At the end of the May issue of the FFI, I mentioned the Watch Date of April 20, 2010 and the fact that this date is 1290 days after the seventh vial was poured out in Babylon, NY on Oct. 7, 2006.

The number 1290 is the number of the Desolator. Dan. 12:11 reads,

¹¹ And from the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.

The Hebrew word for “desolation” is shamem, which means to be desolate, devastated, stunned, appalled. It has had some historical applications in the past, but in our present context, it obviously has to do with the devastation caused by the oil spill, as well as the Gulf of Mexico being turned into a dead zone—“desolate” of marine life.

Early news reports suggested that the amount of oil being leaked from the bottom of the Gulf was about 5,000 barrels of oil per day. More recently, BP announced that it was able to recover about 5,000 barrels of oil daily from one of the leaking pipes—and yet this was barely making a dent in the overall leak. They revised their figures to 5 or 10 times their original estimate.

The oil spill is perhaps not the worst of it. There is much more natural gas leaking into the Gulf than oil. At such depths (5,000 feet below the surface) and cold temperature, this natural gas turns to carbon dioxide and water and drives out all oxygen that marine life requires to survive.

Essentially, this natural gas is turning the Gulf into a total Dead Zone, an “abomination of desolation.”

Because this event is directly tied to the pouring out of the seventh bowl of wine on Babylon, NY, which we did 1290 days earlier on Oct. 7, 2006, it suggests that this environmental disaster is going to be a big factor in the downfall of Mystery Babylon. Keep in mind that what we did in Babylon, NY was to bear witness to the Word coming from the Throne of God saying, “It is done” (Rev. 16:17). We did not initiate this or anything else, good or bad. We only bore earthly witness to what the Father had revealed to be His plan and purpose in overthrowing this Babylonian Empire.

God’s purpose is to set men free, not to destroy the earth. But in the short-term, we see environmental disaster on a scale that is nearly unprecedented in recorded history.

Apollyon and Abaddon

The judgments of God always fit the crime. It is “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” (Ex. 21:24). When crude oil is used as a divine judgment, it invariably is because the Church has dispensed spiritual crude oil (a counterfeit Holy Spirit) instead of olive oil, which represents the genuine Spirit of God.

The history of this goes back at least to the 7^th century to the rise of Islam.

Islam teaches that Mohammed fulfilled Jesus’ prophecy of the Comforter who was to come after Him. John 14:26,

²⁶ But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

Christians believe that the Holy Spirit was given on Pentecost in Acts 2. But Islam believes that it referred to Mohammed. Both views cannot be correct. One must be a counterfeit. Herein lies a major disagreement between Christianity and Islam.

When the Church reached a certain level of corruption and rebellion, God raised up Mohammed to judge the Church. Islam has always been part of the divine plan to correct the Church by afflicting it with Islam.

Insofar as the book of Revelation is concerned—and therefore, God’s perspective—the Islamic judgment on the Church came immediately after the Roman bishop laid exclusive claim to the title of “Universal Bishop.” This was done by Pope Boniface III in 606.

This is quite remarkable, since his predecessor, Gregory I (590-604) had insisted that the Church was headed equally by the bishops of Alexandria, Constantinople, and Rome. In fact, in 596 Gregory wrote a letter that declared, “whosoever calls himself universal priest or desires to be called so, was the forerunner of Antichrist.” (See Philip Schaff’s History of the Christian Church, Vol. 4, page 220.)

Schaff says of Boniface III on page 230,

“Boniface III (606-607) did not scruple to assume the title of ‘universal bishop,’ against which Gregory, in proud humility, had so indignantly protested as a blasphemous antichristian assumption.”

And so the year 606 A.D. marked an important turning point in the history of the Church. It marks the time when the Roman Bishop assumed full authority over the entire Church. Others had done this before him, setting some precedents, but then their successors had denied this power. In 606 this assumed authority became a permanent fixture in the Church religious system.

Three years later, God caused Mohammed to be raised up to bring judgment upon the Church. He began his preaching shortly after this in the year 612. The Islamic calendar begins ten years later in 622, the year of the Hegira, that is, Mohammed’s flight from Mecca.

The divine purpose of Islam is still the same today. While many Christians rant and rave against “militant Islam,” they miss the whole point from God’s perspective. As long as the Church blames Muslims and refuses to look inward and repent for its own rebellion against God, Islam will continue to become more and more powerful. When the Church repents, God will alter the situation, and I believe that Muslims will turn to Christ in droves.

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is part of this bigger prophetic picture. It is no coincidence that 1290 years after the start of the Islamic calendar (in 622) brings us to the year 1912. It is the year of the Titanic, foreshadowing the overthrow of the world’s economic system that would begin in earnest with the passage of the Federal Reserve Act on Dec. 23, 1913.

It is 618 days between the sinking of the Titanic and the passage of the Federal Reserve Act. This is, of course, the phi ratio, which we see so often in prophetic history, and it shows the prophetic connection between the two events.

