The Mystery of the Shemitah (28 page)

The Judgment Pattern

Going by the template of the ancient judgment revealed in
The Harbinger,
a clear pattern emerges. First come warnings through voices, the voice of God in the voices of the righteous, or the faithful, or the prophets. But with these first warnings going unheeded, there now comes warning in less gentle manifestations. God allows the nation to be shaken. It is still the calling of God, but to a people who have now grown so hardened and deafened to His voice that it is only in this way that they can hear—if they will hear. It is a wake-up call and a warning that if the nation does not return to God, judgment will come.

If, after the first calamity or shaking, the nation still does not hear or respond, there comes a second shaking. And if the nation still does not hear, or still ignores, or still rejects the warning in the second shaking, there comes another, and another, until the nation either turns back to God and is restored, or continues down its course to the full force of the judgment. And there is no guarantee as to how many warnings or shakings are given before that judgment falls.

When Judgment Comes

And as for that judgment, how does it come? A nation’s judgment can come through another nation or nations. It can come through natural disaster. It can come through unnatural or man-made disaster. It can come through a second strike on the land, or a second manifestation of terrorism. It can come through economic and financial collapse. It can come through famine. It can come through the breakdown of infrastructure. It can come through military defeat. It can come through decline, disorder, division, and disintegration. There is no formula for it, but there are patterns and templates of its progression.

The Harbinger Prophecies

The nine harbingers of ancient Israel were not merely events or objects, but prophetic signs. And as prophetic signs, they each carried prophetic messages concerning not only the nation’s present condition—but also that which lay ahead in its future, prophecies in the form of signs revealing what would happen if the nation didn’t turn back to God.

Since the same nine harbingers have now manifested in America, is it possible that the prophetic messages they carried concerning ancient Israel’s future could also reveal what could lie ahead in America’s future? In the space we have here, we will just briefly touch on two of the prophetic warnings contained in the nine harbingers.

The Oracle of the Breach

The breaking of Israel’s hedge of national security in 732 BC was not just a calamity but a prophetic warning of things to come. The warning was this:

If the nation did not return to God and continued to war against His ways, a strike of a much greater scale and fury would come upon the land—and the nation would be destroyed.

And that is exactly what would happen on Israel’s last day as a nation. The breach was a harbinger of things to come. It had been carried out by Assyrian soldiers. So too, years later, the nations’ final destruction would be carried about by the Assyrians. The first strike was a foreshadowing of the last.

What about America? The breach of America’s security manifested in 9/11. But if 9/11 was not just a calamity but a prophetic foreshadower, what is its warning? According to the ancient pattern, the warning would be this:

Without God, there is no true security or safety for America. Without His hand of protection, no matter how many systems of defense the nation employs, they will fail just as they did on 9/11. America cannot defy the God of its keeping and expect that protection to continue. “Unless the L
ORD
guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain” (Ps. 127:1). America, without God, is not safe. America, in defiance of God, is even less safe. If it continues down the present course, another calamity may come on the land as on 9/11, and yet on an even greater scale.

The Oracle of the Ruins

After the strike on ancient Israel in 732 BC, all that was left of the buildings that had stood in the path of the enemy’s onslaught were the ruin heaps of fallen bricks—the third harbinger. The bricks were not just the remnants of destruction, but also foreshadowings of what was yet to come. They were prophecies in ruin heaps. Their warning was twofold. The first was this:

•
  If the nation continued in its course, a greater destruction would befall it, and the ruin heaps of fallen bricks that appeared in limited number and scale, the result of a limited strike, would become nearly universal. The ruins would appear throughout the land. The nation itself would be left in ruins.

The second warning of the fallen bricks was larger:

•
  The fallen bricks spoke of collapse, implosion, a crumbling, the wiping away of structure, disintegration, and destruction. The second warning was this: if the people didn’t heed the warning, the kingdom itself would crumble, collapse, implode, be destroyed. And that is exactly what would take place in the years that followed. The kingdom of Israel would be wiped away from the land.

The third harbinger manifested in America in the fall of the towers and the massive ruin heaps that appeared at Ground Zero in their place. According to the pattern of Israel’s judgment, the warning would be this:

•
  America cannot war against the God of its foundation and expect its blessings to remain. If America does not turn from its course, it will become vulnerable to a future event of even greater destruction.

And beyond this is a larger warning. The bricks, the ruin heaps, and 9/11 itself speak of collapse, implosion, disintegration, and destruction. The larger warning would be this:

•
  In His blessings God allowed America to be built up, as a high tower among the nations. But a tower cannot separate itself from the very foundation on which it rests and still stand. So too with America—without God America will not hold but will collapse.

What adds to the message is that the towers that fell on 9/11 carried specific symbolic meaning. They represented America’s financial and economic power and preeminence. In their collapse the warning of the bricks would speak of economic and financial implosion. We have already seen manifestations of this in the two great collapses of Wall Street in the Shemitahs of 2001 and 2008.

Lastly, the towers represented a global financial and economic order and age in which America was the center. Even the name World Trade Center conveys this. What of their fall? It would warn of coming days when America is no longer the center of the world’s financial and economic order—and when that order itself has collapsed.

