Midnight Rising is NOT a Political Statement

Let me begin by saying that I am decidedly not anti-American.  I served in the Navy, and received injuries that have broken my skeletal structure down permanently.  The United States has taken care of me; first, through Social Security, and then through VA Disability Compensation.  Without this very government, our personal situation would be utterly desperate and desolate.  This is the best system of governance that man has yet devised, by a huge margin.  But man devised it, not God. 

There is no place on the earth that I would rather live than where I am living today.  If called upon in any capacity, I would serve my country to the best of my ability.  Among the nations of the earth, I pledge my allegiance to the United States.  I hope that this little book will serve as a warning to those in power, who are engaging in the Middle East “peace” process.  “For, when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman.  And they shall not escape” (1 Thes 5:3).

But the book is not a political statement; it is, rather, a theological exposition of the claims of those who say they believe that the rapture is very near.  Those who say we are near the end of this age, if they really studied the matter with fresh eyes, would see how clearly everything on the earth fits into the prophecies concerning the end of this age, like pieces in a puzzle.  It is not anti-American to see the gravity of the present time and to warn both saints and sinners alike that this treaty will be the undoing of Gentile dominion over the earth. 

Look at Daniel 9:24-27.  If yours is a good study Bible, it will explain that passage accurately.  Many, indeed, most conservative study Bibles provide clear expositions of those verses, in accordance with their fulfillment throughout history.  Verse 9:26 is in the past already, when the Roman Empire destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D.  Verse 9:27 has never been possible, from 70 A.D. until 1948.  There was no Israel with whom to negotiate any sort of covenant, or treaty.  Now, 9:27 is at the very door of our time.  These negotiations are being viewed by the world as both sides’ last chance before a pact is imposed upon them.  Mr. Obama, with the approbation of the entire world, has made that fact perfectly clear to all parties.  Far better to reach some understanding and lose some of what you have, and gain what you may, than to butt your heads until the Gentile world gets together and determines what the final outcome will be, and then imposes it upon you. 

That is precisely why Netanyahu, after his snubbing first trip to visit Obama, when he left after his second visit, his tail was between his legs and he was yelling for the Palestinians to meet with his administration and resolve their differences.  Obama made it very plain, and his determination to see it through was displayed by the 180 degree turn that Netanyahu made after the second visit, with the clear warnings he received.  Both sides will be able to save some face in the final agreement, but both must bring heavy concessions to the negotiating table.  It takes time to move a whole nation or a people, and that is why Obama gave them a year to persuade their constituents that peace is better than war; that commerce is more profitable to nations than killing one another.

Those engaged in the current negotiations are committed to producing a two-state solution within one year, and we are already two or three weeks gone.  The more time that passes, the more we are seeing the rest of the world pressing hard and harder for Netanyahu to stop construction in the occupied settlements, and for the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish nation.  In order to achieve this end, both sides know that Israel is going to have to bargain away a part of Jerusalem.  That is not yet a stated fact, but the pre-1967 borders constitute the land that the Gentiles gave Israel in 1948.  Concessions will definitely be demanded from both sides, but they will also be made, benefiting both sides in the deal, and ending sixty-two years of war and unrest.  This giving away of Jerusalem is the thing that invokes the full fury of Almighty God (cp. Joel 3:1-2).

Now, George Mitchell and Hillary Clinton are in talks with both Lebanon and Syria, seeking to bring them into the fold of this new political arrangement.  Jordan is already on board.  So are the Saudis and the Egyptians and the entire Arab League (Iran is not Arab, but Persian – a different culture, said to be allied with the northern powers that invade Israel about halfway through the Tribulation).  Russia and her allies are on board, as is the European Union.  The United Nations approves heartily the plan that President Obama is pushing.  It is going to happen, and it is going to happen soon. 

Before that treaty is ratified, and possibly even before it is agreed upon, the Church is going to be translated and removed.  What a privilege it is to be numbered among the sole generation, from Adam till the end of the Kingdom Age, that does not ever face death, but is instantaneously translated from mortal to immortal.  What a sobering honor it is.  What a profound hopewillfully ignorant of the times in which they really do live.

