younger. Now what were the biggest reasons for the turnoff? These people seem to be disgusted with religions pursuit of money and to much invovement of religion in politics, two of the many things God condemns false Christianity in the Bible for commiting. You can read the article here at 
http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/10/09/study-one-third-of-adults-under-30-have-no-religious-affiliation/ This article is also posted on the blog page of this site if you want to comment on it.

Additions March 11, 2009: I just read a stunning article called The coming evangelical collapse published by the Christian Science Monitor. You can read the link here at: http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0310/p09s01-coop.html And the main reason given is the continued attempts to force their morality on a secular post Christian western government. Remember what God said that traditional Christianity would do in Rev.17:2, that it would commit fornication with the governments of this world which are under the influence of Satan (Luke 4:5-6). This present government in the U.S will try to ensure that it will never lose power and will surely persecute professing Christians as it and the people they govern become more godless. Now what is the Christians duty to those in authority. Go to ITim. 2:1-3 and read:

"I exhort therefore first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings and all that are in authority. Why?: "... that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior."

Paul is commanding the church to pray that the church may live in peace without persecution. Remember the shadow of the Levites that they would have no earthly portion among their brethren, but they would be God's inheritance? Paul was not telling them to get involved in the affairs of this worlds carnal governments. By this great blunder as this article The Great Falling Away points out, will eventually bring wrath on these people who try to entangle themselves with carnal politicians who are now in power that hate Christianity, and who criticize those they oppose, which if you read in the book of Jude is forbidden. Jude went on to call these false Christians as having the minds of brute beasts who will bring destruction upon themselves. It is also interesting to note that this article says there will be a migration to Catholism where again it is pointed out that the 10 nation anti-Christ kingdom will declare whatever is left of it illegal and have it destroyed in Rev. 17:15-17. It's just another avenue that Satan is taking at an "opportune time" to bring the belief in Christ and God down!



Added: Oct. 20th, 2008: I just got done looking at the Drudge Report and there is a painting on it's news cover page of presidential candidate (now President) Barak Obama dressed like Jesus holding a cross and with a Halo over his head. Many including Louis Farachan have referred to Mr. Obama as "the Messiah" and Mr. Obama himself a few days ago in New Hampshire said to his audience that not only was he going to change the U.S., but made the grandiose statement that he was going to "change the whole world." Check out this link to see how many feel about this man at http://obamamessiah.blogspot.com/ Now in no way here am I speaking evil of this dignitary (I am not involved in the politics of this world) and I will pray for the leader chosen by this country that the people of God may lead as peaceable life as possible as the apostle Paul commanded until the return of our Lord. I want to simply call your attention to the spirit that is creeping more and more over this nation as well as others that we could even entertain such thoughts as implying that a mortal man can begin to be attatched to the name "messiah" and take the place of our Lord and Savior as someone who can solve all our worldly problems, but as the belief of God and Christ continues to die in the western world, mortal men will look to such people with more desperation as world conditions (morally and financially) continue to deteriorate. Is Barak Obama the anti-Christ? Absolutely not, but you can see a mind set growing towards the idea that a man could become so highly exalted in a time of desperation to the point of being anointed as a "messiah" or savior by the common man as the solution to all the worlds problems, and down the road when the state of the world is on the brink of destruction, God will send the world strong delusion to believe in such a lie because they will have rejected the truth of an existence of an Almighty God and Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.