Even at the Doors; Rapture, End Time

The Omega Letter Intelligence Digest Vol: 157 Issue: 6 - Monday, October 06, 2014 Even At The Doors Bishop James Ussher was no ordinary man. He was unmistakably blessed with incredible intelligence and insight that he devoted entirely to the study of God's Word. (By age 26, Ussher was chair of the Divinity Department at Dublin University.) While that in and of itself would be worthy of a lifetime achievement award, Ussher went on to full professorship, served as vice-chancellor of Trinity College twice, and, by age 44, was elevated to the rank of Archbishop of Armagh, the highest position in the Irish Anglican Church. The point is that Bishop Ussher was not just a smart man. He was an intellectual giant who used his God-given gifts to advance the understanding of God's Word. In the 1650's he published his 'Annals of the World', subtitled, ''The Origin of Time, and Continued to the Beginning of the Emperor Vespasian's Reign and the Total Destruction and Abolition of the Temple and Commonwealth of the Jews.'' Bishop Ussher's "Annals of the World" begins at the point of creation, which he determined was October 23, 4004 BC. Ussher's arrival at the date of October 23 was determined based on the fact that most peoples of antiquity, especially the Jews, started their calendar at harvest time. Ussher concluded there must be good reason for this, so he chose the first Sunday following autumnal equinox. Although the autumnal equinox is September 21 today, that is only because of historical calendar-juggling to make the years come out right. In September 1752, eleven days were dropped to bring the calendar back in line with the seasons. Another day was dropped at the beginning of the 19th and 20th century for the same reason. Ussher's calculations, made centuries before these adjustments, are vindicated by them. Pretty impressive stuff for a guy working by candlelight centuries before the advent of a calculator. The reason Ussher's work is so accurate was because he relied solely on Scripture as his source of information. Ussher arrived at the date of 4004 BC by taking known dates in history, and calculating backwards by using the chronologies of Genesis Chapters 5 and 11 and working backwards. The calculations themselves were so complicated that, in the original documents, they covered more than one hundred pages. Notes Larry Pierce of the 'Online Bible'; "Astrogeophysicist Dr John Eddy, who was at the time Solar Astronomer at the High Altitude Observatory at Boulder, Colorado, made some revealing comments at a symposium in 1978, as reported in Geotimes, Vol. 23, September 1978, p. 18. "There is no evidence based solely on solar observations, Eddy stated, that the Sun is 4.5-5 x 109 years old. "I suspect," he said, "that the Sun is 4.5-billion years old. However, given some new and unexpected results to the contrary, and some time for frantic recalculation and theoretical readjustment, I suspect that we could live with Bishop Ussher's value for the age of the Earth and Sun. I don't think we have much in the way of observational evidence in astronomy to conflict with that."" Assessment: We're all watching our planet and human culture heading into what looks, to all intents and purposes, the early stages of impending demise. There are daily reports about the disintegrating environment, global warming, strange weather patterns, unusual solar activity, together with constant revisions of previously accepted scientific 'facts' about the universe and how it works. The global social structure upon which civilization is built, the family, is under attack from every direction. The war on terror, is in reality, a clash of cultures, both natural and spiritual, with the forces of Islam squaring off against Judeo-Christian culture. The very fabric of human civilization is being rent and torn before our eyes. It is difficult, at the juncture in history, to foresee how it will survive the onslaught. No nation, seemingly, is exempt from the threat. Using Bishop's Ussher's calculations, the Prophet Hosea lived from 3197 to 3246, or, BC 808 to 759. Ussher's dating is expressed in standard years, although he worked from the perspective of the ancient calendar of twelve months of thirty days each. At the end of each year, the ancients tacked on five days, and every four years they added six days. The prophet Hosea wrote, "Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten, and He will bind us up. After two days will He revive us; in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight." (Hosea 6:1-2) Further on, the prophet predicted; "Also, O Judah, He hath set an harvest for thee, when I returned the captivity of My people." (6:11) The Jews of the tribe of Judah were 'revived' on May 15, 1948, the day the world officially recognized the existence of the state of Israel. Since then, little pockets of Jews, members