Flying in the fog: reflections on prophecy fulfillment

Usually, I prefer to make this blog a simple exercise - showing the breaking news and pointing to the pertinent scriptures - with as little commentary as possible. That was my goal with the book "Signs of the Coming Christ" - by pointing out the scriptures and then pointing out the current news - the conclusions are left with the reader to determine. To me, the fact that we are living in the generation that was described biblically - that generation who will witness all remaining "end times" events, and climaxing with the Second Coming of Christ - seems obvious. These signs have been discussed many times, and that isn't the point of this post.


What about flying? What has that to do with prophecy?

I see many parallels (still getting to the main point, albeit slowly :).

When flying in the fog, a pilot is taught to rely only on his/her instrument panel and the data that it provides. The reason is, the human mind and body will play tricks on the pilot. The pilot will feel as if his plane is doing things, such as descending, ascending, or banking in one direction, when in fact it is not. Without STRICTLY relying on the instrument panel, an inexperienced pilot will respond to his mental "input" while ignoring the instrument panel, and doing so often leads to a crash and the death of the pilot. It is thought that JFK junior, who was flying in dark fog, died for this very reason.

Living through these times is very similar. The Bible, in this case - the prophetic scriptures within the Bible - serves as our instrument panel. We are living in a perpetual "fog" right now. With so many lies, distortions and twisting of various "truths", it is almost impossible to distinguish the truth from lies in almost any endeavor - politics, health, news, and even our religion. We are bombarded daily with "opinion" infused into news stories. We are bombarded by politicians lies. We are bombarded with news "reporters" with an agenda of lies. We are bombarded with "preachers" twisting scriptures to fit their agendas. It never stops.

Back to prophecy.

Having followed prophecy for so many years, I am stunned at how the world has shaped up recently. It is stunning to see the specificity and accuracy of prophecy. From the miraculous regathering of Israel as a nation - to the pestilence signs, to the earthquake signs, to the revived Roman Empire reformed (in an "iron and clay" mixture), to the "age" in which we are living with dramatic increases in "travel" and "knowledge", to "war and rumors of war" in this generation, to the restoration of the land of Israel, to the "Gog-MaGog" alliances having formed, to seeing the calls for a one-world financial system with a single currency, to the "mark of the beast" technology which now exists, to seeing incredibly powerful positions emerge in the EU, to seeing China's rise as a world power, to seeing radical Islam growth, to seeing the world's focus on Jerusalem as part of a Middle-East peace plan, to Iran's nuclear development with a leader sworn to destroy Israel, to the world's famine situation, to seeing a world which is capable of the massive destruction itemized in the book of Revelation, to the earthquake and tsunami stories, to seeing the world aligned against Israel, and on and on it goes.

But there is an obstacle - I believe an obstacle that exists for everyone, including me. In my opinion, we are right on the threshold of experiencing these huge, "biblical" events. Events that the human mind isn't conditioned for. I believe we are on the brink of several things:

- The battle of Gog-MaGog - where God will reveal His presence in such a way, that is unequivocally God's intervention (Ezekiel 38-39).
- The complete destruction of Damascus (Isaiah 17).
- The Rapture of the Church (1 Thess. 4, 1 Cor. 15)
- The beginning of the Tribulation, when the antichrist is revealed (at least to those who read Bible prophecy).
- The epic "never-seen-before" events of the Tribulation, where "supernatural" events will occur throughout the seven year
period.

It is hard to believe that we can actually witness any of these things. In fact, many prophecy scholars believe that the next big prophetic event will be the Rapture of the Church. Thats pretty "big" in my opinion. I tend to agree with this view, under the assumption that "Gog-MaGog" will occur following the Rapture of the Church.

As humans, we are conditioned, mentally, to believe that life as we know it will never change. Its a defense mechanism. For instance, as much as I believe that we are at the VERY end of the age - it is still very difficult to imagine that I will actually be lifted up to heaven and within "the blink of an eye" be in the very presence of Jesus, in a golden city called New Jerusalem (Revelation 21-22). After all, these aren't the types of things that happen to us every day - we aren't exactly conditioned, as humans to immediately accept these things without at least pausing to reflect.

