9/16/20: APOCALYPTIC BINGO – THE GREAT WAILING AND GNASHING OF TEETH W/ STEVEN BEN-NUN
WRITTEN BY CLYDE LEWIS
When I was younger, I had a Christian friend who turned me on to the book “The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey. The book had been out more than ten years when I was first introduced to it. By that time it was already made into a motion picture and believe it or not it was listed by our PTA as a must watch film.
It was part of a package of film tickets we would purchase as kids to go to the local theater and watch movies. One Saturday Matinee we would be watching “Planet of the Apes” and the next it would be “Chariots of the God’s” and “The Late Great Planet Earth.” I recall that the film was narrated by Orson Wells so it already had that special quality of doom as his voice commanded attention and convinced the world of alien invasion.
Now you know why I talk about what I do I was practically enveloped in these apocalyptic films since I was a youngster.
The Late Great Planet Earth was one of those special genres of books and film that would use major news events to prove that we were witnessing apocalyptic prophecy being fulfilled.
At the time I did not realize that it was trying to be theological; in fact, I thought the film was like a horror documentary that would be right up there with the Omen and Rosemary’s Baby.
All apocalyptic things to me always seemed to be about Satan – I never really associated the second coming to all of the horrors of the world – I only saw the eschaton as come conspiracy against God—now that I am older I realize that it is all part of the apocalypse theater that we are now playing a part in, and that the second coming is a bit of a curtain call.
When opportunity knocked and I was offered a radio show – I was certainly thinking that I could be Orson Wells, or William Cooper or even Hal Lindsey where I could take all of the hell fire of the end of the world bible prophecy and catapult it beyond just the ranks of the true believers and make it a broader cultural phenomenon.
I was thinking at the time that people who had never paid much attention to prophecy at all could hear how the headlines are certainly indicating that we are in those times that my Sunday school teacher warned me about.
After doing some research I realized that Hal Lindsey wasn’t the only guy who started this type of reporting – there was a theologian by the name of Karl Barth – who said, that a good preacher needs a newspaper in one hand and a Bible in the other.
It’s doubtful that Barth had Hal Lindsey in mind when he said it, but that’s exactly what Hal Lindsey did as did others like Jack Van Impe and even Father Malachi Martin would have his say on the Art Bell show.
Believe it or not, speculating about the eschaton plays right into conspiracy theory because all theories about the end of the world and the second coming are considered by some to be sinful.
The Bible itself makes a strong point against this type of doomsday divination.
Jesus said in Matthew 24: “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
But the biblical Book of Luke it also says that when the apostles asked Jesus when he would return he said
“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring.”
I hate to break it to Christians but Jesus was certainly talking about Astrology when he made his point, basically pointing out the eclipses of the sun –the menses moon and strange activity in the stars would rock the earth, causing kingdoms to fall and storms to rage on the seas.
He then said that there will be a time where men’s hearts will fail them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Not to mention that if you make it to the last book of the Bible, John has some choice things to say about what will happen in the last days.
In the Book of Mathew, there is s scripture that talks about the fires of hell and that Jesus will send out his angels to cast people into the fiery furnace where there will be great wailing and gnashing of teeth.
So if you will permit me – I am going to now pull a Hal Lindsey as I read a few things on the internet that juxtaposes the headlines with some sort of prophecy fulfillment.
We know that the west in now engulfed in flames and the air is that of a fiery furnace. It has become a mass casualty event. We are also in the middle of a pandemic where people are scared of each other and many people are suffering from social anxiety.
But what really got my attention was an article that wound up in the Chicago Tribune written by Dr. Tammy Chen,D.D.S.
The headline read: “Dentists are seeing an epidemic of cracked teeth. What’s going on?”
I was interested in the article because just after COVID-19 happened I was having some tooth trouble as two of my molars had cracked and I needed emergency root canals.
I thought, hmmm… I am not alone.
The article also appeared in the New York Times and so I was thinking that this needed my attention.
She says in her article that after she closed her emergency dental office in Midtown Manhattan after pandemic started she started noticing an uptick in phone calls where people complained of jaw pain, tooth sensitivity, achiness in the cheeks, and migraines.
When she reopened her practice in early June, She started to see people with tooth fractures coming in: at least one a day, every single day afterwards.
On average, she was seeing three to four; the bad days are six-plus fractures.
Other dentists show knew were reporting the same thing – and were wondering what was going on?
One obvious answer is stress. From COVID-induced nightmares to “doomsurfing” to “coronaphobia,” it’s no secret that pandemic-related anxiety is affecting our collective mental health. That stress, in turn, leads to clenching and grinding, which can damage the teeth.
People are also complaining of TMJ soreness as many people are not used to working at home with less ergonomic office equipment. Nerves in your neck and shoulder muscles lead into the temporomandibular joint, which connects the jawbone to the skull. Poor posture during the day can translate into a grinding problem at night.
