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| Studies have shown that "shy" children have a harder time reading body language than their more extroverted peers. |
This actually explained a lot. If you couldn’t read someone’s body language, if you assumed they were mad at you (even if they weren’t), it would be natural to want to withdraw. Hence, people who are “shy.”
After reading the article, my wife started explaining to our son what he could expect in any given social situation. While we were still in the car, driving to wherever, she would be telling him who would be there, what they would probably say in greeting him, and what he could say in response. She never allowed him to duck his head and not respond. She insisted he be courteous and give a polite response, but she made it easier for him by telling him what was going to be happening and what he could expect. Even when he was 10 and 11 years old, he would still ask her to tell him what to expect before having new experiences.
At this same time, we were friends with another young family whose daughter, like our son, was also extremely shy. It was painful to witness. Unlike my wife, the other mother never required her child to respond politely when spoken to. She allowed her little girl to duck her head, hide her face in her mum’s skirts, and otherwise ignore the person trying to speak to her. Even years later, the girl had a level of social awkwardness our son was able to grow beyond. The only difference was, my wife wisely prepared our son by letting him know ahead of time what he could expect, and how he was to act in response.
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| Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.” General Sun Tzu |
A Latin proverb, “Præmonitus, præmunitus,” gives a universal truth: “Forewarned is forearmed.” Yahuwah knows this, too. The prophet Amos declared: “Surely Adonai Yahuwah will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets.” (Amos 3:7, KJV) There is a reason for this. When a person is taken by surprise, he or she is typically caught unprepared. In fact, this principle of warfare is so important, that the ancient Chinese general and philosopher, Sun Tzu, included the element of surprise as one of the five essentials for victory. In his famous treatise on military strategy, The Art of War, Sun Tzu stated: “He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.” Adding further: “Engage people with what they expect; it is what they are able to discern and confirms their projections. It settles them into predictable patterns of response, occupying their minds while you wait for the extraordinary moment — that which they cannot anticipate.”
Surprise is an element of war frequently used very effectively by Satan. The devil’s objective is always to deceive. By deceiving people as to what is truth, he can delude them into thinking they have more time to get ready before the Saviour returns. Then, when the final events burst upon them, they will be taken by surprise; caught unprepared to face the greatest crisis the world has ever known.
Forewarned is Forearmed
The prophecies of Scripture are Yahuwah’s gift to the final remnant. Through prophecy, we are given extremely accurate information regarding the final crisis and what the future holds. None need be taken by surprise. The truth, however, is nevertheless very shocking. According to the sure word of prophecy, the world has been in the “time of the end” since 1798, and embroiled in the “time of trouble” since 1922!
Time of the End
The book of Daniel is explained in the book of Revelation. The prophecies, given by the same spirit of inspiration, cannot be separated. Revelation 13 presents a prophecy that ended in 1798:
And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. (Revelation 13:1-3, KJV)
For one thousand, two hundred and sixty years, beginning in 538 C.E., the Roman Catholic Church held despotic sway over the entire Christian world and, later, sent its Jesuit priests to subjugate indigenous peoples the world over. This 1260-year time period appears repeatedly in both Daniel and Revelation. The terminus point occurred in 1798 when two things happened: 1) French general, Louis-Alexandre Berthier took the pope prisoner; and, 2) the atheist, Revolutionary French government instituted a new calendar for the express purpose of de-Christianizing France by removing Sunday from the week. (The use of Sunday as a worship day, rather than the Biblical Sabbath, long being the Roman Catholic Church’s vaunted “sign of authority.”)
This two-fold action delivered to the papacy the “deadly wound,” bringing to an end 1260 years of papal supremacy. From this year, then, the world has been in the “time of the end.” The prophecy had the desired effect: it was a wakeup call to sincere Christians in the 19thcentury and led to a revival of deep Bible study and searching for truth. But the end was not quite yet.