But I firmly believe that we are within weeks-months of these epic events. I believe it because of the vast number of prophecies that have been fulfilled specifically and literally. I believe it because almost every significant "big" news story in the world right now - lines up precisely with the events foretold in the prophetic scriptures. As a scientist, although the results may be incredible, I am obligated to view the "data" objectively, and ignore my "feelings".

It is exactly like flying in the fog. The world we are living in, in terms of obtaining the "truth" is very foggy. Just like a pilot flying in the fog, who cannot trust his "external stimuli" - I cannot trust what I am being "told" by government leaders, by the media, by television reporters, by friends or even my personal "feelings". In terms of prophecy, I have to fight the feelings of "Can these things REALLY happen?" - "Can the epic, supernatural, "hard-to-believe" things described in biblical prophecy REALLY happen? " - "Can these things REALLY happen in my lifetime?" - "Will I REALLY get Raptured - and be in heaven in a moment?"

A few days ago, during a moment of reflection, while discussing these things with my wife, we both kept saying "Is it REALLY here? - "Are we REALLY on the "brink" of the last events?" - Will we REALLY hear the trumpet call and experience the "gathering up" as described in 1 Thess. 4 and 1 Cor. 15?" - "Is the Tribulation REALLY just on the brink of beginning?" - "Is God REALLY on the brink of revealing Himself as described in Ezekiel 38-39?" - "Is the antichrist" REALLY on the brink of being revealed?"

The Bible has to be my instrument panel, as I "fly" in the fog of this world. Not only the fog of this world, but the "fog" of my mind. The "fog" which tries to argue that these things can't really happen. People just don't hear a trumpet sound and immediately find themselves in heaven, in a moment. Something like isn't exactly a daily occurrence. People just don't wake up in the morning and see an entire city destroyed. People don't see God's hand directly intervening on earth - in an obvious, dramatic way. It just doesn't happen.

But ALL of these things have happened before, if you believe the Bible. People HAVE been raptured (read about Elijah and Enoch), God HAS revealed Himself directly and unequivocally (read Genesis and Exodus for starters), there HAS been an epic destruction of the earth (read about Noah). These things have happened before and they will happen again...Soon.

My instrument panel (aka prophetic scriptures) tells me that these things WILL happen. The same instrument panel that has been correct for several thousand years. The panel that is 100% accurate and reliable. Even though our intellectual mind fights against the data provided by "instrument panel" - we know that we can trust it completely. We have no other choice.

We are on the brink of incredible things - things that will radically change the world as we know it. Things that will change daily life on this planet. Supernatural things. Things that the human mind has great difficulty grasping. Things that have happened before.

Regardless of what is happening around us - regardless of what we are told by the media, the politicians, or even the "scoffers" who we were warned against - those scoffers who refuse to accept the prophetic scriptures, regardless of our "feelings" or "instincts" --- we have a reliable instrument panel that we MUST trust despite everything else. We must stay focused on it - exclusively.

We have "the truth". Hard to believe? Yes! Absolutely. These are big, big events that we are about to experience - events that we are not conditioned to accept - in our feeble, small minds.

But the Bible tells us that these epic events will happen. The scriptures are the sole source of truth. Without reliance on this "instrument panel" we will go astray, just as the pilot who ignores his instrument panel while flying in the fog - a pilot who decides, rather, to rely on his brain and the "external input" that he seems to receive. Its one of the biggest mistakes a pilot can make.

The apostle Peter told us this very thing, in reference to the various things that he had seen and heard during his walk with Jesus, he added, "And we will have the word of the prophets made MORE CERTAIN, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as a light shining in a dark place..." (2 Peter 1:19). In other words, Peter could trust the words of prophecy even more than the things that he had seen and heard. Like a beacon of light in a dark place.

As incredible as it sounds, I believe we are just on the brink of the Rapture of the Church. My instrument panel tells me so.


Maranatha! Our Lord is coming!