What to do?  Go to a mountaintop and wait for Jesus to shout, ”Come up here!”?  No, we continue with our lives as we have been, but perhaps being a bit more prayerful concerning fruitfulness in however many ministries the Lord will engage us if we are willing.  Before this peace process is done, we will be gone.  That is certain.  The rapture of the Church is that close.

Midnight Rising is not about nationalism, but it is an exposition of the end-time world stage, as it has never been presented before.  That is why Dr. Radmacher read it in one sitting, and in that short time, he changed his view of the end times to coincide with what I have written.  He is the Editor of the Nelson Study Bible, and was president of Western Theological Seminary (a Baptist school) for thirty-five or more years.  Others have seen this material and changed their views also. 

I’m not the first to suggest an American antichrist, for I have been corresponding with people for the past twenty or so years who have held that view.  It is now, however, with this book, emerging into mainstream theology, and is getting the attention it deserves in the places where it needs to be studied.  Truly, the churches need to study it and to heed its clear warning and promise.

I love my country as much as any man, and that’s a fact.  I wear my U.S. Navy ring every day.  I go to the voting booth, and I gladly pay whatever taxes I owe without complaint, knowing that it takes money to run a nation as diverse and widespread as ours.  I don’t want to be painted as anti-American.  If this were a political discussion, I would stand beside and with my country without reservation.  But the Bible is amazingly accurate in its prophecies, and we are where we are. 

Should my allegiance be to my country, or to my God?  If it were not inarguably clear, I would not have written the book. We simply must separate our devotion to our nation from the reality of spiritual specifics.  One is definitely more important than the other.  What the Bible has declared would happen is happening right now, but the bride is busy acquiring temporal things and fulfilling temporal desires and designs and goals to notice.  It is a most humbling thing to be confronted so with the certainty of the times and the seasons, and to have such hope set before us daily.  That hope should impact our lives in many and diverse ways. 

It is a minor point of prophecy in the greater scheme of things, the region from which the antichrist will arise, but its implications are far-reaching and profound, at least for this nation; but really, for every nation, because we are doing what the antichrist is prophesied to do.  And we are doing it with a determination that the world has never seen.  The man in the Oval Office whenever the treaty is agreed upon, if the U.S. brokers the treaty, will be the antichrist, no matter which political party’s interests he serves.  “And he confirms the covenant with many, for one week…”

Where, but from the greatest nation man has ever devised, would one expect such a great world leader to arise?  It is a no-brainer.  The normal evolution of the geopolitical stage has already brought us to this moment in time when Israel will make an agreement with the Gentiles, in which she will surrender a portion of Jerusalem.  It is the gravest error of mankind since Adam ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  It is as great a moment in time as the First Advent of our Lord, but the outcome will be vastly different in His return at the end of the seven-year period of tribulation. 

How can the true Church be so passé concerning this?  It dazzles the mind to think that so many are so badly fooled by an interpretation that was formulated before there was any United States of America.  Her mind is closed to this truth – the bride of Christ – denying herself the joy of a most present and precious hope.  It is time to stop being Americans, and start being ambassadors, citizens of heaven, sent to earth by God for a singular purpose – to minister the word of reconciliation to the lost; all the while, ministering edification to the saints.

I love my country just like most other Americans.  But I do not let that patriotism negate theological realities.  How I pray that God will get this word out to the Church in such a way as to awaken the bride.  I don’t care if I never make a buck on this project – it is costing me a fortune as it is – but my intention and my hope is to get the word out that the redemption of our bodies is about to happen.  Most of us will live to see it; but then the world will turn to its darkest hour.  The rapture has always been imminent, but the geopolitical stage today lends an air of immediacy to that imminence.  Finally, at long, long last, the Groom is going to come and take His bride to the home he has prepared for her in heaven.  Till then, we persevere.