One of the wonderful benefits of the interpretation of the Four Signposts, as written about in my book Daniel Revisited, is that it gives us an overall framework of events and seasons leading up to the return of Christ.  God gave us this framework in His Word, in Daniel.  These seasons stretch over several decades and have already started.  At this point in time the First Signpost is over and we are now watching the beginnings of the Second.

The interpretation that yields the Four Signposts comes from a careful reading of Daniel 7 and 8 and Revelation 6 and 12, using a thorough observation of world history to help us understand that the prophecies in Daniel 7 and 8 are actually not fulfilled until the end times.  And since we have a Biblical framework for the end times which has events in the last few decades fulfilling parts of Daniel 7 and 8, and this framework calling for events that must happen and are happening, it seems to be reflecting truth.  Therefore if the Signposts are true, any other prophetic work that comes along – Biblical or not – that also reflects truth should fit within this Signpost perspective.  Truth fits with truth.

A case in point is the interpretation of Isaiah 9:10 given in the New York Times bestseller The Harbinger by Jonathon Cahn.  By now you have probably heard of this book.  I have read it, and do recommend it.  There are several articles about it on the internet such as this one.  Where my book Daniel Revisited shows what major events are coming that would affect the United States, The Harbinger remarkably gives us a possible date – 13 September 2015.

The Harbinger identifies a seven-year pattern in the times of the judgment that fell on the northern kingdom of Israel. The northern kingdom was invaded by a foreign power, i.e. Assyria, with Assyria both reducing the territory of Israel and exacting tribute, before it finally laid siege to the capital Samaria and ended the kingdom in 722 b.c.  The Israelite leadership responded to these judgments (i.e. earlier invasions) in Isaiah 9:10 with defiance to God rather than with repentance.

The Harbinger makes the claim that Israel was invaded by Assyria at the end of a series of seven-year cycles, where this cycle is known as the Shemitah (spoken of in Leviticus 25:2-5 and Deuteronomy 15:1-2).  It is generally known that Assyria invaded Israel during the reign of Hoshea and laid siege to Samaria in 725 b.c. (2 Kings 17:3-6).  Twenty-one years before that during the reign of Menahem, Assyria invaded the land to exact tribute in silver (2 Kings 15:19-20).  Between these first and last invasions, Assyria invaded again during the reign of Pekah, chipping away at Israel’s territory and exiling some of the population (2 Kings 15:29).

The United States is compared to Israel, with the two nations being similar to each other both in how they were founded as nations and how they are being judged.  Both nations were founded with its leaders making a covenant with God and dedicating the nation to God.  Both nations then backslid from God.  Remarkably, the day of 9/11 was the day that one Shemitah ended, and it was the day that the United States was “invaded” by nineteen Arabs flying “captured” airliners into buildings.  The United States has never officially observed the Shemitah, but that doesn’t matter since the Shemitah was established in the Bible nevertheless.  Remarkably, the U.S. government even responded to the attack on 9/11 by quoting the very same verse from Isaiah, which was a show of defiance rather than repentance.

At the end of the next Shemitah, the great financial crisis struck in September 2008.  Though the crisis stretched over many days, the day with the greatest historical point loss in the Dow Jones was on the day of the end of the Shemitah itself which was September 29, 2008.  This second strike left the western world’s banking system essentially insolvent, propped up with an appearance of solvency by new accounting rules that allow banks to lie about the worth of their assets.

The Harbinger goes on to predict, then, that since Israel was struck multiple times, each one at end of each Shemitah, there is an argument to be made that the United States could be struck again at the end of the third consecutive Shemitah, which is on September 13, 2015.  The argument here is that since the United States was struck at the end of two Shemitahs, why not a third?  So Harbinger gives a case for a date for disaster to strike the United States – either economic or military or both.  But it cannot give any clue as to what that something will be.

And this is where Daniel Revisited with the Four Signposts comes in.  It tells us that there is something indeed that is ominous that will strike the United States as well as the world in the next year or two or three.  The Four Signposts tell us that we are on the threshold of the Second Signpost.  According to the Second Signpost, a change in the power structure of the government of Iran is due.  This will set up Iran to undertake the major task God has called it to do in Daniel 7 and 8.  This task is the invasion of the Middle East and the cutting off and control of the Mideast oil fields.  Just when this power shuffle in Iran will occur, we do not know.  It could be before 2015, but may delay till then as well.  And how long after the power shuffle the invasion begins we also do not know.  My book Daniel Revisited gives us signposts and significant events – not dates.

