In living life these days I am often reminded of different aspects of the message of the Four Signposts, as written about in my book, Hidden In Plain Sight. The message is that prior to the Tribulation, we are currently witnessing across the Middle East the specific signs that herald Christ’s return. And these signs are telling us that the generation that is alive today will witness the physical return of Christ.
And so I found a reminder of these things even at Christmas time. The other night my wife and I decided to watch that old American Christmas classic, A Charlie Brown Christmas. At one point the main character, Charlie Brown, cries out in frustration asking if anyone can tell him what Christmas is all about. His friend Linus answers that ,yes, he can tell Charlie what Christmas is all about. He does so by reciting some memorized Bible verses from Luke in the King James Version,
“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:8-14) (emphasis mine)
The shepherds were told that after their people had waited for centuries, finally, Christ the Lord had arrived. This was the long-awaited Messiah! This was the One who was going to break the yoke of bondage and be the salvation of Israel and the world. And they were told of the sign to witness the coming of Christ the Lord – a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. They were shown this by angels from heaven. The Messiah’s ultimate act of freeing us all from bondage was still thirty or more years away, but the sign was present – a babe in a manger.
Likewise, we are told of four signs from God’s word in Daniel 7 and 8, that this same Messiah who was once the babe in the manger, who was sent to earth to die and rise again, is now returning; and that His return is now in our lifetime. The signs are happening now in our lifetime. And the very fact that the signs are happening now is telling us that Christ’s return is also within the lifetime of many of those alive today.
Jesus spoke of the end times in Luke (and in Matthew). Jesus said in Luke 21:34, “I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.” What events was He referring to? He was referring to all the events starting with Luke 21:9 with wars and revolutions and how we are not to be frightened, and those ending with His own glorious appearance in Luke 21:27. In Luke 21:32 He says that one generation, which is this present generation, will not end until all these things happen. The wars and revolutions started in the First Signpost. We will see continuous events until Christ’s Return.
And to keep things in their proper perspective, Christ says in that same discourse in Luke 21:38, “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Right now the First Signpost which involved Iraq is over. And now we are watching the stirrings of the start of the Second Signpost. Let us keep Jesus’ words about our redemption in mind as we see the government in Iran change and the invasion of the Middle East begin. As we eagerly await for Christ’s return, with our eyes open and not being asleep, thanks to God’s word we are given the Second Signpost; that we can know that when those things begin to happen in Iran that this shall be a sign unto you, that here the birth pains will have just escalated and that the Tribulation is now on course to happen in the years right ahead, and that on the other side of that last seven years is the glorious return of our Lord and King.
Hallelujah!
Categories: Signpost #2: Iran, Signpost Theology
THE FOUR SIGNPOSTS 
Amen! The command is to KEEP (continue) watch and pray! If Ahmadineajad and his Hojetiah political party is going to makes its power play move, it will be within the next year before his term expires. And IF what you interpret from the Prophet Daniel’s “two horns” is correct, the stage will be set for the Iranian invasion into the Middle East oil-rich countries precisely because they have nuclear weapons. (See, I have been following your blog!) Then life will get very hard and very fast! Let’s see how Obama’s “soft diplomacy” works then before the American people whom, I believe, will have buyer’s remorse. I’ll be watching for this event.
Julie,
I believe you have it all down. However, the story only now may be shifting.
There are new sources – books and talks coming out this year here in 2012, which were not available to me in 2011 when I wrote Hidden In Plain Sight. There is new information being published on the government and military structure within Iran.
Daniel 8:3 and its interpretation is still true – the longer horn grew up later. And so we are waiting for that second power or office to overtake the Supreme Leader. But in the last couple weeks I’ve been coming to the realization it may not be Ahmadinejad who is that second horn. The exact person may be someone within the power structure of the IRGC (Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps). Ahmadinejad is still in the running, but it looks like there may be others that are possibilities who are behind the scenes. And whoever it is, I believe the Hojjatieh’s beliefs will still be the driver.
Thanks for your comment. It reminded me that I should say something about what is coming up. I’ll be making a post on this subject soon, and if need be, later on post an update to Chapter 10 of the book.
This reminds me, too, of an underlying guideline to all this. We can “know” what Daniel says, but we cannot know for sure exactly how it plays out, until it actually does. But that is also a wonderful thing about living in these times and seeing the Signposts. Instead of waiting for 40 years for the Antichrist to pop out of Rome, we can, week by week, watch events form right before our eyes.
MD
Regardless of exactly who the person will be, it is now currently the Islamic extremist party of Hojjatieh that is second in political power behind the Supreme Leader Khamenei, currently the final authority in Iran. According to your interpretation those two political parties will switch places in the future. Then Iran will invade the oil-rich countries of the Middle East precisely because they have succeeded in developing the long-desired nuclear weapons and will not be stopped. As you say, details will unfold as events play out. But it is general events that prophetic students will be watching for to check for credibility of an interpretation. Please keep us updated as events warrant. Thank you for your faithfulness to God’s Word and His people.