With the intervention of the most popular Pope in history into the peace process, the US President, took credit for the agreement hammered out by his team of negotiators between The State of Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf in the Mideast peace process. Thereafter it was announced by the Temple Institute that ground breaking for the New Jewish Temple would commence within ninety days. The actual Architectural drawings had already just been completed and it was believed that the sacrifice could begin in time for the commencement of Passover 5781, four short years away.
The Islamic protest throughout the Mideast was vocal, violent, expected and well covered, but the Palestinians would finally get their own state in the east half of the West Bank where Gaza residents could also be re-located. The Jewish protest, based upon prevailing thought, that the Temple must be built upon the very spot occupied by The Dome of the Rock and then only after the Messiah appeared, were just as vocal but lacked mainstream attention due to the absence of violence.
Pastor John Hogee thundered from his televised mega church pulpit, "Are you ready to be raptured? We will fly away - oh glory - as soon as the agreement takes affect..." which of course made sense because the treaty was signed and they were not gone yet. The Pastor proclaimed it now undeniable, the identification of the outgoing U.S. President as both the Anti-Christ and the Islamic Mahdi. The Temple cornerstone which had been prepared many years in advance was placed symbolically in a ground breaking ceremony 96 days later. Still no rapture of true believers took place.
Notorious debates raged since the day the agreement was signed, millions of disappointed Evangelicals were now ready to embrace the Mid-tribulation position, some even moved to the Post-trib position. Also becoming very vocal, and drawing many converts was the Universal Church that holds to a no-rapture position, instead teaching that the rapture is part of the Millenarian Heresy, "When none of the three raptures materialize, all those disappointed will be welcome to the True Church with open arms," could be easily proclaimed by the popular Catholic Evangelist, Mark Mallett. Most Evangelicals took a wait and see position, because the Mid-trib place was so neatly and beforehand prepared for them.
The Agreement called for The Temple Mount to be expanded and partitioned between the three great Abrahamic Faiths and completed over the next seven years. The Dome of the Rock would remain according to the new Jewish interfaith initiative. The "God's Holy Mountain Vision" project hoped to defuse religious strife by showing that the Jews' "end-of-days vision" could harmoniously accommodate Islam's present architectural hegemony on the Temple Mount. "This vision of religious shrines in peaceful proximity can transform the Temple Mount from a place of contention to its original sacred role as a place of worship shared by Jews, Muslims and Christians," said Yoav Frankel, director of the initiative. Frankel considers the scenario ... that the Temple be rebuilt on the current or an extended Temple Mount in peaceful proximity to the dome and other houses of prayer such as the Aksa Mosque and nearby Christian shrines. There would also be room for a Christian Cathedral on a northward extension.
True to form, Mega Pastor John Hogee released his newest book, Rapture Delayed - The Mercy of God, before the year was out, this would be an even bigger best seller than his last multimillion seller during the Blood Moon mania of 2014. In the pages of this book you would learn why God had delayed the rapture to the mid-tribulation position, of course backed by as many biblical references as his prior pre-tribualtion position. You could also find overt hints that God may wait further to the post-tribulation position, and that no matter which position was Gods final decision, all true believers would go to heaven when they die if they asked Jesus into their hearts, "Give your heart to Jesus today..."
Albert and Rose Henderson, a couple in their late 60s, had attended Northside Evangelical Church for more than 30 years, where not a whole lot of time was spent on bible prophecy until now. Oh yes, they believed in the pre-tribulation rapture ever since The Late Great Planet Earth was major part of bible study back in the 1980s. The excitement and urgency had long since worn off. What was there to get excited about? Their church, as almost all of the American Evangelical world did not have to worry about such things as dealing with the coming One World Mark Monetary System, because they would all be simply pre-wrath raptured away before anything bad happened to them. With the added heavy weight of current events, it was time to rethink their long held position. A friend had given them a book, The Rapture Will Be Canceled, several years ago, but now it was time to actually read it, they could not forget the haunting title which had presently become accurately prophetic.
Pastor Bob preaches at his own little church on the other side of town. He becomes very excited about every thing that happens in Israel, waiting with baited breath to be whisked away at any moment. He has no tolerance for those who question the official view of prophecy accepted by him and the giants of the kingdom such as John Hogee and Chuck Missler, neither does he have the time of day for weak minded Christians who revere God's Law or god forbid, wont eat pork! His faith and consequently the faith of his entire little congregation was shaking to its core. Bob was seriously considering returning to his roots and the Universal Mother Church, now feeling that he'd been led astray so many years ago by Evangelical arguments. He pondered his absolute rage while watching a YouTube video several months ago, Show me the Gap Chuck or something like that: how anyone could challenge a giant in Gods Kingdom like Chuck Missler on prophecy brought him to a rage of four letter epithets he could not easily forget. But now he avoided mention of the rapture debate and failure at all, his sermons were beginning to sound very ecumenical these days.
