“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.” Revelation 1:1-3 NKJV
For those who have experienced the process of pregnancy and delivery, most will admit that the last few weeks are by far the longest days of the entire nine months. It seems as if the day of delivery will never come, and can’t come soon enough after waiting for so long of a time. Those of us who have been called by God to serve as watchmen share similar feelings concerning the end of this age as we have watched the process move forward for so many years. Jesus did, however, warn us that we would know the end was approaching by comparing the eventual end of the Church age to a woman in labor, and the pains she experiences getting stronger and closer together until the time of delivery arrives.
You may wonder, then, why I chose to begin this week’s column with this passage from Revelation rather than Jesus’ words from the book of Matthew 24 where He uses the analogy of a woman in labor. The truth is, in the very first sentence here Jesus says much the same thing, but in a totally different way. He does that by using just one word which most completely miss, and that is the word “shortly”. Now most of us would be tempted to argue that there has been nothing short about our two thousand year wait for His return, but allow me to share something interesting with you which I recently discovered.
Like many men of my generation, I have always been interested in cars and have had, in my lifetime, several which could be described as hotrods. One thing most of us did when we bought a car to build as a rod was save our money to buy a tachometer. While most all cars today have one, years ago virtually none did. If you planned on trying to race or get the most horsepower out of your motor that you could, a tachometer was essential as a means to tell you when your motor was approaching its “red line”, or the point where it would catastrophically fail. I can vividly recall one instance where a dragster experienced such a failure no more than twenty feet away from me and I can assure you that it is a rather spectacular and frightening event.
If you are wondering where I am going with this, I don’t blame you but here is where things get interesting. In this passage, Jesus tells us the events of the book of Revelation will “shortly” take place. The Greek word Jesus uses here translated shortly is “tachos”, which coincidentally is the word from which we get our English word “tachometer”. It can also be translated as “quickness”, referring to a measure of time which increases exponentially. In other words, this is another way Jesus tells us that the events leading up to the end of this age will increase quickly to the point where there is an explosion, and the tribulation will then begin.
Somehow I rather doubt that many would care to argue that what we have witnessed the past two years in this world, and especially in this country, certainly could resemble a motor revving up to the point where it will fail and explode when it reaches its redline. I want to share an article with you today by Jan Markell of Olive Tree Ministries which I believe illustrates what we see happening all around us.
Trending Towards the Tribulation: 7 Indicators To Watch
By Jan Markell
I have been watching the convergence of the so-called signs of the times ever since someone handed me Hal Lindsey’s “Late Great Planet Earth” many years ago. The book got my attention! Since then, I am fascinated with how Bible prophecy is being fulfilled now for several decades.
The apocalypse is in the air!
But in the last few years, things are happening so quickly that observers of the times can’t keep up. It’s as though the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are now out of the barn, but they can’t make their global appearance until the Church is called Home in the Rapture. The Bible is clear that we will be with Jesus in Heaven before these riders begin their deadly trek across planet earth.
Here is a very short list of things I am noting in this year of 2022, indicating time is winding down and we will be whisked away very soon.
• We already see the formation of this coming New World Order through the U.N. and the World Economic Forum (WEF). Without firing a shot, they have gained the allegiance of most world leaders for their Marxist plans to enslave the people of the world. The globalists believe they have the means to reshape the world, according to their agenda, via the influence they have gained over the global leaders of our day. A one-world government will be birthed once the Church vacates! The players are in place.
• Three words in the Bible jumped out at me recently: “without natural affection” (2 Tim. 3:3). That happens to a final generation. But, who could have imagined today’s society celebrating the trans movement, homosexual marriage, and the slaughtering of the unborn? All of these operate “without natural affection.”
And these issues are a leftist obsession! They love every imaginable aberration. Those standing for biblical values, such as pro-life groups, are under literal violent attack!
• That same passage opens talking about “perilous times.” Sure, we’ve had perilous times since WWI. The destruction of WW2 was unthinkable. But, now Russia’s lunatic leader is threatening the world with nukes. There are more than 40 wars or serious conflicts raging in the world right now, displacing millions and often involving circumstances that are, indeed, perilous.
• Let me spend an extra moment on economic issues, inflation, and famine, all prophesied to occur during Daniel’s 70th Week, or the Tribulation, the “time of Jacob’s trouble.” Are we not seeing the stage-setting for that now?
As the food “apocalypse” approaches, the poorest peoples will suffer as they always do. But it is feared that the pain will rapidly move up the global food chain. With that comes a surge in political turbulence, humanitarian crises, and global instability.
Add to this the shortage of fertilizer and the word apocalypse is, indeed, appropriate and not over used here. U.S. farmer sentiment plummeted in May as producers have become anxious about their farms’ financial health. More than 60% of farmers predict farm input prices to be at least 30% higher this year compared to 2021.
Throw in the mysterious destruction of multiple food processing plants and in June, the deaths of thousands of cattle from excessive heat—or was it foul play?
Also in June, the soaring stock market took a nose dive and Fed Chairman, Jerome Powell, admitted they are looking at replacing cash with digital currency.
Surely the black horse is ready to ride!
• To be blunt, economies around the world are on the verge of collapse. JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is warning about a “coming economic hurricane.” He states, “Right now, it’s kind of sunny; things are doing okay. Everyone thinks the Fed can handle this—but that hurricane is out there, down the road and coming our way. We don’t know if it’s Superstorm Sandy or Andrew. You better brace yourself.”
• How can I not reference the raging apostasy, the wolves among the flock, and the doctrine of demons all thriving in many churches today? This sad state of church affairs may be one of the most significant signs of the times out there.
In May we learned that a new study from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University found that just 37% of Christian pastors in America have a biblical worldview. A spiritual awakening is needed in the pulpit just as much as in the pews! Imagine that two-thirds of our pastors (all denominations) don’t have a biblical worldview!
• Israel is sounding the war drums. In the face of Iran’s continued development of nuclear capability (she’s almost there), the Israeli Air Force has developed a new capability to fly its F-35 jets from Israel to Iran without requiring mid-air refueling.
This development is a boost to the IAF capabilities and comes as the Israeli military has upped its preparations for a strike against Iran’s nuclear capabilities—a scenario possible even yet this summer! This may be the most stunning geopolitical development of 2022—even more grave than Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.
Throw into the mix the collapse of Israel’s government in June. Word has it that Joe Biden and his administration will do everything they can to prevent a return of Benjamin Netanyahu, one of Israel’s finest leaders.
I have provided just a few short bullet points that I have kept my eye on here in 2022 that tell me the King is coming any day. I could list dozens more. We are trending towards the Tribulation, the “time of Jacob’s trouble.” And while believers can rejoice at our destination, remember that contained in the above situations are much suffering and perplexity globally. And human beings cannot solve these problems. That is why the word “perplexity” is seen in Luke 21:25.
The King of Kings must return to establish His earthly Kingdom on earth and clean up chaos, confusion, and consternation brought about by the Antichrist and his minions. The stage is being set now. The curtain for the last act could rise any day.
https://harbingersdaily.com/trending-towards-the-tribulation-7-indicators-to-watch/
I feel confident saying that in my opinion, we are almost to God's redline. To those believers who have become frustrated that we are still here and nothing seems to be happening as fast as they would like, I offer this. When it comes to prophecy, we need to understand events progress according to God’s clock, not ours. Most of us are familiar with the verse which says that to God, a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as a day. That being the case, the truth is that in God’s eyes, it has only been two days since Jesus said that these things will “shortly” take place.
Keep watching.
