The Final Decree

August 4, 2023 – No. 40

Analysis and commentary on today’s prophetic events from author and biblical researcher – Dr. Christian Widener

EndTimesBerean.com

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Welcome to another End Times Berean Watchman Report!

I can’t fully express what a joy it was to spend an entire month in Israel. In fact, I’m still processing everything that we saw and did while we were there. We returned to the Black Hills with summer in full swing, so it’s been a bit of a blur since we returned home. But I wanted to get this update out to you and most importantly, to share a short video of the stone decree on the Temple Mount that I really believe must be more than just an interesting historic marker. Rather, I think it presents us with a compelling case for a double fulfillment of Daniel 9:24.

I am still praising God that terrorist activity was basically completely quiet the entire time that we were were in Israel. Thank you for your prayers during our trip! We really felt that God was with us, but sure enough, trouble started back up just a few days after our return to the US on June 16th. It was a sign to me that God had indeed chosen the timing for our return to Israel this year. There is no way that I could have known that it would be such a perfect time for our trip. It was also special because the whole family got baptized in the Jordan River together. It was just a re-affirmation baptism for most of us, but it was my youngest daughter’s first official baptism. And it was also a wonderful time of fellowship with other believers on the trip.

There are also several things that are worth noting in the news about Israel and the world that I’d like to mention, so you’ll find some updates regarding those things in this issue as well..

Locating the Final Decree…

If you have read my latest book, Witnessing the End, then you already know about the amazing discovery of another decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, which is given as a sign for counting 483 to 490 years until the arrival of the Messiah. Until this book, basically the entire Christian community, if they consider Daniel 9:24-27 a prophecy of the end times at all, would have said that there was really only one decree to count from and that it was probably the second one given by king Artaxerxes I in 445/444 B.C. So prophecy watchers just weren’t aware of a second decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, which would make Daniel’s prophecy a double prophecy–490 years to death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah at his first coming, and 490 years to his glorious return and triumph over the Antichrist. Remember you can find my book, Witnessing the End, available on Amazon or you can just download a free .pdf.

For those of you who do understand the potential magnitude of such a discovery, prepare to be blown away by just how out in the open this decree really is, and yet, it has some how just been overlooked until the present day. Without further ado, check out this short video showing exactly where the decree can be found on the Temple Mount. I’m planning to release a much longer version that really explains the significance of such a simple stone engraving and to release it on YouTube, etc., but you are getting the first cut of the video footage without all of the additional explanation that I think will be needed for the find to make sense.

What in the world is going on in Israel?

Over the past month and half, Israel has erupted into protests again regarding the proposals for judicial reform. Amazingly, the first step was just signed into law, and it could significantly shift the political direction of Israel to the right, which is why the left in Israel are almost rabidly opposed to the reforms. Here’s why. The Supreme Court basically has the power to appoint its own replacement justices, and the court has been shifting more and more left since its inception. Furthermore, Israel was never successful in passing a formal constitution to define the powers of its branches of government. In the absence of such a written document to establish the law and boundaries for the Supreme Court, they gave themselves the power to strike down laws passed by the duly elected legislators (the Knesset) simply because the leftist court disagreed with the law and found it to be “unreasonable.” This allowed the courts to become further politicized and to become a “juristocracy” or governmental rule by the courts. They gave themselves the power to strike down any law, governmental appointment or action, whether military or civil, because in the opinion of the members of the court it was a bad idea. That is not how any other government in the world operates. And since the court appointed its own members, then it was completely unelected and unanswerable to the people of Israel. The recently passed “reasonableness” law takes away this power which was unlawfully seized by the courts. Of course, the battle is not over, because it doesn’t appear that the courts are going to be willing to accept these limitations, so a real power struggle is presently underway, and it’s hard to say how things are going to shake out. From CNN’s article below you can see that the world is mostly against the Bibi Netanyahu government’s reforms, even though they are sorely needed, if Israel is to remain a Jewish and Zionist state.

Now, why is that so significant? Because the courts have long been opposed to Jews returning to worship and sacrifice on the Temple Mount. Consequently, they could effectively veto the efforts of this present government to change the status quo on the control of the Temple Mount. Based on what national security minister Ben Gvir just said about wanting to see the temple rebuilt soon, that makes me think that change is still in the air and moving in the right direction.

During his visit on Tish B’Av (the commemoration of the day the temples of Jerusalem were destroyed (Yes, both in 586 B.C. and A.D. 70, the temples were destroyed on the same day), minister Gvir and two other Knesset members called for increased control over the Temple Mount, called it “the holy place of the people of Israel,” and said “On this day, more than ever – may we be granted complete redemption and the building of the Temple soon in our days, Amen!”

Another major development in Israel is the mounting terrorist resistance in the town of Jenin in Samaria—what much of the world calls the “West Bank.” The reason it’s called that is because when Jordan controlled the area, they called it the West Bank of the Jordan River. Therefore, using that name is way of delegitimizing Israel’s control of the area following the unprovoked invasion by Jordan in 1967 and their subsequent defeat, by which they legally lost that territory. Nevertheless, the disputed parts of Judea and Samaria have been quiet and devoid of major terrorist activity until recently; however, it is again becoming a major problem. The world’s media and leftists within Israel love to blame the conflict on incitement by a radical Jewish Zionist government, but the truth is that it was multiple violent murders of both Jews and tourists in broad daylight and the presence of organized and growing terror cells in Jenin that finally prompted military action.

