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PROPHECY CENTRAL UPDATEVolume 1 - Number 4 (Issue #4)
____________Copyright ©, 1997 Ron Graff___________
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PROPHECY CENTRAL UPDATEVolume 1 - Number 4 (Issue #4)
____________Copyright ©, 1997 Ron Graff___________
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The purpose of this publication is to provide helpful information for students and teachers of Biblical Prophecy, original commentary on selected current events, and summaries of new information from key prophecy sites on the Internet.
Important Notice: We do not believe Antichrist can be identified until the Church has been taken away and the Tribulation has begun. See Warnings and Cautions (a special section on the Prophecy Central site). The following information is to show the many wrong identifications which have been made in the past and a few current possibilities. We do not agree with any of these who think Antichrist can be positively identified at this time. We do think Antichrist may already be alive, and could be well known, but he will not be revealed as the evil one before the Rapture.
Mistaken Historical Identifications (As types of evil leaders they might qualify for John's description: "Many antichrists" - 1 John 2:18)
William M. Alnor's book, "Soothsayers of the Second Advent" listed these
historical "duds":
Nero
Domitian
Decius
Valerian
Diocletian
Adolph Hitler
Benito Mussolini
Kurt Waldheim
Willy Brandt
Pope Paul VI
Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands
Various Current Theories:
While one of these could eventually turn out to be the evil world leader, we don't believe we can know at this time. (2 Thessalonians 2:3-12) It doesn't hurt to notice trends and possibilities, but caution must be exercised not to actually state that any of these is the one. Unfortunately, some of the sources listed below have crossed that line.
Theory: Antichrist will come from Lebannon
Author Frank L. Caw's book and web site The Ultimate Deception treat
this possibility.
Theory: President Clinton could be Antichrist
From the December 1996 issue of Prophecy In The News magazine:
"Clinton Wins Second Term."
This article shows President Clinton's ancestry, on his mother's side, can
be traced back to King Henry III of England, Presidents William Henry
Harrison and Benjamin Harrison, King Robert I of France, and other royal
ancestors. This information was sealed from view until recently. J.R.
Church wonders whether Clinton might be a candidate for the role of
future world leader.
Theory: King Juan Carlos of Spain could be Antichrist
Charles Taylor proposed this possibility in his book "The Antichrist
King."
Theory: Henry Kissinger's could be Antichrist. His name adds up to 666.
This is an older theory now, but there is still interest in this possibility.
Theory: We are already in the Tribulation and Prince Charles may be
Antichrist.
Great Joy In Great Tribulation espouses this theory. Among other
reasons given, his name adds up to 666.
Theory: The Roman Catholic Church is the Antichrist System
A common view from reformers with amillennial theology
Theory: Mikhail Gorbachev fulfilled the prophecy of the coming Prince
Charlie Allen's website called "Prophecy, Eschatology, and Discoveries"
proposes that Gorbachev's 1985 unilateral commitment to end deployment
of medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe was the fulfillment of the
prophecy of the "prince" who would come "after 69 weeks" and make a
"strong and firm covenant with the many for a 7." (Daniel 9)
Theory: Is Maitreya Antichrist?
There are links to an article about the New Age messiah, and a couple
of websites for Maitreya.
Theory: Could Bill Gates be the one?
Interesting totals using ASCII numbers This is humor. (We think.)
Theory: David, the Antichrist
This is blasphemous nonsense by a person claiming to be the Antichrist.
This section has just been added. Initially it has only a few of the many
popular lyrics about prophecy that are available. We plan to add to this list
as we find good lyrics, especially if they are available on the Internet. If
you know of worthy artists and their prophecy lyrics, please let us know.
Buying Gas No Longer Requires Cash or Credit Card
April 4, 1997 - In news releases on two consecutive days, Gilbarco and Tokheim announced plans to implement gas pumps and an automated authorization system for fuel dispensers using the MicroStamp(TM) technology from Micron Communications, Inc. Shell Oil Products Company will try the concept in two test markets this summer. They will call it "Shell EASY PAY."