Also most of us aren’t getting the restorative sleep we need. Since the onset of the pandemic, Dr. Chen stated that she has seen patient after patient describe sudden restlessness and insomnia. These are hallmarks of an overactive or dominant sympathetic nervous system, which drives the body’s “fight or flight” response.
Dr. Chen indicates that people would be surprised at how many people are unaware that they’re gnashing, clenching and grinding their teeth when they sleep.
I wonder how many people are aware that this is a fulfillment of apocalyptic prophecy.
I know that it may be shocking but since I brought this article up in casual conversation I have had friends tell me that they need dental work done—that they have cracked a tooth or that they have jaw pain that they cannot explain.
In all honesty, I actually had another molar that broke about a month ago and it hasn’t bothered me because it was a tooth that already had a root canal. I know that eventually I will have to cough up the money and get the tooth taken care of.
But tooth trouble in not the only thing that is on the minds of end of the world watchdogs. The Jewish Holiday of Rosh Hashanah is coming up this Friday and all eyes are now on Israel as an historic peace agreement is being arranged by Donald Trump—something that has gotten him nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and for some it has garnered another nomination – that of a predominant player in the Apocalyptic Bingo Game.
Discussing the historic deal, US President Donald Trump said the world now faces the “dawn of a new Middle East”. He said at a ceremony in the South Lawn of the White House: “We’re here this afternoon to change the course of history.
Trumps said “After decades of division and conflict we mark the dawn of a new Middle East. “And yet, the peace deal has been dubbed by some Christian evangelists a precursor to the so-called “covenant with many”.
This axiom comes from the prophecy of Daniel that talks about seven years of peace and covenant between warring nations:
“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.”
So this covenant of many will eventually break down and the idea of Peace and safety will not last.
Many evangelical leaders are saying that the next phase will be the building of the temple on the temple mount which will signify the coming of the messiah.
This may not mean much to people who are not religious but for dispensationalists its beginning to look a lot like the apocalypse.
According to frequent Ground Zero guest Pastor Paul Begley, the covenant with many is a prophetic peace deal between Israel and its adversaries that will lead to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Pastor Begley believes more Arab nations will join the Abraham Accord in due time, before turning on Israel over access to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.
In his opinion, the construction of a Third Temple on the sacred Temple Mount will be a major point of contention for Israel and its newfound allies.
And according to some interpretations of scripture, the Third Temple will be built in the End Days, allowing the Antichrist to rise to power.
Some other interesting things are transpiring as well.
For the first time since the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, the Sanhedrin wants to blow the shofar on the Temple Mount to ring in Rosh Hashanah.
This holiday has many names. It is called the Feast of Trumpets by Christians. It is recognized as the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hannah. In Judaism, it is called Yom Teruah which means the “Day of Blowing”.—it is the Jewish New Year On a Hebrew calendar, this would initiate the month of Tishri and start the year 5781.
Jews are only permitted to enter the Temple Mount five days a week: Sunday to Thursday. This year, the first day of Rosh Hashanna is on Saturday, the Sabbath. According to Jewish law, it is forbidden to blow the shofar on the Sabbath except for on the Temple Mount.
There are Rabbis who have declared that this moment is very important because of what the blowing of the shofar symbolizes.
In a statement, I read in the Jerusalem Post:
“Blowing the shofar that is specific to the Temple is a cry out to God to prevent the division of His land and the loss of His house. This shofar will topple anyone who is set on dividing God’s land and opposing the establishment of a House of Prayer for All Nations in Jerusalem, just as the sound of the shofar toppled the walls that stood between the Jews and entering the Promised Land.”
Now you can understand why this has some apocalyptic meaning and why this is so controversial.
It is a call out to God and a signal that the day of the messiah is at hand. Many Christians have also adopted the practice of using the shofar in religious ceremonies.
Some are even saying that this Rosh Hashanah and the peace agreement are indications that the second coming is not far from happening.
We live at a time when the pace of change has reached at an exponential rate, and our society is literally coming apart at the seams all around us. That makes this a perfect environment for those who read the headlines to make comparisons to biblical events.
2020 is more than halfway over, even though it feels like it’s been going on for more than half a century.
It is all blurring together will no one seems to be sure of the time and the date as every day is blursday and the sun is blocked out by haze and smoke.
Every year typically has a few defining moments, but the past six months have contained so many world-changing, paradigm-shifting developments that it’s getting hard to believe we’re not in a simulation that’s running every possible scenario at once.
But there’s no time to be exhausted: With a pandemic still raging, waves of social change swelling around the globe, and a whole presidential campaign going on, there’s still a lot of history left to be made in 2020.
Think you won’t be able to handle four more months of this?
By now I am sure that everyone is hoping for an alien invasion, an asteroid hit or even the second coming to end the year with a huge apocalyptic crescendo to fill that last blackout space on your apocalyptic bingo card. .
