The Bible and the EU

All the noise in the media has rendered many people utterly weary of the whole Euro-currency tragi-comedy that has been unfolding, laboriously, over about two years now.

First, it was Ireland; then it was... who? Portugal; perhaps, Spain? The pundits invented the term PIIGS as some kind of clever anagrammatic reference to the weaker of the European member states. Finally, after interminable weeks of 'will-they, won't-they,' the stronger economic partners, essentially Germany, bailed out the struggling Greece... with the installation of their designated technocrat as a new Prime Minister. Hardly had the new, unelected leader taken office when Italy got the same treatment, and the once-immovable Berlusconi suddenly resigned as if pulled by a vaudeville hook, stage left.

While the European Union situation may be mildly irritating to many onlookers (as to when these clowns will get their act together) you have to admit that it's been a true, 'roller-coaster' drama. To those who look beyond the surface, (read 'mainstream media') version of events, the whole chain of chaos is being deliberately orchestrated towards a predictable outcome. That outcome, desired by the global banking elite, is to force the hodge-podge of member nations into a closer fiscal and political union, creating a 'United States of Europe' under one, autocratic management structure.

So, the question must be on the minds of many-- will they succeed in this grand scheme to unite Europe under one government? To many observers, this goal must appear inevitable. After all, the manipulators have managed, time and again, to circumvent the democratic process, and to push through their constitution, regardless of popular opinion in the individual states. The latest financial chaos seems destined to result in a new 'order' on the European continent.

But-- is a 'united Europe' inevitable? Will the member nations coalesce into the desired monolith? The answer is NO! How do I know? Because it's written in the book! That book being the one so often maligned by modern scholars-- the Bible. This is a fairly straightforward lesson; so even if you're a neophyte or a skeptic, let's hold fire, please, and follow this 'exegesis' (technical term for analysis).

The future of Europe is described in a few pithy verses found in the second chapter of the book of Daniel. Even lapsed Christians often remember the story of the Hebrew prophet Daniel-- who was among a group of prisoners taken from Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, about 600 years before the time of Jesus. The Babylonian emperor (Nabucco) had a dream (or vision) which so troubled him that he demanded his court magicians to first, tell him what he dreamed, then to interpret it! Of course, they couldn't possibly do this, so he decreed that they would all be executed. (See ch. 2, verses 4-12).

Daniel, the exiled Israelite, was told of the king's demand, went to see him, and obtained an extension of the deadline. That night, with his companions forming a prayer group, God gave Daniel both the king's dream and it's interpretation. Next day, Daniel went to Nebuchadnezzar and laid out the details, (ch. 2:19-29) which were an outline of 'what will take place in the future' (vs 29).

Here is how Daniel described the king's dream (from the New American Standard Bible):
[31] “You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. [32] The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, [33] its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. [34] You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. [35] Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.”

Next, Daniel gets right into revealing the dream's meaning. And, lest any reader assume that I am imposing my own interpretations on the text, I will include the headings inserted by the NASB editors, to demonstrate that these ideas are well known and widely accepted.

“The Interpretation—Babylon the First Kingdom [per NASB]”
[36] “This was the dream; now we will tell its interpretation before the king. [37] You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory; [38] and wherever the sons of men dwell, or the beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold.” [i.e. The gold head represents the Babylonian empire.]

“Medo-Persia and Greece
[39] After you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth.”

Notes:
As silver is inferior to gold, the next empire was that of Medo-Persia, which did not achieve the glory of Bablyon. It was, notice, represented by 'two arms' of silver, the two branches of the Medes and the Persians who united for a while. After them came the Greek hegemony under Alexander, later under his four generals, who each ruled a section of the empire. (The Greeks were noted as artisans in bronze).

About the forth kingdom-- the legs and feet of the statue-- Daniel writes:
“Rome [per NASB]
[40] Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces. [41] In that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay. [42] As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. [43] And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery.”

That's it-- the last piece of the prophetic puzzle. Even centuries ago, Bible scholars realized that the legs of iron represented the iron rule of mighty Rome. And recall that the Roman empire did, in fact, split into Eastern and Western entities ('legs'), with capitals at Constantinople and Rome, respectively. Thus, it's not much of a leap to decode the feet and toes as representative of the various members of the present 'European Union' as it calls itself ever so hopefully. (Sure, some pundits abandoned this notion after the membership exceeded ten; but, they fail to understand that it's the toes AND feet, and the exact count is unimportant-- it's the concept that matters!)

Daniel's interpretation is startlingly specific in important details. He states that some (parts) of the kingdom will be strong and parts of it will be brittle. Are we not seeing that description unfold before our very eyes? While the German economy, and presumably that of France and Britain, are 'strong' in relative terms, the economies of the 'PIIGS' is notoriously 'brittle!' What a brilliant prediction!

The prophet of God goes on to specify that the disparate parts “will combine with one another in the seed of men,” referring to the practice among the European royalty to intermarry across national borders. (Even in our day, Queen Elizabeth married Phillip, of Greek nobility). How much more accurate can it get?

That same verse, (43) gives us the answer I proclaimed at the start of this essay: 'they will NOT adhere to one another...” Few prophecies in any cultural tradition are more clear and apparent than this classic phrase supplied in the book of Daniel. So clear is this chapter that it becomes the virtual key to unlocking most of the Bible's eschatological ('end-times') texts, including the book of Revelation.

(The essay/study on 'The Beast of Revelation- Revealed At Last' made use of this pivotal portion of scripture in interpreting chapters 13 and 17 of that enigmatic book.)

In conclusion, I feel confident that, notwithstanding the engineered chaos in the current European kerfuffle, the nations of Europe will NOT unite under a single, autocratic government. It's not my opinion; it's God's revelation recorded in a book that stands the test of time. You can bet the bank on it!

Decoding Religion

You've seen those silly symbols attached on the back of some automobiles-- the 'fish' icon, with the word Jesus enclosed.

Then, later variations quickly appeared, that include little 'feet' below the fish, and the word Darwin inside. It was the latest mutation that really triggered my thinking on the subject of symbols-- the familiar fish... with a 'Star of David' within! Now what the heck is that supposed to mean? Does it signify the assimilation of Judaism by Christianity? In a theological sense; or some other way? My final notion is that it probably indicates a belief in 'Christian Zionism,' i.e. the confused theology of certain, mostly American, evangelical sects that think they can hasten Armageddon by promoting Israeli hegemony.

In fact, if my suspicion is correct, the symbol is far more significant and nefarious than the proud bearer realizes. What the 'star inside the fish' represents to me is the insidious infiltration of Christianity by the virus of Zionism. These so-called Christians are completely ignorant of their own sacred scripture-- the New Testament-- that makes it abundantly clear that 'there is no other name (than Jesus) by which we must be saved.' Contrary to Paul's explicit advice to the Galatians, these uninformed sheep have been bewitched and seduced by the strong wine of legalistic Zionism. Thus, the symbol is entirely appropriate, and chilling to true believers in Christ.

