Prophetic Trends to A.D. 2005

By Ernest L. Martin, Ph.D., 1995

Some of the most interesting and exciting times in the history of the world are just on the horizon, and they are prophesied in the Holy Scriptures. All of you are destined to be a part of these trends. What is encouraging is the fact that this will be a time when people will once again be looking back to the Holy Bible for the answers to their political, social and economic problems that have plagued the world for almost the past 6000 years. There is prophesied to be an improvement in the overall environment in our western civilized countries as well as in the developing countries of the world who will put into practice the biblical principles that will begin to motivate the west. Though the real surge in improvement will come in the two decades that follow, we will begin to see the encouraging trend developing in a noticeable way as we get into the flew millennium which will begin with January 1st, 2001. This Prophetic Report will provide you with some of the prophesied trends that the Bible shows will develop in this world in the next decade. These trends are not the mere opinions of Ernest L. Martin (I am in no way a prophet and I have no more personal knowledge of the future than any other human), but I am capable of reading what the Bible states and anyone else can read it as well if he or she will take the time to do it. It is God in His Bible who shows these trends. This is a time for all who love the Holy Scriptures to rejoice and to hope. God is ready to fulfill His major prophecies. The time is near.

The Prophetic Trends

Trend number one. In the few years ahead of us, and before the Second Advent of Christ back to this earth, the apostle Peter said there was going to come a time of refreshing for the world. It will happen at the restitution of all things mentioned in the prophets and restated in the New Testament which are destined to be fulfilled before the Kingdom of God appears on earth (Acts 3:19-21). This reestablishment of the word of God in its full glory will emerge once God fulfills His major prophecies mentioned particularly in Isaiah 29:9-24 (which you should read in full) and in Zechariah 12:10-14 and 13:1-6 (which you should also read), along with God’s promises in Daniel 12:4,9.

These prophecies show in no uncertain terms that before the Second Advent and the Kingdom of God, there will be a restoration of the truth of the Holy Scriptures to this world. God will do a marvelous work and a wonder which will involve the taking away of the scales that now cover the eyes of people in this world (even the scales over the eyes of God’s own people), and the truths of the Scripture will begin to shine through with all their glory and majesty. People for the first time will begin to realize just what the Holy Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, are teaching to the world and to Israel. It will be a glorious time. Indeed, it involves the re-creation of the Holy Scriptures back into their official manuscript order that was given to the Jewish people by Ezra the priest back in the fifth century B.C. and by the apostles with the New Testament in the first century AD. Once the Scriptures are put back into their proper arrangement and order, the scales will begin to come off of people’s eyes about the real meaning of the Gospel and of the major prophecies. This will be a main factor in restoring the truth.

Trend number two. Once the world has the Bible restored as it was in its original dress (the way the basic manuscripts have the arrangement and order of the books), it will be easy to see that there is a vast difference between what is called New Covenant Christianity given in the first 30 years of teaching the Gospel than that of the Mystery (the "Secret") which was given to Paul and others about A.D.63 The New Covenant Christianity was made only with Israel (with Gentiles having to join Israel) as shown by Paul in Romans, I and II Corinthians and Galatians. But the mature Christianity of the Mystery is revealed in Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians. People will begin to see that the difference between these two teachings are so radical and profound that it is impossible to harmonize the two teachings together. The Mystery (the "Secret") was a teaching never given to the world before A.D.63 (Ephesians 3:4-6; Colossians 1:26). Indeed, it will be seen in the clearest of ways that the mature teaching of the Mystery actually replaced the type of New Covenant Christianity that so many Christians have adopted today. (If you would like to know the difference between these two distinct New Testament teachings, send for our articles numbered B0l2 and B044 that explain this.)

