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Christian Biblical Church of God
Post Office Box 1442
Hollister, California 95024-1442
(831)-637-1875
Fred R. Coulter
Minister
December 13, 2007
Dear Brethren,
By the time you receive this letter, the
printing of the new Bible will be well under way in China. However, we
don’t know how much time off the company will give their workers to
observe the upcoming holidays of this world. Though they are not
“Christian,” it seems Christmas is becoming a big-time event in Asia.
Nevertheless, we anticipate receiving the new Bible by mid to late
January.
Much of the following information
concerns free trade zones that have been (or are being) established
among various nations around the world. The information comes from
several official Web sites. To verify references regarding these
trade zones and “regional unions” of nations—and to check the Web sites
containing their official statements—you can download their site
addresses from the CBCG site under the link, “The Ten Free Trade Zones
in the World Today.”
The Major Keys to Understanding End
Time Prophecies
The King of the North and the King of
the South:
With each new crisis—be it monetary, war or crime related, or a natural
disaster—we wonder, “When will the end come? How much time do we have
left?” We need to realize that there are many things which must yet
appear on the “prophecy stage,” so to speak, before the final events of
the end times can unfold and the Great Tribulation can begin. One thing
is certain, the Tribulation cannot begin by Passover 2008.
Concerning end time events leading up to
His return, Jesus commanded His disciples to watch: “But learn
the parable of the fig tree: When its branches become tender, and it
puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way also,
when you see these [prophesied] things coming to pass,
know that it [the end] is near, even at the doors. Truly I say to you,
this generation shall in no way pass away until all these things have
taken place” (Mark 13:28-30).
The parallel account in Matthew 24 reads
somewhat differently: “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When
its branches have already become tender, and it puts forth its leaves,
you know that summer is near. In like manner also, when you
see all these [prophesied] things, know that it [the end] is
near, even at the doors. Truly I say to you, this generation
shall in no wise pass away until all these things have taken place. The
heaven and the earth shall pass away, but My words shall never pass
away. But concerning that day, and the hour, no one knows, not even the
angels of heaven, but My Father only” (verses 32-36). The key is that we
must “see all these things”—which includes all the Old Testament
prophecies pertaining to end time events. It is a grave mistake to get
all excited when we see some of “these things” instead of all
of “these things” and proclaim that the Tribulation will suddenly come
upon us. This is why we are to constantly watch.
Perhaps the two most important end time
events to watch for are the rise of the “King of the North” and the rise
of the “King of the South”—because the Great Tribulation cannot begin
until they first come on the scene. God inspired the prophet Daniel to
write: “And at the time of the end
shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall
come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and
with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall
overflow and pass over. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and
many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his
hand, even
Edom, and Moab, and
the chief of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand also
upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape” (Dan. 11:40-42).
These prophecies
clearly tell us that at the time of the end there will be a “King of the
North” and a “King of the South” on the geopolitical “prophetic stage.”
They are not yet on the horizon. However, there are numerous
visible indications that the way for the “King of the North” is almost
complete. We must also watch for a succession in leadership before the
final “King of the North” comes to power.
With the continuing development of the European Union, we can readily
see that the political power base has already been established for the
“King of the North.” As this development progresses, we will ultimately
see the United Kingdom fully absorbed into the Union through the
ratification of an EU constitution. Several years ago, the EU failed to
get a new European constitution approved by the voters of the 12 key
member nations. Since then, however, the EU has completed a treaty which
contains nearly the same wording as the previously rejected
constitution.
Unlike the previous treaty, the new constitution requires the approval
of only the parliaments of the twelve nations. A majority vote by
the people is irrelevant.
Another important feature of this new treaty is that once it has been
ratified by the various governments, it becomes the binding law of the
land for each country—over and above their national laws and
constitutions. This means that since the UK’s parliament has approved
the treaty and signed it into law, the UK will be absorbed into the EU.
Officially, this transfer is scheduled to take place in January 2009.
Watch for her sovereignty as an independent nation to begin to be eroded
away until the UK and all the countries of Europe are completely subject
to the dictates of the EU!
The seductive, insidious evil of such a
“regional union” of nations is this: While each country retains its
individual identity, its own national government, as well as a good
measure of national sovereignty, each member nation is ultimately
subject to the higher power of the central European parliament that will
continue to arrogate more power and control to itself. In the event of a
crisis, the EU central government would be able to seize complete
control over all the member nations. What a slick deception, indeed!
