A friend called me this morning with some fascinating news.

At first, I was reluctant to write about this, because I was wrong before in my prediction of the date of The Rapture.  But, this news is so amazing that I dare not keep it to myself.  So, at the risk of ridicule, I now break the self-imposed hiatus that I have kept since the above-linked column.

According to my friend, yesterday’s Supreme Court decision to uphold Obamacare is a signal of the final days of America and of the End Times prophetic sequence in the Holy Bible.  (I already knew that there is no description of the United States in the final portions of Bible prophecy.  This news seals the deal, in my opinion.)

At first, I thought that this was quite a bite to chew – even for me!  Then, I began to do the research.  I was stunned.

Obamacare was upheld under the concept that governments have a legitimate right to impose a tax.  Under the “logic” of Chief Justice John Roberts’ decision*, the mandatory universal healthcare premium is a “tax”, and therefore payments toward Obamacare are a legitimate function of government.  That is quite a stretch in itself, because healthcare is neither a “right” nor a legitimate function of any government, but wait.  (*  Courts do not “rule”; only rulers do.  Courts only “decide” on matters before them.  That is why courts cannot issue “rulings”, but only “decisions”.  The idea of a court issuing a “ruling” is an invention of the Left-tilting News Media.  See the interesting “side note” about Chief Justice Roberts at the end of this column.)

Because the law has already been passed, and because implementation of the program was delayed by a lawsuit, and because that lawsuit has been decided by the Supreme Court, and because there is no appeal from a Supreme Court decision, the effect of that decision is that Obamacare can now become mandatory at any time.

Our country is preparing for the annual celebration of Independence Day on the 4^th of July.  This year, the 4^th comes in the middle of the week (Wednesday).  So, government offices will be open for business the very next day (albeit with reduced staff, as many people will take two days of leave to have a five-day weekend).  So, if the people behind Obamacare use the three business days after the Supreme Court decision to rapidly gear-up the system that has already been developed, then Obamacare could be implemented as soon as Thursday, the 5^th of July.

Now, this is where the prophetic signs come into the picture.

Here in the United States, presidents are inaugurated on the 20^th of January.  (This was not always so.  But, this is the date that has been used for more than 50 years.)  It is well-known that both Obama and Chief Justice Roberts messed up the words to the oath during the public ceremony on the 20^th.  So, a small private ceremony was conducted on the 21^st to clear up questions about whether a messed-up oath could prevent him from “legally” becoming the president.  (The same politicians that got so fixated upon the words of the oath, however, seem to have no problem with an unqualified illegal alien holding that office.)  The date of that second ceremony brings everything into alignment.

Bible prophecy tells us that there are “two witnesses” that publicly prophesy for 1,260 days (Revelation 11:3).  Another verse, not far from that one, tells us that “the woman” (a metaphor for the Church Universal) is protected by being hidden in the wilderness for 1,260 days.  (Revelation 12:6)  That this number of days is repeated tells us that it is significant.  That this number of days is repeated close together, but in two different contexts, tells us that the number can be interpreted two different ways as it applies to two different things.  But, those things are related and will come together at the right time.

A similar thing happens in the Book of Daniel – thus showing the irrevocable bond between the Old Testament (known in Hebrew as the Tanach) and the New Testament (known in modern Jewish writings as the Nazarene Codex).  Just before the angel in Daniel’s final vision tells him that the words are “sealed until the time of the end” (Daniel 12:9), the angel tells Daniel that “the power of the holy people will be broken” during a period of persecution that lasts for “a time, times and half a time”.  (Daniel 12:7)  This period is widely believed by Bible scholars to mean a span of three and a half years.  On the Hebrew calendar (which is 360 days, compared to 365 days on the modern Christian calendar), three and one half years is exactly 1,260 days.

 There is another number of days, slightly longer than the above, that describes a period of increased suffering.  That is 1,335 days, as mentioned in Daniel 12:12.  Those that reach the end of this period are especially blessed.  (There is a span of 45 days at the end of that period, which is longer than the 1,290 days after the “abomination of desolation” is set up.  Jesus said of this object, “… let the reader understand”.  I believe that this 45-day span is one of intense persecution.)  This coded prophetic language is unfolding all around us.

So, how does all of this apply to us in the here and now?  Look and see.

Obama was “really” inaugurated on the 21^st of January, 2009.  If we add 1,260 days from that date, we come to the 4^th of July, 2012.  If the forces of the Left implement their evil scheme of Obamacare as quickly as expected (on the 5^th of July), then this coming Independence Day could be our last day of “independence” from the manacles of an all-intrusive government.

But, wait, there’s more.

