(Updated, November 22,2021)

How about that for a lead to a blog post?  I know–it’s not the kind of thing that most people would write because if nothing happens, it discredits the entire announcement, right?  And, because we’re so accustomed to such “false” announcements throughout the years, it seems silly to pay any attention to one more of the same old same old.  After all, doesn’t the Bible itself warn us that we cannot know of prophetic fulfillment right down to the very day?

I’m drawing a line in the sand, identifying this very important date, prior to its arrival, as a way to demonstrate that the Bible actually DOES reveal such hidden prophesies in advance of their fulfillment.  This way, I can’t be accused of doing what virtually every other person does, that is–observe a world event, then afterward declare to the world “Ah HA!  The event that just happened is obviously the fulfillment of such-and-such prophecy!  I knew it all along!” We are told in scripture that these important moments can and will be known (to certain people) long before they occur:

John 14:29–“And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.“  We’ll see whether anyone believes that the Bible is actually true.

Recently, there has been much buzz about the fact the the U.S. is moving its embassy to Jerusalem, the city that Israel has always identified as their nation’s capital.  President Trump is planning the opening of our U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Israel’s Declaration of Independence on May 14, 2018–exactly 70 years after its modern founding.  So, why doesn’t my title cite May 14th as a key date?  I’ll explain in a moment, but first, here’s a quick summary of all the wrong prophetic announcements.

When I did a quick Wikipedia search, I discovered that there have been 100’s of predictions of end-time events and there are many others which still are predicting future events.  None of the previous events came true, as had been believed.  And, the truth is, none of the future predictions are accurate, so don’t hold your breath for any of those to happen either.  List, HERE.

I used to belong to a church whose founder was Herbert W. Armstrong.  I smiled to see his name appear on this list four times, beginning in 1936.  Again, all of his end of days announcements proved to be wrong.  In fact, in discussing the attitude of people on earth in the latter days (now), we were told thousands of years ago that nobody would believe the correct announcement when they hear it because they will have become so jaded to all the cries of “wolf” for so many years.  Ezekiel cites this phenomena here:

Eze. 12:22–“Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth? [All the prophetic predictions were a bust.]  ²³ Tell them therefore, Thus saith Yahweh; I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision.  ²⁴ For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel.  ²⁵ For I am Yahweh: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith Yahweh.  ²⁶ Again the word of Yahweh came to me, saying.  ²⁷ Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come [even if it does happen, it will be so far into the future that it doesn’t matter to me today], and he prophesieth of the times that are far off.  ²⁸ Therefore say unto them, Thus saith Yahweh; There shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith Yahweh.”

In other words, something different has to occur in order for the proverb to cease (every vision of the future is wrong!) and to pinpoint the days at hand to be the specific days spoken of in this passage.  If it were possible to know for a certainty that we are living in the days described in Ezekiel, we would need to know two things.  One) What event had  to occur in order to identify the latter day generation?  Two) How can we know if/when that event takes place?  Fortunately, the Bible provides both answers.

The first event pertains to the modern State of Israel.  In the book of Zechariah, we are told that Israel will have to suffer (called “indignation”) for a full 70 years.

Zech. 1:12–“Then the angel of Yahweh answered and said, Yahweh of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these THREESCORE AND TEN YEARS?”

This punishment is clearly directed toward the Nation of Israel, not just the migratory wanderings of the Jewish people.  This is why the above question includes both Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah, another name for Israel.  But before we pinpoint this prophecy to mean today’s modern Israel, we have to first eliminate any other moments in Biblical history where 70 years was also mentioned.  There is one other time, as told by the prophet Jeremiah.

Jer. 25:11–“And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.  ¹² And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.”

In this instance, Jeremiah was talking about the time of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, who ruled Babylon for over 40 years, beginning in 605 B.C.E.  This temporary time of exile lasted 70 years, then the Israelites were released to return back to their homeland.

Jer. 29:10–“For thus saith Yahweh, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.”  This place, of course, is Jerusalem and Israel.

Upon completion of this prophecy by Jeremiah, it is now no longer prophecy.  It is history.  When the prophet Zechariah wrote his book, it was in approximately 520 to 518 B.C.E., nearly a century after Jeremiah’s book.  We know that Jeremiah’s prophecy has already come to pass, but what about Zechariah’s?  How do we identify his words?  Easy.

There has been only one other time in history where the nation of Israel has suffered, non-stop, for 70 years.  And that time began when modern day Israel was officially formed on May 14, 1948 with their Declaration of Independence.  Zechariah’s words cannot possibly be describing the 70 years of captivity during the time of Nebuchadnezzar because it had happened a full century earlier.  His words can only foretell a time that was still future to him when he wrote his book.