When you examine the six-point star, you have to realize that it is really an occult symbol, the hexagram. It is no coincidence that people speak about casting a 'hex' on someone when they want to bewitch them in some way! This is exactly what has happened to that errant sect of false Christians. The hexagram has great meaning to adepts of Gnosticism and other 'mystery cults' thru the ages, that sought the keys to 'higher knowledge' that would unlock the mysteries of the universe. Composed of two interlocked, equilateral triangles, the hexagram is the two-dimensional projection of a Platonic solid. In the three-dimensional analog, there are two, interposed tetrahedrons or pyramids, whose vertices touch the surface of a circumscribed sphere. Transposing to the heavenly spheres, the planets and stars, it is believed that those points of contact (which occur north and south of the equatorial plane) represent energy points that can be mapped out and used to empower human activities.

Then, going back to the fish, I pondered about how the prophecy of Revelation 13 could actually come about-- that a restored but false Israel would effectively rule the world in the last days. How could a nation of only 6 million people rule over a world with 1000 times that population? Yet it's happening before our eyes! How can they do it? I realized that it's the 'power of the pyramid' so to speak. It's by using the classic, hierarchical, power and control system. The Zionists have installed operatives in key positions in Western (and other) countries, who exercise control over witting or unwitting agents below them, and so on, down to the functional level. Most 'awake' netizens know that the pyramid is an important occult symbol, but now we can see that it has practical significance as well as figurative. This is the occult modus operandi that has well served the satanic cabal in advancing their cause, over the centuries. It is an authoritarian, paternalistic, legalistic system, based on the pyramidal, hierarchy of management.

On the choice of a fish to represent Christianity, there seems to be some doubt. Some might suppose that it had to do with the miracle where Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes to feed the crowd. But a few scholars state that it is related to the zodiacal age that began around the time Jesus lived, namely, the Piscean Age. In summarizing this still-current age, Wikipedia states succinctly, "The Age of Monotheism, Spirituality, and the Fish."

In any case, there are numerous fish swimming in these theological waters, as the profusion of denominations of ostensible Christianity attests. As for the fishy symbol I noticed, it points to a church that has swallowed the bait of Zionism, hook, line and sinker. This is a church that has no Biblical legitimacy, and depends on the ignorance of its fellowship for existence. Yet it can do much evil in its zeal to force the hand of God and impose Israeli rule over the Middle East and beyond.

Notes

Dr. John Dee, the court astrologist of Queen Elizabeth I, in his book Hieroglyphic Monad, includes the following quote:
"'Mahatma Letters,' page 345: 'The double triangle viewed by the Jewish Kabbalists as Solomon's Seal is...the Sri-Antana of the Archaic Aryan Temple, the Mystery of Mysteries, a geometrical synthesis of the whole occult doctrine. The two interlaced triangles are the Buddham-Gums of Creation. They contain the 'squaring of the Circle,' the 'Philosophers' Stone,' the great problems of Life and Death--the mystery of Evil. The Chela who can explain this sign from every one of its aspects is virtually an Adept.'"

From the Encyclopedia of Freemasonry:
"The interlacing triangles or deltas symbolize the union of the two principles or forces, the active and passive, male and female, pervading the universe... The two triangles, one white and the other black, interlacing, typify the mingling of apparent opposites in nature, darkness and light, error and truth, ignorance and wisdom, evil and good, throughout human life."
-33rd Degree Freemasons Albert G. Mackey and Charles T. McClenachan quoted from Codex Magica by Texe Marrs

Atheism and Science

Atheists think they're free, because they've removed their faith from religion.... and placed it in science... believing with religious fervor that science is the route to liberty of the human mind.

But-- science is just another construct of the human mind, and subject to the same weaknesses we know so well. Viewed 'objectively,' science passes every test for religion! Here's the proof.

If, as its practitioners insist, science were truly 'objective,' there should be only one school of thought (or, shall we say, church of belief) because all objective investigation (using the touted methods of reproducible experiments, mathematical equations, etc.) should lead to the same results and conclusions. But, the fact is that there are many schools (denominations) of scientific belief.

Moreover, scientists (believers) in a given discipline object strenuously if a practitioner from another discipline should have the temerity to cross the forbidden boundaries and bring new, fresh beliefs into their hallowed halls. A classic example is the shameful treatment of Velikovsky (a psychiatrist) in the 1950s. After the early space probes sent back data that confirmed his unorthodox theories, did his critics apologize? No; they simply absorbed the new truths... and stopped any mention of his name.

Today, the battle of scientific dogmas rages between the true church of the classic, gravitational model of the universe, versus the heretical, upstart proponents of the electric universe. Like Catholics and Protestants, Sunnis and Shiites, these two camps loathe each other and their aberrant ideologies.

Clearly, scientific orthodoxy becomes as entrenched as any religious views. This is a natural outcome of human nature, and occurs irrespective of the field of knowledge (be it religious or secular). The problem in both spheres, is that true believers of any stripe refuse to acknowledge this truism, and insist that their truths are somehow immune to the human tendency to cast our biases in stone.

Added to the problem of subjectivity in all belief systems, is the influence of purely practical or operational factors, the primary one being finances. All human systems require money to fund the salaries of the priests who conduct the services/research, instruct the initiates/students, and proclaim the dogmas/theories. In this regard, science may be objectively seen as in a more precarious situation than religion. Ministers are generally paid by their congregation or denominational authority, hence find it expedient to preach the message approved by those authorities.

Scientists, as highly educated individuals, feel they deserve high salaries-- much higher than the average pastor. Those salary levels must be secured by performing research and writing papers that are sponsored by well-endowed corporations. Obviously, the research must be of some relevance to corporate sponsors; but more troublesome, it must not compromise the profits of the corporation for fear of having the funds withdrawn. It's a clear conflict of interest that everyone is aware of, but few dare to question, at peril of their income.

Yet, secular humanists cling to this pathetic faith that science is objective, impartial, and the only system capable of yielding credible models of reality. Sure, there have been great advances in the material realm. Many of the great leaps have been born of the scientific breakthroughs of the 19th century, when the pioneers of electro-magnetism laid the ground-work for much of what followed. Advances in steam, and later, gasoline engines were more due to engineering progress, which resulted in trains, automobiles, aircraft, and so forth. Those early researchers were not beholden to the corporate sector as today's graduates, and were more propelled by a true spirit of investigation.

What passes itself off for science in this 21st century, especially at the theoretical level, is really another form of religion, if only its practitioners had the honesty and courage to admit it. All belief systems, whether grounded in theology or in natural observation, are subject to all the limitations of human psychology. They would all do better to cooperate than compete. But in that regard, they behave as purveyors of consumer products, and scramble to grab as much 'market share' as possible for their stake-holders. Bottom line: in the realm of ideas, humans are as irrational as in all their other endeavors.

Only One Conclusion

Are we living in the 'Last Days' of Earth, as various sources claim? Or is it all hysteria induced by the stress and pace of change in this era? In this article, I aim to show how a constellation of

widely disparate indicators are converging in our present day, and point to one unavoidable conclusion-- that we are living in the last days.