This is how the UK and the other countries of
Europe will eventually lose their sovereignty to the EU. Undoubtedly,
this is how the “Beast” power of the “King of the North” will come on
the scene. Napoleon, Bismark and Hitler all dreamed of a United Europe
stretching from the Atlantic to the Urals—established through conquest
and war. Apparently, the dream will now be achieved through trade
agreements and treaties—all signed in Rome.
This same approach is being followed in North America—involving the
United States, Canada and Mexico—in the development of the North
American Union (NAU). Behind-the-scenes negotiations (though vehemently
denied) are now under way to bring about trade agreements and treaties
based on the “success” of NAFTA (see SPP.gov). Once the three nations
have merged into “Mex-Ameri-Cana,” the NAU will have its own regional
parliament, regional court and a regional currency, the Amero.
The Coming Union of Islamic Nations: This same pattern is
being used to set up other “regional unions” of nations in the world. It
is a little-known fact that the seven-member “Gulf Cooperation Counsel”
(GCC) was initially established in 1981 by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait,
Bahrain, Oman, Yemen, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. In 1991, after
Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, the GCC invited the U.S. to send their
armed forces to liberate Kuwait. They also requested that the U.S.
not go into Iraq to fully conquer the country. Thus, the second Iraq
war followed in 2003.
In addition to the GCC, the Greater Arab Free Trade Agreement (GAFTA)
was ratified in 1997 and implemented in 1998 by the following 17 Islamic
nations: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon,
Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,
Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
Notice that the original seven GCC nations are included. When GAFTA
becomes more fully developed, it will undoubtedly include all Islamic
nations in the Middle East and North Africa. Perhaps it will eventually
include Pakistan and Afghanistan as cooperating Islamic nations.
This union will, in turn, become the foundational power base for the
“King of the South.” Now we can understand why the second Gulf war in
Iraq is being fought. With Saddam Hussein having been eliminated as a
threat to the GCC nations—and with success in the Iraq war—the way will
be open for Islamic nations to form a prosperous “Pan-Arab Union”
through GAFTA. With key components in place, we can now see how the
political and territorial foundation for the “King of the South” will
come together.
ASEAN—Association of Southeast Asian Nations: The ten
nations that make up ASEAN include: 1) Brunei Darussalam; 2) Cambodia;
3) Indonesia; 4) Lao PDR (Laos); 5) Malaysia; 6) Myanmar-Burma; 7)
Philippines; 8) Singapore; 9) Thailand; and 10) Vietnam. Representatives
of these nations—which comprising one-third of the world’s
population—meet annually for ASEAN business. Here is an excerpt from a
press report (dated 11-29-2004) dealing with an ASEAN-China trade and
economic summit:
“Vientiane, Laos: China and the Association of the Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) are expected to make substantial progress in advancing
Free Trade Areas (FTAs) at their summit to be held here today.
The two sides will sign a series of agreements, the most prominent of
which are the two known as the Agreement on Trade in Goods of the
Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Co-operation between ASEAN
and China, and the Agreement of Dispute Settlement Mechanism. Chinese
Premier Wen Jiaboa arrived in Vientiane yesterday. He is in Laos Sunday
through Tuesday for a group summit between China and ASEAN, [and] a
three-way meeting between China, Japan and the Republic of Korea [which
probably laid the groundwork for greater cooperation between the three,
as well as for a separate future FTA between them]…. Wen will witness
the signing of all agreements.”
More Regional Unions of Nations: In addition to the
development of the “regional unions” of nations for the “King of the
North” and the “King of the South,” other regional alliances are being
developed through trade agreements and treaties that, in all
probability, will lead eventually to ten major regions of the
world. From what we already know concerning the development of these
regional groupings of nations, perhaps we can anticipate the formation
of certain “regional unions.” While the following proposed alignment of
nations into regions is currently at various stages of development, and
others are not yet clearly defined, this tentative list can at least
give us a preliminary idea of how they might align into ten regions.
They are: 1) European Union; 2) Islamic nations West—Turkey, Lebanon,
Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco; 3)
Islamic nations East—the rest of the Islamic nations; 4) North American
Union (NAU); 5) South American Union; 6) Africa—Sub Sahara, called AFTA.
7) Russia and the nations along its southern border; 8) Southeast Asian
nations, already organized as ASEAN, probably with Japan joining later;
9) China—with Tibet, Mongolia and Korea (or Japan could join the China
group); and 10) India and the Himalayan nations.