So, back to one of my original questions.  If Israel was reestablished on May 14, 1948, why wouldn’t the key date marking the 70 years of indignation be equal to May 14, 2018?  The answer lies with a little thing we all the Gregorian calendar…which did not exist in 520 B.C.E., when Zechariah wrote his book.  At that time, the only recognized calendar of Biblical authors was the Hebrew calendar.

When you enter the date May 14, 1948 in a Hebrew to Gregorian calendar converter, you’ll see that it is 5 Iyyar 5708.  If you add 70 years to THAT date, making the year read 5778, the resulting Gregorian date becomes April 20, 2018.

And that, friends and neighbors, you can take to the bank.

I’ve been explaining this fact to my family and friends since 1998 when the holy spirit opened my mind to understand it.  And I’ve been including this topic periodically on this blog since 2017, as seen here for example.  Each time I’ve written about this significant moment in time, it’s been with a slightly different perspective, so each blog post describes various details of this amazing prophecy.

I cannot cite whether any massive world event will occur on that day or whether it will just pass like wind through the trees.  Regardless of how it manifests itself on the world stage, April 20, 2018 does mark the end of the 70 years of indignation against the modern nation of Israel.  It’s only slightly intriguing that we already have our first major event scheduled to take place the following month when, on May 14, 2018, the U.S. officially opens our embassy in Jerusalem.  Certainly, this will be first of many other peaceful events that will happen in Israel.  But, what else will happen afterward?

Zech. 1:16–“Therefore thus saith Yahweh; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: MY HOUSE SHALL BE BUILT IN IT, saith Yahweh of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.”

My house shall be built in it.  To be clear, after the time of peace begins, starting next month, one of the upcoming events will be the reconstruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.  As a quick primer–in the Old Testament, King David desired to build the Temple, but throughout his entire kingship, he was at war with neighboring people.  It wasn’t until his son, Solomon, became king and the wars ended that the Temple was built because it CAN ONLY BE BUILT DURING A TIME OF PEACE.

Zechariah has foretold two things.  One) The 70 years of Israel’s struggle for survival is coming to an end.  Two) Now that there will be actual peace between her and her Arab neighbors, work may finally begin on constructing the Temple.

And, for those skeptics who cannot believe that any of this could possibly be accurate, I have just one question for you.  Do you actually believe what the Bible says is true?  If so, then how do you explain the following?

Dan. 12:10–“Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.”

John 16:13–“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”

If the wise will understand…all truth…showing us things to come, then prove me wrong.  Better yet, prove prophecy wrong.

For more details about this important date in prophecy, you may read another of my posts from last year, which also described it, but using different details.  See here.

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Update, November 22, 2021:

Soon after I posted this story to my blog, it quickly exceeded all others and moved to the number 1 position of all other posts.  As I made clear, this pronouncement was written prior to that pivotal day of April 20, 2018, as evidence to show that the Bible is making these end-times prophesies known to the world.  We are living in “that generation” who will understand “all things”–

Luke 21:32–“Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.”

Prov. 28:5–“Evil men understand not judgment: but they that seek Yahweh understand all things.”

Now, looking back in time, what events have occurred since that key date?  Keep in mind, modern Israel has been a sovereign nation for over 70 years and throughout her entire modern history, only two nations, Egypt and Jordan, had established diplomatic ties to Israel via peace treaties.  There have been four new Middle Eastern nations that have followed suit, almost immediately after the 70 years of indignation came to a close.

August, 2020

The United Arab Emirates became the third Arab state to formally recognize Israel and established full diplomatic relations under the Trump-inspired Abraham Accords.  This agreement paved the way for Israelis to visit the UAE and it established direct flights between the two countries.  Israel also agreed to suspend plans for the annexation of large areas of the  occupied West Bank.

September 2020

Bahrain quickly followed in the UAE’s footsteps, as both countries signed the Abraham Accords deal in Washington DC on September 15, 2020.  Manama agreed to open embassies, establish online visa systems and launch weekly flights between the two countries.

October 2020

Sudan became the fifth country in the Arab world to formalize relations with Israel, after Washington decided to remove Khartoum from the State Department’s State Sponsors of Terrorism List (SST).

December 2020

Morocco formalized relations with Israel on December 10, 2020, after the United States officially recognized the disputed Western Sahara region as belonging to the North African kingdom.  Morocco’s King Mohammed VI was initially hesitant about normalizing relations, until US officials said Trump could help facilitate billions of dollars worth of investments in Morocco.  Israeli Prime Minister (at that time) Benjamin Netanyahu expected direct flights to soon begin between the two countries.

Four new Arab nations, all signing peace deals with Israel, ONLY after the 70 years of indignation had come to a close?  Coincidence?