Waiting For Superman?
By Jack Kinsella
As a person who really likes catchy and intriguing titles, I have to give the title for the recent documentary, “Waiting For Superman” a hearty two thumbs up. I only wished I could have figured out how to work it into an OL title. (Until today.)
The documentary, which I haven’t seen and don’t know a heckuvalot about, looks at the state of American education and the teachers unions. But while I wanted to be the first to steal the title, “Waiting for Superman” Laura Rozen beat me to it.
Rozen penned a foreign policy column for Politico under the title, “On The Mideast, Waiting for Superman.” Not only was it a killer title for a column, it would have been a perfect title for a Bible prophecy column about the antichrist.
Rozen’s column is more secular in nature, speculating about who Obama would send to Israel to further the effort to impose a peace settlement on Israel and establish a Palestinian state on its borders, with or without Israel’s blessing.
Rozen thinks that the best choice would be Bill Clinton. (Ouch. Now I have this mental image of Bill Clinton in a Superman costume burned into my consciousness. That wasn’t where I was going with this.)
The whole world is ‘waiting for superman’ like at no time I can think of in all of human history. The human race has never been closer to self-annihilation.
Foreign relations are as fractured as ever they were in the 1930’s – except in the 1930’s we had barely achieved trans-Atlantic flight.
Had the Allies and Axis powers had InterContinental Ballistic Missiles and nuclear-tipped warheads in 1939, there probably would not have been a 1945. At least, not one witnessed by living human beings.
And that’s about the situation as it stands today. As close to the brink of total global war as we were in the 1930’s, but with 21st century technology.
Looked at from a secular perspective, totally removed from any suggestion of Bible prophecy, one could only conclude that without the appearance of some kind of global superman to defuse all the threats, the planet is doomed.
The Bible prophesies almost the same thing, but with a twist. The global superman brings the doom.
Assessment
According to Bible prophecy, the centerpiece of God’s attention in the final hours of human government shifts away from the Gentile nations and focuses entirely on the national redemption of Israel.
The Prophet Daniel outlines the future history of Israel, broken into seventy periods of seven years each called ‘weeks’ (Heb. Shabua).
“Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.” (Daniel 9:24)
This seventy week (490 years) outline of Israel’s future history covers the period of time from the Persian King Xerxes to the Second Coming of Christ.
It is broken down into periods of seven weeks, (49 years) and sixty-two weeks (434 years) and then one final week (7 years).
“Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.” (Daniel 9:25)
So after seven weeks and sixty-two weeks, (483) the Messiah will ride into a restored Jerusalem, the Prophet says, but He will be cut off (executed) but not for Himself (ie., He will be innocent).
“And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.” (Daniel 9:26)
The “people of the prince that shall come” is a bit confusing. The prince that shall come is the antichrist that confirms the covenant. His people will destroy the city (Jerusalem) and the Sanctuary (the Temple).
History says that Jerusalem and the Temple Mount were destroyed by the Roman Empire. So the coming prince is identified as a prince of the Roman Empire (modern EU).
Daniel’s time clock stopped at 483 years when the Messiah is cut off. At some point after thatthe city and sanctuary are destroyed by the people of the future prince. The time clock is still off.
“And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.” (Daniel 9:27)
The clock starts ticking again with the confirmation of the covenant with many for one week. Daniel refers to “the covenant.” It is uniquely identifiable because it is a) lacking confirmation, (the Hebrew word translated ‘confirm’ is gabar meaning, to make strong) and b) it is for one week, ie. Seven years.
The 1993 Oslo Agreement, (which is the framework upon which all subsequent land for peace agreements rest), was signed on September 13th 1993 and was due to be confirmed with a ceremony at the Rose Garden on September 13th, 2000.
The Oslo Agreement called for a five year interim status to hammer out the details of Palestinian self-government to be followed by two years of final status negotiations. But instead of a Rose Garden ceremony seven years later, in September 2000, Arafat started the second intifada.
I am not saying that Bill Clinton was the antichrist or that Oslo is the antichrist’s covenant. Oslo remains unconfirmed. It’s been declared dead a dozen times. But it is astonishingly similar to Daniel’s prophecy — I’m not much for coincidences.
Back to the coming prince. Laura Rozen nominates Bill Clinton. Lots of others nominate Barack Obama. But Daniel’s pretty firm about the coming prince arising out of the Roman Empire.
One can spiritualize America into being Rome, but why would God do that when He’s gone to all the trouble to restore the actual, historical Roman Empire anyway?
That’s like spiritualizing Israel into the Church – it seems a lot less convincing now that there’s an actual Israel than it was when there wasn’t.
America has been on point with Oslo since Bill Clinton hosted the Rose Garden ceremony. But Obama has gone out of his way to sour US-Israeli relations, having insulted Israel as a nation, Jews as a people and Benjamin Netanyahu as their leader.
Israelis don’t trust Obama and they increasingly don’t trust the United States. Israel is waiting for Superman, as is the rest of the world.
Clinton was Clark Kent at best. Obama turned out to be their Lex Luthor. Daniel says that Israel’s Superman comes from Rome, not Washington.
My money is on Daniel.
Originally Published: October 30, 2010.