This is a stretch for many readers; but if you want to be prepared for coming calamities, you've got to stare into the dark abyss!

Regardless of your views on ‘apocalypse,’ I think every intelligent reader will admit that we are living in unpredictable, unstable times. At any moment, the broadcast news could interrupt your regular rhythms to inform you of a deadly earthquake in such a highly developed place as Japan, or of civil uprising in Libya that suddenly jolts gasoline prices skyward, or the bankruptcy of a major company that may send your investment portfolio stumbling down; and so on. That's beside the personal messages that can burst into our lives, and change them forever, such as a diagnosis of disease, a road accident involving a family member, a job loss, and on it goes. We've all had brushes with these incidents. You might believe then, that people would be quite ready to accept new information that could help them prepare for the increasing contingencies of modern life. Instead, sadly, most people take the opposite tack! They are sufficiently harried by the things they can't control, that they blissfully tune out the news that they think they can 'safely' ignore.

For those who can handle reality, aware that foreknowledge is the best insurance they can have, I present this scenario.

In what can be called Jesus' Revelation, Matthew 24, he tells us: As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man (vs 37). Here, 'it' means the state of the world. So, what was the state of the world in those days of Noah? If we go back to the account of the Flood in the ancient book of Genesis (ch. 6, vs 5) we find this succinct and chilling statement: The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.

Surely the degree of comparison expressed in that sentence cannot be missed-- 'every inclination' was 'only evil' and 'all the time.' These words outline a very bleak picture of the terrible moral condition of humanity at that time. Yet, here's the core of it-- and I think most persons of good will know this in their heart of hearts-- the world is today at that same degree of moral corruption that existed in Noah's day!

Our ubiquitous experts, the sage heads in the TV frame, assure us that not only is everything just fine, but society is progressing, just as implied in the dogma of Evolution. Right; just relax, folks; ignore those nagging nabobs of negativity who keep reminding us of the many indications that demonstrate a regression back to the Dark Ages. For those of us who are inveterate skeptics, let's take a survey of the factors that would validate the thesis of a moral regression that echoes the days leading up to the Deluge.

(1) Perhaps the most damning indictment of moral pretensions today is the clear fact that in this 'enlightened' 21st century, the gap between rich and poor is greater than ever, and is accelerating. This disparity occurs both within every country, as well as internationally. In the once-richest nation on Earth, the American dream has finally been definitively dashed, as millions have lost their home with no hope of regaining it.

After decades of donations of billions of dollars to the 'developing world,' (primarily Africa) nothing significant has changed. The poor in those countries are as poor as ever. And if we needed an illustration, we had the Haiti earthquake of 2010 where, a full year after the disaster, most people are still living in primitive tent cities, despite the billions of dollars of aid that was sent or pledged by concerned benefactors.

Most people take money for granted in the sense that they don't think about what it really means. We assume that coins and paper notes are convenient counters that represent a 'medium of exchange.' However, the true situation is that a small cabal of bankers devised a scheme, dating back centuries, to transform money into a debt-note, and by their machinations, that debt is owed to them. Virtually every bank in the world participates in this debt-money system, which means that most people, world-wide, hold debt owed to this monstrous system.

The financial meltdown that shook so many banks and investment houses on Wall Street in 2008/9 should have done what capitalism boasts it does-- shaken out the weak, and left the system stronger. Instead, the instigators skimmed off a goodly amount of the torrent of bail-out money, and the system is as shaky as ever. The bottom line of the world economic ledger has a big, red-ink entry for the poor, and a bloated, black-ink entry for the rich.

Each of the main 'degeneracy factors' entails subsidiary factors that exacerbate the main one. In the case of money, we have to delve into the issue of energy, since (whether we realize it or not) we live in an energy economy. What the 20th century accomplished was the total dependency of the entire world on one, vital substance-- petroleum! Regardless of all professed efforts to develop new energy sources, the petroleum industry has the world hooked on their 'black cocaine.' No alternative source could replace oil within even a decade. And the petrol-masters have no intention of helping humanity break its oil habit. On the contrary, there is evidence to demonstrate that any serious attempt to challenge the supremacy of petroleum with some new innovation is met with crushing opposition. For prime example, stories persist that the genius, Nicola Tesla, had found a means to tap the unlimited, ubiquitous energy of the universe, and intended to make it available freely to the world. He ended his days a discouraged, financial failure, and his discoveries have never seen daylight. Virtually free energy would have meant a huge step towards freedom from poverty for the world's masses. Instead, they are held in bondage to a financial prison run from Wall Street and the City of London.

(2) Another feature of modern society that betrays moral failure is the simple fact that the world is in a constant state of war, somewhere on Earth. How can we ever claim to be 'evolving' as long as this blot of warfare stains every page of human history, from the earliest records to the sorry present? Despite convening a world body, the UN, ostensibly to maintain peace, national armies have been getting ever more efficient at killing mankind. The 20th century, while bringing staggering technological advances, was the bloodiest period in known history. That century began with the latest, most efficient weapon being the machine-gun, and before it was half over, our brilliantly warped minds had devised the atomic bomb... and used it. Bravo! One bomb could now kill hundreds of thousands of our fellow humans at one blow. A true milestone of human ingenuity.

Terrible as it is, the nuclear bomb is not the last weapon to emerge from the fertile minds of military scientists. Oh no; they have been working feverishly on such things as 'directed energy weapons' (based on lasers), biological weapons (supposedly banned, but hey, ya gotta have some surprises up your sleeve), battle robots that can eliminate all worries over the political dangers of conscription, nano-weapons that can produce themselves in hordes, and of course, space-based weapons that can rain sudden destruction on targets that would have not the slightest forewarning. All of these 'advances' are ample proof of the inveterate evil-mindedness of our miserable race.

(3) Our ability to transform and apply any invention, no matter how beneficial it promises to be, into a new menace, is legendary. No doubt, the first spears were very helpful in killing game animals for food; and it's equally certain they were quickly used to skewer other humans. Dynamite was invented to facilitate mining, we're told; soon it was facilitating the murder of people. In the case of atomic energy, we managed to turn the weapon into an energy source... but without first figuring out what to do with the radioactive, spent fuel, and other risks. However, in true form, the military-industrial alliance have found a 'neat' solution to the problem: spent uranium fuel is now molded into munitions used by the US forces in their foreign adventures. First Iraq, and now Afghanistan are being changed into nuclear-radiated dumping grounds. Iraq has one of the highest rates of cancer and birth-deformities in the world. Mission accomplished, as Bush would say.

(4) A sick hallmark of the 21st century is the on-going destruction of our very environment. Everywhere one can tread, we can find the detritus of so-called civilization-- a trail of garbage marks our presence. In those giant metropolises we brag about, the air is poisonous and the known source of premature death for millions of inhabitants. In many places, the water is laced with either contaminants, or else chemicals used to remove those pollutants... a no-win choice. If the water happens to be fairly safe to begin with, our officials add sodium fluoride to it, to ensure that there's something toxic in our system (even if it takes decades to affect a given proportion of the populace). Toxic chemicals from poorly or un-regulated industries are dumped into 'tailings ponds,' or exposed mounds, and seep into the soil, down into the water table, and thence, into our bodies.