So why should the U.S. be adversely affected by an invasion by Iran on the other side of the world?  I cover this subject in this post.  But in summary it goes as follows.  The Iranian invasion will cause the price of oil to double and triple very quickly since one fourth of the oil supply will stop flowing.  The United States will be especially hit hard because of its position in the global economy.  The petrodollar system has been the driving force for nations across the world to keep U.S. dollars as a major part of their foreign reserves.  It is this system set up in 1973 that allows the U.S. government to borrow at will and allows Americans to enjoy a relatively stable and strong currency.  The petrodollar system will end because the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia, who sell their oil in dollars, will not be able to sell oil anymore.  This will cause nations to dump their dollars, causing the dollar’s value to plunge, and because of the dollars that will be returned to our shores, high inflation will result here in the U.S.

Since the U.S. government is  hardly ever known for doing the smart thing, it will continue to support the broken system in order to continue borrowing by printing more dollars rather than raise interest rates.  Raising rates might save the dollar as it did in the 1970’s, but this time it would destroy the fragile U.S. economy.  Printing more dollars may lead to hyperinflation within the U.S., ultimately destroying the dollar, but the system of debt can be supported in the short term.  What all this means is that the U.S. government will not be allowed to borrow anymore.  Can you imagine what would happen to the United States if this were to happen?  Its role of sole superpower would be over and it would be vulnerable to any number of consequences – military and economic.

In addition, with the global price of oil rising overnight, nations such as Japan, South Korea, and European nations would scramble for supply from their lost sources in the Mideast, by bidding up the price of oil at the same sources that the United States gets its foreign oil (like Canada, Nigeria, Venezuela, etc.).  The U.S. would be bidding for this oil with a severely weakened dollar.

And finally, what is ominous for the U.S. is that Daniel 8:4 specifically says that Iran will be able to do all it wants to do with no interference during this invasion.  This means that either the U.S. will not be able to project power due to its economy, or it will be militarily defeated.

The attack on 9/11 was a wake-up call that this country has wandered away from God.  It shook up the U.S. for a while but it recovered.  The second attack, the financial crisis of 2008 left the banking system insolvent and the Federal Reserve, after having already reduced interest rates to near zero, has only one weapon remaining: money printing (known as QE, QE2 and now QE3).  Any upset to this situation like the petrodollar system ending caused by the Iranian invasion is all it would take to completely destroy this house of cards.  Imagine if the U.S. government could not borrow anymore, or in a very limited way.  Today, a large percentage of workers are government workers – they could be laid off.  One in six Americans receives food stamps – they would go hungry.  For those who still have jobs the price of gasoline could be above $10 per gallon.  The cost of everything would go up in price quickly.  So the financial crisis of 2008 has already set up the U.S. for being knocked down.

The aforementioned economic catastrophe that would befall the U.S. could literally be revolutionary.  Such widespread economic misery could even spell the breakup of the Union.  In this way, this scenario would indeed be the equivalent to the last time Assyria attacked Israel which resulted in the ending of that kingdom.  So in summary, I believe that the invasion by Iran will unleash a chain of events in the U.S. that would be far worse than any single terrorist act even up to a nuclear bomb being detonated on U.S. soil.

The pattern of judgment on ancient Israel suggests an increase in intensity.  It went from taking silver, to deporting people, to destruction of the kingdom.  And in the U.S., though 9/11 was horrible with the loss of 3,000 lives and all the families it affected, I dare say that the financial crisis of 2008 stepped up the judgment due to the suffering and hunger visited on millions of Americans.  This portends that the next judgment will be even worse, and it seems that the effects of the Iranian invasion of the Mideast on the U.S. is potentially bad enough to be the candidate.

We have three possibilities, then, as to the date of the Second Signpost and the nature of judgment on September 13, 2015:

1) If the invasion by Iran occurs sooner than September 2015, then it is likely that September 13th, 2015 will be a day that a consequence following the invasion comes back to plague the United States – most likely due to the plunging of the dollar or the loss of oil supply.  These factors alone could cause any number of catastrophes.

2) If the invasion by Iran is delayed enough so that it begins in September 2015, September 13th could see a horrible attack on our forces in the Mideast, and/or the direct first wave of the economic calamity mentioned earlier.

3) Only in the case where the invasion by Iran is delayed so that it begins after September 2015, then all bets are off.  The judgment to strike in September 2015 will probably be unrelated to the situation with Iran.

In conclusion, we cannot know with absolute certainty what the nature of the judgment will be in September 2015.  However, with the Second Signpost threatening and looming on the horizon it is very possible if not probable that the judgment to come to pass in September 2015 (if indeed anything happens on that date) is a direct result of the Iranian invasion of the Mideast.  The Second Signpost is a viable candidate.  Those who know the Signposts are watching for the invasion by Iran.  But there is no date.  It is possible now that Harbinger has provided that date.

The Third and Fourth Signposts will not have the same impact to the U.S. as the Second Signpost, for these later Signposts will see events in the Middle East further playing out prior to the Tribulation with a continuance of miseries.  But it is the Second Signpost, with consequences that will strike the entire world and particularly the United States that is the monster, the first shock, that will set up the conditions for the years leading up to the Tribulation.

Categories: Book Review, Signpost #2: Iran, The Signpost Perspective