How the Jewish nation in Palestine, which today is called Israel, will
fit in is rather difficult to determine at this point. It could be tied
to all ten regions, perhaps more prominently to Europe.
Perhaps this tentative framework of ten “regional unions” of nations can
give us a better understanding of the alignment of nations in the end
times. Notice that the modern end-time nations of the ten tribes of
Israel would lose their sovereignty in such “regional unions”—and would
be taken over by strangers within their gates, who could then easily
rise high above them, and bring them into slavery within their own
countries.
To tie all these alliances together, all trade agreements and treaties
would be regulated through the World Trade Organization (WTO), located
in Geneva, which now comprises 150 nations worldwide. In fact, all these
preliminary “Free Trade Areas” are made up of WTO members, and are thus
subject to its regulations and Trade Dispute Settlement Court. From
their 2007 Annual Report, the WTO declares: “The challenge over the next
few months is to deliver the final Doha [the capital city of Qatar]
Development Agenda agreement which better integrates developing
countries into the global trading system, while expanding trade
opportunities for all WTO members…. The main mission of the WTO is to
open markets and regulate world trade.”
A New Look at Daniel Two: If we re-examine the prophecies
of Daniel two, which began with Nebuchadnezzar as the head of gold, it
is possible to make more sense out of the final kingdom of ten toes. If
we view the ten toes as ten “regional unions” of nations—partly
weak and partly strong because of their alignments—it may give us
greater understanding: “And whereas
you saw the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the
kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it the strength of the
iron, forasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the
toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom
shall be partly strong, and partly broken [or weak]. And whereas you saw
iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle [or join] themselves with
the seed of men [other nations]: but they shall not cleave one to
another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these
kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be
destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it
shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand
for ever” (Dan. 2:41-44).
As we witness the development of these ten “regional unions” of the
nations of the world, rather than simply ten nations in Europe, as has
been postulated in the past. Remember, the EU currently has 12 members
nations and will be adding over 12 more in the near future. This makes
it impossible to interpret the ten toes of Daniel as ten European
nations—five from western Europe and five from eastern Europe. Rather,
we are looking at a worldwide system. Indeed, end time prophecies
show worldwide events, not just those taking place in Europe and the
Middle East.
The Seven Heads that are With the Ten Horns: Revelation 13
speaks of seven heads in addition to the ten horns. Who are these seven
heads? It is very possible that the nations of the G-7—meaning Group of
Seven—are the seven heads. In 1975, the seven most powerful economic
nations of the world began holding annual meetings. But it was not until
1985 that they were officially established as an independent power block
in the world. In 1998, the G-7 added Russia as a guest observer. These
seven nations continue to meet without Russia on certain worldwide
economic issues. The G-7 nations are: the United States, the UK, Canada,
Germany, France, Japan and Italy.
We must also consider that another possible fulfillment of the seven
heads could involve the seven permanent members of the UN Security
Council. At present there are only five permanent members: the U.S., the
UK, France, Russia and China. However, there have been recent proposals
to add two more members—Japan and Germany—which would make seven
permanent Council members.
Either way, we must realize that all geopolitical and economic alliances
are subject to change. The G-7 and the UN Security Council of today
may be composed of entirely different nations in the future.
A One World Government: The book of Revelation also shows
that there will be a worldwide government, headed up by the Beast—one
of the seven heads of Revelation chapter 13. This will probably be a
reconstituted United Nations, perhaps moved from the U.S. to Europe:
“And I stood on the sand of the sea [nations, peoples and languages; see
17:15]; and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads
[the seven leading nations of the world at that time] and ten horns [the
ten “regional unions” of nations], and on his horns ten crowns, and upon
his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast that I saw was
like a leopard, and his feet like the feet of a bear, and his
mouth like the mouth of a lion [diversity and amalgamation, or
unions of nations using the best features of the past civilizations of
men—described in Daniel]; and the dragon [Satan, the devil] gave him his
power, and his throne and great authority. And I saw one of his heads
[the one who ends up as the leader of the entire world system] as if
it were slain to death, but his deadly wound was healed; and
the whole earth was amazed and followed the beast.
“And they [all the people of the world]
worshiped the dragon, who gave his authority to the beast. And
they worshiped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast? Who has
the power to make war against him?’ And a mouth speaking great things
and blasphemies was given to him; and authority was given to him to
continue for forty-two months [after his deadly wound was
healed].
