Key West Church of God RAYMOND L. SHOCKLEY, Pastor 1419 White Street Key West, Florida 33040 USA Momentin@Aol.Com Website - Momentin.Com 305-296-8844 fax 305-296-0093 May 6, 2015 Dear Friends, It has been a busy month for me. I had thee joy of preaching a Bible Prophecy Conference at the First Assembly of God in Apalachicola, Florida. I was able to teach the book of Revelation verse by verse. I want to share with you the CD from the first night of the conference. It covers the beginning of this marvelous vision of the future. The first verse of Revelation declares the reason for the book, Rev 1:1 KJV The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: Several things leap out of the text. First, this was not some fictional allegory that John wrote for any perceived reason of his own. This vision existed in Heaven before John received it. It came from the foreknowledge of God the Father. The second thing that leaps before us is the reason for the book. The first reason if the revelation of Jesus Christ. We will learn who he is in relationship to God the Father. We will learn who He is to the Christian Church. We will learn who he is in relationship to a wicked world and finally, we will see Jesus Christ as He redeems this earth and brings the Kingdom of God to the earth. In doing this God will show those who serve Him a series of events that must come to pass. From the very beginning the Book of Revelation is a prophetic book. The book has a natural and built in outline. It is revealed to us in the following verse, Rev 1:19 KJV Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; The things seen are the vision of Christ in chapter one. The things which are, speaks of the Christian church. Chapter two and three will contain seven messages to seven churches. These are prophecies revealing the seven ages of Christianity. When the seventh church Laodicea has had time to be fully developed, then we can expect the Rapture of the Church. The things which are have come to a climax. Chapter four to the final chapter of Revelation are refereed to as the things which shall be hereafter. The word hereafter implies something being before and something following thereafter. The hereafter starts with the Rapture of the church in chapter four, what follows is the tribulation. The good news is that no overcoming believer is fated for the events of the Tribulation. The Revelation will take us all of the way to the eternal Kingdom of God. The Bible is the final authority concerning the events of future. The Book of Revelation serves as the time line showing us the order of events. The knowledge of the Revelation gives us the order of things. Without it there are a lot of loose ends as far as our understanding. I would like for you to have this first CD of my recent conference. It can be yours but you must request it. Signs of the Times - Everywhere we look, events are taking place that leads us to believe the we are in the time know as the endtimes or last days. There are so many of them. They are so precise one might feel like he could pick the exact day of the Rapture of the church. There is a Bible prophecy that 1
you may not have thought about. It is something Apostle Peter said would happen. 2Pe 3:3-4 KJV Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, (4) And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. We are told the time would come when people who had believed in the coming of the Lord because it was a part of their heritage, would scoff at it. Their Fathers had raised them to believe in the coming of the Lord. Peter warns that a group of people would abandon the promise of the Lord s return. It had been a restraining force in their life. They would abandon it and give themselves to do whatever their lust desired. So now I must ask a question. Why did they do that? Could it have been there were so many prophetic indicators that they thought they knew the date of the rapture? They just knew this would be the day. Then when it did not happen on that day, they assumed that Jesus was never going to come. They began to make fun of those who still held onto the promise of His return. Let me share a few things with you that could lead you to believe the time of the rapture is so near that you could forget about planning for Christmas. We will start with this, Luk 21:11, 25-26 KJV And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven..... And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; (26) Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. We are told that there will be observable, predictable events that would serve as a mile maker pointing the time of the end. Let s start with the Blood Moon phenomenon. A blood moon is a lunar eclipse. We are in the middle of what is known as a "Biblical Tetrads." When four lunar eclipses have happened in a row on top of a Jewish Levitical feast, they have been connected to transforming events for Israel and the Jewish people. When solar eclipses are included in the mix, also falling on Jewish feast days it is a bad sign for the world. Below you will see the dates for both lunar and solar eclipses and the corresponding feasts. Passover, April 15, 2014, total lunar eclipse (Partial solar eclipse, April 29, 2014) Feast of Tabernacles, October 8, 2014, total lunar eclipse (Partial solar eclipse, October 23, 2014) (Jewish Civil New Years Day, total solar eclipse, March 20, 2015) Passover, April 4, 2015, total lunar eclipse (Feast of Trumpets, partial solar eclipse, September 13, 2015) Feast of Tabernacles, September 28, 2015, total lunar eclipse The following link leads us to an article from NASA, http://www.jesusonmymind.com/services NASA says there will be 12,064 lunar eclipses between -1999 BC and +3000 AD. Of these 12,064 lunar eclipses, 3,479 will be total lunar eclipses. That s an average of less than one total lunar eclipse per year. It is an average of 2.5 lunar eclipses per year of "total plus partial" lunar eclipses. 2
