Major Prophetic Events
for the Next Seven Years
By Ernest L. Martin, Ph.D., 1997
A great revival regarding matters of religion is just on the horizon. The prophetic events that will appear during the next seven years (from 1997 to 2004) will have religion as their central theme. Though it will take a further twenty years for the full bloom of prophetic teachings to develop in the political sense, this preliminary period we are now entering will provide the religious foundation on which the whole of future prophetic history will be based. Within the next seven years, the whole world will cultivate a different attitude (one of respect) toward the biblical revelation and the personage of Christ Jesus of Nazareth. A window of opportunity is on the threshold that will catapult the significance and relevance of the savior of mankind into a position of prime importance. The fact is, this period will be the start of the religious trend during which Christians will begin to jettison their false teachings about Christ and the biblical revelation, and also when Jews will begin to question their interpretation of Moses and the Prophets, and also when Muslims will commence to rethink their beliefs concerning Muhammad and Islam. The world is on the verge of changing their minds in matters of religion and this Prophetic Report will focus on the inevitable development of this new religious direction that will soon emerge in the world.
There is a central prophecy of the Old Testament that describes many of the essential activities of Jesus in his role as the Messiah of Israel. That part of the Holy Scriptures is what scholars call the prophecy of the "Suffering Servant" recorded from Isaiah 52:13 and through all of Isaiah 53. This section of Isaiah reports a single prophecy about the events associated with the first appearance of the Messiah and its theme continues through chapters 54 and 55 with his final triumph as leader and commander of the world (Isaiah 55:4).
The main account from Isaiah 52:13 through chapter 53 focuses on the Messiah’s life as a "Suffering Servant." The narrative reveals events in which suffering is the major theme. These occasions were reckoned to take place from the Messiah’s youth until his death as an atonement sacrifice that will cleanse Israel and all mankind from their sins.
Plainly, this prophecy is a description of what happened to Jesus when he appeared on earth in the first century. Though this prophecy has been well known and has been referred to by every generation of Christians for the past two thousand years, hardly anyone has understood what the narrative is candidly teaching. This is because people have failed to take into account what the actual words of the prophecy signify as found in the original Hebrew language. When the real significance about the "Suffering Servant" is recognized, it will become a pivotal conceptual benchmark in the renewed religious thinking of people. This will occur within the next seven years. Its importance will first be realized in the western world, but through the new advances in communication (the Internet, satellites, etc.) the whole of the world will soon be introduced to the significance of this prophecy.
The prophetic teaching about the "Suffering Servant" has been hidden from the knowledge of mankind over the centuries. While the general prophecy has been well known, people have been subjected by theologians to erroneous interpretations of the words that make up its prophetic message. Indeed, embedded within the prophecy itself is this warning of obscurity. Isaiah wrote that people would be blinded and not able to comprehend the prophecy. This suppression imposed by God is to last until a certain period just before the Kingdom of God is destined to appear on earth. That time has now arrived. Isaiah wrote that people of many nations and even kings (who normally are privy to religious and political secrets within their kingdoms) will be astonished with awe when the true teaching of this prophecy is made known. Isaiah spoke about the nations and kings when he said: "For that which hath NOT been told them [about the "Suffering Servant"] shall they see; and that which they had NOT heard [about the "Suffering Servant"] shall they [the nations and kings] consider [or, understand]" (Isaiah 52:15).
The first response that the nations and kings will elicit when they hear the accurate explanation of the prophecy of the "Suffering Servant" will be that of surprise. The message will be reckoned by them as so completely new and revolutionary in scope that they at first will naturally question the account. The nations and kings will find the report difficult to fathom, even when it is thoroughly explained to them. This is because the true interpretation is so at odds from what they have been told over the generations. Indeed, so incredulous at first will the account appear to the nations and kings that Isaiah retorts (with a natural response that any normal person would exclaim about the prophecy): "Who hath believed our report?" (Isaiah 53:1a). The true report about the "Suffering Servant" will be difficult for people to believe. But, it will soon be accepted. This is because God will intervene with a strong inducement for the people to react in a positive manner. He will manifest His divine power in a certain and profound way. Isaiah adds a further question to the former question about who will believe the report. "To whom [of the nations and kings] is the arm of the Lord revealed?" (Isaiah 53:1b). In Isaiah’s view, it will take the mighty arm of God himself (the Lord will have to exercise His spiritual power and authority) to get the kings and peoples of the nations to believe the report of the "Suffering Servant." And they will respond.