A tiny computer chip and antenna are mounted in a postage stamp-sized keychain. This device communicates with the gas pump from a distance using radio waves to identify the customer and authorize the purchase. Source: AOL (Thanks to Sharon Luzzi)
Micron Communications, Inc offers a new line of products utilizing remote intelligent communications (RIC) technology. These products, marketed under the "MicroStamp" brand name, include devices for for asset tracking, enhanced security systems, automatic vehicle identification, and remote smart card technology.
http://www.microncommunications.com
Fischer International Unveils Smarty Smart Card Reader
http://www.fisc.com/store/smarty.html
In a February 17, 1997 press release, this new product was described as a smart card reader which looks like a 3.5 inch diskette, has a slot in the back that accepts a smart card, and fits into any personal computer's 3.5 inch floppy disk drive to access smart card information.
Smart cards - credit cards with embedded chips for storing values - are widely used in Europe and Japan, and are predicted to grow swiftly in the US," said Michael S. Battaglia, FISC president and chief executive officer. "What's been missing is a low-cost, easy to use 'bridge' between smart cards and personal computers. Smarty is that bridge."
http://www.fisc.com/news/smpr.html
Possible Futures for the Global Network
http://www.lucent.com/news/corporate/speech.html
March 18, 1997 - Richard A. McGinn, President of Lucent Technologies, says, "One question is crystal clear. How can we get today's networks to operate as if they were a single entity?" He describes ATMs, the Internet, voice and video networks, and all the inter-connections between them. He explains that the newest network growth is in the area of wireless systems. This market is growing at an annual rate of 21 percent, and, some think that by the year 2010 there will be up to 1.45 billion wireless subscribers, bringing this global network to nearly a fifth of the world's population.
840 Satellites Will Bring Internet To World Beginning 2000
http://patriot.net/~premil/we/wn/9703/17.html#85862235
3/17/97 Week End News Today's summary of plans for a $9 billion effort by Bill Gates and Craig McCaw to link the entire earth for high speed internet service.
Visit Teledesic Corporation where details for this "Internet In The Sky" is being planned.
http://www.teledesic.com/
http://www.teledesic.com/visualizations/inetsky.html
At the top of the current events section of this page, we have added a link to the Astronomy Picture of The Day, and a Scriptural reminder that The Lord is the Creator: "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,what is man that you are mindful of him…?" Psalm 8:3-4 (NIV)
Solar Flare Could Cause Disruption
April 9, 1997 - In reports from Reuters and Associated Press, a "moderate" solar flare sent billions of tons of charged helium and hydrogen toward the Earth at nearly 2 million miles per hour. No serious problems are expected, but this flare is the first one photographed by the SOHO sattelite which shows the giant tidal wave on the Sun caused by a solar flare.
The sun has an 11 year cycle of activity which will reach it's maximum in four years. The AP article cited David Speich (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), who said that when it reaches this "solar max" there are several flares each day that are ten times as big as this one, and once every 2 to 4 days there will be one 100 times as big!
The Earth is shielded by our magnetic field from most of the damage from these Sun storms cause. Severe storms can destroy sattelites, disrupt radio/television communications, and overload power distribution systems. A solar storm did cause major disturbances on the North American power system on March 13, 1989. Power was knocked out across Quebec, and the power grid serving the U.S. Northwest was nearly brought down.
More information about Solar Flares:
NASA - Current Solar Images
http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/images/latest
Worst Mass Suicide in US History Tied To Hale-Bopp Comet and UFO Belief
March 27, 1997 - The nation was shocked this morning by the news that 39 people, mostly young computer professionals of the "Higher Source" website development group, had apparently committed suicide in Rancho Santa Fe, California. Early reports claim that their motivation was a desire to join a UFO traveling with Comet Hale-Bopp.
If bright young people can be so deceived, imagine what lies Antichrist can get people to believe after the Rapture!
Hale-Bopp- The Brightest Comet of Our Century
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970401.html
Higher Source
http://www.cris.com/~font
Heaven's Gate
http://www.heavensgate.com
Heaven's Gate - Mirror Site
http://www.spacestar.net/sshgt/
Visit the websites of these talented programers. These sites may be difficult to access because of the traffic. They may be taken off line soon.
See information about "Do" (Marshall Applewhite) in our False Christ's section.
Related information:
The first two of these are Hank Hanegraaff's (Christian Research Institute) explanation of this cult, which his organization has tracked for many years.
Millennial Madness
http://www.equip.org/suicide/index.html
The Heaven's Gate Cult
http://www.equip.org/suicide/
The Registration
Our fictional account of future events. See how UFOs might be used to explain the disappearance of Christians at the Rapture.
http://www.Bible-prophecy.com/registration.htm
"The Present Day UFO-Alien Abduction Phenomenon as interpreted from a Biblical Precedent."