Many of the dates of Obama’s programs — like those of terrorist attacks — are hinged upon key dates on the Muslim calendar.  The night of the 4^th of July, 2012, translates on the Muslim calendar to the 14^th of Sha’aban 1433.  That evening is the transition* to what is known in the Muslim world as “mid-Sha’aban” — translated as the “night of records” or the “night of deliverance”.  So, on the night when Americans celebrate their independence from tyrannical government, Muslims will be expecting a world-changing event.  Keep in mind that the word “Islam” means “submission”, and that the Muslim definition of “peace” can only exist when the entire world submits to Allah as defined in their Shari’a (Muslim religious law).  Under the system of Shari’a, the government is all-controlling — just like Obamacare.

Coincidence??

Those that do not submit to Obamacare can be labeled as criminals, just as those that do not submit to Allah are considered criminals in Muslim countries.  Those that do not submit to Obamacare can be compelled to pay an extra fine/tax, just as those that do not submit to Allah are compelled to pay the jizya (religious tax) in Muslim countries.  Those that do not submit to Obamacare would be considered as not submitting to Obama himself — who, under this plan, could pose as a “giver of good” (a title that should be reserved only for God).  The people most likely to resist registering for Obamacare would be the same people that do not submit in Muslim countries; specifically:  Jews and Christians.  Coincidence??

But, wait, there’s more.

Both the Hebrew and Muslim calendars start their weekly holy day at sunset on Fridays.  The very first Hebrew Sabbath after the pivotal date described above is the 17^th of Tammuz on the Hebrew calendar.  That date is the first date of the annual “dire straits”, which concludes with the fateful 9^th of Av — the “day of destruction”.  This year, both of those dates fall upon the Jewish Sabbath.  The 17^th of Tammuz is the date when Jewish tradition says that Moses came down from the Mountain of God with the original tablets of the Ten Commandments (written by the finger of God).  As he came down the mountain, Moses looked down upon the camp and saw the people of Israel worshipping an idol of a golden calf.  He became so angry that he threw down the stone tablets, which then shattered.  This event is considered so significant that, every year, Jews expect national calamities to occur during the three-week “dire straits”.  Not insignificantly, there are sweeping government changes in the Muslim countries that surround Israel, and the Muslim “king of the north” (Turkey, not Russia, is the “land of Magog“) is currently threatening Syria (whose capital is Damascus — a city that will be destroyed by God in a single day). 

So… where does Jesus fit into all of this?

As I explained in greater detail in my book “Tribulation:  2008″, there is a huge cosmic battle going on.  In the time of the Old Testament, the main enemy of God was a demon called Baal (the sun “god” of Mesopotamia).  In the time of the New Testament, the main enemy of God’s Son is a demon called Allah (the moon “god” of Mesopotamia).  In the historical Mesopotamian pantheon, Allah is the son of Baal, just as many cultures of this world consider the moon to be the “son” of the sun.  So, as this cosmic battle plays out, the Old Testament is a chronicle of “father vs. Father”, and the New Testament is a chronicle of “son vs. Son”.

Now, get this.

When asked about the End Times, and the ultimate salvation of mankind, Jesus said many things.  One of the most notable, yet somewhat cryptic, verses says “Look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draws near.”  (Luke 21:28)  What happens on the night of the 4^th of July?  Americans stand up, lift up their heads, and look up at fireworks displays.  Is it a mere coincidence that on this coming 4^th of July, the “holy people” of a “Christian nation” will be on the verge of having their “power broken” by an enemy that expects their redemption to occur on that very same night, even as those Christians “look up”?  And, if our redemption is drawing near, then how near?

Let’s go back to that other number:  1,335 days.  If we add that number of days from the date of Obama’s “real” inauguration, then we come to Monday, 17 September 2012.  That date, on the Hebrew calendar, is the 1^st of Tishrei, 5773.  (But, as explained in my book, the real year is likely 5998 — only two years short of the Year 6000, the end of the “Six-Day Week” of time in this world before the 1,000-year “time of rest” when Jesus will reign on the throne in the Temple in Jerusalem.  The reason for the 225-year difference is enough to fill a small book on its own.)  The 1^st of Tishrei is the beginning of the new religious year on the Hebrew calendar.  It is the date on which Jewish sages believe that Adam and Eve were created.  It is the “dawn of a new creation”.  And, to mark this important time, at sunset the evening before the shofar (Jewish trumpet, made of a ram’s horn) is blown.  This is one of only two times in the Jewish year when the shofar is required to be blown everywhere.  (The other one, of course, is Passover.)  This is known as the “Feast of Trumpets”.

Saint Paul wrote that we will “meet the Lord in the air” (1^st Thessalonians 4:17) at the sound of the trumpet call of God.  Scholars have long believed that this event — commonly called The Rapture — will occur on one of those two Hebrew feasts when the shofar is blown.  My book was based upon the view that it would occur at the time of the Passover trumpet, but there are certainly good arguments for it occurring at the Feast of Trumpets that precedes the Yom Kippur day of atonement.  (And, much of that argument is based upon the fact that Jesus’ blood is the ultimate atonement for our sins.)  What are the chances that both of these key Bible events are also tied to major political changes that occur on the exact number of days predicted in the Bible from another major political change?  And, what are the chances that those changes are ushered in by a man that purports to be a Christian, while showing obvious allegiance to Islam?