Moving away from cities with their manufacturing activity, into the countryside, other industries are extracting resources at a furious pace. Forests that took centuries to grow are torn down in mere weeks or months, leaving exposed slashes of land. Whole mountains are leveled in years by the steady carving away of their minerals by strip-mining. Cities expand by pushing roads and structures over former wilderness, destroying the habitat of the indigenous wild-life, or paving over farm land that would feed their own populations.

Sure, we 'need' space to grow; we 'need' raw material for producing 'goods;' we need industries to provide jobs. The point is that as societies, we have proceeded headlong into these activities with utter abandon. Almost two centuries beyond the start of the 'Industrial Revolution,' we have hardly raised our consciousness an iota towards conservation of the very ecosystem that, ultimately, nurtures our lives. Our leaders don't seem to 'get' that this is the only home we have; there are no more new continents to despoil. If there are cosmic spectators of this planet, they would have no alternative but to judge us insane!

(5) Transhumanism; a word that most people have never even heard of, yet its implications are eerie and far-reaching. Transhumanism intends the use of genetics, robotics, artificial intelligence and nanotechnology ('GRIN technologies') as tools that will radically redesign our minds, our memories, our physiology, our offspring, and perhaps even our very souls. This 'human makeover' includes among other things rewriting human DNA and thereby combining men with beasts. Such Frankensteinian meddling with our natural design harks back to dark myths of 'chimeras,' and forward to fantasies of cyborg hybrids. Either way, the implications are blood-curdling to God-fearing mortals, since it represents the creature arrogantly re-creating himself in his own juvenile image. Where such a path could lead is anyone's guess; but given our perversion of every other technical advance, my conviction is that it would end in horrendous disaster for the whole race. How far will we be allowed to pursue such insane interference with our very nature?

Surely it has to be clear that based on past patterns, if we continue on the present trajectory of human 'progress' we will surely destroy ourselves... and possibly, the planet itself. And there is not the slightest indication that a majority of decision-makers is prepared to reconsider our present course. When you put these characteristics of the modern age together, the inescapable conclusion is that humanity is a very sick species with an incurable death wish!

All of which brings me back to the original thesis: that the world today is in a similar condition as it was in the days leading up to the Deluge that destroyed that antediluvian society to the extent that only a few survivors remained to repopulate the Earth. Whether you believe in God or not, the outcome of present behavior is predictable. Either nature takes its course and humanity destroys itself; or, God/Nature intervenes in some manner or another, and terminates this wicked generation. I say one manner or another because God need not appear in the sky, an angry, old man swinging a celestial brick-bat against his tainted handiwork. No; He can surprise us with any number of natural calamities capable of extinguishing civilization as we know it. As part of the effort to defuse the 2012 doomsday speculation, scientists have compiled a list of ten or so disasters that they consider able to end life on Earth. It's true-- you can find them online. However-- they then assure the reader that none of the selections has much likelihood of happening anytime within eons at best.

God has other ideas about timing and probability, and can send a 'judgment' against us anytime He chooses, using any convenient phenomenon of the natural universe. At the time of the great Flood, God did not pull out a cosmic garden hose and shower the planet. There was a natural cause for that catastrophe, albeit one that so far remains a mystery to us (although some cogent theories have been put forward over the years).

Okay, some of you readers are stubborn skeptics, so there's more. You see, a calamity of the magnitude of the Deluge doesn't just strike one day 'out of the blue.' No; there had to be prior signals that 'something evil this way comes.' Perhaps there were widespread earthquakes; volcanic eruptions in diverse locations; strange formations of clouds and other atmospheric phenomena; maybe flocks of birds falling dead from the sky, and schools of fish floating dead on the shores. Hey, wait a minute-- aren't we seeing things like that happening today? Yes, my friends; that's exactly the point! Think about it... hard.

What Will It Take?

To many observers, we are living in 'end times' as prophesied in various traditions; is it all just hype?

There are a couple of Bible verses that are particularly appropriate for the tenor of these times:
(1) Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times? (Jesus' words, Matt 16:3, Luke 12:56 alternate rendering). (2) Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. [4] They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." (Peter's words, 2 Pet 3:3,4)

Isn't the world at large behaving precisely as these verses describe? On the one hand, there's an abundance of environmental signs seeking to be discerned. Perhaps the most notable example is the debate over 'climate change.' As I write this, a world conference on 'global warming' is wrapping up in Cancun, Mexico-- which, just recorded its lowest temperatures on record, coincidentally. Also happening presently is the simultaneous eruption of volcanoes in widely separated parts of the world-- Indonesia, Iceland, Italy, and South America, (and there may be others). Animal species are disappearing; strange sonic booms, and humming noises are reported in diverse locales; fireballs have been captured on film in various places, including the Canadian prairies. Concern is being voiced about the behavior of the earth's magnetic field, leading some to speculate if a pole reversal may be coming. The frequency of major earthquakes has increased, with devastating results. More than half a million people have died as a result of the great, SE Asian quake/tsunami of Dec. 2004, and the earthquake in Haiti of Jan. 2010, (not to forget the magnitude 8.8 quake in Chile in 2010). I could cite other calamities that can easily qualify as 'signs of the times,' but the reader can surely think of others, too, without much prompting.

And then there's the immediate chorus of the 'scoffers,' the deniers, those who would really prefer to believe in yesterday, as the Beatles' song goes. 'Climate change... what climate change?' they scoff, even as Europe digs out of another unprecedented winter blast, and transportation is paralyzed in the Mid-west and Eastern USA. Volcanoes-- so what? There are lots of volcanic mountains all over the world; some are bound to erupt simultaneously at times. And so it goes; they have a soothing rationale for any and every disturbing situation you can present. Everything is going on as it has since the world began; we're just better at detecting the little fluctuations. For those readers who are captivated by this comforting reasoning, no amount of evidence can dislodge their confidence in Darwinian uniformitarianism. Like the passengers on the steam ship Titanic, they just know that their vessel is unsinkable-- that's what all the experts told them, in any case.

Yet, if the assertion of impending doom is accurate, what would it take to get the majority to finally take note that it's not business as usual on planet Earth? We've already had numerous events that, if placed in sequence, indicate a trend of increasing severity. Suppose there occurred a major earthquake in one part of the earth that generates a killer tsunami... followed within hours by another major quake on the other side of the world, and all of this mayhem resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths, possibly even into the six figures. Would such a chain of events be the tipping point of belief for a majority of the populace? I suspect it would unsettle quite a large segment; but for how long? Would the mainstream be ready to acknowledge that it may signal a new order of instability? You can be sure the Powers that Be would use all their arsenal of media manipulation tricks to smother the flames of anxiety among the great masses. Ironically, they use those tricks presently to fan the fires of apprehension over the vague threat of terrorism. In the scenario of global disaster, they would trot out all kinds of talking heads to appear on all their captive, tri-literal TV stations and utter all manner of scientific assurances that it's really just a string of bad luck.