J. Timothy Unruh shows that UFO sightings, which occur somewhere on Earth about once every three minutes, are most likely demonic apparitions. He relates it to the theory, held by many, that the "Nephelim" of Genesis 6 were produced by fallen angels. The online edition of this book was posted January 15, 1997. It is part of Lambert Dolphin's Resource Files.
http://www.best.com/~dolphin//unruh/alien/index.html
"The Great Disappearance"
Dr. David R. Reagan is one of many prophecy teachers who see a connection between the current New Age teaching about extraterrestrial influences on Earth, UFO sightings, and the need to "cleanse" the planet of narrow-minded Christians.
http://www.lamblion.com/Web07-01.htm
"This generation is willing to believe anything."
In this transcript of their November 17, 1996 television broadcast, the Lalonde brothers explain that, because of Star Wars, Jurassic Park, and other popular portrayals of scientific future, the lines between reality and fantasy have been blurred. Peter Lalonde says, "Suddenly we are ready to believe anything is possible. Maybe people will be able to believe after the rapture takes place that these people have been beamed up on transporter beams into UFOs above the Earth. The point is: this generation is willing to believe anything."
http://www.twibp.com/TVArchives/tw253.html
THE RAPTURE - Beware of Date-Setting
Look for lots of date-setting as we approach the end of the Millennium. The website called "Home of The Five Doves" has some interesting information, but they tell us the Rapture will be on May 14th of this year! Hey, maybe it will be. In fact it could be today! But Jesus told us we couldn't know the day or the hour (Matthew 24:36). All of the scholarship of these brothers will be discredited on May 15th if Jesus hasn't come. Too many good teachers have made this mistake already.
http://web.singnet.com.sg/~spirit5/
Here's another case of a good Bible teacher setting dates. In Bible Prophecy Corner, Marilyn Agee says she is convinced that the Rapture will come at Pentecost in 1988.
http://www.kiwi.net/~mjagee/
What happens to the credibility of a Bible teacher who sets dates that are wrong? Monte Judah of Lion and Lamb Ministries (different from Lamb and Lion Ministries), taught that we are already in the Tribulation, and that it had started with the signing of the Middle East Peace Accords on September 13, 1993. Thus, the events of the middle of the Tribulation should have happened by Purim, March 23, 1997. He has been honest enough to admit that he was wrong, and to issue an apology. This, however, has done serious harm to his reputation.
http://www.telepath.com/jwyke/lionlamb.htm
http://www.telepath.com/jwyke/Apology.htm
Another prophecy teacher, Jim Searcy on his website, "Great Joy In Great Tribulation," subscribes to the same idea, that the Tribulation began on September 13, 1993. At this supposed midpoint of the seven years, he does not admit it is a mistake, but claims that the treaty was broken on March 23 when HAMAS called on Palestinians to reactivate their intifida or uprising against Israel in order to stop the building of Jewish settlements at Har Homa. The problem with this is, that at the time of the breaking of the covenant, there should be a Temple where regular sacrifices are offered, and there should be a proclaimed world dictator who will stop the sacrifices and set up an image of himself in the Temple.
http://www.dccsa.com/greatjoy/index.html
http://www.dccsa.com/greatjoy/update.html
This week I received Email messages about someone who claims Antichrist would be revealed two days ago, April 10, based on the calculations from an interesting website called " On Hale-Bopp, Hyakutake and Medusa." This site claims that last year's comet Hyakutake and this year's Hale-Bopp cross paths on the same day, April 11 (one year apart) right in the eye of Medusa, at the star Algol which has been associated with Satan. There's more to it, but it might just be an April Fool's joke. In any case, the website just asks questions about what it might mean. At least one person has responded by predicting the announcement of Antichrist.
http://www.corecom.net/hutch/medusa.html
Some events are noteworthy. That's what Prophecy Central is all about. But I appeal to prophecy teachers to be wise about proposing theories, and especially about setting dates, because Satan will use any mistakes you make to discredit all the good study and teaching you may have done. It just isn't worth the risk.
We invite you to visit PROPHECY CENTRAL at http://www.Bible-prophecy.com We are constantly updating various portions of the site to bring you the latest information. Be sure to check the "What's New" section to go directly to newer features.
