Special Message
Could 2009–2015 Be the Third Trimester of the Second Coming Birth Pains? By Perry Stone
“But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”
False Labor “Signs” The birth pains of the Messiah are compared to a woman who is in travail prior to giving birth to a child. All pregnant women are aware that “false labor pains” often occur. They may feel like the child is coming, but they are counterfeit pains. Many events have been labeled by some prophetic observers as important, life-changing moments, but they turned out to be a small glitch with little prophetic impact. One such event was the alleged “Parade of Planets” occurring in 1982. It was reported that when the planets aligned into one straight line, it would create havoc on the gravitational force of the earth, creating apocalyptic upheavals. Of course, nothing happened. …continued on next page
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Then there was the famous “88 reasons Christ will return in 1988.” When 1988 passed, the author admitted he missed his calculations by one year, and wrote a follow up book projecting Christ’s return for 1989. When 1990 arrived, the books disappeared and the author has not been heard from since. In 1999 fear of the “Y2K” bug created enormous hype because of the possible failure of millions of computers when their internal clocks rolled over to the year 2000. Many computer experts believed the zeros could not be interpreted, thus causing systems to crash, leading to a global computer meltdown. One “expert” made hundreds of thousands of dollars preparing monthly newsletters for about 18 months, helping you prepare for modern civilization to be
“The three trimesters of pregnancy are parallel to the three stages of the birth pains of the Messiah.” thrust back into the 1800’s. At midnight on January 1, 2000, life continued uninterrupted. These were false labor pains that often created more skepticism toward prophetic teaching. A Repeat of the Days of the Temple Many signs of Christ’s coming are revealed in Matthew 24. This chapter begins with Christ warning of the coming destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem (Matthew 24:1-2). History reveals that many false “messiahs” arose and attempted to deliver the Jews from the Roman occupation of Jerusalem. A rebel named Theadus rebelled against the Romans, leading a group to the Jordan River expecting the river to open supernaturally. The Romans killed him and his followers. An Egyptian named Felix drew 30,000 followers by predicting the walls of Jerusalem would fall on the Romans. He was also dealt a death blow by
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the Roman leaders. Another false prophet promised deliverance when his disciples followed him into the wilderness. They also met their untimely deaths. Josephus, who reported these things, mentions another man with 6,000 followers who said God was with them and would help the people defeat the Roman army. He and his groupies died in the siege of the city in 70 AD. They all attempted, but failed, to deliver the people from severe birth pains prior to the destruction of the Temple. Jesus, however, had already predicted what would occur and warned his own followers to leave the city and escape to the mountains, which many Christians did prior to the Temple’s destruction! The True “Signs” of the End of the Age War, famine, pestilence, and earthquakes are the beginning of birth pains (Matthew 24:8). If these pains are compared to a woman in travail, then natural labor is a reflection of the spiritual realities. The time from conception to birth is divided into three periods, called trimesters. The first trimester is the first three months, the second trimester is the fourth through sixth months, and the third trimester is the seventh through the ninth months. These three trimesters are parallel to the three stages of the birth pains of the Messiah. During the first three months, a woman may know she is pregnant, but there is little visible evidence other than some soreness in her body and occasional morning sickness. From 70 AD to the late 1800’s, there was very little occurring prophetically throughout the world, indicating a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. Israel was not a nation, Jerusalem was under TurkishMuslim occupation, and the Jews were scattered throughout the world. It was not until the late 1800’s (1896-98) that the Zionist movement took root with public recognition, predicting the restoration of Israel within fifty years. It was also the time that the Holy Spirit began to be poured out in North Carolina,
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and later Topeka Kansas and Los Angeles, all within ten years! Prophetically the first trimester had little visible proof of the time of the end. The Second Trimester — War and Weariness The second trimester of childbirth is when the child is growing more inside the womb. A woman needs to eat the right food to maintain her strength, since she will be more weary and tired than normal. By the sixth month, there is more physical evidence of the pregnancy. Jesus reveals the early signs of his coming are linked to wars and rumors of wars, but he said, “The end is not yet” (Matthew 24:6). There have been numerous wars throughout history, however WWI started in 1914 and 20 million people were killed and 21 million wounded, including 9.7 million military deaths and 10 million civilian deaths. Most civilian deaths were related to famine and disease that struck the war zones. This could be interpreted as a second trimester birth pain. World War I ended in 1917. World War II was considered a continuation of WWI. The second war began when Germany invaded Poland in 1939, and concluded when Germany and Japan surrendered in 1945. Rabbis called this seven year period a “time of Jacob’s trouble,” mentioned in Jeremiah 30:7. Over
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six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust during these seven years. This travail re-birthed the nation of Israel in one day, which fulfilled Isaiah 66:8, which says “Who hath heard such a thing? Who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day, or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.” Physically, the second trimester introduces tiredness and weariness as the woman’s body is readjusting to the child growing in the womb. Weariness is a part of the prophetic birth pains. In the parable of the unjust judge, Jesus said, “Men should always pray and not faint” (Luke 18:1). We are told not to be weary in well doing (Gal. 6:9). Isaiah predicted a time in which the “youths shall faint and the young men will utterly fall” (Isaiah 40:30). When Christ experienced travail (agony) in Gethsemane prior to his crucifixion, the disciples slept. Jesus prayed one hour, then told them to watch. He did this three times and the longer he prayed, the more intense the travail became, as his sweat was mixed with blood (Matt. 26:40-45, Luke 22:41-45). He entered a “third trimester” of intercession and arose from the garden ready to be offered as the final sacrifice. The Third Trimester — Hard Labor Pains One person wrote, “The third trimester is the end of the road. You are almost done.” At the end of this trimester, somewhere in the last month, the expected labor pains begin. In Matthew 24, wars begin the first stage, but the end is not yet (Matthew 24:6). The second stage begins with famine, pestilence, and earthquakes in different places. After World War II, there was a huge increase in earthquakes. In 1948 there were only four earthquakes. Fifty years later, from January through July of 2008, there were 31 earthquakes with 87,728 deaths. Wheat rust and drought are expected to destroy one-fourth of the world’s wheat, and rice shortages have caused riots in many poor countries. The Greek word for pestilence
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indifferent. The indifference in the modern church spreads into the personal lives of the members. There is currently division in families, divorce, and church splits caused by love becoming cold in the hearts of individuals. In Matthew 24:14, Jesus tells us the gospel will be preached around the world then the end will come. Three Trimester Wars Each of the three prophetic trimesters has a major war linked to it that births an event connected to Israel and the Jews. Not since the destruction of the second Temple in 70 AD has any war had as much of an impact on the Jews as World Wars I and II.