Okay then, if it's more than the mere 'statistical variability' of the natural world, then what is happening? Well, if you examine the data-- the records of hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, over the past 150 or so years when reliable readings have been collected-- you see the trends. (I'd argue that all it takes is for anyone in the 'older age' bracket with a good memory and an unbiased outlook.) And in this case, the trend is definitely not our friend. Of all the indicators, the most telling are the frequency and magnitude of earthquakes, since this reveals the relative activity of the Earth's crust. And we humans live, like the fleas on a dog, on the very surface of the terrestrial crust. We know that the land masses constitute an interlocking set of 'plates' that are in constant, slow, minute movement caused by a number of forces acting upon them. Inevitably, they grind against each other, and 'something has to give.' The periodic adjustments in position of one plate against another are felt as tremors, and when more energetic, as quakes. The trend reveals an increase in the proportion of quakes in the more severe range, which would be those registering 5.0 or greater on the Richter scale.

The obvious question (or criticism) is, where does the earthquake trend end? And why should it be in a global catastrophe? Reasonable questions. Here's where the element of faith-- or doubt-- emerges. Yes, runaway global warming, or a world-wide re-settling of tectonic plates, might cause great upheaval for a while, but humanity would eventually readjust and life would go on. But, numerous ancient traditions, differing widely on the surface, show a surprising overlap in their depictions of the 'end of the Age.' Why should one listen to such 'antiquated myths' in this 'scientific' age? Precisely because many of these traditions describe general societal conditions in terms that sound amazingly contemporary. Again, the skeptics can unearth hoary texts from Roman, Greek or Egyptian times that sound like modern laments over the decline of society or the end of the world. That's true in some ways. On closer scrutiny, these texts are usually seen to be local and subjective complaints. What the apocalyptic prophecies of widely separated traditions describe is a set of indicators that read much like the signs of these times, that I've already outlined. Moreover, most of the ancient oracles express a cyclical model of time-- i.e. the world experiences a predetermined rhythm of cosmic influences that manifest as repeated patterns of events in the physical realm and in the affairs of mankind. In that model, the world has previously undergone global catastrophe that has extinguished all but a handful of survivors. It is this very concurrence of end-times prognostication that, I would argue, itself constitutes a veritable sign of the times.

If this story is true, why, you wonder, would the authorities want to cover up the evidence pointing to what is called an 'extinction level event' (or ELE)? The answer lies in pure yet unavoidable cynicism: because they want to keep the money rolling in! That's the dark, bottom line, folks; keep the masses ignorant and working feverishly, earning money that the elite have a dozen ways of scamming into their bloated bank accounts. Think of the alternate scenario before scoffing again. If the governors were to say, 'We think the world is headed for an ELE, so you might as well make preparations now,' what do you think would happen? Would the majority continue to toil at their odious jobs, continue to buy all kinds of frivolous 'goods,' continue to pay their rent or mortgages, and so on? Given the past deference of society to their political and scientific establishment, they would take the warning seriously, and hence, would not likely continue living as they do now. In other words, the system would break down quite soon.

You might object, why would the elite want to continue amassing money if they were certain the world was heading for collapse, where the monetary system would be useless? Good question! The thing is that the wealthy elite really believe that they can use their resources to survive the catastrophe in underground bunkers and so on, and then emerge to resume life at the top of the heap (so to speak). It's a bizarre hope, yet their experts have assured them it's do-able. Around every big-shot kingpin, there are always the sycophants who ingratiate themselves by repeating what they figure the boss wants to hear... and, who knows, they figure-- it just might succeed. Meanwhile, let the ignorant masses proceed blithely to their doom; it will be easier for the elite to reestablish their hegemony after several billion 'drones' have perished. So goes their self-serving reasoning.

What about you, dear reader-- would you gladly lap up any official blandishments that make the problem go away? Will you cling to any available scrap of denial in the hope that it's all a terrible conspiracy theory? Whether big, spectacular, and widespread, or small, negligible and local, the signs of these times will continue to occur, and call for your attention. I urge you to start thinking about such things now, because once they happen in your neighborhood, it may be too late to consider what it all means.
"Now I have told you before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe." (John 14:29)

America's Doom Prophecied in Bible!

In Part 1, we looked at chapters 13 and 17, showing how they were two, complementary descriptions of world affairs in the closing years of Earth's history. This essay examines chapter 18, which I hope to demonstrate, is an extension of the prophetic views outlined in the previously studied chapters.

Chapter 18 (and bear in mind that the text was segmented into 'chapters' only long after it was written) discusses the 'fall of Babylon.' As we stated before, Revelation is written in symbols, so Babylon is to be taken as a figurative entity. In the OT, Babylon was a great city-state that once ruled a 'golden empire,' as Daniel assures King Nebuchadnezzar in chapter two of his memoir. Over time, it came to be recognized as a place of distasteful pagan practices and finally, symbolic of all that opposes true worship of the one God. Of important note, Peter refers to Babylon in his epistles (see 1 Pet 5:13) long after the destruction of the original city, and most scholars agree that he's obviously referring to Rome, in an emblematic sense.

Now, generally speaking, a woman is understood to represent a church or a religious company, and there are a number of scripture verses to support this view. However, I believe that in Revelation, a woman can also represent a nation. Chapter 18's main protagonist, is called Babylon, and referred to as 'she,' and in feminine terms. My proposition is that this Babylon is a great nation-state, having a number of revealing characteristics. Let's look into them. (As usual, texts are from the NASB unless specified otherwise).

