The NOW Prophecies: Where are we on God’s Timeline?

on Monday, November 2, 2015 by Bill Salus

This is a chapter from the soon to be released book entitled, The NOW Prophecies, by Bill Salus. Click HERE to learn more about Bills new book and DVD.

WHERE ARE WE ON GOD’S PROPHETIC TIMELINE?
Before exploring the NOW Prophecies, it is important to discuss our present placement on God’s calendar of events. Unquestionably, the most important prophetic information for every generation is the knowledge of its whereabouts on the Lord’s prophetic timeline. Isaiah 46:9-10, informs us that there exists a definite beginning and end, so the question is where are we now?

The simple answer is that we are somewhere between the two prophetic events of the rebirth of the nation Israel and the upholding of the Lord’s holy name through the nation of Israel, which results from the Gog of Magog war in Ezekiel 38-39. In fulfillment of numerous prophecies, Israel was reborn as a nation on May 14, 1948. Presently sixty-seven years have passed since that time. The reestablishment of Israel is when the world’s hourglass made its final turn, and now the grains of sand are rapidly descending downward into its lower chamber. Mankind is racing toward the expiration date of this present earth!

These two marquee events should standout like monumental bookends to this generation because they are intended to serve as the prophetic proof that the God of the Bible is the one true God over all the earth. Replacement theology, the erroneous teaching that God’s done with the Jews, has facilitated the failure of many Christians to recognize the miraculous existence of the Jewish state of Israel. However, their ignorance does not erase the fact that Israel today is a marvelous sovereign undertaking of the Lord. According to the prophet Jeremiah it was intended to be so.

Therefore, behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “that they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ but, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own land.” (Jeremiah 23:7-8, NKJV).

The Hebrew exodus from Egypt resulted in the parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 14). This was a supernatural event that has yet to be outmatched or duplicated by anyone. This miracle was to be memorialized in the minds of the Hebrew generations that followed. It served to remind the Jews that their God Jehovah could deliver them through all obstacles and oppressions. In addition to this monumental miracle, the Old Testament is filled with other historical examples evidencing this fact.

Jeremiah 23:7 declares that the exodus episode will pale in comparison to the modern day miracle of the rebirthed nation of Israel. Rightfully so, the Lord had to accomplish much more than parting the Red Sea in order to reestablish the nation of Israel in modernity. Below are a few examples depicting the enormous sovereign undertaking of God in order for Israel to exist today!

• Implant Zionism in Jews – In the late 1800’s, after centuries of existence outside of their country, the Jews began to yearn to return back to their ancient homeland. They were, and still are, willing to leave their world countries, diverse cultures and differing languages to return to a place that was desolate and is presently dangerous.

• Create Arab Homelands – From 1517 – 1917 A.D. the Middle East was under the control of the Ottoman Empire. The domination abruptly ended with the Turkish loss in World War I. This empire had to be eliminated in order for the Mideast to be rezoned with Arab states and a Jewish state. The creation of the Arab states and the Jewish state was the fulfillment of the Lord’s Mideast Peace Plan provided in Jeremiah 12:14-17. The prophecy specified that the Arabs and Jews would return to their homelands, which occurred in the aftermath of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

It’s important to note that Jeremiah 12:17 predicts the destruction of the Arab nations that curse Israel instead of live copacetic alongside Israel. This destruction seemingly occurs with the NOW prophecy of Psalm 83.

• Prevent Nazi Genocide – In order for the Jewish state to exist, Jews needed to exist. During World War II, Adolph Hitler and the Nazis attempted the genocide of the Jews. Had they been successful, there would be no Israel today! Whereas, World War I freed up the ancient land of Israel for the Jewish people. World War II prepared the Jews for the land of Israel.

• Empower the Allied Forces – Communist Russia teamed up with the capitalistic America and the other allied forces to defeat the Nazis. This cohesion of this unlikely coalition was also the miraculous sovereign undertaking of the Lord.

• Create the Jewish State – With the control of the Ottoman Empire relinquished and the establishment of the Arab states in place, the restoration of Israel occurred. These territorial shifts paved the way for the state of Israel to come into existence.

• Empower the Israeli Army – Ezekiel 37:10, 25:14, Obadiah 1:18 and elsewhere predicted the rise of today’s Israeli Defense Forces. Through the process of three regional wars in 1948, 1967 and 1973, the Jews transformed from refugees into the most powerful army in the Middle East. This had to happen in order to sustain Israel’s existence.

• Preserve and Prosper Israel – Israel is becoming a prosperous nation. According to Ezekiel 38:12-13, Israel continues to prosper and achieve an abundance of plunder and booty. It is this prosperity that motivates the Russian Gog of Magog invaders to attack Israel.

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THE UPHOLDING OF GOD’S HOLY NAME THROUGH HIS PEOPLE ISRAEL
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The Magog invasion of Ezekiel 38-39 is the other major prophetic marker for this generation to consider. Ezekiel 38:1-39:20, contains forty-three verses of some of the most consolidated and descriptive prophetic information found anywhere within the entire Bible. The reader of these passages doesn’t need to be a bible scholar, rocket scientist, or even a believer to glean a relatively detailed understanding of this forthcoming prophecy. By interpreting these verses literally the reader is made aware of the:

• Timing of the event – (In the end times), Ezek. 38:8, 16.
• Identities of the invading coalition – (Russia, Turkey, Iran and a total of nine members are identified by Ezekiel). Ezek. 38:1-5.
• Motivation for the invasion of Israel – (To take spoil, plunder and booty from Israel). Ezek. 38:12-13.
• Conditions inside Israel at the time of the invasion – (A nation at peace that is dwelling securely without walls). Ezek. 38:8, 11, 14.
• Defeat of the invaders – (Supernatural means through an earthquake, pestilence, bloodshed, flooding rains, great hailstones, fire and brimstone). Ezek. 38:18-23.
• Aftermath of the event – (Israel will gain international renown for burying the dead for seven months and burning the invaders weapons for seven years). Ezek. 39:9-16.
• Purpose of the prophecy – (The upholding of the holy name of God). Ezek. 39:7.

The Lord appears to have intended these verses to be relatively easy for everyone to understand, because this is the epic event through which He pledges to notify the world that He is the one true God!

There will be no way to misconstrue that the supernatural destruction of the Magog invaders came exclusively through the hand of the Lord. Although Israel is positively identified within this prophecy, and possibly even America, the victory over the Russian coalition will not be attributed to either, but the Lord will get the full credit. In the aftermath, He alone will be able to slam dunk the football in the end zone after the winning touchdown!

The Lord will be able to proclaim, with absolute authority, that He is the covenant making God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who sent his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, so that all who receive Him as their Lord and Savior would not perish but have eternal life.

This prophecy will be explained in more detail at a later point within this work. The explanation will address why this prophecy appears to occur before the seven year Tribulation Period commences, (i.e. Daniel’s Seventieth Week), why the Rapture probably occurs beforehand, and how America is identified in Ezekiel 38:13, as the young lions of the merchants of Tarshish. America in this prophecy is depicted as a lesser nation, a meager sideline spectator of the Magog invasion. America, shrunken to this non-superpower stature, appears to occur as one of the NOW Prophecies.