During that time there will be 142 Lunar Tetrads (four total lunar eclipses in a row, with no intervening partial lunar eclipse). 62 will occur between 1 AD and 2100 AD. Of the 62, 8 will occur on Biblical Feast Days, so they are called "Biblical Tetrads. The 8th "Biblical Tetrad" occurs in 2014-2015 and there will not be another "Biblical Tetrad" for almost 600 years. We are in the time of this tetrad now. The chances of any lunar eclipse occurring on any particular day, whether total or partial, is less than 3/365. The chances of one occurring on particular days 4 times in a row would be 3/365 x 3/365 x 3/365 x 3/365 = or about one in 100 x 100 x 100 x 100 = one in 100 million days, or once in 273,000 years. Nevertheless they have occurred on the first day of Passover and Tabernacles 7 times since 1 AD, and are getting ready to occur again in 2014 and 2015. Statistically, they should probably NEVER HAPPEN. In 2014, the first of 4 total lunar eclipses occurred on Passover (First Feast Day), April 15, 2014, followed by a solar eclipse on April 29, 2014, then the second total lunar eclipse occurs on the Feast of Succoth or Tabernacles (Last Fall Feast Day), October 8, 2014, followed by another solar eclipse on October 23, 2014. In 2015, the Jewish religious year begins with the total solar eclipse March 20, 2015, then two weeks later the third total lunar eclipse occurs on Passover, April 4, 2015, and then the civil year beginning with the partial solar eclipse on September 13, 2015 followed two weeks later by the fourth total blood red moon on the Feast of Succoth, September 28, 2015. Tetrads of four sequential lunar eclipses with no intervening partial lunar eclipses occurs 6 other times in this century, but this is the only time it occurs on the Jewish holy days of Passover and Feast of Tabernacles. The last time that four blood red moons occurred together was in 1967-1968, probably related to the recapture of Jerusalem by Israel. The time that the tetrad occurred before this was in 1949-1950, probably related to Israel becoming a nation. Before this time, the last occurrence was 1493-1494, probably related to the expulsion of the Jews from Spain. Since 1 AD, a "Biblical tetrad" has occurred on these holy days a total of 7 times. In 2014-2015, it will be the 8th time. It won't occur again for another 500 years. ( 8 is the number of new beginnings.) End of quote To make it even more interesting we are in the middle of a Sabbatical year, called the Shemitah. The observance of Shemittah from Sept. 25, 2014, through Sept. 13, 2015.The Shemittah year waives all outstanding debts. A new cycle is about to begin. "March 20 marks the exact center-point day of the year of the Shemitah," Jonathan Cahn tells Charisma News. "It's worth to note that on this same day several events are converging a solar eclipse, a super moon, the spring equinox, the opening day of the sacred biblical year. With just a portion of these convergences, scientists say occur only once in 100,000 years. On top of this, the solar eclipse will be the first appearance of the sun in months in the arctic regions, a convergence of once in 500,000 years." Now comes the Year of Jubilee Which happens once in every 50 years. The English word jubilee comes from the Hebrew word yovel meaning a trumpet or ram s horn. These rams horns were 3
blown on the Day of Atonement to announce the start of the year of jubilee... For many years before the Exodus, the Israelites had been slaves in the land of Egypt, without freedom and without possessions. When they reached the land of Canaan, Joshua divided the land among their tribes and their families so that each had his own inheritance. Every adult male among them became a land owner. This land was a permanent possession that could never depart from his family. When the great Day of Atonement in the Year of Jubilee came he became a free man once again and repossessed his inheritance. At this year of jubilee all Israelites who had sold themselves into slavery were set free and all land that had been sold reverted to its original owner. This meant that the Israelites could not ever be in permanent slavery; nor could any Israelite permanently lose his inheritance! It was a Jubilee year when Jerusalem, the city was secured. On 11 December, 1917 General Edmund Allenby humbly entered the Old City on foot through the Jaffa Gate instead of horse or vehicles to show respect for the holy city. He was the first Christian in many centuries to control Jerusalem, It was the Jubilee year, 6/7/1967 When Israel took control of Jerusalem, What will the next Jubilee year bring to Israel which will begin on 9/23/2015? Great pressure is being applied by Barack Obama upon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to