Revolutionary France rejected the papal "Gregorian" calendar in a bold rejection of papal authority. “The calendar of the French Republic . . . must not resemble in any respect the official annuals of the apostolic and Roman Church.” Pierre-Sylvain Maréchal
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| mage: By Debucourt, Philibert Louis - Bibliothèque nationale de France, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=276075 |
Time of Trouble
The detailed prophecies of Daniel and Revelation are gifts from Yah to His people. Most especially the intricately detailed prophecies of Daniel are a gift to the final generation. It is these prophecies that identify France as the “Willful King” of Daniel 11; Egypt as the “King of the South,” and the Ottoman Empire as the “King of the North.” (For a more detailed study of these three kings, please read “Napoleon, Atatürk, & Pope Francis Indicate Imminent Close of Probation.”)
It is beyond the scope of this article to get into all that the prophecies encompass. However, to briefly summarize: The Ottoman Empire had long been considered by the rest of the West as the “sick man of Europe.” Daniel had foretold: “At the time of the end shall the King of the South [Egypt] push at him [the Willful King, France]: and the King of the North [the Ottoman Empire] shall come against him like a whirlwind … yet he [the King of the North] shall come to his end, and none shall help him.” (Daniel 11:40 and 45, KJV)
Mustafa Kemal, known as Atatürk, or the “Father of the Turks” revolutionized the former Ottoman Empire. He abolished the sultanate in 1922 and “established a new civil code, based on European precedents. And he drew up a constitution that expressly severed all connection with Islamic [Sharia] law.”
This gave Islam a deadly wound from which it has never recovered.
(http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23810527, emphasis supplied.)
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This is exactly what happened. The Ottoman Empire—that once mighty regime that had nearly brought Europe to its knees, which caused the deaths or enslavement of millions of Christians—came to its end, not with a bang, but with a near silent whimper. And none helped it. Just as, over a century before, General Berthier gave the papacy a deadly wound, Mustafa Kemal, later given the title Atatürk, gave to Islam a deadly wound.
Atatürk abolished the Ottoman sultanate as well as the Islamic caliphate and established the modern Republic of Turkey. He modernized Turkey by secularizing it and deliberately distancing its laws from Islamic law. The Ottoman Empire officially came to its end on November 1, 1922. It is this event that is of such significance to the people of Yah because it marks the beginning of the “time of trouble.”
The prophecy, pinpointing this specific year, has immense significance for the people of Yah. The Ottoman Empire, ending in 1922, was the King of the North coming to his end with none to help. This confirms beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are now in the time of trouble. It does so in the following ways.
1. The fulfillment of this prophecy, pinpointing 1922 as the commencement of the time of trouble, confirms to all honest minds the accuracy of all of Yahuwah’s prophetic word and it does so in a very dramatic, provable way. The facts of the fall of the Ottoman Empire are easily proven and well documented. Yah leaves nothing of such importance to be obscure and hard to establish.
2. The fulfillment of this prophecy confirms that the King of the North spoken of in Daniel 11 is indeed the Ottoman Empire. This prophecy establishes beyond a shadow of a doubt the starting point for Daniel’s predicted “Time of trouble.” Daniel 11 closes by explaining that the King of the North “shall come to his end, and none shall help him.” (Daniel 11:45, KJV)
The very next verse states: “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” (Daniel 12:1, KJV) There is no lag time. Just as soon as the King of the North comes to his end, at that time there is “a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time.”
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In just 100 days, the 1994 Rwandan Genocide wiped 800,000 lives out of existence (some estimate up to 1 million lives) in just 100 days. Entire families were killed. The suffering was indescribable.
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This is the time in which we are living right now. The 20th century saw the most wars, and the most people killed by their governments, than at any previous time in history. Milton Leitenberg, in his “Deaths in Wars and Conflicts in the 20th Century,” estimates that approximately 231 million people died in the last century alone. Other researches claim that an additional 260 million individuals were killed by their own governments.
In just 10 years, 1966 to 1976, up to 2 million Chinese were killed by their own government during their Cultural Revolution. During just four years, 1975 to 1979, over 1 million Cambodians lost their lives in the killing fields under the despotic reign of the Khmer Rouge. But these numbers pale in comparison to the millions of lives lost under Soviet dictator, Joseph Stalin. Some estimates put the number of Soviet lives lost as high as 60 million. Truly, the decades since 1922 have been a time of trouble such as has never been since there was a nation.