The signing of the Federal Reserve Act also occurred 2,520 years after the original Babylon became an Empire in 607 B.C. (607 B.C. plus 2,520 years equals 1914 A.D.)

Thus, America (and ultimately, the world) came under the economic power of Mystery Babylon. It was part of the Desolation Factor of the number 1290, applied in the number of years from the Hegira to the Titanic.

Today, we are seeing that same principle applied in short-term prophecy of 1290 DAYS after the seventh bowl of wine was poured out in Babylon, NY in 2006. The time of Babylon’s fall has come, so it is no surprise that we would see an abominable oil spill from the abyss in the Gulf of Mexico 1290 days later on April 20, 2010.

BP was originally known as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC). It discovered oil near Abadam, Iran in May 1908. In 1934 the company name was changed to the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC). In 1954 the name was changed again to the British Petroleum Company. This was later shorted to BP. The reason this is important that it shows the BP connection to Abadan, or as Rev. 9:11 spells it, in Hebrew: Abaddon. The Greek equivalent, we are told, is Apollyon. It means “the destroyer.”

Revelation 9 is a prophecy of the rise of Islam itself, as I explained in FFI #175 and 176. Verse 1 begins by speaking of a “star” falling to earth, “and the key of the bottomless pit (abyss) was given to him.” The “locusts” that were subsequently released were the Islamic armies riding on horses with breastplates and armor that rattled noisily “like the sound of chariots” (vs. 9). Eventually, they conquered Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, in 1453. The cannons used in this battle are described in Rev. 9:17-19.

The plugged cannon pictured on the previous page is taken from the cover of Marvels of Prophecy.

The battle to take Constantinople was the first known successful use of gunpowder and cannons in warfare. The mouth of each cannon was shaped like a lion’s head, with the “fire and brimstone” belching from the mouth of the lion (vs. 17). Those operating the cannons actually sat upon them so that they could use the ramrod more easily. The cannons also had old-style fuses, or “tails,” as John described them in verse 19.

All of this is the background material that links Revelation 9 to Islam and to crude oil, discovered in 1908 by BP near Abadan, Iran, now the site of the largest oil refinery in the world at the top of the Persian Gulf.

Abaddon, or Apollyon, is the name of the Prince of Persia, whose spiritual job description is to pose as a counterfeit of the Holy Spirit. But whereas the Spirit of God gives life, the counterfeit destroys life.

And that brings us to the present oil and gas spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The only real solution to the problem lies not with the cleanup crews, but with repentance, a change of mind, a new way of thinking. The Church needs to understand that what it believes is righteous behavior is actually sin, the transgression of the law.

The Church today sees nothing wrong with usury, and so in disagreeing with God, they have allowed usurers to gain control of our money creation and supply. For a more in-depth study of this, see my small booklet, Biblical Money—the Silver Barley Standard. ($1.50 each)

New Alternative Energy is Coming

I have known of new energy devices for many years, which, for a nominal cost, could provide unlimited amounts of energy to power all the needs of the world with no pollution or harmful radiation. Many of these have been invented in the past by brilliant people, but they have either been killed or forced to sell their patents to the oil companies, who then suppress these inventions.

After all, they want to sell oil and make money. More than that, they want to retain control over the lives of the people, which would be much more difficult to do if all people had their own unlimited source of energy that could be drawn from the very magnetic field of the earth itself.

I believe that BP’s oil spill will be the catalyst by which the people (and even governments) will begin to demand that these new energy devices be produced and sold to the public. In this way, the environmental disaster will prove to be a blessing in disguise, for it will set people free of oppression from government and oil companies who control those governments. Furthermore, it will eliminate much of the pollution from the earth.

The other big threat to the environment (i.e., God’s creation) is the over-use of chemicals. Right now BP is spraying chemical dispersants on the oil in the Gulf. These chemicals will kill whatever life is remaining in the Gulf. It is an environmental disaster of monstrous proportions.

I suspect that this too will help to create a backlash against chemicals being released on land and sea, as men see firsthand just how toxic they are. The government regulators who have claimed these chemicals to be “safe” will be exposed, just as the financial regulators have been exposed in the past few years.

A great shift in thinking is coming. The Bible calls it “repentance.” It is more than just looking to heaven to save us. It means changing our entire way of life from Babylon to the Kingdom of God, from methods that destroy life to methods that promote life.

The Declaration on April 20, 2010

In the May issue, I mentioned the prayer meeting and declaration that the intercessors made on April 20. In part, it was to cast out the bondwoman and her son—that is, Hagar and Ishmael—to fulfill Paul’s mandate in Galatians 4:30.

In Abraham’s day, Ishmael was the son of Hagar who was not called to be the inheritor of the Promise. Ishmael had to give way to Isaac, the son of Sarah.