But, what about that number in between:  1,290 days?

Using this same methodology, that number leads us to the 2^nd of August this year.  On the Hebrew calendar, that date converts to the 14^th of Av.  By itself, I find no significance for this date on any of the three major religious calendars.  But, that date is eight days before the 22^nd of Av.  Eight is the Hebrew number that represents the Messiah.  And, there are many people that think Obama is the Messiah.  Jesus spent the last eight days of His earthly ministry in Jerusalem.  So, what happens on the eighth day after the 1,290 days?

Buckle your seatbelts.

That leads us to the 22^nd of Av on the Hebrew calendar.  That date, as explained in my book, is the Hebrew date of the birthdates of both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama!  On the modern Christian calendar, their birthdates are 15 days apart and 15 years apart.  (Clinton was born on 19 August 1946, and Obama was born on 04 August 1961.)  But, on the Hebrew calendar, those two separate dates fall on the same anniversary.  Coincidence?

Both men have been accused of “Messiah complex”, and both men have huge followings that parallel religious fervor.  Both men purport to be Christians, yet both men also have reputations that defy that image.  Both men have been accused of being the Anti-Christ.  And, both men have greatly expanded the role of an intrusive government.  (But, only one called his administration the “New Covenant”.  That was Bill Clinton, in his inaugural speech, in which he also used the pagan term “force the Spring” to define his inauguration ceremony.)

The battle of evil versus good is much larger than merely Democrats versus Republicans, or even the larger “liberals” versus “conservatives”.  The battle has played out across the centuries.  Sadly, even many so-called “leaders” within Christianity — especially in modern America — lose sight of the length of the war.  To put it into perspective, let’s revisit that number again:  1,260.

Many scholars believe that the term “days” in Bible prophecy can also mean “years” when used in the context of this long-term view.  So, is there any relationship between “days” and “years” as it applies to Obamacare being upheld by the Supreme Court yesterday?  And, does that relationship fit the rest of the context of this study?  Yes.

If we go back in time 1,260 years, we discover that a significant event happened in Christian history.  In the year 752, the reign of the “Byzantine papacy” came to an end.  (This is not to be confused with the fall of the Byzantine Christian Empire in the year 1453, nor even the “Great Schism” that divided the Christian East and the Christian West in the year 1049.  Those are separate, but related, events.)  For a period of time, the Christian East and the Christian West were ruled not from Rome, but from the city of Constantinople.  After the year 752, there were machinations that caused divisions between East and West.  Those machinations ultimately led to the Great Schism.  But, for the purpose of this study, what matters is that “the woman” of Revelation 12:6 went into hiding.  What that means is that — contrary to Jesus’ prayer that “they all be as one, even as We are One” — the Christian world became institutionally divided.  (This is more significant than being doctrinally divided, although that leads to institutional division.)  So, when the actual organization of the Church (the “bride”, the “woman”) became factionalized, then one could say that she “went into hiding”.  Interestingly enough, despite the divisions that have arisen over the centuries, Christian doctrine has still had a significant effect upon human history.  But, now, as various enemy factions (e.g.:  Communism, hedonism, Islam) all work together, then “the power of the holy people is broken”.  Not only is this occurring before our eyes, but also it is occurring on the exact timeline predicted in the Holy Bible!

Having been “burned” before, I’m a bit reluctant to proclaim that this series of facts leads us to a definitive conclusion that The Rapture will occur on a specific date later this year.  However, it is also impossible to ignore that, as one of my Italian-American friends in New York often says, “This is too coincidental to be a coincidence.”  It is not an insignificant point that Jesus came into this world at a time when Caesar decided that the whole world should be taxed.  Thus, the recent Supreme Court decision that Obamacare is a “tax” is yet another interesting parallel.

There is no doubt in my mind that Obamacare somehow fits into the prophetic timeline of the Holy Bible.  Exactly how it fits will be seen … sooner, rather than later.

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Many of the people recognized as “Christian leaders” here in America rallied together almost seven years ago to encourage Christian voters to demand that the United States Senate quickly confirm the nomination of John Roberts to become the new chief justice.  I wrote a report about that rally at a big church in Nashville.  Interestingly, I warned at the time that the same combination — religious fervor and a lack of facts — could have encouraged someone to also support Josef Stalin, who had previously studied to become a priest.  The devious machinations of the Big Two political parties, working together to implement the Socialist goal of mandatory universal government-funded healthcare insurance by getting a “conservative” to write the Supreme Court decision, would’ve made Stalin proud.