Revelation 18 Text (from NASB)	Comments
1 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory.	After the vision of ch. 17, another, glorious angel comes from heaven, one who speaks with authority. [i.e. This is a new vision, from a new & credible source.]
2 And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.	Babylon is 'great'-- a prominent entity [nation] on the world stage. But, she has fallen to a very disgusting state of immorality. [The 'unclean birds' of scripture are primarily birds of prey, i.e. predators. See Lev 11:13-19]
3 "For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality."	All nations have gotten involved in the excesses and immorality of this nation, and businessmen (and corporations) have gained great wealth by cooperating with her decadence.
4 I heard another voice from heaven, saying, "Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues;	A warning for God's people not to participate in the widespread corruption of this system, at risk of receiving the punishments due.
5 for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.	God is mindful of her vast immorality!
6 "Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her.	The time of karmic retribution has come; she will reap what she sowed, in double amount.
7 "To the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, 'I SIT as A QUEEN AND I AM NOT A WIDOW, and will never see mourning.'	This nation lives as if there was no tomorrow, thinking there would never be an end to the wretched excesses of her lifestyle.
8 "For this reason in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is strong.	Because of her arrogance, disaster will come on her swiftly; a confluence of various calamities coming all at once.
9 "And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning,	The rulers of other countries, who had all been corrupted by her, will be upset to see her destruction come so rapidly.
10 standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, 'Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.'	The other rulers keep their distance from such vast destruction, but marvel how such a powerful nation could come to ruin so quickly.
11 "And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargoes any more--	Here's the thing! The businessmen mourn because their prime market for goods has disappeared.
12 cargoes of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, and every kind of citron wood and every article of ivory and every article made from very costly wood and bronze and iron and marble,	It's not the exact items that are important, but the variety ('every kind') and the value of all these commodities that one should note.
13 and cinnamon and spice and incense and perfume and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and cargoes of horses and chariots and slaves and human lives.	As above, but this time, the items have more spiritual significance. Note, too, the inclusion of 'slaves' and 'human lives.'
14 "The fruit you long for has gone from you, and all things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you and men will no longer find them.	Babylon becomes barren of the splendiferous things that were her hallmark.
15 "The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning,	The businessmen and traders who grew rich from dealing with Babylon are afraid to get close to her, so great are her disasters.
16 saying, 'Woe, woe, the great city, she who was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls;	All they can do is marvel at the fate of once-great Babylon, draped in riches and wealth.
17 for in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!' And every shipmaster and every passenger and sailor, and as many as make their living by the sea, stood at a distance,	More emphasis on the suddenness of Babylon's collapse, and the aloofness of her onlookers. Note reference to international traders (who 'make their living by the sea).
18 and were crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, 'What city is like the great city?'	More stupefaction by the onlooking world.
19 19 "And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, 'Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became rich by her wealth, for in one hour she has been laid waste!'	How much more emphasis do we need to show that this will be an unprecedented fall from wealth to ruin?
20 "Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her."	Godly people should take heart that God has exercised justice on evil Babylon.
21 Then a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer.	A graphic demonstration of how this nation will be destroyed, never to rise again.
22 "And the sound of harpists and musicians and flute-players and trumpeters will not be heard in you any longer; and no craftsman of any craft will be found in you any longer; and the sound of a mill will not be heard in you any longer;	Babylon's vaunted 'entertainment industry' will be terminated, as will her light and heavy industries.
23 and the light of a lamp will not shine in you any longer; and the voice of the bridegroom and bride will not be heard in you any longer; for your merchants were the great men of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery.	Babylon's 'merchants' (corporate interests) were the de-facto rulers of earth, and she led all nations astray thru lies and elaborate deception.
24 "And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth."	This nation killed those who spoke truth, and (notably) 'all' people who've been slaughtered on Earth.

Analysis

Whew! That's a difficult passage to read without feeling the immensity of judgement being exercised by God against this evil, corrosive 'city.' Yet, as I read it in light of events and revelations that have emerged in the past seven years or so, I came to a conclusion that seems inescapable-- Babylon, here, is none other than the United States of America! What other entity could possibly match the clues more closely? Some have argued that she is the Roman Catholic Church, but in view of the clear evidence, I think that is to give far too much credit to that organization. We have to consider the emphasis on 'merchants' and international trade ('all who ply their trade on the sea'), and on the list of commodities and luxury goods, including even 'slaves' and human trafficking. And the scriptures refer to her as a 'city'-- a secular term, not something with religious connotation. Most of these clues cannot be easily transposed to religion, and their sheer repetition is a significant indicator of their importance to the prophetic picture.

And what a sorry picture it is: a nation that corrupts all other nations of the world, using deception and 'sorcery,' and uses its power to kill all who dare to oppose her. This is a nation that spends huge treasure to develop technologies for more efficient ways to kill and destroy (i.e. it's 'sorcery'). It is becoming common knowledge how the USA uses the CIA and other agencies to infiltrate and overthrow 'uncooperative' regimes, using American trained 'death squads' where felt necessary to achieve their desired ends. Even Hollywood, center of the entertainment industry, has released movies based on these very tricks of international manipulation. US based multinational corporations often have larger revenues than the GDP of all but the top handful of nations, making their owners 'the great men of the earth.' And America has become so arrogant that she is blind to any suggestion that all empires have always failed, and especially when hubris reigned unchecked by either reality or morality. America considers herself a queenly kingdom that will never be without consorts and will never have to face hardships like the 'lesser' nations.

I think the fact that Peter referred obliquely to Rome of his day as Babylon provides telling legitimacy to my assertion that the USA of today is Babylon of Revelation 18. First century Rome, while technically a big city, was also a city-state, and really, the capital of a nation-state that became an empire. Likewise, the USA is a highly urbanized nation, like a collection of cities, where New York and Washington DC represent the very essence of Babylonian traits. Remember that chapter 17 ended with the statement that "(18) The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth." In part one I said that it wasn't clear whether the woman is a religious system or else a nation or political-economic system. With our analysis of chapter 18, in the light of recent and current historical events, I believe the ambiguity is resolved. First, in chapter 17, Babylon could represent failed, corrupt religion, and this part of the vision was fulfilled in a primary sense during the terrible centuries of the Dark Ages of religious ignorance and persecution. But towards the close of ch. 17, the vision shifts to a political-religious perspective, and Babylon now represents a national, perhaps even a corporatist system that dominates the geo-political sphere.

It is quite significant to observe the behavior of the other nations, those that grew wealthy thru trade and cooperation. They stand afar, and are afraid to approach Babylon in her punishment, for fear of sharing in it. That's very interesting, isn't it? In view of the utter destruction depicted in the prophecy, and the repeated mention of the reluctance of onlookers to get close to Babylon, a modern reader would immediately think of atomic bombs and the fear of radiation poisoning. Perhaps the words are not meant to be taken so literally, yet the emphasis on keeping at a distance certainly echoes the warning to Lot and his family when they fled Sodom and Gomorrah, not to even look back, lest they be affected.

To anyone who has studied the monstrous behavior of successive American administrations in the last 50 (even 100) years, it is no shock that this country is overdue for a massive karmic pay-back. The lives that have been brutally terminated as a result of US foreign misadventures; the lies that keep pouring from the White House to cover and justify their remorseless predation, all cry out to the God of justice for divine intervention. Whole countries have been ruined (think Vietnam and Agent Orange; think Iraq and depleted uranium), innocent civilians cruelly murdered (recall 'dirty wars' in Central America and elsewhere), small countries devastated (e.g. Lebanon, Rwanda, Haiti, etc.), natural resources plundered (e.g. the oil-producing nations), all to satisfy the infinite appetite for wealth and opulence of the masters of American corporate interests. It's a travesty how the mighty USA, while boasting of its huge wealth and power on the one hand, still whines about being a victim of this or that miniscule nation or group of designated 'terrorists.' Every policy promulgated by the administration is, in some degree, a self-serving attempt to accumulate more wealth, more power, regardless of consequences for anyone else. 