This new understanding that will clearly emerge shows people in the world that the paganistic doctrines we have inherited over the past 1670 years from traditional Christianity are as wrong as it is possible to get. The present Christianity is idolatrous to the core, but the trend will soon develop in the Christian world to get back to the original teachings of the apostles and to abandon the nonsensical and heathenistic customs which have become traditional with the mainline Christian denominations. Indeed, the trend will already be in place by A.D.2005 for a radical change in the profound errors of the Catholic church and the reformation will also affect many of the Protestant denominations too. The trend in the world will be to get back to the "Jewish" roots of the New Testament among Christian leaders and groups. And, as a matter of fact, in the following two decades, even the Jewish people themselves will begin to adopt the philosophical and religious principles which are to be found in the New Testament revelation. At the present, Judaism with its various divisions is a "Messianic Religion" that is devoid of a Messiah. Their present religious stance is like having a Rolls Royce automobile with everything but an engine to propel it. But the trend will soon emerge that will find the Jewish people acknowledging the advantage of having Christ Jesus (the real Jesus, and not the hellenistic and false depiction of "Jesus" many people possess today) as being at the forefront of their faith. The Jewish people are destined to promote a real "Messianic Religion" in the few years before the Second Advent.

Trend number three. Near the end of the period we will see Christian groups along with Jewish people and even some Muslims beginning to cooperate with one anther to produce a better society, but the change toward this direction will come from an unexpected thrust as far as most people are concerned. It will occur differently in various parts of the world, but the change toward more cooperation in political, social and economic matters will come without the mixing or mingling of the people who have various religious beliefs, nor will it involve the mixing of the diverse races. Believe it or not, people of all religious persuasions and ethnic identities will find that they can cooperate better with others in the world when these various peoples are separate from one another in a geographic sense. Now I am not advocating that people do this because I am not a social reformer. But the Bible does show that people on their own volition will adopt this procedure in order to have peace and harmony among the various peoples of the world. This society that God now calls "Babylon," will begin to break down. And people who are presently intermixed within their geographical regions will desire to return to their own people. "They shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land" (Jeremiah 50:16). These are the "mingled people" of Jeremiah 50:37. And like in the time of Cyrus the Great of Persia, people will start to develop their own national and racial identities separated from others. In the next ten years, the trend will be initiated among the different peoples who are now intermingled with others (like in Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia at the moment, or in Turkey with the Kurds, etc.) to begin a separation process from those who differ from them. They will coalesce into distinct groups that are ethnically, socially and religiously similar. Look for population realignments in Europe, Asia and Africa in this fashion in the years ahead of us. Thankfully, people will begin to take pride in their own races and their own unique cultures. All races will begin to take pride in themselves (as they should). All of us should rejoice in this new thrust that is coming to our world society. All will benefit.

Trend number four. Though there will be economic ups and downs during the coming decade, the general trend will be toward more prosperity in the world as a whole. This will develop when people begin to cooperate with one another as mentioned in trend number three. Daniel shows a time at the very end of this age when craft will prosper and when peace [the Hebrew says "prosperity" J will come (Daniel 8:24,25). The world will begin to head in this direction soon. In the Book of Revelation we are shown a time when the merchants of the earth will be greatly rejoicing over the prosperity that will emerge on earth (Revelation 18:9-19). True, utter collapse of this prosperity will take place after this time of plenty is over, but that is the time of God’s wrath and the wrath of Christ Jesus (for this destruction, see Revelation 6:16,17 and on through to chapter sixteen inclusively with chapters eleven, twelve and thirteen being insert chapters). Yet, rather than being an ominous sign, the 666 of the Book of Revelation describes in symbolic terms a glorious civilization soon to arrive on earth that will be the apex of mankind’s achievement in an economic and political sense and it will occur before the Second Advent of Christ. The trend toward this end should start within our decade under discussion.

Trend number five. The United States will continue to dominate the world in most ways throughout the next decade. And though there will always be from time to time some economic adjustments either plus or minus, the overall resilience of the United States and its allies will continue to thrive and progressively get even more prosperous. Ways will be found to deal with the ominous economic prospects that many people imagine will happen in the next ten years. Yet near the end of the period, it looks to me like a drift in political and economic influence will begin to veer toward the nations of the Middle East. This area presently has a long way to go before it can hold up its head in these matters, but the Bible prophesies that there will be a Palestinian state that will be prosperous, along with Israel. I have several Prophetic Reports dating all the way back to 1974 in which I have continually stated that this will occur. I have not changed my mind one iota on this matter because it is so plainly stated in the biblical prophecies. For all of you who have not seen this biblical information, you should send for some of these Reports which will explain these matters in detail. For a starter, see Psalm 83 where the Palestinians (called "Philistines") are mentioned along with nine other nations who will even rival Israel in power and authority. Keep your eyes on the Middle East and Israel in particular (and most especially on the city of Jerusalem itself) for the major fulfillments of the end-time prophecies.

