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Introduction This Still Here logo will appear at the bottom of the back cover of all Still Here books and on each page on this website. Its earth image is taken from “3D Globe,” which is presented by National Geographic magazine in cooperation with the U.S. government’s National Aeronautical Space Administration (NASA). Permission of Use of this earth image, with its added overlay, has been granted by United Soft Media (USM) of Munich, Germany. 3D Globe is distributed in the U.S. by TOPICS Entertainment, Inc., of Renton, Washington. This colorful earth image in the logo perfectly represents the earth as it appears from outer space (taken from NASA satellite photos), but without cloud cover. There is much intended meaning of the exact position of the earth in this logo as well as its overlying components. What follows on this web page are explanations of various features of this Still Here logo. Some of these features are rather cryptic and relate most particularly to certain books in this Still Here series. Explanations of some of these features will be withheld for now and added later, when those relevant books are published and thus become available.
The Earth Image Even though Jesus lived, died, resurrected, and ascended into heaven nearly 2,000 years ago, all pretribulationalists—including Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, the authors of Left Behind—claim that the Rapture has always been imminent ever since the church began on the first Day of Pentecost following Jesus’ ascension. By "imminent" they mean that the Rapture could have occurred at "any moment" throughout the ensuing church age. But the fact that it has not occurred for almost 2,000 years raises the question of whether the Rapture really has been imminent during this long time period. Pretribulationalists call this any-moment expectation of the Rapture “the doctrine of imminency.” Still Here books will oppose the doctrine of imminency by asserting that scripture shows clearly that the Rapture has never been imminent. Still Here books, however, do affirm that the Rapture will occur sometime in the future, in complete agreement with Left Behind books. Still Here books will merely differ with Left Behind concerning the timing of the Rapture in relation to the Tribulation, which is indicated in the logo.
The Timeline
The Center of the Timeline When this abomination of desolation is set up in the rebuilt temple at Jerusalem, the Antichrist will proclaim himself as god and declare war on all Christians worldwide, which begins “the tribulation.” Many people who refuse to bow down and worship the Antichrist or his image will suffer a martyr’s death. The ensuing days will therefore be the greatest persecution that Christians, and perhaps devoutly religious Jews and some others, will ever experience. (See explanations on this website of “The Abomination of Desolation” and “The Tribulation” in “Still Here Explained.”)
The Left Arrow The shortness of this arrow indicates that when believers are raptured (caught up) they will not take a long journey to heaven. Rather, after their initial union with Jesus in the air they will enter into the holy New Jerusalem, which apparently will be located near the earth. Jesus spoke about this New Jerusalem in John 14.2-3, and it is described in detail in Rev 21-22. It comes down out of heaven from God to become the eternal home of the raptured saints. Pretribulationalists usually locate this descent of holy New Jerusalem from heaven after the millennium mentioned in Rev 20. Dispensationalists, and therefore pretribulationalists, usually locate the time of the descent of the holy New Jerusalem, depicted in Rev 21-22, as following the millennium mentioned in Rev 20. But this view reflects the Dispensationalists’ penchant for interpreting Revelation too chronologically.
So, the short arrow near the right end of the timeline indicates the correct
time of the Rapture, that it is posttribulational. Since the Rapture
momentarily precedes the Second Coming of Christ, that is, Jesus' arrival into the region of the earth's atmosphere, this short arrow should be placed exactly where the tall,
cross-shaped arrow is located. But in doing so, it would be difficult to
distinguish between these two arrows. Notice that this far-right points in the vicinity of Jerusalem, which is located thirty miles inland from the Mediterranean Sea. According to Luke’s book of Acts, Jesus stood on the Mount of Olives and ascended to heaven while his disciples watched him depart. Immediately thereafter, two angels appeared among the disciples and said to them, “This Jesus, who has been taken up from you, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1.11). Jesus therefore will literally return to earth at this very place on the Mount of Olives (Zech 14.4).
The Clock This clock shows that its hour hand points almost right at the midnight hour, and its minute hand points to 1.5 minutes to midnight. This means that our present time, in 2006 (the time of this writing), is one-and-a-half minutes to midnight. Of course, the passing of time steadily moves the clock’s minute hand closer and closer to midnight.
The time of this clock indicates that we are getting nearer to midnight. Midnight symbolizes “the end (of this present age),” also called “the end of the world.”
