The doctrine, or theology, of the Four Signposts as written about in my book Hidden In Plain Sight, is also a theory.  It is a theory explaining the events of the end times prior to the Tribulation.  It is a sound theory, for it is based on reason, including a true and detailed verse-by-verse exegesis of Scripture and a thorough study of relevant ancient and medieval history, but it is still a theory. 

For a theory to be useful, it must be able to make predictions.  The theory of the Four Signposts makes predictions of end time real world events, and is therefore useful.  A theory’s predictions should be somewhat limited in scope, i.e. some articulated details and not just a general statement.  The Theory of Gravity says things will fall.  That by itself is not very useful.  But it is a useful theory for it also says that things will always fall at 32 feet per second squared at the earth’s surface.  This allows for the design of things like boats and rockets. 

The theory of the Four Signposts is similar in that it predicts useful things, like events with some detail, and not just generic things.  For instance, the Four Signposts doesn’t just predict war in general leading up to the Tribulation, but predicts what nations are involved, and in what order they will occur, and even some leaders’ characteristics.  What good that does is the subject of another post.

Now, if you had lived prior to 1979, and were presented the theory of the Four Signposts, you could have seen some predictions of things that would happen prior to the Tribulation, before they happened.  No one could have come up with these predictions because God said in Daniel 12 that the prophecies are sealed until the end times.  Indeed, as far as I know, no one until now has derived Signpost theology.  But let’s do an exercise where you are alive and present some time prior to 1979 (yes, some of us are that old), and you are presented with these predictions.  It’s easy to look back now and see how it was fulfilled, but how would it have looked to someone in 1979 just before it happened?

All the predictions produced by the theory of the Four Signposts can be placed in chronological order in the order they are predicted to occur.  These predictions are presented as based solely on relevant Scripture to the Signposts with no speculation added.  Everything said is derived from Daniel 7 and 8, and Revelation 6, 12, and 17, i.e. the Scriptures behind the Four Signposts.  In this article we will look at the very first prediction of Signpost theology:

Signpost Prediction #1 (the first part of the First Signpost) – At some point in time prior to the seven-year Tribulation, the end times will start.  The end times will start officially when the First of the Four Signposts appears.  The First Signpost will involve the modern end-time nation that is the inheritor of Babylon, i.e. Iraq.  The first sign that the First Signpost has begun will be the appearance of a certain ruler of this nation of Iraq.  This ruler will have certain characteristics called out by Scripture.  He will become ruler not by inheritance like the North Korean leader, nor due to nobility like the Jordanian leader, but by competition, by force, by strength, or by intrigue.  He will view himself as a conqueror, and he will be bent on conquering territories outside Iraq.  He will make his nation behave like a lion taking down its prey, by taking down single, weaker nations or territories.  He will also, like a lion, not go after these nations all at once such as in a blitzkrieg (no that’s the style of the nation in the Second Signpost), but one at a time, dealing with each single conquest.  His conquests may or may not be successful; in fact, he may be a conqueror in name only, thought that way by himself.  As part of his military capabilities he will have a visible and apparent ability to launch the modern version of arrows (i.e., missiles) but no one will know if he really has any missiles to actually launch, or not.  It will be a mystery, and it may always be a mystery.

What would you have thought if you saw this back in the 1970s?  Would the Signposts seem incredible if you saw this first prediction coming true?  Now with the benefit of hindsight, does this sound like anyone or anything at all that you have heard of in the last thirty years or so?  If it does, then you are now living in the end times, for the first sign of the First Signpost has appeared, and Prediction #1 has come true.  If it does not sound like anything you have heard of, you had better read up on the life and career of Saddam Hussein, ruler of Iraq from 1979 to 2003.

Categories: Signpost #1: Iraq, Signpost Theology