sign onto the Two State Solution. It is amazing to me that the Prophet Ezekiel, about 2600 years ago too pinned these words, Eze 35:10-12 KJV Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the LORD was there: (11) Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee. (12) And thou shalt know that I am the LORD, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume. Eze 35:14 KJV Thus saith the Lord GOD; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate. When it is all considered together, it seems to be over whelming! Expectation of the Rapture will be at a fever pitch by the time we reach the final Blood moon and the beginning of the Jubilee Year. It will seem if Jesus will ever return he must return now! But what happens if He does not come at that time? What if in the minds of men Jesus is late? Many will lose hope and become scoffers. Good servants become evil. Mat 24:44-51 KJV Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. (45) Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? (46) Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. (47) Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. (48) But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; (49) And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; (50) The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, (51) And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping 4
and gnashing of teeth. Why did the servant turn evil? He had a thought in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; It turned him evil. He began to walk after his own lust. He began to abuse his Lord s servants to build his own kingdom. What caused this evil transformation? What made him decide the Lord had delayed his coming? Could it have been there was overwhelming evidence that his lord was coming and he did not come? As far as he was concerned, his master was late. It seems that we have a possibility of a delay as far as the expectations of some people. Concerning what seems to be a delay or the Lord not keeping His word Peter explains 2Pe 3:9 KJV The Lord is not slack (careless) concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God keeps His word, if he delays it is because God does not want any man to perish. He wants every man to repent. It seems to me that is quite possible that all of these signs will cause some to repent and turn to God. As long as there is a move in that direction God may very well wait. There is a precedent for this in the Word of God. God sent the Prophet Jonah to Nineveh to warn them that God was going to destroy them in forty days. The King of Nineveh believed the word of God and called on the city to seek God. Jon 3:5-9 KJV So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. (6) For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. (7) And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: (8) But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. (9) Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? God saw their actions and delayed the judgement, Jon 3:10 KJV And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not. God wants to be merciful and when men turn from their sins God will withhold judgement. For a hundred years God withheld his judgement on the Assyrians. When they turned back to their evil ways, God destroyed them. We understand that the Lord came upon the evil servant when he was not expecting him and brought him to judgement. Peter warns that even if it seemed to man the Lord was not coming or had delayed his coming, he would come at his time of appointment. 2Pe 3:10 KJV But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. The day of judgement will come - Joe 1:15 KJV Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. Peter ask the question seeing that we know that this world will be judged what kind of life should we be living? Then he answers his own question. 2Pe 3:11-14 KJV Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, (12) Looking 5
for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? (13) Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. (14) Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. Mat 24:44 KJV Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. I am reminded of what God said to the prophet Habakkuk and the commitment he made. Hab 2:1-4 KJV I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. (2) And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. (3) For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. (4) Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith. I do not know the day or hour of the Lord s coming. With all of the signs it seems that we must be in the season. Moments in Bible Prophecy is my tower to cry aloud from. Judgement is coming and we must do all that we can. Moments in Bible Prophecy - I feel that our time is running out and I feel like Jesus may have felt when he uttered these words. Joh 9:4 KJV I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. I need your help to keep the radio program on the air. It takes money every month to pay the radio air time. Would remember Moments in Bible Prophecy in your prayers? It may be that God will ask you to help us this month. I thank you for obeying God. Without your help the program would come to an end. Your Friend in Christ, Raymond L Shockley MOMENTS IN BIBLE PROPHECY