3. With the beginning date of the time of trouble firmly established, Yahuwah’s people are protected from Satan’s delusions. Without 1922 as a starting date, the “time of trouble” is repeatedly pushed off into the future. Sincere people study their Bibles, looking for something to demonstrate where we are in the flow of history, but without 1922 as an anchor point, they look for false identifiers and are totally unaware that the time of trouble has begun already! Satan gains the victory because, with the time of trouble pushed off into the dim future, the individual delays making a full surrender and getting ready for Yahushua’s soon return.
It is to such people that the sad words are spoken:
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;
but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?
and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me,
ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7:21-23, KJV)
ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7:21-23, KJV)
4. Nineteen twenty-two clearly distinguishes between the time of trouble spoken of in Daniel 12:1, and that referred to in Matthew 24:21. They are not the same. Yahushua’s prophecy is of a shorter time period that comes right at the very end:
Woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of
the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved:
but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders;
insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Behold, I have told you before. (Matthew 24:1-25, KJV)
During this time of trouble when the loud cry (the last merciful message of warning) is being given to the world, many will lose their lives specifically for the sake of the truth. Daniel’s time of trouble, beginning in 1922, encompasses all the nations of the earth. Not all who lose their lives during this time period are necessarily martyrs for truth. The time of trouble referred to by Yahushua is even worse than Daniel’s time of trouble. Yahushua’s time of trouble comes right at the end and is cut short or there would be no life left.
5. The prophecy of the King of the North coming to his end in 1922 and the time of trouble starting, explains to inquiring minds why the world has been in constant crisis since 1922, and will continue to be so until Yahushua comes.
According to Science Daily, the number of hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean has doubled over the last century.1 And that’s just hurricanes. The number, frequency, and severity of earthquakes has risen exponentially. In fact, of the 10 biggest earthquakes in recorded history, nine of them occurred after 1922. Professor Mike Sandiford, a geologist at the University of Melbourne, says “Seismologists have noticed an increase in high-magnitude, high-impact earthquakes in the last decade.”2
The sheer number of deaths, from wars, democide (governments killing their own citizens), genocide and natural disasters since 1922 is unprecedented in history.
“The crimes which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant and so devastating, that a civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored, because it cannot survive their being repeated.”
Robert Jackson, United States Chief Prosecutor, in his opening address at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany, November 21, 1945. |
6. The prophecy of Daniel provides a warning that the close of probation is not some event in the distant future, beyond the scope of those currently living. Rather, we are but “moments to midnight.” Probation will soon close and we have not a moment to spare in getting our hearts ready.
7. The extreme accuracy the fulfillment of the King of the North coming to his end with none to help confirms that the few prophecies yet to be fulfilled will, in the same manner, be literally and accurately fulfilled. This is an important point as some of them, at this point, can only be seen by the eye of faith. But, as with all of Yahuwah’s decrees, they shall be fulfilled at the time, and in the manner, prophesied.
Moments to Midnight
We are mere moments before the knell of midnight.
When I was a lad, my parents had an old grandfather clock that had been in the family for several generations. It would bong on the quarter hour, at half past, and a quarter till. At the top of the hour, however, it would play a little song before donging out the hour in its deep, stentorian tones. There was no second hand to display seconds, only a minute hand and an hour hand.
However, if you listened very closely, just before the song played, there would be a quiet click as the inner mechanism began to whir. When finishing an hour of homework, that click was the signal my brother and I waited for, letting us know the hour of torture was up and our long-awaited time to play had arrived.
That is where we are in earth’s history. The time of trouble is not some future event. Most people reading this article have been born after the time of trouble already started! We are just waiting for that near-silent click that will signal it is all over. Don’t be taken by surprise. Take the time now to learn the prophecies. It is Yahuwah’s will that you know what is soon to break upon the earth with overwhelming force, for once the trumpets start to sound, there will be no respite until the end.
When Yahushua was asked to describe the end of the world just before His death, He gave the encouraging words, “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” (Luke 21:28)
We are but moments to midnight. The end is much closer than you can even imagine.
For more insight into the near future, WLC invites you to read:
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