This is not to tar all Americans with a black brush; it is the rulers, the 'great men,' the 'beast powers' who are responsible. Yet, the whole populace is at risk because of their thoughtless complicity in the American lifestyle-- sustainable only by the egregious consumption of a hugely disproportionate share of Earth's resources. God warns 'his people' to get out of Babylon so that they will not receive the punishments that are to be visited upon her. In practical terms this may mean that a true believer should minimize involvement with the excesses of the modern American way of life, and perhaps more than that, should leave the big cities and live in more remote locations. One is reminded of Jesus' warning (in Matthew 24) to his disciples to leave Jerusalem when they see the 'abomination that makes desolate.' Let us hope that the picture will be (made) clear when the time is at hand.

With the study of chapters 13, 17, and 18 of Revelation, I think the broad, bold outlines of the rapidly unfolding future are defined. Furthermore, as we get closer to the end, the Bible prophecies becomes clearer, and already it is possible to make practical sense of them. All Americans would be wise to take heed!

Has Jesus Already Returned?

To the majority of mainstream Christians, the assertion that Christ has already returned for the second time seems absurd, even self-evidently absurd. Yet,

there are a number of sizable cults or faiths that believe exactly that notion-- that the ‘Second Coming’ has already happened.

Let’s quickly survey some of these beliefs, and then examine whether there can be any reality to this claim.

First, as to who believes such a strange-sounding notion, there are a few notables. Perhaps the best-known of these groups are the Jehovah Witnesses (also called the Watchtower Society). In their view, Jesus returned in a ‘spiritual manner’ in 1914, and the world is living in the so-called Last Days, and awaiting Armageddon and the subsequent Millennium. How they arrive at this conclusion is not in the purview of this essay; the essential point is that they claim something like 9 or 10 million members who adhere to this view.

Another group, of similar range of worldwide membership, is the Bahai faith. In the Bahai theology, their great patron, teacher and guiding light, Baha’ulla (an adopted name meaning ‘glory of God’) is revered as the promised Second Coming, the (re)incarnation of Christ. They are convinced that their avatar represents the fulfillment of the Christian scriptures that foretell the Second Advent of Jesus, and thus, that events since his appearance in the mid-1800s, fulfill those described in the apocalyptic literature of the New Testament.

As a final example, there are the Preterists, yet another splinter group of Christianity, culled from a variety of denominational backgrounds, who are of the conviction that the eschatological (end times) writings of the NT were all fulfilled in 70 AD, at the sacking of Jerusalem by the Roman legions under their commander, Titus. This opinion is primarily based on ‘the Apocalypse of Jesus’-- i.e. the Olivet discourse recorded in Matthew 24 (and the parallel passages in Mark 13 and Luke 21). In those verses, Jesus is quoted as assuring his listeners that ‘this generation’ will not pass away before all his stated predictions would occur. Among those predictions was the one that must have been particularly chilling to his Jewish listeners-- namely, the destruction of the great Temple that had been built centuries earlier by Solomon, destroyed and rebuilt in roughly the 5th millennium BC, and again restored by Herod (then a recent event). Since the Temple and its bureaucracy (the Sanhedrin) were at the heart of the Jewish religion as it had come to exist, any prediction of its destruction was taken as signaling the ‘End of the Age,’ in the minds of Jewish listeners.

So, the question stands: did Jesus return, as promised in the NT, in year 70, or in 1844, or 1914.... or any other year following his death on the cross at mount Calvary? To begin with, it is obvious that one of the strongest arguments against an already accomplished Second Advent is the very fact that there is such a divergence of accepted dates! They can’t all be correct; and if there is such disagreement, then clearly, the matter is hardly a black-and-white case.

While one may wonder how these believers can support such a theory, you have to understand that the only resort they can employ to support their view is to invoke the spiritual realm. What they all claim is that the eschatological scriptures are not to be taken in a literal sense, but they must be interpreted symbolically and as reflecting a purely spiritual reality. Thus, for example, when Jesus states that his return will be as the lightning that flashes from the east to the west, Bahai’s regard this as a symbolic reference to the fact that their message originated in Persia, and spread from there westward, to the Middle East, Europe, and then North America, all within a very brief interval, in historical terms. Similarly, the Preterists interpret all the language in Jesus’ apocalypse as allegorical, finding plausible, local scenarios that could account for details that read as global in the literal sense. Similarly, the JWs have developed a figurative interpretation of all the Biblical scriptures that bear on the question of Jesus’ Second Advent, and make the ambiguous claim that he returned ‘in spirit’ in the early 20th century.

Any analysis of the ‘already arrived’ claim must, therefore, consider whether the scriptures invoked in that scenario are purely symbolic or literal in nature. Or, in the third situation, we acknowledge that the words remain ambiguous. In that case, tho, one can still make educated guesses based on certain ‘hermeneutic’ principles (i.e. protocols of ‘exegesis’-- scriptural analysis).

To be transparent, my outlook is that the eschatological texts fall into recognizable classes that the context itself determines explicitly. In my view, ‘context overrules pretext!’ The books of Daniel and Revelation are undoubtedly symbolic-- they are full of visions of ‘beasts,’ horns, dragons, damsels, etc. Both Daniel and John make it clear that these books are records of their ‘visions’ or dreams-- information obtained in an altered state of consciousness. On the other hand, the predictions of Jesus, recorded in the synoptic gospels, are almost undoubtedly literal. Whenever Jesus spoke symbolically, the writer tells us that he was speaking in parables. The apostles were simple men, and every time Jesus told a parable, they asked him to explain it for them. In the Olivet discourse, they do not anywhere make reference to parables. Their question that time was: ‘When will this occur (ie. the destruction of the temple), and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?’ (Matthew 24:2) Certainly a straightforward question... in terms of semantics.

On second glance, however, one can see clear evidence of conflating two separate events, thus leading to an unavoidable degree of confusion. You see, in the minds of the apostles-- who were either Jews or gentile converts-- the two events had to be one; i.e. the destruction of the temple would signal the End of the Age, which would occur at Jesus’ return. Remember, Jesus had not been arrested and executed at that point, so the disciples were not even necessarily thinking in terms of a Second coming; merely his ‘coming out’ as theocratic ruler. There is plenty of possibility for confusion in this whole chapter. Since the writers (the evangelists) had their own preconceptions of the Messianic Kingdom to come, it is clearly reflected in the way they asked the question. Hence, it is not unreasonable to expect that they quite likely construed Jesus’ response in a way that conformed to their presumptions. Each of us does the same thing, regularly, in understanding new information.

From that observation, we can at least suspect that Jesus’ response as recorded in scripture reflects a conflation of the two specific events-- the destruction of the temple, and his second coming. In fact, the text indicates that nowhere does Jesus try to differentiate the two! This strikes me as odd, since the question was clearly posed with two separate parts-- even if the questioners regarded them as one. Readers who believe in the inerrancy of the Bible may baulk at this suggestion! But note that I am saying that Jesus deliberately obfuscated with the intention of protecting the truth from the tampering of later interpreters. If the meaning is obscure, then there’s no obvious incentive to alter the text. As Jesus told his apostles, "From now on I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am He” (John 13:19). In other words, you may not understand a prophecy in advance, but you’ll recognize it when it happens. This is a key concept in dealing with prophecy.