of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, have been discovered in various places and repatriated to their ancient cultures and homeland. Hosea began with the Promise of God that "He will heal us and bind us up" -- a promise that was fulfilled with the Crucifixion and Resurrection of the Messiah Jesus. With the extension of the Perfect Sacrifice for sins that washed away the sins of all men. ("by the righteousness of One the free gift came upon ALL men unto justification of life." - Romans 5:18) We date our own calendar counting forward from Christ. So does God, which brings us back to Hosea's prophecy. "After two days will He revive us, and in the third day, raise us up," writes the prophet. Twice in Scripture, God reveals His own reckoning of time. "For a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night." (Psalms 90:4) "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that ONE DAY is with the Lord AS A THOUSAND YEARS, and a thousand years as one day." (2nd Peter 3:8) Our calendar dates the Birth of Christ as Year One. It doesn't much matter if Jesus was born somewhere between 6 BC and 6 AD, given the subsequent manipulation of the various calendars to make them come out right. Based entirely in Scripture, Ussher's calculation of creation as being 4004 years before Christ isn't based on the year of Christ's Birth. Hosea's prophecy is. Ussher took the known date of Nebuchadnezzar’s death as the benchmark from which he launched his backwards journey through time, using Scriptural chronology to move both forward and backward in his calculations. I hope I haven't lost you with all the numbers -- it makes me a bit dizzy as I work through them myself. (Bishop Ussher was a lot smarter than me. I have trouble even WITH a calculator.) According to Bishop Ussher, the last time Israel marked its God-mandated Jubilee Year was the Year 4030 from the date of Creation, which would correspond to our AD 26. Using Ussher's calculations, therefore, the Year 2012 dates six thousand and sixteen years forward from the day of Creation. And there is a twelve year gap of uncertainty between the Anno Domini calendar and the literal date of His First Advent. Jesus said that "ye know not what hour your Lord doth come," and I believe Him. So I am not setting a date for either the Rapture or His Second Coming. But Hosea said that Israel's revival would come AFTER two days. It was restored politically in 1948, just BEFORE the conclusion of the 'two days' since the Birth of Christ, but Ezekiel's chronology says that the political revival is only the first stage of Israel's 'revival'. "And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them." (Ezekiel 37:8) The Hebrew word translated 'breath' is 'ruwach' a word which means 'spirit', particularly in the context of 'spiritual animation'. Israel is physically alive, but remains, to this moment, spiritually 'unquickened'. That 'quickening' of the spirit is accomplished by faith in Christ. ("And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins." (Ephesians 2:1) So, to return to Hosea, we find the prophecy that AFTER two days, Israel will be revived, but IN the third day, they will be 'quickened' so that Israel might 'live in His sight'. Israel's physical revival has been an ongoing process since 1948. Before our eyes, the world's Jews, including members of the Ten Lost Tribes, are being regathered to the land of Israel. Ezekiel's prophecy of Israel's redemption process is almost complete. No matter how one approaches it, either by accepting Ussher's calculations from creation, or accepting our calendar reckoning of time since the birth of Christ, the conclusion is inescapable. Hosea said of the Jews, 'AFTER two days will He revive us, and IN the third day . . we will live in His sight.” Peter says that; "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2nd Peter 3:9) It is clear that God is extending His 'grace period' (the Church Age of Grace) to give all men one last chance to accept the gift of pardon that He extends to them, but it is equally clear that His patience is being rapidly exhausted. How much longer will He wait before returning for His Church and effecting Israel's national redemption at the conclusion of the Tribulation Period? Given the twelve-year gap, we are somewhere between three years before and nine years INTO Hosea's Third Day. I don't believe we can calculate the Day of the Rapture, because Jesus said no man could know the day or the hour. But He did say, "So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors." (Matthew 24:33) Even at the doors. . . Maranatha! Featured Commentary: Glow in the Dark Faith ~ Pete Garcia Archives of past issues of The Omega Letter Intelligence Digest plus many other Omega Letter member features can be found at: www.omegaletter.com The Omega Letter is published daily by Jack Kinsella and exists through subscriptions and free will contributions. © www.omegaletter.