God will be successful in getting the nations and kings of the earth to believe the report of this prophecy about His Messiah. At the very beginning of the prophecy and as a prologue to the report we find God’s reason for dispensing the prophecy to Israel in the first place. Isaiah informs his readers that the "Suffering Servant" "shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As MANY were astonished at thee [in awe of the "Suffering Servant"]" (Isaiah 52:13,14). That’s right. MANY will be amazed when they finally understand the prophecy. The result will be the exalting and the extolling of the "Suffering Servant." He will be elevated to the highest level of prestige in the eyes of nations and kings.
Note how Isaiah states that MANY will come to understand and to appreciate the prophetic report. He said God will sprinkle the blinded eyes and the deaf ears of MANY NATIONS with the cleansing waters of His grace. When this happens, even the kings of the earth "shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see" (Isaiah 52:15). Note the full teaching of Isaiah 52:15: "So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him [in awe]: for that which hath not been told them SHALL THEY SEE, and that which they had not heard SHALL THEY CONSIDER [or, UNDERSTAND]."
What will be the result of this initial understanding of this prophecy of the "Suffering Servant"? Many nations and kings and rulers of the earth will become pleased with this new and exciting information. And then, after the prophecy of the "Suffering Servant" is understood by Israel and the rest of the world, Isaiah provided the next two chapters (54 and 55) to show how Israel will have their eyes and ears opened to the truth about their Messiah (the "Suffering Servant"). The outcome will witness even young children being taught the essential truths about these matters connected with the "Suffering Servant" (and they will all recognize that the report applies only to Jesus Christ). Note how Isaiah is emphatic in this. "And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children" (Isaiah 54:13). Israel and the world is on the threshold of beginning to comprehend that Jesus Christ is truly the Messiah.
The nations and kings of the world, along with the people of Israel, will finally realize that Isaiah 55:4 refers to the "Suffering Servant" of Isaiah 53. That report given in chapter 53 concerned the activities of Jesus Christ when he was on earth almost two thousand years ago. But there is a future relevance to it. The prophecy concludes with the reign of the Messiah. "Behold, I have given him [the "Suffering Servant"] for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people" (Isaiah 55:4).
God is about to give to the world the knowledge of just who Jesus Christ was and is. The next seven years will be a time when biblical and scientific evidences for the understanding of the prophecy of the "Suffering Servant" will be provided to all mankind. It is destined for people in the world (including those in Israel) to begin to comprehend this foundational prophecy which shows who Jesus Christ was and what He will be. There is no doubt that the prophecy will be fulfilled precisely. "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth [about the "Suffering Servant"]: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it" (Isaiah 55:11).
What is amazing is the fact that this action of God will occur before the Second Advent of Christ back to this earth. The apostle Peter (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) prophesied about this restitution of knowledge concerning the full truth of Jesus Christ. Peter said that such knowledge will be restored before Christ’s return from heaven. He refers to Israelites who will live just before the Second Advent: "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the TIMES OF RESTITUTION of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began" (Acts 3:1921).
In other words, Christ Jesus will remain in heaven until the times of the restoring have taken place. Once the restoration has been accomplished, then Christ returns. As Jesus told his disciples, the restoration must take place first before the Second Advent just as John the Baptist came to restore the teachings of Moses before the first advent of Jesus (Matthew 17:10-13, compare Malachi 4:46).
This restoration of essential prophetic and doctrinal knowledge concerning Christ and his message will be manifested because God will open the doors to give it to the world. As a result of the powerful arm of the Lord in action, the kings of the earth and those in many nations (as Isaiah 52 and 53 state) shall soon witness with their eyes and hear with their ears the real teaching of the prophecy of the "Suffering Servant." And, without the slightest doubt, the world is going to be astonished (Isaiah 52:14). This "astonishment" will occur in the world within the next seven years. The reason I say this (and though I am not a prophet who has absolute knowledge of the precise times in which God will perform His actions) is because a clear window of opportunity is just on the horizon (and it will occupy about a seven year span) in which the factors will be in place for making plain the report about the "Suffering Servant" to kings and nations of this world.
Besides this, there are also some interesting astronomical events that will happen in that span of seven years we are now entering and the world will pay close attention to them as well. I plan to show you what those celestial events are in a future Prophetic Report. I will also be presenting them on our Web Page on the Internet when we get our Web Site functioning in the next few weeks. We are now working on getting our Web Site active and running at full steam where I will be showing you these events. But for this Prophetic Report you are now reading, I am presenting you with the religious factors that will initiate the changes in attitude that people will adopt.
It will be in the realm of religion that the first changes in society will develop. The political consequences will soon follow. Indeed, it is the religious scenario that will lead the way in preparing for the final prophetic events that will involve economic and political elements associated with the Second Advent of Christ. But before those events take place, the world must first be "astonished" (as Isaiah said) when they realize the magnificent symbolic signs that God used to introduce His Son into the world. Those earlier astronomical and political signs (along with modern ones on the horizon) will bequeath to people in our age (those who live all over the earth) the proper knowledge that Jesus Christ was (and is) no ordinary person in the design of history. They will discover that Jesus is none other than the very Son of the Living God.