Jews call it “the End of Days,” quoting from Dan 2.28, 10.14, and 12.13. For
Christians, “the end” occurs at the Second Coming of Christ. Thus, the
clock shows our present time in relation to both history and the end of the age, so that
we are about one-and-a-half minutes away from the end. Obviously, the clock’s
time is not literal; it needs to be decoded. (Of course, both this literal view of creation, a 24-hour day in Gen 1, and this conservative view of biblical chronology are contrary to current physics, Darwinian evolution, and anthropological theories of the origin of life on earth. Current science commonly asserts that the universe is about 12.8 billion years old and that human beingshave existed on earth for perhaps as many as 3 million years.) Bible chronology has always attracted both Jews and Christians. Rabbinical scholars during antiquity treated this genealogical data in the Bible literally, never suspecting that it might omit mention of any time gaps. If we apply these rabbinical calculations to our Westerm, Gregorian calendar, 6,000 years of human history since the creation of Adam and Eve will have transpired in our yet future year of 2240. Orthodox Jews still accept these rabbinical calculations of antiquity by identifying this year of 2006 (date of this writing) as the year 5766. Bishop Ussher was perhaps the most famous Bible chronologist in church history. His chronological dating was included as notes in many subsequent editions of the King James Version of the Bible. Like the rabbis before him, Ussher also treated the Bible’s genealogical data literally and assumed that it had no unaccounted time gaps. But his calculations differed slightly from those of the rabbis. Ussher showed that 4,000 years of human history transpired from the time of the creation of Adam and Eve to the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. But experts later learned that our Gregorian calendar involved a miscalculation, so that Jesus was not actually born when the calendar begins but in 6-4 B.C. So, according to Bishop Ussher's calculations, the 6,000th year of human history occurred in either the year 1995 or 1996 (allowing for a skipped year between 1 B.C. and A.D 1). Therefore, the sixty minutes on the imaginary clock in the Still Here logo represent the entire time span of 6,000 years of human history to the end of this present age by treating the Bible’s genealogical data literally and assuming that there are no omitted time gaps in it. The code that unlocks this imaginary clock is that one minute represents 100 years of human history.
What Time Is It? Also in The Third Day Bible Code, a second date is estimated in order to establish two time parameters that designate a time period within which Jesus will literally return to the earth. This second date is the year 2250. It, too, is an approximation, being only ten years beyond the Jewish determination of the year 2240 as the 6,000th year of human history. So, the two dates determined in The Third Day Bible Code as parameters that set forth an approximate time period in which the end will occur and Christ will simultaneously return to the earth are the years 2070 and 2250. The difference between these two time parameters is 180 years. Half of 180 years is 90 years. Therefore, the mid-point between the years 2070 and 2250 is the year 2160. That year is only 154 years away from the year of this writing, which is 2006. This 154-year figure, then, is very close to 150 years. So, the imaginary clock’s minute hand being set at 1.5 minutes to midnight means that the year 2006 is close to 150 years away from the middle of the estimated time period in which Christ will return. But, again, these time parameters—the years 2070 and 2250—are merely approximations and the year 2160, which is about 150 years away from this time of writing (actually 154 years away), is only the mid-point between these two time parameters. Therefore, my book The Third Day Bible Code does not assert that Jesus will return in some specific year, for instance, in the year 2160, or in some certain decade or even a particular century. Again, the book only claims that Jesus will return during the early part of the third millennium following his departure, but not during its first generation. This is how the imaginary clock in this Still Here logo should be understood. Still Here books will teach that God long ago determined the exact time of the end of this age and that it will coincide with many things in his economy that he has predicted to humankind, primarily time factors in Israel's sacrificial system and appointed feasts. So, this fixed date for the end of this present age has always been irrevocable (Acts 1.7; 17.31). No one will ever know that exact date until it happens (Matt. 24.36/Mark 13.32). But as time marhces on, and humankind gets nearer to the end, believers who understand endtimes Bible prophecies will be able to sense more accurately the approximate time of the end on God’s prophetic clock. What Jesus said to the Pharisees and Sadducees about his first coming also applies to the endtimes as they more closely precede his second coming, "When it is evening, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.' And in the morning, 'It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times" (Matt. 16.2). Thus, believers who live during the latter years and understand the signs of the times will know more accurately what time it is.
Still
Here is a Registered Trademark of Kermit Zarley. The
earth graphic is taken from CD-ROM “3D Globe,”
© United Soft Media Verlag GmbH, |
