Seven Minutes with the Director

To say that we are living in perilous days is no longer newsworthy or shocking. Honest and informed men realize that the planet Earth is coming unglued. Traditional foundations are no longer eroding – great hunks of the foundation are simply falling off.

This should not surprise the true believer. The cause, course and consummation of “the times of the Gentiles” (Lk. 21:24) are set forth in God’s Word.

As we race madly and spasmodically toward the end of “the times of the Gentiles”, the news media have increasingly and unknowingly become a commentary of biblical prophecy.

Daniel, who under divine inspiration gives us the fullest panorama (see cover chart and comments) of Gentile history, is told by God to “. . . shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end. . .” (Dan. 12:4). That is, much of the detail in the book of Daniel would be obscure until the events of the final stage of Gentile world power removed the seal and the book of Daniel became fully intelligible. “The time of the end” to which Daniel refers is the last 3 ½  years of the Tribulation period.

But, future prophetic events are casting larger and clearer shadows with each passing day. The resurrection of the modern state of Israel, the reality of a super power to her far north (Russia), the resurgence of Western Europe (the Common Market), China with a two-hundred-million-man army, increased lawlessness, the breakdown of the home, perversion, a lukewarm Church – these are only some of the shadows now being cast.

In July and August of this year, four events occurred with staggering potential prophetic significance – and “potential” must be underscored: First, the United Nations’ resolution calling for Israel to withdraw from all occupied territory; second, the Common Market nations abstaining from that vote; third, the Israeli parliament’s action officially making Jerusalem its capital; and fourth, the United Nations’ Security Council unanimously censuring Israel for making Jerusalem its capital (the lone abstaining vote coming from the United States).

That the United Nations, largely controlled by Communist and third world nations, should ask Israel to return all occupied territory is not surprising, but that the Common Market nations should abstain from voting was a great surprise – particularly in light of the fact that they have officially gone on record for wanting Israel to return all occupied territory. Why then their apparent contradictory action?

All negotiation in recent years concerning peace in the Middle East was based upon United Nations’ Resolution 242. Implicit in this resolution is the fact that any solution to the Middle East problem must provide for safe and defensible borders for Israel. However, when in July the United Nations demanded that Israel return all occupied territory, the United Nations completely ignored reference to its own Resolution 242 guaranteeing to Israel safe and defensible borders.

For this reason, the Common Market nations, which have on the one hand gone on record requesting Israel to return all occupied territory – but have on the other hand gone on record defending Israel’s right to safe and secure borders – abstained from voting in the United Nations.

But, what is the Common Market, and why has it become so important in recent days? The Common Market is a confederation of nations in Western Europe, each with its own government but with its sovereignty suppressed when in conflict with the good of the whole. Tariffs between these nations are coming down and a unified currency has already been developed. It is only a matter of time until it will be put into use. These nations are increasingly speaking to world issues as a unified body. The Common Market could be described as a “United States of Western Europe”. Presently, there are nine member nations (France, West Germany, Italy, Britain, Luxembourg, Belgium, The Netherlands, Ireland and Denmark). The tenth nation, Greece, has been accepted and will be formally received into membership in January of 1981. It should be remembered that the legs and feet of the image of Daniel 2 and the fourth beast of Daniel 7 represent the revived Roman Empire of the last days. The ten toes of the image and the ten horns of the beast are representative of the ten nations that will arise out of the Roman Empire (Dan. 7:24). The “TEN” Common Market nations in large measure are within the boundaries of the ancient Roman Empire, it should be understood that the number of members can fluctuate, but in the end there will be ten nations over which the Antichrist, the beast out of the sea, will rule (Rev. 13:1-10).

It is of major importance to realize that the Common Market (according to the New Columbia Encyclopedia) came into being on March 25,1957 at the invitation of ROME, and the first meeting was held in the VATICAN itself. Six of the present COMMON MARKET MEMBER NATIONS ATTENDED THAT FIRST MEETING.

The Antichrist, leader of the revived Roman Empire, is going to confirm a covenant which evidently relates to security for Israel during a seven-year period (Dan. 9:27). This is a major and pivotal point in prophecy, as it introduces the Tribulation period – the 70th week of Daniel.

Could (and this is only suggestive) the confirmed covenant be United Nations’ Resolution 242, which guarantees Israel secure borders and which the United Nations itself ignored in its recent anti-Israel resolution – and which resolution the Common Market refrained from voting for because it favors security for Israel in any peace settlement? At the very least, these recent events dramatically demonstrate the accuracy and immediacy with which end time prophetic events could be fulfilled.

In part as a result of the United Nations’ action, the Israeli parliament declared Jerusalem her capital – and this for the first time in more than two thousand years. Remember that Jesus said, “. . . Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” (Lk. 21:24). Since “the times of the Gentiles” is fulfilled at Christ’s return at the end of the Tribulation period, it can be stated without any fear of contradiction that Israel will be forced, in one way or another, to relinquish her claim to Jerusalem, no matter how courageous and tenacious Menachem Begin, her present Prime Minister, may be.

Concession of Jerusalem and the occupied territory may well be the price Israel will pay for the guarantee from the Antichrist for security. And, this ability to bring peace to the Middle East may catapult this Satanic leader to world dominance, as it would have done to President Carter had the Camp David peace agreement achieved success. During the Tribulation, nations from the far north (Russia and her allies), the south (Egypt and North Africa), the west (the Common Market nations) and the east (China) will each launch an attack into the land of Israel, in the end only to be spewed out by God. The Prophet Zechariah said:

Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the peoples round about . . . And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all peoples . . . In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem . . . And it shall come to pass, in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem . . . In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.

Zechariah 12:2-3a, 8-9; 13:1

 

In the end Jerusalem will inherit her inheritance, and “the times of the Gentiles” will be abruptly ended by the direct intervention of David’s greater Son – the Lord Jesus Christ.

With the beloved apostle John we say, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20).