Alta Vista Search Engine makes this observation: The Web is immense. If you only spent a minute per page and devoted ten hours a day to it, it would take four and a half years to explore a million Web pages, a lifetime to explore just this index.
The Bible - The best source of prophecy information
THE BLUE LETTER BIBLE
http://www.khouse.org/blueletter/index.html
Hebrew interlinear text now available! Greek coming soon.
This exciting on-line study Bible is getting better all the time! Take the time to learn to use this tool! You can now view the Hebrew words of the Old Testament, see an English transliteration (English equivalent of the Hebrew word), and link to the Strong's Concordance for more information on each word.
PROPHEZINE (Ray Gano)
http://www.prophezine.com/index.shtml
Enjoy Chick Publication's little comic book, "The Beast" online!
http://www.prophezine.com/chick/b1.html
PZ PROPHECY ALLIANCE
http://www.prophezine.com/alliance/text/members.html
The Alliance has added a Mini-site for The Trump of Maranatha Fellowship. It offers many helpful articles on key topics.
PROPHECY IN THE NEWS (J.R. Church)
http://www.upbeat.com/prophecy/
Oh, What a Tangled (Worldwide) Web!
See why Gary Stearman says that when you type the three letters "www," you are entering the Hebrew equivalent of "666."
http://www.upbeat.com/prophecy/a970303.htm
KOINONIA HOUSE (Chuck Missler)
http://www.khouse.org/
The Struggle For Jerusalem
This article shows that, exactly as predicted in Zechariah 12:2-3, Jerusalem is a source of frustration and anxiety to the whole world. Israel and the Islamic world are locked in a struggle in which neither will ever give in.
http://www.khouse.org/set3.html
WEEK END NEWS TODAY
http://www.patriot.net/users/premil/weekend.html
In case you haven't discovered this site, they have numerous news stories every day "that may be of interest to all Christians who are eagerly awaiting their Lord's soon return." Here is the list of articles for yesterday,
April 11, 1997!
Meteorite strikes car in France
Europe cuts diplomatic ties with Iran
China afraid of "Polish disease"
Yeltsin: "We have a positive relationship with Iran "
Argentina: American preachers shot and beaten
China's weapons exports worry Washington
Birmingham: Coming-out Ellen will not be shown
Millennium bomb scare continues
Texas: Baseball-size hail and Tornadoes
Pope reminds Christians worldwide that Jesus Christ was a real Jew
China's army of 90 million bachelors
Earthquake hit China, killed 8 (more than 4000 quakes since January)
LAMBERT DOLPHIN'S RESOURCE FILES
http://www.ldolphin.org/
False Messiahs, Antichrists, and Modern Caesars
This older article is an excellent reminder of the Biblical teaching about Antichrist and the "many antichrists" of history.
http://www.ldolphin.org/falsemess.html
JACK VAN IMPE MINISTRIES
http://www.jvim.com/
UPDATE
Regular news of prophetic importance appears in this section of their site. A recent example is a March 25, '97 article about the Maastricht II summit, where ministers of the 15 member nations of the European Union met (40th Anniversary of EU). Among other things, they agreed on the idea of appointing a "prominent personality" for the purpose of giving EU foreign policy a single voice.
RAPTURE INDEX (Todd Strandberg)
http://www.novia.net/~todd/
Rapture Index 4/7/97 = 163 [Alert Zone] - (Nearing the all-time high of 164)
The International Prophecy Conference
Todd gives his take on the recent conference in Florida.
http://www.novia.net/~todd/rap40.html
THE END TIMES INFORMATION CENTER
http://www.sirinet.net/~cloefke/etic.htm
America: Preparing For The New World Order (Executive Orders)
Here is information from Grant Jeffry about Executive Orders, which give the president dictatorial powers in case of national emergency. People not familiar with these facts will be shocked to learn that if the president declares such an emergency, (as he could do with racial riots, or with the growing issue of the militia movement) he will have powers similar to those exercised by Adolph Hitler or Joseph Stalin!
http://www.sirinet.net/~cloefke/eorders.htm
The Prophecy Puzzle http://members.aol.com/prophpuzzl
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Many of the notes in this update will soon be found as new entries in the various "Pieces of the Prophecy Puzzle" on our website. Wherever possible we link the appropriate pages to save you time in your search for the latest information in Biblical Prophecy. Our website can be found at http://www.Bible-prophecy.com
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