Isaiah 9:11 and Beyond

Beyond the prophetic keys contained in the other seven harbingers concerning America are the keys contained in the prophecy itself. If one continues reading on from Isaiah 9:10, one finds an account of national judgment—the specific judgments that came upon ancient Israel in the years after the harbingers appeared. The description is chilling in its unrelenting execution.

Though we would not expect the unique circumstances surrounding Israel’s destruction to constitute a formula for the present, there are some striking things to note. The scenario concerns:

•
  Ungodly leaders

•
  A government passing immoral laws

•
  Division

•
  Violence

•
  A desolation that comes from far away

•
  An enemy attack

•
  Fire on the land

•
  Destruction

The Shemitah and the Mystery of the Future

What about the harbinger of the Shemitah? Could its mystery reveal that which lies ahead?

As I wrote at the beginning of this book, we must be careful with regard to date-setting as to when certain events must come about. The issue is not of dates but of the call to repentance and return. My concern with the focusing on dates is that it can take away from the central matter of repentance. I have warned of a coming judgment, but I have also cautioned against putting the workings of God in a box with regard to the timing of that judgment. God doesn’t
have
to act in the same way or according to the same timing as He has in the past. Prophetic signs do not generally happen routinely or according to a schedule. There are Shemitah years that dramatically manifest the mystery and others that do not. Nothing
has to
happen in the next Shemitah.

Having said that, I must also give a second caution: God
can
work as He has in the past and
can
bring judgment at the time of the Shemitah. In view of both cautions, it is wise that one should be aware of the Shemitah and its days.

The Opening and Closing Pattern

While nothing of significance has to take place in any given Shemitah year, if something of significance were to happen, how might it manifest? The Shemitah’s opening can mark the beginning of change and the shifting of momentum. At the same time, if a change or shifting should take place at this point, more often than not it tends to constitute a firstfruit, a foreshadow of what lies ahead, a subtle trace in comparison to what comes at the end. If there is a change at this point, its coming may or may not be noticeable at first.

The general pattern is this: As the Shemitah progresses, and, particularly, as it nears its end, its intensity increases. As the Shemitah approaches the time of its climactic day and wake, it is then that the dramatic events associated with its coming either manifest, intensify, or approach their climax.

In the case of September 2000, the Shemitah’s beginning paralleled a downturn in national production, one of the signs of recession. But one could easily have missed it. Halfway through the Shemitah, the downturn coalesced into a full recession. And yet the Shemitah’s most dramatic moment manifested in its last week. It was the week that the attack of 9/11 and the subsequent collapse of Wall Street took place. The overall pattern is that the Shemitah’s most dramatic or intense time is that which leads up to Elul 29 or that which proceeds from Elul 29, the Day of Nullification.

The Shemitah to Come

So when is the next Shemitah? The Shemitah begins in September of 2014. Its first day, Tishri 1, commences at sunset on Wednesday night, September 24, and ends at sunset on September 25. But again, it is at the Shemitah’s end and its wake that the most dramatic repercussions are felt. In each of the last two Shemitahs the end date of Elul 29 saw the greatest collapses in stock market history. The coming Shemitah will end September 2015. Its final climactic day, Elul 29, the Day of Remission, will fall on Sunday, September 13. Since the stock markets are closed, this would preclude the beginning of a market collapse that day, inasmuch as America is concerned.

But there are other possibilities. While nothing has to take place on or around this time, if something were to happen, a collapse or calamity could take place just before or after that weekend, or both before and after. It could also take place within the larger Elul-Tishri period surrounding Elul 29. Another possibility is that of a trigger event that takes place outside the time of the markets’ openings that could bring about a market collapse—as in the case of 9/11. And there is the possibility of a calamity taking place beyond and apart from the financial and economic realms, and yet which causes the collapse of both these realms.

It is worthy to note that as it was in 2001, so it will be again in 2015—the last day the market will be open before Elul 29, the Day of Nullification, will be September 11.

During 2015 there will be two solar eclipses. Interestingly both of them will bear significance with regard to the Shemitah’s timing. One will mark the Shemitah’s exact center point. The other will mark its climactic last day, Elul 29. The last time a solar eclipse fell on Elul 29 of a Shemitah year was twenty-eight years earlier in September 1987. It ushered in the greatest stock market percentage crash in American history that same month. (See the epilogue for more about these solar eclipses as well as blood moons.)

The What of the Mystery

Again, as stated before, we cannot expect prophetic happenings to show up on a regular schedule or to perform on cue. Nothing significant
has
to happen within the Shemitah of 2014–2015. The phenomenon may manifest in one cycle, and not in another, and then again in the next. And the focus of the message is not date-setting but the call of God to repentance and return. At the same time, something of significance could take place, and it is wise to note the times.

Regardless of what does or does not take place in the coming Shemitah, and regardless of the
when
involved in the mystery, it is wise that we now take note of the
what—
the mystery’s essence—and apply it to America and the world concerning a judgment in days to come.

The Mystery of the Shemitah—Future Tense

If the Shemitah is to manifest in the form of judgment concerning America and the American-led world order, and the American age, we can expect several things concerning its manifestation:

•
  The judgment will affirm the sovereignty of God over all things.