The world will also recognize that what they have been taught about Jesus and the biblical revelation over the past centuries have in the main been wrong teachings that do not come from the words of the Holy Scriptures. They will find that they have been subjected to religious falsities and held captive by them for over 1600 years. The world will soon rediscover the essential truths of the Bible. This will occur when God removes the scales from their eyes and the stoppers from their ears. The prophecy of the "Suffering Servant" will be made known in all clarity. Let us now look at seven religious factors that will cause our societies to be altered in the next few years. These seven points are of utmost importance to understand.
The early astronomical signs associated with Jesus’ nativity will soon be revealed to the world. One of the reasons I titled my book of astronomy and history "The Star that Astonished the World" is because God the Father did indeed introduce His son into the world with some of the most majestic celestial pageantry that could be imagined. Hollywood could not come close in duplicating the scene. At that time the whole of the heavens were orchestrated within a pattern of symbolic significance (and with a physical outpouring of glory that accompanied the spiritual meaning) to show an outstanding display that would have been marvelous to the eyes of those who beheld it. So remarkable were those celestial events which were aligned in the heavens to occur at the precise time of the birth of Jesus that modern astronomers themselves have used the word "astonishing" to describe them. With these events connected with the nativity as a starter, let us look at the prophetic occurrences that the next seven years will bring.
When God introduced his Son into the world in the year 3 B.C. (which year also lasted into 2 B.C. in the early calendar), the records show a time of peace and security in the world. Remember, Christ is described as the Prince of Peace. And related to Christ’s first entrance into the world at Bethlehem, there was a consequent peace prevailing in the world. I have given the information showing this fact in my book mentioned above. As a result of this, I have the belief that God will also bring a measure of peace into the world to celebrate the 2000th anniversary of Christ’s nativity which will be on September 20th (Sunday night) of the year 1998 — a mere two years from now. I believe for the next five years to follow, there will be a window of opportunity for God to open the doors of knowledge that will begin to restore the true message of the Gospel.
You and I (with many other Christians who want to celebrate this important anniversary period) can be used by the Father to present the teachings of the real Jesus to all in the world. The false teachings about the paganized "Jesus" should be thrown overboard. Heathen doctrines now permeate the fabric of what the world calls "Christianity." All of us who love Christ (and that means all of you in association with A.S.K.) need to prepare to teach the truth and to celebrate this anniversary of the nativity of Christ into the world.
As a matter of interest, I must tell you that I have no verses in the Scriptures that specifically state that we should honor the anniversary of the nativity of Jesus. The reason I want to do it (and there are many others who feel the same way) is simply to show the Father and Christ our personal appreciation to them (without having to be told) for what they have done to save us all in Christ. It is not a "holy" season that we are establishing. It is simply a time of recognition of the wonderful things that God has done to redeem us to Himself. This is also a time when most people in the world will be in anticipation of such a thing, and no better season could be presented than the one of the anniversary of the nativity just ahead of us.
Look at what this means. Since we are told at the very beginning of the Bible (in Genesis 1:14) that God has given the heavenly bodies and their motions and symbolic teachings to provide God’s knowledge to the world (see all of Psalm 19), we need to show the world those celestial events that signalized the introduction of Jesus into the world which occurred in the years from 3 to 1 B.C. They were outstanding indeed. But note this. After the first generation passed that actually saw those glorious astronomical sights with their own eyes, people soon forgot about them. Within a hundred years, all that was left was Matthew’s outline account of the star that led the Wise Men to Herod and then to Jesus at Bethlehem. While what Matthew recorded was supremely important, he gave so few details about the celestial events themselves that many people (within a hundred and fifty years of the event) forgot what had happened. Indeed, for the next 1500 years, the world went into a blindness about the matter because of the complexities in figuring out the astronomical patterns for each of the heavenly bodies. This prevented people in the world from realizing the truth of what had actually occurred.
Finally, in the 16th century, some astronomers began to look at individual planets or constellations. They were once again looking for the Star of Bethlehem. But because of a misinterpretation of Josephus about an eclipse of the moon associated with Herod’s death, those early scholars began to date the birth of Jesus as having occurred before 4 B.C. Even I thought that Jesus must have been born before 4 B.C. But I soon changed my mind about 25 years ago. With the advent of easy computer printouts of all the observable heavenly bodies for the early centuries, it became obvious to many scholars and astronomers (and I have given the full story in my book mentioned above) that Herod actually died in early 1 B.C. (not in 4 B.C.). These new historical and astronomical facts opens the period of 3 to 1 B.C. to be viewed once again.
Computer printouts have allowed us of modern times to see the heavens just like the ancients who witnessed the events saw them. And what a revelation comes on the scene! All of a sudden, the heavens are once again understood as the people of the first century recognized them. These new discoveries begin to make Matthew and his account in the Gospel come alive with information as never before understood for the past 1900 years.
Now look at this. Here we are at the end of the 20th century and on the verge of a new millennium and we once again have the true knowledge of what the heavens were showing to introduce the firstborn Son of God into the world. Since we now possess this knowledge, we need to show the world (which has been in blindness over this matter for 19 centuries) what was actually happening back in 3 to 1 B.C. When the world witnesses those astronomical occurrences, the statement made by God in Genesis 1:14 about the heavenly bodies being used for prophetic signs will be relevant.
With planetariums all over the earth duplicating what was formerly happening, the whole world will once again be shown the outstanding celestial events as the ancients saw them when Jesus was born. And with television and motion pictures being used to demonstrate in animation form those celestial events, the world will be brought face to face with these symbolic astronomical events. They will be as astonished as were the ancients who saw them, and as are modern astronomers.
This is one of the major points associated with the prophecy of the "Suffering Servant" that Isaiah said would cause kings and many nations to be "astonished" (Isaiah 52:14). For the first time in over 1900 years, the modern world will begin to realize that God the Father engineered the whole of the heavens back at the time of Jesus’ nativity to reveal a grand symphonic display among the heavenly bodies. They merged into a symbolic and harmonious coalescence that showed the world who Jesus really was. And now, at this end-time generation, we will be the first people in over 19 centuries to witness those astronomical events once again. Believe me, the world will be astonished when they observe them.
As children of God who make up His very own Family, we need to do our part in pooling our resources to see that the world is given motion pictures, television specials, planetarium displays, with an abundance of illustrated books, periodicals, newspapers, etc. that will show the real knowledge of this astronomical phenomena (there were many celestial events) that introduced Jesus into the world. The world will sit up and listen if we do our part in presenting this matter.
The celebration of the anniversary of Jesus’ nativity will have a resounding effect around this globe. God is now beginning to open the doors for the restitution of all things that the prophets foretold, and this restoration process requires that we who are God’s children do our part in helping to bring it to pass. The modern people of the world (even the Chinese, Hindus, the Muslims, and other non-Christian peoples) will for the first time observe those early heavenly displays. Most nations of the world have long revered astronomical signs and they have studied them extensively. But now, the world will see some of the most grand astronomical happenings that it has ever witnessed. The world will be astonished at the real grandeur and majesty associated with Jesus at his nativity, and even they will begin to recognize the supernatural circumstances concerning Jesus about which they have never been told before.
What a time for "missionary" work! With this new scientific information from the heavens, the people of the world will be able to appraise those glorious astronomical events in their own way, and many of them will turn to Christ and his Gospel as a result. They will acknowledge that only the true God of heaven could bring together such heavenly displays in this symbolic fashion. God has given us the understanding of these things, and He has provided us with the means of disseminating them to the world IF WE WILL USE THEM. It is up to us (His children) to show the whole world these things that God brought to pass at the nativity in order to glorify His Son.
As I mentioned above, we at A.S.K. are presently preparing a new and (we hope) a spectacular Web Site with information displayed on a daily basis that will spread the knowledge of these astronomical (and other biblical and historical) matters around this earth. And, we hope to show other significant astronomical occurrences that will happen within the seven years’ of which this Prophetic Report is speaking. I will soon be informing you what these are. The world will be very intrigued by them.
This is why we need our A.S.K. Web Site in operation so that people throughout the world can tune in daily to be kept updated on some of these important events on the prophetic horizon. Thankfully, some of you in A.S.K. are giving special funds to see that this is accomplished. We truly need your continual help and support as we endeavor to do our part in teaching the Gospel to all in the world. Using this Web Site on the Internet is one of the ways that we hope to provide the knowledge of God and of Christ to the world.
Another project that God will use to astonish the kings and nations of this world with His truth about the "Suffering Servant" is to present the world with the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments in their original and pristine order and with a proper translation of the texts. The accomplishment of this needed task is under way. This literary work is also prophesied. It is found in the Book of Isaiah. It has to do with God lifting the blinders from peoples’ eyes and unstopping the plugs that He has placed in the ears of people so that they would not understand the truth of the biblical revelation. Look at Isaiah 29:924 where we find the prophecy about a "book" which neither the scholars nor the laity have been able to comprehend because the "book" has been "turned upside down" and closed (Isaiah 29:16).
"The vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: and the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned" (Isaiah 29:11,12).
