George W Bush 2004 Election Victory

This has already been seen as the hand of God in the last days. Christian and Jewish apocalyptic groups see the war on terror and the war in Iraq as driven by a divine mandate. Many Americans believe that Saddam was in some way responsible for 9/11. Those who opposed the war always stressed that this was not the case. Leading officials in the White House expressed doubt about the Iraq - 9/11 connection. Notwithstanding the reasons for going to war, it remains a constant source of apocalyptic excitement. Christian and Jewish futurist eschatologists alike are thrilled that Gulf War one was ended on Purim and that Gulf War Two was declared on Purim 12 years later. (The book of Esther records that Purim was the feast instituted to celebrate the Jewish victory over a Babylonian plot.)

Islam and the Apocalypse

In the seventies Islam was not the enemy of choice for Dispensationalists. Communism was the boogieman. Today, according to end timers everywhere, Islam is it. John Hagee proclaimed in early 2003 that the coming war would serve to polarize the entire Islamic world against Israel and America. One cannot help but wonder if the thought of the polarization of Islam has indeed driven US and British policy toward Iraq. It seems that rival Sunni and Shia factions have joined to fight the western “liberators”. Today Muslims everywhere are standing in solidarity like never before.

The Death of Arafat

Apocalyptically minded Christians and Jews will miss Arafat. He has been branded the Antichrist and considered the very embodiment of Evil. His passing on the dawning of a second Bush term will be considered a “sign of the times”. Rumors about his death and certainly about the time of its formal announcement will further fuel rapture hysteria. Arafat’s death was announced at 3:30 AM on the 11th day of the 11th month, (both 11 and 33 are numbers with occult significance).

Mordechai Vanunu Arrest

This is less likely to inspire apocalyptic fervor but is noteworthy. Vanunu broke the story of Israel’s nuclear program in the ‘80s. He was imprisoned and became a Christian. He was arrested recently for revealing state secrets. This story of world wide interested has been obscured by the death of Arafat.

The Wall

Have you ever stopped to consider whether the wall built to separate Palestinians from Israel may be seen as an attempt to fulfill prophecy? Daniel 9:25 talks about the wall being built in troublous times. Remember that Dispensationalists do not rest in the finished work of Christ. To them a significant amount of prophecy awaits fulfillment. The key to this period, in their minds, is the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophecy. If apocalyptics see this wall as the wall in Daniel 9 they will also see the world on the brink of tribulation and if they see the world on the brink they will do nothing to counter the slide. They will instead work to accelerate the push toward conflict.

Sanhedrin Reestablished

The Sanhedrin reconvened in the city of Tiberias on October 14, 2004. Apocalyptics will love this. According to Jewish tradition only the Sanhedrin can appoint a king. This may be a precursor to some form of announcement or political change within Israel itself. End time preachers teach that the Sanhedrin is needed as it governs the details of Temple reconstruction. There are reports that this newly reconvened Sanhedrin is planning to debate animal sacrifices in the third temple. Imagine the threat to world wide peace if a modern Jewish king were to decide to build the third temple. America and its allies would support such a move. Evangelicals wait for it, collect money for it and pray for it. An estimated 100,000 emails were sent to the White House in protest against the first term Bush government’s support for Sharon’s exit from the Gaza strip. How do you think Evangelicals will react to any American government which refuses to give military support to a temple rebuilding project?

The Armageddon Scenario

Government policies have been influenced by or even established by Apocalyptic thinking before. After all Balfour was a dispensationalist. Billy Graham presented some copies of “Armageddon, Oil and the Middle East Crisis” to George Bush senior before Desert Storm began. The book, advocating war with Iraq/Babylon in the Last Days, circulated the White House at the time. We may be watching an attempt by apocalyptically motivated governments to set the stage for the dispensationalist Armageddon Scenario. If so the conflict in Iraq will be continued and spread to neighboring lands. Many End Time preachers of both Christian and Jewish persuasion see the current conflict in Iraq as fulfilling Jeremiah 50 and 51. Today some Christian and Rabbinical scholars teach that the modern invasion of Basra is predicted in Isaiah 63:1. This view was held by the late, and extremely influential, Rabbi Manachem Mendel Schneerson. Incidentally Schneerson’s birthday has been honored by every president since Nixon. Even though Schneerson was a vocal anti Christian (He said his followers should be "Encouraging the abandonment of Christianity", www.noahide.com/rebbe.htm), portions of his eschatology are strongly aligned with Dispensational teaching.

The basic configuration of the Armageddon Scenario is common ground in both Dispensational and Jewish eschatology. By and large they both believe that a massive army will converge on Israel in the Last Days. Dispensationalists teach that this army will be destroyed by divine fire emanating from Christ Himself. Some Jewish eschatologists teach that this messianic fire will in fact be in the form of nuclear weapons launched from Israel. Martin Van Crevel a professor of military history at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem said "Our armed forces are not the thirtieth strongest in the world, but rather the second or third. We have the capability to take the world down with us. And I can assure you that that this will happen before Israel goes under."

Hard Times Ahead?

It is my fervent prayer that Covenant Eschatology becomes dominant in influencing western governments. Without this change, I see war in Syria and Iran as inevitable, who knows how far this could go? If this happens oil prices may hit eighty dollars a barrel. Terrorism will grow and national borders will change.

I hope, desperately, that I am wrong.

REFERENCES:

Rhetoric about Iran is eerily familiar to us. In 2002 we hear of similar dangers from Iraq. Iraqi information was supported by exiles. Various UN and international authorites disagreed with alleged intelligence from Iraq. The following link is a recent Washington Post article. There are man similar ones around at the moment. What will it take for a conflict with Iran?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A57465-2004Nov17

In an earlier Planet Preterist article on the timing of the “Judgment of the Nations” we look at how apocalyptically minded Christians and Jews today see 9/11 and the Intifada: