Dear Steven,
I thought to send you a note prior to reading your lead piece on the china and our health care mess. The Tribulation will begin in February 2012,
God Bless,
Doug.
MyReply
Doug,
I thank you for sharing your expectations on the date of the future Tribulation, but I regard all dates currently being proposed as speculative. It is clear from on-going prophetic fulfillments about the end of the age that we are drawing near to the climax of the latter days period of time; however, I can’t nail down any specific time as of yet. I’ll share some thoughts with you (and other readers) on this topic of 2012 though.
The current movie (2012) and the on-going hype about Mayan calendar issues, etc. have created a growing expectation that a major crisis will occur in 2012 that will require the arrival of some kind of “messiah” to save the world. Since the beast and false prophet will arrive on the world scene at least 42 months before the real Messiah (Jesus Christ/Yahshua) comes, it is far more likely, in my mind, that we may see the arrival of the prophesied “beast” and “false prophet” figures in 2012. These figures are destined to reign for a mere 42 months (Revelation 13:5). We also have yet to see the arrival of God’s powerful Two Witnesses who are prophesied to preach for 3 and 1/2 years (Revelation 11:3). The beast/false prophet duo and the Two Witnesses duo will be contending for the allegiance of the earth’s nations and people at the end of this age. The fact that the beast eventually slays the Two Witnesses (Revelation 11:7) confirms that the beast and the Two Witnesses’ prophetic time periods will either be concurrent or substantially overlapping. These prophesied world figures have not yet arrived on the world scene. You can read more about the topic of the Two Witnesses by examining my article about them at the articles link of this website.
Let’s say the “beast” figure arrives in early 2012 and “solves” many global problems. The end of the beast system and its ruler would then be 42 months later…in the Autumn of 2015. A blog I did a long time ago documented that a Messianic teacher had done extensive research and learned that there are an uncanny number of lunar and solar eclipses on the biblical (i.e. “Jewish”) Holy Days in 2014 and 2015. Such prophecies as Matthew 24:29, Mark 13:24, Luke 23:45, Revelation 6:12 have descriptive language which could easily be fulfilled by solar and lunar eclipses. Therefore, I’d view Autumn, 2015 as a much more likely time for the return of Christ than any time in 2012, but, again, I’m not setting dates. Matthew 24:29 indicates that a solar and lunar eclipse will occur “immediately after” the Tribulation, so 2012 seems too early a time for the tribulation to occur in my view. Also remember that the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:21) is not the same event as “Jacob’s Trouble” (Jeremiah 30). Jacob’s Trouble is a time of trial on the descendants of all the tribes of Israel (both Israel and Judah are mentioned in that prophecy), but the Great Tribulation is far wider in scope. That event will threaten not just the Israelites but all nations. Mankind itself will reach the edge of imminent extinction if Divine action was not taken to stop that extinction from occurring (Matthew 24:21-22).
Steve