In the context of Isaiah, God then begins to chastise those who cannot understand the book. He admits that the readers give Him lipservice and that they all claim to be of God and practice His ways. But God states in no uncertain terms that, in spite of their outward show of piety, the peoples’ hearts are far from Him and that they desire to follow the precepts of men rather than those of God which are found in the book. At this juncture of the prophecy, God then gives the people a promise — a promise that will straighten them out from their normal ways of pleasing men. They will be brought back to an attitude of appealing to God and honoring His ways. Notice what God states.
"Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder [a miracle is to be associated with the production of this book and in getting the book published]: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid…. Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as [worthless as] the potter’s clay…. And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel…. They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine" (Isaiah 29:13-24).
Notice the context of this chapter of Isaiah. The prophecy is about "straightening out" a book that the people have "turned upside down." This aptly describes what has happened to the design of the Holy Scriptures since the time of Jerome in the late fourth century. With Jerome, the Christian community (especially in western Europe) got rid of the Hebrew order of the Old Testament books in favor of a Gentile Egyptian one that abandoned the official threefold Hebrew arrangement that was sanctioned by Christ Jesus as representing the proper Old Testament Scriptures (Luke 24:44,45).
Jerome also jettisoned the order of the manuscripts of the New Testament which placed the seven epistles of James, I and II Peter, I, II, III John and Jude from their authorized position (following the Book of Acts). He placed them after the epistles of Paul. Then, Jerome removed the Book of Hebrews in Paul’s collection of books out of its original 10th position (following II Thessalonians) and placed it after Philemon, into 14th position.
These changes in the Old and the New Testaments should never have been done. What this corrupt positioning did was to disrupt the contextual themes of the various books (which were centered primarily on the design of the Temple at Jerusalem and the geography of the world showing Christian responsibility) and it placed those themes into a hodgepodge of a mixup which completely destroyed the Temple and geographical motifs advocated by the designers of the biblical canon.
Thankfully, however, now underway is a new translation of the Old and the New Testaments which will position the books of the Holy Scriptures back into their original and authorized arrangement. When the books are correctly restored, the Bible will become a new book to modern people and for the first time they will begin to comprehend what the original prophets and apostles meant when they arranged the Holy Scriptures in the manner they did. Remarkably, when this restoration of the Scriptures is accomplished, both scholars and laity will be able to benefit from (and to appreciate) the original design of the biblical books. This means that for the first time in over 1600 years this original kind of Holy Scriptures will be in the possession of people to read and study. It will then make sense.
The date selected for the completion of this important project of restoring the original Bible is September, 1998. Publishing this work will allow all in the world to observe what the real Holy Scriptures were like that left the hands of the prophets and apostles. Indeed, the publishing date is September 20th (the anniversary of the nativity of the Word of God the Logos into the world).
Believe me, this true arrangement of the books of the Bible will make the messages of the Scriptures take on a new and significant light. I firmly believe that the production of this original Holy Scriptures for the modern world is what Isaiah was prophesying about in Isaiah 29:9-24. We at A.S.K. need to be behind the completion of this project. It is a part of the "restitution of all things" that Peter prophesied about in Acts 3:19-21.
There is another fact that needs to be revealed to the world in the next seven years. It will result in a whole new appraisal of who the real Jesus of the Bible actually is. The prophecy of Isaiah about the "Suffering Servant" stated that the real Messiah would "grow up" (that is, from infancy) as "a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see him [from his youth to adulthood], there is no beauty that we should desire him" (Isaiah 53:2).
This section of the prophecy shows the real Jesus Christ. Early Christians of the first three centuries always reckoned that the actual Jesus was not handsome as we depict him today, nor was he healthy in body. Though there is no doubt that he was sinless of himself, he still was sickly while in the flesh (not for his own sins, because he had none, but because he was bearing the sins of the world on him from his birth). In the flesh, Jesus appeared to people as though he were smitten and plagued by God. This is the very thing that Isaiah prophesied. Those physical infirmities persisted throughout his life because of the sins he was bearing in his body (read the rest of the prophecy of Isaiah which shows this). [My book "Secrets of Golgotha" explains this matter of Christ’s sicknesses and its theological consequences.]
Sadly, modern Christians have lost the knowledge of what the "Suffering Servant" of Isaiah was like. Indeed, what has Christendom done since the fourth century? They have erroneously put long hair and a beard on Jesus (which he did not have).
The truth is, it is wrong to put long hair on Jesus. The apostle Paul made it abundantly clear that males within the Christian community should have short hair because they are made in the image of God. And Christ is in the express image of God (Hebrews 1:3). Simply put, the Scriptures show that Christ had (and has) short hair (I Corinthians 11:317). Actually, the Old Testament law made it clear that only a few Nazarites could have longer hair among the Israelite men. But even when those men had their hair longer, they were forbidden to enter the Temple and into God’s presence because of their long hair. That is why they were called "Nazarites" because the word means "separated." Those long haired men were separated from God, even if their separation was for a holy purpose. The emblem of long hair denotes "shame" to God.
Jesus, however, was not a Nazarite on earth because Jesus drank wine which was forbidden to all Nazarites. One must also distinguish a person who was reared in the city of Nazareth and called a Nazarene from one with long hair and called a Nazarite. The two were very different. The fact that Jesus was allowed by the Jewish authorities to enter the Temple precincts without restriction is a simple and clear proof that he was not under a Nazarite vow and having long hair, or that he had long hair for any reason. We have ample teaching in the New Testament that Jesus freely and openly taught in the Temple and this was forbidden to any male who had long hair. Indeed, no Temple priests of God had long hair. Long hair on them was strictly forbidden (Ezekiel 44:20).
As for spiritual beings like the Deity and angels, only those designated as evil spirits and in chastisement in the area of the bottomless pit are required by God to be separate from Him and to groom themselves with long hair as a part of their punishment (Revelation 9:8). In early Jewish literature we find that evil spirits are shown as having long hair like women. There are Jewish historical references which show this general understanding that early peoples had about these important matters of grooming (which had to do with showing rank, position and social standing).
When evil spirits are described, they are disgraced with long hair. We are told "the nature of each one was different, their hair all loose [hanging down] like women’s hair" (The Apocalypse of Zephaniah, I:7). In an Anonymous Apocalypse we read of evil spirits: "their hair all loose like women’s hair" (I:13). There is the description of a male evil spirit who "had his hair flying out like women’s" (ibid. II:7). See Sparks, The Apocryphal Old Testament, Oxford University Press.
Let us be plain. When modern visionaries like Joseph Smith of the Mormons and Ellen G. White of the Seventh Day Adventists saw a personage they thought was Jesus with long hair and a beard (like he has been falsely depicted for the past 1600 years), they were not observing the real Jesus of the Bible (either in his earthly or his present celestial form). Only evil angels are required by God to have long hair. As for humans today, all males with long hair would not be permitted into God’s Temple at Jerusalem (if one existed), nor would they be allowed into God’s Temple in heaven where God now lives. The truth is, the real Jesus always had short hair, and he has short hair now. Soon, the whole world will be aware of this fact and they will turn from the "false Jesus" being shown in churches and in paintings. Actually, this false "Jesus" of the painters with his long hair is a precise image of Serapis, the Egyptian god of healing and hades. He is not Jesus.
In order for the world to accept the real Jesus of the Holy Scriptures, they will then have to become
aware that Jesus was condemned by the Sanhedrin (the Supreme Court of the Jews) which was then located in the Temple that Herod built. This site for the Sanhedrin is well documented in Jewish literature. It was located at the Chamber of Hewn Stones which was situated at the southeast corner of the court of the priests and near the southeast section of the Altar of Burnt Offering. Half of the Sanhedrin was positioned within the court of the priests and half in the court of Israel. This means that Jesus was put to trial and finally condemned to die within his own Father’s house.
After his trial in the Temple and his meeting with Pilate, Jesus was taken to the Mount of Olives where a final judgment was made at what the Rabbis named the secondary court of the Sanhedrin at the priestly village called BethPhage. This is where outrageous and heinous criminals were excommunicated from Israel (especially for crimes like blasphemy, for which Jesus was accused). After being excommunicated from the society of Israel, Jesus was then taken to a living tree on the Mount of Olives and there he was crucified (with two robbers back to back with him on the same tree). Jesus was not crucified on a Roman cross or any other type of cross made up entirely of board planks. Jesus had his hands nailed to a single plank and that plank was then nailed to a living tree. Remember that Christ told the women who accompanied him to the place of his crucifixion that the Jewish authorities were performing their act of capital punishment by using a "green tree" and not a dead tree of timbers like a Roman or Greek cross (Luke 23:2631).
Jesus was actually crucified on a green, living tree and not on some pieces of board planks put together like a Roman or Greek cross. The shape of the Roman cross is actually a pagan sex symbol and had nothing to do with the type of instrument on which Jesus was crucified. The crosses that were conveniently discovered in the western part of Jerusalem at what later became known as (falsely) the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, were placed there by a Jewish man by the name of Judas Cyriacos who pulled the wool over the eyes of the emperor Constantine and his mother Helena in order to justify their visionary experiences that the western site was where Golgotha was located. This was a wrong area to begin with. The history about this is given in my book "Secrets of Golgotha."