These conflicts do not appear to be over yet, either, because the military is already considering re-entering Jenin. Added to the conflicts surrounding judicial reform, Israel is in a very precarious position at the moment.

However, despite all of that, Biden recently gave the green light to the state department to make some concessions to the demands that Saudi Arabia has made on the US before they make another Abraham Accords peace deal with Israel. The media is buzzing about the concessions that Israel needs to make regarding the Palestinians, but the real hold up may actually be their requests to the US. [“Is Saudi-Israeli Normalization Worth It?” https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/06/05/saudi-arabia-israel-normalization-deal-agreement-biden-blinken-trip-security-guarantee-nuclear-energy/]. Needless to say, but Saudia Arabia getting behind the Abraham Accords at this time, nearly three years since the initiation of the Accords would be right on schedule for a big event on the Temple Mount in about eight months (3 1/2 years). We have to just wait and watch, but it’s very exciting to be watching these events unfold.

And to demonstrate just how real the present opportunity is, Saudi Arabian news sources are openly discussing the possibility of peace with Israel, which greatly increases the likelihood that we could see a deal put forward in the near future.

What About the Four Horsemen?

As I’ve said before, it still looks like we are inexorably moving towards a World War III scenario that will bring war, famine, and pestilence together to bring about the death of the quarter of the earth that is prophesied in Revelation 6:8. The most compelling reason is that there seem to be soft disclosures preparing us for nuclear war. Anthony Blinken recently made comments to the effect that nuclear war is no worse than climate change [https://yournews.com/2023/07/31/2613646/nuclear-war-no-worse-than-climate-change-blinken/]. This can be understood either to elevate the threat of climate change, or paradoxically to minimize the threat of nuclear war because we are already living with the threat of climate change–but his comments were really just reinforcing Biden’s comments earlier this year. [https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-says-climate-change-is-bigger-threat-humanity-nuclear-war].

Additionally, at least 80% of the nations in the world are experiencing significant inflation in terms of food prices. [https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/agriculture/brief/food-security-update] The rise in prices is coming from a shortage of supply, but also from the dramatic increase in the price of fertilizer [“This is how war in Europe is disrupting fertilizer supplies and threatening global food security” – World Economic Forum – March 1, 2023, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/03/ukraine-fertilizer-food-security/]. Furthermore, the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine is threatening up to 30% of the world’s grain supply as well as fertilizer supplies from Russia and Germany (who depended on Russia natural gas for nitrogen fertilizer production). The effects of these current shortages and price increases will hit the 2023 growing season and are expected to dramatically impact 2024 prices and food yields.

Lawlessness

Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.

Matthew 24:12 NASB

The increase of lawlessness is given as a specific sign of the last days, but it has also been present in the world since the first sin by Adam and Eve, so how can we really know if what we are seeing in the world is the time that Jesus was speaking about, or just a general demonstration of wickedness? Well, there are a lot of different ways to think about that question, but consider that Jesus was speaking about the whole world, not just a particular place. Throughout history, total depravity was generally exhibited in a specific city, region or empire, e.g. the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah and the peoples of the surrounding plain, Nineveh, the kingdom of Babylon, the Roman Empire, etc. Today, lawlessness and immorality are a global problem, unlike any other time in world history apart from the days of Noah before the flood and the Tower of Babel.

But it’s not just lawlessness, because the increase of wickedness from people disregarding the law also extinguishes their love for God, i.e. the Great Apostasy. The surrounding environment of evil causes believers to fall away from the faith. It also has a corrupting influence on Christian beliefs, so that while people may continue to call themselves “Christians” they no longer live like ones. There is a growing segment of so-called Christianity that is embracing LGBTQ and marxist “woke” ideologies and is attempting to redefine what it means to be a Christian. As they are doing that, they are also demonizing traditional Christians as racists, xenophobes, extremists, oppressors of marginalized groups (e.g. LGBTQ), and as dangerously nationalistic fascists–which is, of course, what the left has become, but it is a heinous slander against God’s people. This will open the door for wolves in sheep’s clothing, professing this new Christianity, to persecute the true church. Paul warned about a near time that this would occur in Ephesus, but it was also a general and last days warning.

Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

Acts 20:28-31 NIV

The church in America is definitely on the decline as a group (down from 90% in the 1970s to 64% today), but there is also a growing revival among a small but growing group of Christians, who like the five wise virgins in Matthew 25:1-13, are getting ready for Christ’s return. But you can get a taste of what leftists would like the new Christianity to look like by reading this article from CNN. The idea is that if America’s “white” Christians will embrace Christian minorities, immigrants, and other marginalized groups like the LGBTQ community, then is could see a new “revival”. But make no mistake, this is the message of the Antichrist, not the New Testament, and it has been gaining incredible traction since the start of the pandemic in 2020.

Final Thoughts

We live in a world that we were warned nearly two thousand years ago would come to an end. I’d like to leave you with this passage from 1 John chapter 2 as a reminder and encouragement that everything is going according to plan. Just hold fast and watch.

15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

18 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us. 20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.

25 This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.

26 These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. 27 As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.

28 Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.

1 John 2:15-28 NASB

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen!

Christian Widener, PhD

EndTimesBerean.com

P.S. Feel free to reach out anytime with comments, suggestions, or questions. 🙂

christian@endtimesberean.com