Three years of mounting Islamic protest, violence, sabotage and continual bomb threats had all but stopped the progress of the "God's Holy Mountain Vision" for the Temple Mount. The expansion on the north end was progressing nicely, but every attempt to progress beyond the eastward expansion where the Jewish Temple was to be built was met with resistance from every quarter. Islam protested, Animal Rights protested, Environmentalists protested, even Orthodox Jewry protested. No one was happy, the treaty would need to be renegotiated. Behind the scenes that's exactly what was happening. The Vatican was now playing the major role in the peace process as a voice of reason and sanity.
The Temple Mount Cathedral on the North Expansion was progressing nicely and well in balance with the stature of the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque combination on the south. The compromise? Jews would settle for a Temple type National Synagogue of similar stature on its East Expansion. No animal sacrifice would be allowed on the Temple Mount whatsoever, period. Those progressive Jews which played the major role now proposed that the sacrifice could satisfy every tenet of Torah Law if commenced offsite. Orthodox Jews maintained that Messiah would come and build the Temple after removing the Christian and Islamic edifices on the Mount, then the sacrifice would commence, they were content to wait. Appropriate changes for the Temple Synagogue were already in the works.
With the end of the prospective Jewish sacrifice even the Islamic protests died down to an unmentionable murmur. At the same time Evangelical rapture adherents announced that the end of the prospective sacrifice satisfied their interpretation of the Daniel prophecy, "and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease." And it was in the middle of the Seven Year Tribulation. Months passed and nothing happened. Four years from the signing of the agreement - the 1260 days; times,time and half a time; three and a half years had undeniably passed. Still no mass rapture of true believers took place.
Most of the Evangelical, the true believers, moved to the only position available remaining for them, the Post-tribulation position. There was no other position available as far as they were concerned. Rapture theology had been so completely scrutinized over the last four years that a majority of Evangelicals had already left it behind, some concluding that the whole seven year tribulation was not even biblical. The holdouts were scorned and embarrassed so much that it only strengthened their resolve that they would be raptured away at the post seven year tribulation position. Then the world would see, but because of Gods merciful delay there would be no second chance for those "left behind" - they would surely experience the wrath of God when Jesus suddenly appeared and destroyed all of the wicked.
The Grand Opening Celebration date of the "God's Holy Mountain Vision" was set, seven years to the day of the signing of the agreement. Those diehard Evangelical rapturists remained firm, but were secretly scared that it would not happen, those who put off the belief were afraid, but hopeful that it would happen. Finally the day came. The Vicar of Christ took the podium and proclaimed the beginning of a new era of world peace. A majority of Evangelicals who had once vociferously proclaimed the rapture, were now drawing attention to the fact that the rapture was always in contention even within the ranks. "Pre, Mid, and Post-tribulation debates were always the norm, perhaps-evidently the whole rapture idea was mistaken. In this world without end all the faithful will certainly go to heaven when they die, that is when we will join the resurrection of the dead," were the comforting words of Pastor John Hogee.
For many of the elect, it was like waking from a dream, a great delusion - the scales had fallen from their eyes. They finally recognized the true Anti-Christ, he had been seated in plain sight all along. They could not go along, they knew what was coming and the only escape was in Christ alone to protect them even if martyrdom was their fate. It was widely preached and well accepted, few would make it to His return through the tribulation of those days. They would now be excluded from the one world Mark Money System. They could not, would not participate.
The Mark of the Beast Inquisition was growing stronger every day, the black market was an outlawed and dangerous necessity. There were few places of refuge from the long arm of the UN enforcement and relocation forces in the fragmented States of the northern continent. Chaos and disorder was their hardship and their ally. Losing their livelihoods and their homes, the true church was on the move spreading the gospel as they went. Miraculous provision, circumstance and healing was commonplace with this sojourning church movement, they were truly, the church in the wilderness.
We left home in the middle of the night. The reports were all too common - they would come for us too. I had been a fan of alternative media so had plenty of exposure to prepper ideas, but never went all out for the storage food bunker mentality of the extremist bent. I had a different tact: never let the fuel go below half a tank and head for the hills when bug out time did arrive. We hooked the small two horse trailer to the back of our Town and Country minivan, of course we brought our two best horses and all the food and comforts we could cram in with us. There would be provisions where we were going.
Sierra Crest was an 8500 foot seasonal resort community where there were plenty of empty cabins. Debra and I had lived there when we first got married. As a matter of fact my first daughter was born there - the only person ever born there some thirty years ago. Debra had since passed away, now I was in route with my second wife and our 16 year old daughter. Marie and Mati were certainly frightened, but we knew this day was coming. When the Temple Mount Agreement was announced many believed they would immediately be raptured, so rather than being alarmed they were elated but mistaken.
prologue to the upcoming novel Dateline:2016:
Read more about What Will Happen When the Rapture does not Happen?
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