All people in the world will soon begin to realize (in this window of seven years just on the horizon to us) that the socalled Christian churches or individuals who have advocated the placement of Roman or any other types of crosses on their churches or around their necks as a symbol of the crucifixion of Christ are as wrong as they can be. It shows that if Christian authorities are so daft today (and for the past 1600 years) to have accepted the tomfoolery of Judas Cyriacos and his false implantation of those wooden crosses at the Temple of Venus in western Jerusalem, then they should also be suspect when they claim to tell the world what Christian doctrines are proper. The fact is, the world will soon discover that the present authorities in the various Christian denominations are about as far off from understanding the simple truths of the Gospel of Christ as they can get. The world will soon begin to turn away from the false teachings of the present mainline Christian churches and they will start to ask for the original truths of the New Testament.
Within the next seven years the world will also begin to realize that Christ was not only crucified on the Mount of Olives for the sins of the world but they will perceive from the Jewish documents and Old Testament law that Jesus was also stoned by small rocks by the people who stood around the scene of the crucifixion. It was this "stoning" of Jesus’ body that actually caused the great quantities of blood to fall to earth from his body and not the crucifixion on the tree alone. The reason this point is important is the fact that it was necessary that Jesus be punished according to Old Testament law. And so he was. The death of Christ was legal and in accord with the Old Testament. The Sanhedrin followed the rules precisely. Indeed, if Jesus had not been killed according to law, then all of us who are accounted as being with him on the tree of crucifixion (and dying with him when he died) have been tried and punished illegally in the eyes of God. This would bring into question the efficacy of our own judgment that we theologically underwent with Christ when he died on the tree of crucifixion for each of us.
The fact is, however, we have all (and in a proper legal sense) met the requirements of the law of Moses and of God for dealing with sins. We all have now paid for our sins in a legal manner when we were identified with Christ at the time of his death on the tree of crucifixion. All people on earth will begin to see the essential factor of this requirement within the next seven years. They will discover that Jesus did substitutionally pay, in a right and proper way, for all the sins of the world when he died for mankind on the Mount of Olives.
Within the next seven years it will become obvious to people in the world that the relationship of each individual Christian to the Father is through Christ alone and that no man or woman needs to be an intermediary. The apostle Paul said that there was only one mediatorial person positioned between each Christian on earth and the Father and that person was Christ himself (I Timothy 2:46). The ordinary people of the world will begin to be educated enough to recognize that all of the various church denominations today that have any hierarchical governments (in which humans exercise authority between the laity and the Father) are anti-Christian types of church governments. Oh yes, there are legitimate people whom God has called to be educators and administrators (and also preachers and social workers) but none of these individuals is in any rank that mediates authority between individual Christians and Christ Jesus or God the Father.
This matter of who is able to mediate between each Christian and the Father is one of the most important mature teachings of the Holy Scriptures. It is essential that all Christians realize their divine position that they have. The apostle Paul says that in a legal sense, each Christian is now sitting at the right hand of the Father in heaven (Ephesians 2:6), because all of us are "in Christ" and that is where Christ is sitting at the present. All we have to do to reach the Father, is to ask Him directly for all our needs, but we should do it "in the name of Jesus Christ" who is our Elder Brother, and our only Mediator (I Timothy 2:5). No human is mediator.
The Scriptures actually state that both Christians and Jews will revolt against the false concept of "church authority" supposedly invested in men. They will begin to counter their church and synagogue authorities. The Bible shows they will hold many of the Ministers, Priests, Rabbis, etc. in contempt for the false teachings that they and their forerunners have imposed upon members of the Christian and Jewish communities (Zechariah 13:26). An example of this attitude of disdain that the laity will express is found in Malachi 2:9.
Throughout the world there will be a turning away from organized religious groups. This drift for freedom in Christian circles from the domination of men who claim (falsely) to be the ministers or intermediaries of God will produce a society that will gravitate toward the creation of independent groups of people who congregate together within an environment of common rank and authority. That’s right. Churches who support any type of hierarchical government structure will become suspect and will soon begin to deteriorate into a state of contempt. Preachers, Priests, Rabbis and even Muslim Imams will be shunted to the side.
By the end of this seven year period, the emphasis on who has Christian authority will begin to depend mainly on who has the talents for dispensing scriptural and historical truths to the Christian person. Mere ecclesiastical rank will no longer be tolerated. The Roman Catholic Church will begin to change drastically when the end of the seven years is over and the church authorities will start to witness this trend toward individual Christian responsibility. Even doctrines of the Roman, Greek and mainline Protestant churches which have dominated theological opinion over the centuries will begin to be challenged by those who realize that the denominational authorities are for the most part teaching errors and not the pristine truths of the Holy Scriptures. The main theological channel that will begin to prevail within Christian societies will be that of individual opinion having supremacy over corporate denominationalism. The time is soon coming when "group opinion" will no longer be the dominant characteristic of Christians.
