Many things make me wonder if this time, right now, is very near the end of this age. I wonder if the end isn't within a decade, I mean. I abhor date-setting. I know it doesn't work, and there's far too much room in the interpretation of prophecies to proclaim any date for absolute certainty. However, we're clearly told we'll know the season. I think this may be it. I'm not writing this with any hint of dogma. I'm posing more of a "what if" scenario. I thought it worthy to do, though, just in case this really may be the end of this age.

Danny Parkes has a presentation about the timing of the of this age. Check it out. It suggests the end may be around 2014/2015, plus or minus a couple of years. His data is based upon a pattern of lunar eclipses (moon turns to "blood") and solar eclipses (sun is darkened). I don't tend to dabble in this kind of numerology, even though it's a legitimate exercise (unlike the New Age kind), largely because of the large margins of error. Nevertheless, the information is interesting.

Walid Shoebat is a former Palestinian [sic] terrorist turned Bible-believing Christian, Jew-lover, and evangelist and teacher. He knows both the Koran and the Bible very well. He knows apocalyptic writings in both very well. He believes the nations gathered against Israel are all Muslim nations. (No surprise there, right?) He believes the identify of the Antichrist is actually Muslim! He says the end-times descriptions of the Muslim messiah perfectly dovetails into the Biblical description of the end-times, except that the Muslim messiah is the Biblical Antichrist. He says the symbols used in Revelation manuscripts that are historically interpreted as 666 or 616 are actually ancient Arabic nomenclature best interpreted as the war cry, "In the name of Allah!"

If the Antichrist is going to be Muslim, then interpretations of him coming from Rome or even Israel are wrong. (There's no logical, Biblical way you can be dogmatic about these other interpretations anyway.) Of course, it's not a stretch to see the U.S. as the next Roman Empire. We're following Rome's doomed history pretty well. American's are also largely descended from Europeans--though the ratios are rapidly changing these days--such that we could indeed be seen as a metaphorical revival of the Roman Empire this way, too. (This Roman origin is where some have gotten the idea that the Antichrist will be a Catholic Pope, although I don't buy into this.) The U.S. has long been heavily involved in trying to broker a [bogus] peace between Israel and her enemies, a major calling card of the Antichrist. All such deluded Presidents have failed thus far, but you never know who might finally make it work. Anyone who knows anything about the conflict in the Middle East, though (and there are very few of us, it seems), can easily see this pending "peace" will be a false one, just as Oslo was.

Lots of people thought Hitler was the Antichrist. He certainly had many of the traits. However, there was one huge factor missing: there was no Israel. Now there is. The Word talks about a generation not passing away before the end comes. There's debate about when this generational clock begins. Could it be with the rebirth of Israel in 1948? "Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom." The rebirth of Israel followed two Great Wars (the second may even be reasonably seen as a kind of continuation of the first). This nation-against-nation passage is often thought to refer to a World War. Those in Israel who saw the rebirth of their nation are slowly dying off. Perhaps the end will come before the last of these is gone.

There's reasonable evidence that Obama is Muslim, not Christian as he claims. Though conspiracy theories aren't really my thing, it doesn't take much imagination to believe this socialist has evil in mind for this nation. If He's a Muslim--practicing or not, present or just in the past--it's not a far stretch to consider the possibility that he could be the coming Antichrist. I don't find him at all charismatic, as the Antichrist is said to be, but obviously millions of boobs do. There are many people literally calling him messiah. I've not heard that term so earnestly and openly applied to a specific individual (other than Jesus) except for the petty occasional cult leader. Pretty brazen, really. What I find interesting is in how some of Obama's political tactics appear to mirror Hitler's. The singing youth. The use of the term messiah. (Many thought Hitler was a messiah, too. He did wonders for Germany's devastated post-WWI economy and pride.) This latest call for a civilian security force and his apparent avoidance of uniformed soldiers/officers definitely seems Hitleresque. And remember, Hitler was not only popular but democratically elected by the people.

Another point that strikes me is the potential for even believers to be deceived near the end. Barna is showing Obama and McCain statistically tied among born-again believers. Since when did so many so-called believers buy into socialism, forced wealth-redistribution, and other such leftist bull? I have personally believed that the apostasy within the church (which I think is well under way) is a kind of prelude to the sheep-and-goats judgment. I think there will be a polarization within the church, with die-hard believers going the way of the Word and the rest lining up with the fallen world. Might this present deception be a part of this?

I've also wondered, based upon different wordings in end-times passages, if the rapture will be complete (all believers) or partial (only die-hard believers). It's not beyond reason to suggest the latter. I'm not sure the Scriptures are clear enough to be particularly dogmatic one way or the other. However, if the rapture is to be partial, it would allow for many believers to be deceived, fall away from the truth, yet not necessarily lose their eternal salvation. They may suffer through the Tribulation (surviving physically or not) and miss the wedding feast, but still be ushered into the Kingdom when it comes--by the skin of their teeth.

Pardon my somewhat disorganized thoughts. Rather than capturing any dogma, I thought it worthwhile to toss out some observations and thoughts and see if any discussion ensues. Perhaps some may be convicted, and perhaps others may be hardened.