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Why The Return Of

Jesus Christ May Be Near

 

Part 1

 Introduction

 

By

R.A. Coombes

 

Author of
“America, The Babylon: Vols 1 & 2”
and Publisher of
The Alpha-Omega Report
aoreport.com

 

 

Down through the centuries, skeptical, non-Christians have always scoffed at the elements of Biblical Prophecy. Since the Reformation, there have been short time periods when some Christians believed the prophetic fulfillments were near. Such thinking failed to take into account a proper understanding of the signs indicating the nearness of fulfillment.

In the 1800’s though, interest in prophetic fulfillment began to increase among some segments in the Protestant Churches. The interest seems to have manifested in time waves, of a few years here and there as new theories were advanced about prophecy itself. By the early 20th Century such interest began to steadily increase until May 14,1948, when Jewish Holocaust survivors secured a newly re-birthed independent nation called Israel. That event triggered a new wave of prophetic excitement in the conservative, Protestant church world.

The re-birth of Israel kept many Bible-believing Christians (especially in America) excited with anticipation about more Prophetic fulfillments thought to be ‘just around the corner.’ Such thinking escalated further after June of 1967 when Israeli military units captured and united all of Jerusalem under Jewish rule.

A best-selling prophecy book entitled, “The Late Great Planet Earth” authored by a young Hal Lindsey set all-time book publishing records around the world.  The success of that book triggered a flood of new books on prophecy and set up a Christian publishing industry within the Christian publishing industry – dedicated solely to prophecy.

The early 1970s saw a tremendous flood of interest in prophecy, especially after the 1973 – “Yom Kippur” war wherein Israel once again defeated her surrounding enemies, in a miraculous manner. But as the decade passed, interest in prophecy within the United States began to wane somewhat. There was a brief resurgence in 1987 when some prophecy commentators and preachers taught that 1988 would be the year of the Rapture. They based that idea, in part, on the theory that a 40 year time period would elapse between Israel’s re-birth and the Return of Christ. Such predictions proved faulty and interest in prophecy waned again in disappointment.

Prophetic interest slowly resurfaced again with Gulf War 1 and also as the 1990s dawned with the expectation that the 7 years of Tribulation would begin in 1993 or thereabouts leading up to Christ’s return in the year 2000. This was further fueled by secular concerns of Y2K and computer glitches. Prophetic interest reached a fever pitch by 2000 and then diminished greatly, thereafter when nothing happened.

With 9-11 however, prophetic interest surged again, albeit briefly but within a much smaller segment of the Church as conservative Christian approaches to the Bible shrank. This wave of interest peaked with Gulf War 2 and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, yet afterwards, nothing further seemed to be developing in the world of geo-politics.

In the past 5 years since the invasion of Iraq, interest in Bible Prophecy has waned dramatically once again.

I often meet Christians in public who tell me that they no longer pay any attention to Bible Prophecy issues because, they’ve given up in thinking we’re near the fulfillment of the “End of the Age” prophecies.

What is particularly disturbing to me is how many professing Christians would actually prefer living out their lives without His Return taking place during their lifetime. Still, others are simply disillusioned and believe that the prophecies are simply not for our time and that we are nowhere near the fulfillment time of Biblical Prophecy.

Essentially most of the Christians it seems either have given up on Prophecy or simply prefer not to think about their lives being interrupted by Prophetic developments. Such attitudes are amazing to me, and what’s more, it seems to be harder now, to convince both Christians and non-Christians than ever before. This of course, in spite of the fact that there are many television programs on cable television focusing on the topic of Biblical Prophecy.

Even more perplexing to myself is how Bible-believing Christians ignore the “Signs of the Times” – particularly the fact that Israel is again a nation now 60 years old.

Such attitudes have led me to the conclusion that The Alpha-Omega Report should feature a special publication dealing with these “Signs of the Times” and the reasons why ALL Believers – NEED TO BE PAYING ATTENTION to Biblical Prophecy fulfillment and the unfolding current events. Believers need to understand not only that they should pay attention but why they should pay attention to prophetic developments and have a grounded understanding of Biblical Prophecy.

Consequently, This article you are reading is Part 1 of a 7 part series of articles dealing with these questions about Biblical Prophecy. These articles are designed to communicate to both untaught and or skeptical believers as well as to non-Christians, the reasons why we may be close to further Biblical Prophecy fulfillments and The Rapture, The Tribulation period, The rise of the Antichrist, Armageddon and The Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

This information is not intended to be an in-depth presentation, but rather a broad overview of the essential basics – PLUS – evidence that some of the prophecies are even now in the process of fulfillment and others are close to beginning their fulfillment.

 

So why would I believe that the Return of Jesus Christ might be near?

 

Because Biblical Prophecy has given us “signals” or “signs” – describing events that will take place – just before – a chain-reaction of events takes place leading to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and a 1,000 year period of peace and harmony on Earth.

We are seeing even now, many of these signs unfolding in our daily news on television, in the newspaper and on the internet.

These preliminary signs can be divided into two distinct category types.

 

#1. Geo-political, and economic developments around the world.

#2. Events and developments in Creation – naturally occurring events that have transcended the “normal” to become “abnormal.”

 

We’ll examine each of these elements in separate articles and then I’ll present yet another and final part to this series, explaining WHY – all Christians need to be awake, alert and paying attention to Biblical Prophecy and prophetic fulfillments. This series of articles may also be a wake up call to unbelievers, too and I’ll explain why unbelievers should pay attention.

For those of you who are regular readers of The Alpha-Omega Report, this series of articles may be nothing new for you, however you may find some new startling information within this series.

Also, A-O Readers and or also newcomers to the website may find this series of articles to be something to share with others whom you feel need to be made aware of the situation and the latest developments. So for that reason, this series is for everyone.

Index of Article Segments:

 

In this series of articles, you will find the series is structured as follows:

Part 1 – Introduction – you are now reading this article 

Part 2 –THE TRIGGER SIGNS - 2 Events Started The Ticking Time Clock - LINK

Part 3 – Signs in the Geo-Political World Now Developing - LINK

Part 4 – Signs in Nature Now Developing - LIINK

Part 5 – An Overview of a Key Biblical Prophecies Awaiting Fulfillment - LINK

Part 6 – Why Believers Need To Know & Follow Prophetic Developments - LINK

FREE E-Book Download is available, too.  The Gift of Salvation – How to Have Eternal Life – LINK HERE.

With this structure in mind, let’s proceed to the second article in this series known as Part Two.

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