Within the next seven years it will be seen that the present Jewish people who do not accept Jesus are maintaining a religious belief that is not in conformity to advanced or mature theological thinking. Even mainline Jewish authorities and personalities will begin to express a dissatisfaction with the teachings of the Rabbis who have dominated standard Judaism for the past 1700 years. The Jewish people will also be asking for a change, and a change for the better.
Look at the matter carefully. Isn’t it interesting that it was the Jewish people interpreting biblical teachings (and Judaism with its doctrines in particular) that gave us the concept of a Messiah who would come to earth and rule the earth in a glorified and majestic environment in which all on earth will rejoice and be at peace with one another. This messianic idea is really of Jewish origin (that is, God gave this proper teaching first to Israel). As for Christians, God allowed us to inherit the concept of a Messiah from the Jews. Though the Jewish authorities were the ones who first dispensed the teaching of the need for the Messiah, among Christians and Jews the Jewish people are the only ones who do not have a Messiah.
The religion of Judaism today is a worship society that speaks of a Messiah, tells people the need for a Messiah, prays daily for a Messiah, but they are the ones who DO NOT have a Messiah. However, I have firsthand knowledge that many of the Rabbis within the various Jewish denominations are fully aware that Jesus meets all the qualifications of the Messiah of the Scriptures. Still, they are also prone to keep silent among their own folk and state just the opposite.
The time is coming in the very near future when the Jewish people in general will begin to realize that Jesus of Nazareth is really the only one in the history of the world who has the credentials for being the Messiah. And in the next seven years progress will be made for them to see the error of their ways for not having accepted him in the past. Indeed, I believe that within twenty years or so, we will witness the fulfillment of Zechariah 12:1014 and on through 13:16 that shows the Jewish people (before the Second Advent of Christ) coming to accept Jesus as the Messiah of the Holy Scriptures. This is when God will send the people of Jerusalem and Judah a spirit of grace and supplication which will prompt a large percentage of them to believe in Jesus as their Messiah. This will result in a vast number of Jewish people proclaiming his Messiahship to the world.
The prophecy of Zechariah clearly informs us that when the Jewish people finally accept Jesus as the Messiah, they will also get rid of idolatry out of the land of Israel (Zechariah 13:16). I believe the genesis for getting rid of idolatry within Judaism and within Islam will begin first with our Christian communities. Our western societies will be the initial ones to recognize the need to abandon our flirtation with idolatry that our forefathers have saddled us with over the centuries (which presently permeates our religious societies to the core). When the true knowledge of God and Christ (that I have been mentioning in this Prophetic Report) begins to be known within the seven years’ period of which we are speaking, it will culminate in Christians beginning to mend their ways in regard to their idolatry. This rectification will encourage the Jews and the Muslims and they will also be convicted to change their idolatrous activities in which they are now engaged.
Yes, even the Muslims are outright idolaters because devout Muslims pray five times a day to a meteorite idol that the ancient Arabs worshipped which the Koreish tribe to whom Muhammad belonged placed back into the central area of Mecca to have the Muslims pray to that idol. The Muslims are outright idolaters by bowing and worshipping toward that pagan and idolatrous stone in Mecca. I believe that even the Muslims in the next twenty years will begin to mend their ways and get rid of that idolatrous stone of theirs.
In this Prophetic Report I have concentrated mainly upon the religious changes that will begin to take place within the seven years’ span of time that we are now entering. This religious aspect is important because it will prove to be the catalyst around which the political and economic events mentioned by the prophets will take place within the twenty years or so that follow.
During these next seven years just ahead of us, world attention will be drawn to the acknowledgment that the real Jesus of Nazareth (not the false "long haired Jesus") is truly the "Suffering Servant" for Israel and the Gentiles. Also, when the world becomes privy to the wonderful celestial signs that introduced Jesus into the earth almost 2000 years ago, they will be so amazed that an aura of peace will begin to pervade all political and religious environments on earth.
Since a time of peace was in evidence when Jesus first came into the world as an infant (the Roman, Parthia, Egyptian, Judean, etc. worlds were not at war), I firmly believe that God will reintroduce that same spirit of tranquillity and relative peace for this similar period when we begin to celebrate the anniversary of Jesus’ nativity in September, 1998. True, there are more prophesied wars and skirmishes to occur before Christ actually returns to earth, but for the immediate future, the trend will be toward peace and security in the world. And when God pours out on Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication (Zechariah 12:10), the outcome will be a greater political expression of world harmony to accompany that outpouring. Keep your eyes on Jerusalem and Israel. There is the geographical center of all prophetic events.
We are on the verge of some exciting times. There is really no better period in which to live. God has called each of us (I mean you and me individually) to have the profound knowledge of His divine plan and to know that He is bringing that plan to pass in the generation just ahead of us. May God help us all to be about our Father’s business.
Ernest L. Martin
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