• The 1st trimester —The end of WWI gave birth to Belfour declaration, written for the Jews in 1917 is loimos and according to W.E. Vine’s Dictionary, alludes to a “deadly infectious malady.” The world has witnessed AIDS, bird flu, and mad cow disease which have affected millions of people. These diseases can all eventually lead to death. Jesus taught these signs are the beginning of birth pains! Wars introduce the
• The 2nd trimester —The end of WWII gave birth to the Israel as a nation in 1948
birth pains, but terrible natural disasters bring the labor to another level, or a “second trimester.”
We have had two major wars of prophetic significance. The next major Middle Eastern conflict of prophetic significance is identified by Ezekiel as the war of Gog and Magog (Ezekiel 38 & 39). Israel’s enemies include many Islamic nations, and the text in Ezekiel seems to indicate some form of chemical or biological weapons will be used, since the land is polluted for seven months before the corpses of the dead are buried (Ezekiel 39:12-14). This war could possibly introduce the seven year treaty (Daniel 9:27) and pave the road for a man the Bible identifies as the Antichrist (1 John 2:18-22; 4:3; Revelation 13:1-2).
The Third Trimester and the Church One aspect of the final birth pain that brings all things to an end is a warning Christ gave concerning men and women becoming offended at one another, betraying one another, and love growing cold. This is parallel to the seventh church in Revelation, the church at Laodicea (Rev. 3:14). This early church represents the spiritual condition of the church prior to the return of Christ as being lukewarm or
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• The 3rd trimester —The end of Armageddon will give birth to the Messiah returning to Israel
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I believe this war could introduce the final phase of the birth pains. 2009-2015: New Interest in a Prophetic Cycle There is once again much interest concerning certain future dates. Books and articles have examined the Mayan calendar and its famous calendar that began on August 11, 3114 BC and has an end date of December 21, 2012. The reason for the concern is that during the winter solstice on December 21, 2012, the sun will be aligned with the center of the Milky Way for the first time in about 26,000 years. Allegedly, this means that whatever energy typically streams to earth from the center of the Milky Way might be disrupted on 12/21/12 at 11:11. Some believe the sunspot cycles could disrupt Earth’s magnetic field and affect our atmosphere, create power outages, earthquakes, and other apocalyptic events. However, this could be another false labor pain, since these types of “false pains” are common in the third trimester among some women. The second time frame of interest is 2015 and certain cosmic activity. Jewish rabbis have noted that in the time of the end, the “sun will be darkened and the moon turned into blood” (Joel 2:31, Acts 2:20). The Jewish Talmud has a lot to say on the subject of lunar eclipses. In Sukkah 29a it is written, “When the moon is in eclipse, it is a bad omen for Israel…if the face is as red as blood, (it is a sign) the sword is coming to the world…” The rabbis taught that when the sun is in eclipse, it is a bad omen for the world. Rabbi Meir has also observed that when the luminaries are in eclipse, it is a bad omen for Israel. According to the rabbinical interpretation of eclipses, a solar eclipse is a sign of trouble for the world and a lunar eclipse is a bad sign for Israel. There can only be seven eclipses in one year. There were seven total
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eclipses twice in the twentieth century, in 1917 and 1973, both major prophetic years involving the Jews and/or Israel. Only seven times in history since 1 AD has a blood moon (lunar eclipse) fallen during the first fests (Passover) and last feast (Tabernacles) during the same year. The most recent dates are 1492-93, 1949-50, and 1967-68, all major prophetic seasons linked to the Jews (1492), Israel (1948), and Jerusalem (1967). In 2014-15, the Jewish religious year will begin with a total solar eclipse, and two weeks later a total lunar eclipse on Passover. The civil year (Rosh Hashanah) begins with a solar eclipse followed two weeks later by another blood moon on the feasts of Tabernacles. From 2014 to 2015, there will be back-to-back “blood moons” falling on the first and last feasts of Israel. The actual dates are: • First Day of Passover - April 15, 2014 • First Day of Tabernacles - October 8, 2014 • First Day of Passover - April 4, 2015 • First Day of Tabernacles - September 28, 2015 (Source: Pastor Mark Blitz of El Shaddai Ministries) Only time will reveal the prophetic impact, if any, of the Mayan calendar’s cosmic predictions. However, historical cycles reveal that blood moons are an omen to Israel, since the Hebrew calendar is a lunar calendar using the cycles of the moon to determine the months and feast days. I believe the greatest signs are the progression of many birth pains in nations, on the earth, in Israel, and the church that will climax with the return of Christ. If natural disasters and cosmic events continue, we may certainly be entering the third trimester of the birth pains of the Messiah!
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