We are often asked if we know what the date of the Second Coming is. The answer is unequivocal: No. We don’t know and no one knows (Acts 1:7). I would like to mention a number of interesting circumstances that are likely to occur around the year 2040.
The Jewish calendar is based on a letter system. Aleph א equals 1; Tav ת equals four hundred. The year 2040 on the Jewish calendar is “Tav-Tav.” In other words, the letters come to an end. There are some Jewish mystics that have already claimed that year to be the end of the world.
There will undoubtedly be a flood of false messianic claims and extremist cults exploding in every stream of Judaism all over Israel around
that time. Yeshua specifically warned about “false messiahs” in the end times (Matt. 24:5, 11, 24).
Traditional Rabbinic calculation considers AD 2023 to be 5,784 years since creation. While that figure seems to be less than the recorded biblical account, it adds another perspective to the question. In that counting, there are over 200 years to go before the end of the symbolic sixth millennium and the start of the seventh, sabbatical millennium. (Obviously, there is not a perfect calculation of days or years to the end times, yet we do want to note the pattern of the times and seasons.)
Revelation 9:14–18 states that in the final period before Yeshua’s return there will be a massive world war in which one third of the world’s population will be killed. (That would be approximately 3 billion people!) The army described in Revelation 9 of 200 million soldiers is said to cross over the Euphrates River.
Let’s not forget that in 2033 the Christian world will celebrate 2,000 years from the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, and the
Pentecostal outpouring in the same year. In biblical prophecy and modern eschatological literature, there is an expectation of a seven-year period of end times prophecies to be fulfilled before the Second Coming. The year 2033 plus seven equals 2040 as well.
I imagine that there will be plenty of Catholics, Protestants, Pentecostals/charismatics, Orthodox Jews and Messianic Jews coming up with wild, end time scenarios at the same time. Yeshua warned not only about false messiahs in the end times, but also specifically about deception (Matt. 24:4, 5, 11, 23, 24 and 26). Even the “elect” can be deceived (verse 24). We must be extremely “sober” when it comes to interpreting end times events.
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Demographic studies show that world population should cross 9 billion in 2040. We can only imagine the type of crises there will be in such issues as global warming, food resources, disease epidemics, economic collapse, water, air pollution and so on.
Things are likely to get crazier every day. Thank God, we know from Scriptures that after these difficult times, there is a much better world coming.
When we begin to deal with prophecies about the end times, there is a tendency to get unbalanced. Not everyone has to be hospitalized for psychosis. This is a general spiritual atmosphere that affects everyone—including me and including you. It is like lust or pride or worry—it is just there. Let’s be careful not to be affected by the spirit of deception.
The tendency of this spirit is to cause self-aggrandizement. It might make you just a tiny bit inflated as to how important you see your own spiritual experiences and revelations. You think you know more than anyone else. You think you have a special prophetic anointing and authority that no one else has. Fight against spiritual pride. Pride always leads to deception.
During the years of being criticized by some conservative evangelical brothers and sisters in Israel, I tried my best to humble myself and listen. I don’t want to be deceived any more than anyone else does. We charismatics get very excited about the Word of God, and sometimes that excitement ends up in exaggeration. But exaggeration is wrong.
With all the supernatural and apocalyptic things going on around us, it is imperative for us to remain correctable, sane, balanced, and walking in integrity.
To read more from Asher Intrater’s “Alignment,” visit MyCharismaShop.com.
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