“And he opened his mouth in blasphemy
against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and those who
dwell in heaven. And he was given power to make war against the
saints, and to overcome them; and he was given authority over every
tribe and language and nation [a worldwide government]. And all
who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been
written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world” (Rev. 13:1-8).
There is no question that these verses are describing a one-world
government with full power and authority over all the people of the
world! The saints will not submit to this satanic government, refusing
the “mark” of the Beast—and will be martyred! With the “false prophet”
who is also empowered by Satan the devil (Rev.
13:9-18), the Beast will
lead the whole world into the ultimate rebellion against God the Father
and Jesus Christ—the worship of the Beast as God! The Beast will
undoubtedly be the “King of the North” of Daniel eleven. The “false
prophet” will proclaim the Beast to be God manifested in the flesh—the
Anti-Christ!
Daniel describes him this way: “And the king [of the north] shall do according to his will; and he shall
exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak
awesome things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the
indignation be accomplished: for that which is determined shall be done.
“Neither shall he
regard the god of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any
god: for he shall magnify himself above all. But in his estate shall he
honor the god of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he
honor with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant
things. Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god,
whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause
them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain. And at the
time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of
the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and
with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the
countries, and shall overflow and pass over” (Dan. 11:36-40).
Notice how the apostle Paul was inspired to describe this final Beast:
“Now we beseech you, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken
in mind, nor be troubled—neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by epistle,
as if from us, saying that the day of Christ is present
[this is the exact expression that the New Age Religion uses to describe
their false Christ].
“Do not let anyone deceive you by any
means because that day will not come unless the apostasy shall
come first, and the man of sin shall be revealed—the son of perdition,
the one who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or
that is an object of worship; so that he comes into the temple of God
and sits down as God, proclaiming that he himself is God. Do you not
remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things? And
now you understand what is holding him back in order for him to
be revealed in his own set time.
“For the mystery of lawlessness is
already working; only there is one Who is restraining at the
present time until it arises out of the midst. And then
the lawless one will be revealed (whom the Lord will consume with the
breath of His mouth, and will destroy with the brightness of His coming
[Rev. 19, when Jesus and the saints return to the earth from the Sea
of Glass]); even the one whose coming is according to the
inner working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders,
and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in those who are
perishing because they did not receive the love of the truth, so that
they might be saved.
“And for this cause, God will send upon
them a powerful deception that will cause them to believe the
lie, so that all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but who
took pleasure in unrighteousness” (II Thess. 2:1-9).
As we have seen, Revelation 13 describes
him this way: “And a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies
was given to him; and authority was given to him to continue for
forty-two months [after his deadly wound was healed]. And he opened
his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His
tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven” (verses 5-6).
Perhaps these explanations will help us get a clearer focus on prophetic
world events as we see them develop and unfold before our eyes at this
time, and give us more understanding in the years ahead.
Jesus Commanded us to Watch and be Ready at All Times: We
must always be watching and ready—whether we live to see the
ultimate fulfillment of these events or whether we die in the faith and
pass from the scene. We must always heed Jesus’ admonition: “Watch,
therefore, because you do not know in what hour your Lord is coming. But
know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the
thief would come, he would have been watching, and would not have
allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore, you also be ready.
For the Son of man is coming at a time that you do not think.
“Who then is the faithful and wise
servant whom his lord has set over his household, to give them food in
due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he
comes shall find so doing. Truly I say to you, he will set him over
all his property” (Matt. 24:42-47). Then He will say of each one of us,
“Well done, good and faithful servant; enter into the joy of your Lord.”
A personal family note: Dolores and I are pleased to announce—IT
IS A BOY! December 5, 2007, at about 2 PM, Rachelle delivered her second
child—Zachery. He weighed in at five pounds and 8 ounces, about five
weeks early. Chad, Rachelle and the new baby are doing fine after some
anxious episodes at the hospital. All of us would appreciate your
continued prayers for them.
Brethren, once again, thank you for your love and prayers for all
the brethren—and especially for the Bible Project. Soon, The Holy
Bible In Its Original Order will be in your hands. As a small army
of true “Defenders of the Faith,” we are making a difference. Thank you
for your continued support with your tithes and offerings. May God the
Father and Jesus Christ continue to bless you with love and grace in
everything.
With love in Christ Jesus,
Fred R. Coulter
FRC
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