In any case, Jesus goes on to describe events that seem to jump directly to the end of the age, and largely (but not entirely) skip over the sacking of Jerusalem that was to occur barely 40 years later. Verses 15 to 20, however, refer directly to the “abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel... standing in the holy place.” Now, Daniel 9:25-27, where the abomination is mentioned, clearly predict the destruction of Jerusalem that was to occur in 70 AD. [There are people like certain ‘Dispensationalists’ who disagree, but their view is influenced by the tenuous, subjective commentaries adduced in Darby’s Bible translation by Scofield. Space does not allow the required exposition, but it’s available in my other essays.] So, this segment (vs 15-20) is Jesus’ answer to the first part of the apostles question... BUT it appears that they still did not recognize that fact. That is, they still understood his words as if he were answering only one question.

Then Jesus’ apocalyptic descriptions go back to the frightening pictures of a planet and cosmos in chaos, and culminating in his coming on the clouds of heaven with his angelic host (verses 21 to the end of chapter 24). Just to illustrate the generally confusing nature of this chapter, notice verse 28, which states, “Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather,” which strikes the reader as a complete ‘non-sequitur’. It appears out of nowhere, and seems to relate to nothing previously stated.

Since there is no disclaimer by the gospel writers that Jesus was speaking parabolically, two millennia of Christian faithful have looked ahead to the return of Christ in which he subdues Evil, and assumes rulership of the Earth-- as described in scripture. The primary verses used to construct this belief are the following: Matthew 24/Mark 13/Luke 21, Acts 2, 1 Corinthians 15, 2 Thessalonians 2, 2 Peter 3, Jude, and Revelation (esp. ch. 19, 20, 21).

If one reads all these passages, a definite pattern emerges wherein Jesus returns to Earth from the heavens, with a great deal of noise (‘shouts’, ‘trumpet blasts’, etc.) accompanied by a vast retinue of angels who go out to gather up the believers, and he establishes the final, Godly kingdom of the redeemed on a renewed Earth. It is extremely difficult to try to cast this scene into allegorical terms, such that it is all accomplished silently, stealthily, and completely unnoticed by the majority of the world’s population... as would have had to occur in order to comply with the beliefs that Jesus has already sneaked back to Earth! To forestall the insistence that this could have occurred ‘spiritually’ with the proper insight, I have to point out Jesus’ specific mention in Matt 24:37 that his coming will be just like what happened at the great Deluge. The Flood of Noah’s day was certainly not a spiritual event, but a traumatic, physical, global destruction that marked the end of that age. And to emphasize the import of his warning, he states (vs. 39): “and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.” May I suggest that some of them did not understand because they insisted that Noah’s warnings must have been (only) symbolic, and not literal?

The other significant picture that emerges from the collection of apocalyptic, NT verses is that of judgement. Jesus’ Second Advent is concerned with a definitive judging of the living and the dead, and separating them into only two categories-- the saved (redeemed) and the lost (condemned). The saved are to enjoy new life in a new world under a new government. All those (of whatever stripe) who cling to an already accomplished Advent are burdened with the task of explaining how the world can exist in its present, chaotic state, where evil runs rampant, if the Kingdom of God has been secretly, spiritually installed. It can’t be logically done!

To the Bahai’s in particular, I have to point out that nowhere in scripture is it suggested that Christ will return in another incarnation, live a long life, and then die once more. This of course is what happened to Baha’ulla, who lived as an ordinary human, and died in 1892. Where is our ‘new heavens and a new Earth?’ They will respond that it is not yet revealed, but it’s coming. In that case, very little in Baha’ulla’s life corresponds with the details and sequence described in the Christian scriptures... at least not without a great deal of allegorizing and twisting of contexts.

Similarly, the Full Preterists are stuck with the task of explaining how all the details of cosmic distress, the universal appearance of Christ, and the great, White Throne judgement all occurred in 70 AD... while the world, apparently, carried on, oblivious. What they do, evidently, is invoke a yet-to-occur Third Coming of Jesus in some indeterminate future. In this regard, they are not alone, since many Christians believe in a literal thousand years of peace that is mentioned in only one place in scripture, the symbolic book of Revelation (Rev 20). If the Millennium is taken literally, then one must acknowledge that there must be three advents (as indeed, the Dispensationalists do, whether they recognize it or not). Yet, nowhere else in all of scripture is there reference to three advents of the Christ. He first incarnated in human form as Jesus, died as the redeemer, and was resurrected and returned to the heavenly dimension to await his physical return as the Lord of Lords in a renewed world. There is no intermediate coming.

The problem posed by the symbolic Millennium is similar to the problem of Jesus’ mentioning that: “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened” (Matt 24:34). In ‘solving the problem’ of how his apocalyptic prophecies could all happen before the literal generation of hearers would pass away, the Preterists create far greater problems. Likewise, in taking a literal Millennium, Dispensationalists create the problem of three comings, which is nowhere else supported. Both these instances demonstrate the pitfalls of violating the ‘rule of simplicity’ (a.k.a. ‘Occam’s Razor’). That is, wherever possible, the simplest interpretation is to be taken in preference to a complicated one. It’s an elementary hermeneutic used in every discipline, not just exegesis.

What about the thousand years, then? Well, most scholars agree that Revelation presents several ‘parallel views’ of the same period, the ‘Church era,’ which is described as: ‘a time, times, and half a time;’ or as ‘three and a half years,’ or ‘1260 days,’ in various chapters, but which is, in any case, clearly symbolic. The pattern is altered in chapter 20, where it is now called ‘a thousand years;’ but the period is really the same as the others, i.e. the Church Age. And, concerning the phrase ‘this generation,’ used by Jesus in the Olivet discourse, many commentators regard it in one of its alternate Greek renderings as referring to the people born during the whole aeon-- the same Church era. Yes, there’s a certain amount of speculation here; but overall, it entails far less subsidiary chaos than does accepting a literal interpretation and then building a whole eschatology around the ensuing ‘damage control.’

To summarize, then, about the question ‘Did Jesus return during the past 2,000 years?’

1) The preponderance of historical, physical evidence, in combination with the most direct, common sense interpretation of the relevant scriptures, overwhelmingly support the negative response-- No, Jesus has not yet returned (in glory, as world ruler).

2) To construct a scenario in which Jesus has already returned, one must invoke figurative, spiritual interpretations of the eschatological scriptures, even where such understanding is not warranted by standard, hermeneutical practice, nor by the literal contexts.

3) Jesus told his listeners “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: "As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door” (Matt 24:32-33). He specifically makes a parallel with something tangible and comprehensible to anyone-- a fruit tree. His example was not haphazard; Jesus said when we ‘see’ all these things, we will know. This analogy makes it clear, I believe, that he was NOT talking about symbolic (spiritual) events, but rather about physical events observable by anyone who makes the effort. It’s not something that only initiates of a school of Bible study will be capable of understanding!

"And behold, I am coming quickly: Blessed is the one who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book." (Rev 22:7)