CHAPTER 1
SEALED UP
About the time of the end, a body of men will be raised up who will turn their attention to the prophecies, and insist upon their literal interpretation, in the midst of much clamor and opposition.
- Sir Isaac Newton (1687)
When Jesus Christ first came to earth, he was on a secret mission. You might not have thought of it this way before, but it’s true.
The Apostle Paul puts it like this.
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
— I Corinthians 2:7-8
Unlike the scribes and Pharisees, the forces of darkness had no trouble identifying the incarnate Son of God during his time on earth. However, they were unable to comprehend what he was up to. And consequently, they fell right into the trap.
This was the hidden wisdom of God, but it did not come without prior clues for those who were looking. Indeed, the Hebrew Old Testament, or the Tanakh, is full of hints regarding the Suffering Servant role, which our Messiah fulfilled perfectly and precisely during his first coming.
When Jesus comes back to earth the second time, and is revealed as Conquering King, there will be no secret mission to rival the divine mystery of the cross. However, the general timing of his return itself, and of the end of the age, has long been shrouded in mystery and hidden from the eyes of the Church.
The prophecies have been sealed up for many years.
Interestingly, the powers of darkness do not appear to share the same confusion so common amongst evangelical Christians today on this matter of timing. On the contrary, they seem to have grasped at least some fundamental aspects of God’s well-ordered plan for human history.
And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
— Matthew 8:29
Did you catch that? The demons, nearly two thousand years ago, somehow knew that the end was not yet at hand. They did not know what Yeshua was doing down on earth, but they had enough sense to discern that their hour of final judgment had not yet come.
I believe these demons knew enough of God’s overall timeline to establish that they had at least a couple of millennia left, at that time.
Now, I must admit that I have been reading my Bible most days for nearly thirty years, and yet many of these deeper truths have escaped me up until only recently. However, you may be surprised to learn, as I was, that long ago the Second Temple period Jews and early Christians had a much better conception of when the end was due to arrive than we do today.
It also turns out that Yeshua’s first coming was precisely predicted by prophecies found in the Tanakh. Not only were the events of his life foretold, down to the minutest of details, but the general timing of his coming was also telegraphed repeatedly in the texts. And he arrived right on time.
If the Scriptures declared in advance the timing of Christ’s first coming, is it not entirely reasonable to think that they may likewise foretell the timing of his Second Coming?
Now, do not misunderstand me. I am not speaking of pinpointing a specific day or hour. Such claims to special knowledge are a sure sign either of deception or of self-delusion. Rather, I am referring only to a general season, such as a certain year or perhaps two.
After careful study, I believe that Christ’s Second Coming is indeed telegraphed throughout the ancient texts of Scripture. And, for those with eyes to see, the evidence is quite compelling.
While some few Christians today seem to have always supposed themselves to be members of earth’s last generation, I know I never did. Now, don’t get me wrong, I have always believed with my whole heart that the return of Jesus Christ to restore all things at the end of the age is the central hope of the gospel. But it has always felt rather distant; something meant to happen one day, no doubt, but not in my lifetime. Perhaps I have been jaded by the many false prophets and grifters of our day, whose deceptiveness is often so painfully transparent. Or perhaps on this matter I have simply been a skeptic at heart.
Whatever the case, I am just about the last sort of Christian you would suspect of writing this sort of book.
Still, the unprecedented worldwide events of the past few years have opened my mind and my heart to the possibility that we may indeed be watching end times events quietly unfold around us.
Admittedly, I am no theologian. But I am a scientist by training and I possess a solid grasp of numbers and of probabilities. And after my discoveries, the striking realization which seeps ever deeper into my consciousness is that the odds do not lie. In short, the probability of observing so many different signs and prophecies all converging upon this narrow window of time is unfathomably slim. To the rational scientific mind, it simply cannot be mere coincidence.
Surprising as it may be, I believe we are living in the time when all the prophecies will at last be fulfilled.
Simply put, I believe that Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach, will return to earth in power and glory sometime during the year 2028. I have no interest in seeking to set a specific date as that is not given for us to know. But knowing the season is quite enough.
I will explain the details which lead me to this startling conclusion but let me be clear. This discovery did not come from me. It was a gift from God.
For me, it is not any one particular puzzle piece which provides total confidence in this assessment. Rather, it is the irresistible gestalt arrived at after enough data points have been set carefully in order.
I will show how the key biblical prophecies, when properly understood, all point towards this special season of time, converging with a precision and mathematical beauty which is difficult to deny. Furthermore, I will reveal how God, in his great kindness, has also placed a more contemporary signpost for our use. This is what I refer to as God’s Final Week.
Now, I fully realize that this claim of an imminent return is nothing short of shocking to the modern mind. Normalcy bias alone will lead most hearers to reject the notion out of hand. These sorts of claims simply do not comport with our everyday experience.
And yet, as Christians we know and believe the end will eventually come. Why should we not be the ones to witness it?
A large contingent of Christendom, upon hearing this, would immediately respond with the classic verse: “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Matthew 24:36).
While I grant that the day and the hour are not given to us to know, or to make known, I do believe there is significant biblical evidence that we can indeed discern the season. Take for example Yeshua’s words spoken just before the hour and day remark and also in regards to his return.
So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
— Matthew 24:33
No one quoting Matthew 24:36 seems to remember to mention this embarrassing little verse which precedes it. Yet it should be a clue to the more discerning amongst us that there is more to the story.
In fact, I would argue that God wants us to decipher the general season of his Son’s return. He whispers the key clues to us over and over again throughout the Scriptures because he doesn’t want us to miss them. As Paul said to the Thessalonians, “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” And as the angel said to the prophet Daniel, “None of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.”
Why else would God fill so much of the Old and New Testaments (as we shall see) with prophetic utterances regarding the end times, if he did not wish to enlighten us? Is it all really just a heap of meaningless words without any intelligible point? If we are to believe many modern Christians, who have undoubtedly grown tired after decades of conveniently timed end times charlatans, then knowing the general timing of Christ’s return is absolutely and unquestionably impossible. And yet they do not seem to understand that their belief necessarily renders much of the Bible just about pointless. In my studied view, they have fallen for one of the dragon’s many psychological operations (psyops) during our age.
Sir Isaac Newton, the famous seventeenth-century scientist, pointed out that if God was angry with the Jews for missing all the many prophecies fulfilled in his Son, then doubtless even greater judgments hang over remiss end times Christians who fail to search out the many prophecies plainly declaring the Messiah’s return.
Interestingly, the topic of the end times is being discussed among believers with increasing frequency in these days. Some may scoff, yet many of us are sensing in our spirits the uniqueness of our time.
This begs a simple question. Is this leading of God or of the enemy? Are we discerning the signs of the times, or are we deceived?
Are we witnessing only the birth of yet another of history’s seemingly endless cycles? Or are we watching the ending of all the cycles?
As it was in the days of Noah, most people will be utterly unprepared for the catastrophic judgment which will come upon the earth along with Christ’s return. And as it was at the time of Christ’s first coming, most people will be unable to discern the signs of the times. But I would not have you ignorant of the truth during this epic yet fleeting moment in time.
As we shall see, God has powerfully and beautifully ordered all of human history from the very beginning. And he has hidden the secrets of time in his Word, for us to uncover.