In Paul’s day, Ishmael was the spiritual child of the old Jerusalem and the old temple with its priests and animal sacrifices. Paul was calling the Church to “cast out the bondwoman” (i.e., to leave the Old Covenant and its religious practices in favor of the “better things” revealed in Galatians and in the book of Hebrews).

In other words, Paul was identifying the Old Covenant as Hagar and the adherents of Judaism as Ishmaelites. The Church in Jerusalem was trying to turn Ishmael into the Promised Seed by adding Christ to the Old Covenant.

This would never work. Even as Ishmael and Isaac were two distinct men, so also is Judaism and Christianity as distinct as the Old and New Covenants.

In our day today, the scene has shifted once again and has a new and updated application. We see this in the typology of the asses, or donkeys. The angel identified Ishmael as a “wild-ass man” in Gen. 16:12. We later see that the types of Pentecost involve either wheat or asses, as I showed in my book, The Wheat and Asses of Pentecost. For this reason, Saul was searching for his father’s asses when he was anointed to be the king in Israel. He was crowned on the day of wheat harvest (1 Sam. 12:17), which later was known by the Greek term, Pentecost.

Thus, King Saul was an Old Testament Pentecostal, and he is associated with both wheat and asses.

So the Church itself, under the anointing of Pentecost, has been symbolized by an ass. This is one reason why Jesus rode into Jerusalem on an ass (Matt. 21:5), as prophesied in Zech. 9:9. He was announcing a Pentecostal Age that was to replace the Passover Age established by Joshua when he led Israel into the Promised Land at Passover.

The people, of course, knew little or nothing about this, for they were expecting a messiah to come and deliver them from Rome. They were expecting the Kingdom to be established immediately with its full anointing under the Old Covenant. Instead, they got a symbolic announcement that a Pentecostal Age yet had to be established as an interim Kingdom. It was a kingdom based upon the rule of Saul, rather than upon David’s reign.

But we are now at the end of the Pentecostal Age and entering into the reign of “David.” We are therefore part of the White Horse Company of Rev. 19:11, on which Christ sits in His second appearance. In our progression from Pentecost to Tabernacles, we shift from asses to horses in biblical symbolism.

Ariel Sharon—the type of Jerusalem

On January 4, 2006, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a massive stroke which left him in a coma. It ended his political career. This occurred 3 x 414 days from August 13, 2002 (inclusive), the day revealed at that time to be when the Israeli’s “cup of iniquity” was full.

Four months later, on April 11, 2006, the Israelis officially declared Sharon to be physically incapacitated and formally removed him from office.

April 20, 2010 (the day of the oil spill) was 3 x 490 days after Sharon’s official removal from office.

Okay, what does this all mean? First, the number 490 is 70 x 7, which is found in Matt. 18:22. Jesus’ parable of the debtor explained the principle, telling us that one should forgive 490 times, after which would come the day of reckoning to settle the account (Matt. 18:23).

Ariel Sharon himself is a type of Jerusalem (Is. 29:1), since “Ariel” is the prophetic name for that city. What happened to Sharon, then, is a sign of what is soon to happen to Jerusalem and the Israeli state in general. God is “reckoning the account” of Jerusalem and has given it a period of 3 x 490 days to April 20, 2010.

Because this was the day of the oil spill as well, we can see this as a sign of the overthrow of Jerusalem. In what way? For the answer, I suggest that you read my booklet, The 1986 Vision of the Two Gulf Wars. There I show how two Gulf Wars were revealed in March of 1986, pictured as two “bears.”

The first “bear” was directed against the Arab states and resulted in the first Gulf War of 1990-1991. This war occurred shortly after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska (March 24, 1989).

The second Gulf War is now upon us. Stage One of this war began with the demolition of the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001. At that time, I recognized that this act released the second “bear” into the world, whose job was to destroy Jerusalem.

We now appear to be in the final days of preparation for this war. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is the same prophetic precursor that was seen ahead of the first Gulf War. The “bear” is actually the Prince of Persia (Dan. 7:5), whose name appears in Revelation 9:11 as Abaddon and Apollyon.

In the first Gulf War, it took over a year for the war to break out, following the Exxon Valdez oil spill. It may be the same this time. I have no revelation about it at this time, unless perhaps it follows a fourth 490-day cycle. The first three cycles ended with April 20, 2010; the fourth would bring us to August 22 or 23, 2011.

It is yet too early to tell how this will progress. For this reason we must continue to be watchful, so that we are not caught unawares. The prophecies in Isaiah 29 about the fate of Jerusalem are not good. God tells Jerusalem,

³ And I will encamp against you encircling you, and I will set siegeworks against you, and I will raise up battle towers against you. ⁴ Then you shall be brought low.

What follows is a description that sounds much like a nuclear strike to destroy “your enemies,” that is, the enemies of Jerusalem. Most prophecy teachers have missed the meaning of this because they think of the Arabs as the “enemies,” instead of defining it by Lev. 26:28 and Isaiah 63:10. That is the key to understanding.