Trend number six. Look at Jerusalem. World attention will soon focus more and more on the status of Jerusalem, Certainly within twenty years, Jerusalem will be one of the most important cities on earth in about every way that one can think. It is destined to attain world attention (Zechariah 12:1-9). And while it will take longer than ten years for the next trend to occur, look for the Muslims to begin talk of shifting their present prayers five times a day which are toward the idolatrous stone called the Ku ‘aba in Mecca to once again direct their prayers towards Jerusalem (as Mohammed ordered the Muslims at first to do). Europe and particularly Russia will want to have a say in what happens at Jerusalem in the next few years. Russia, however, will not invade Israel as so many prophetic interpreters believe based on the prophecies of Ezekiel 38 and 39, Contrary to popular opinion, the prophecies in those two chapters of Ezekiel have nothing to do in a cardinal way with Russia or the Russian people.

Trend number seven. It may appear almost impossible of happening if we look at events today, but the trend will be for Israel to be accepted more and more by her neighbors in the Middle East, and this will even include Syria, Iraq and especially Iran. While these three nations are very much rogue nations in regard to Israel at the present time, you will find that as we approach the time of the end, that Iran will make an alliance with Israel of friendship and that the Iranian people, under the sway of a great leader, will actually help Israel build a new Temple at Jerusalem (Isaiah 44:28 with surrounding chapters). And as for Syria, Zechariah 9 amazingly starts out that end-time prophecy (if one reads it in the original Hebrew which is much clearer in meaning) that the word of the Lord will be found entrenched in the area of Damascus and the whole of Syria (the Land of Hadrach). Besides this, Jews will soon be invited to settle in lands east of the Jordan River in what is presently called the Kingdom of Jordan, and also in Lebanon, and they will be welcomed by the inhabitants (Zechariah 10:10). This will occur after the year A.D.2005, but you should see trends towards this end by the close of our decade under discussion.

Trend number eight. Oil in abundance will one day be found in Israel, and it could well be that in the next ten years these discoveries could be made. I have a Prophetic Report on this matter that you can order if you would like to know the regions of Israel where the Bible indicates that petroleum could be found. Indeed, the indications in the Bible will be used by scientists to discover this petroleum in Israel.

Trend number nine. Europe will not unite as a federal state like the United States of America within the next ten years. Indeed, if anything like a federal state would ever develop in Europe, it would last only a short time because of the deep diversities among the various peoples. I have lived 14 years in Europe as a college professor and administrator, and I know the truth of this fact. The reason that this point must be mentioned is because about 90% of prophetic interpreters today feel that Europe will come together into a state of ten nations to fulfill the prophecies about ten nations in the books of Daniel and Revelation as being the final "beast power" to rule with the Antichrist. In no way are those ten nations European. They are described in Psalm 83 and they are nations found in the Middle East. This is one reason why we should keep our eyes on prophetic developments in the Middle East for the end-time events to take place in a biblical way. I have literature that explains the ridiculousness of believing that the ten nations will be European.

Trend number ten. The Gospel of the Kingdom of God as well as the Gospel of the Mystery (revealed to Paul and others about A.D.63) will be taught in all the world before the end of the age takes place (Matthew 24:14; Romans 16:26 see original Greek). This decade will begin to see a worldwide return to a deep interest in the teachings of the Holy Scriptures. It will gather greater steam in the two decades that follow, but you and I can now be on the ground floor of this renewed teaching of the truth. The teaching of the Gospel (in its various forms) will reach out to embrace the entirety of this world. One of the reasons that God the Father and Christ Jesus our Elder Brother want us to understand the essential truths of the Holy Scriptures today is so that we can help play our part in the dissemination of the Gospel. It is not that any of us needs a commission from God to perform this duty. We ought to do it voluntarily because we are simply God’s children. We should count it a privilege to live at this time. God will give us the means to do the job but we must all do our parts and support His work vigorously and cheerfully. The work of A.S.K. is to do this very thing, and we appreciate your financial and prayer and support to help us (with you) to get the job done. The next ten years will be glorious indeed.

Ernest L. Martin