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The 1995 Quake in Kobe, Japan

When we held the Jubilee Prayer Campaign, we had the insight that since we were dealing with the overthrow of Mystery Babylon, we could well see a significant sign of its overthrow after 414 days. That number is, of course, the factor of Cursed Time. This cycle marks the time between the law's decree of judgment and the actual implementation of divine judgment.

We understood that Nov. 29, 1993 was the actual decree from the Divine Court against Mystery Babylon for its refusal to set their slaves free. Adding 414 days to that date, we arrived at January 17, 1995. In looking at Revelation 16:18, we believed that we would see "a great earthquake" on this date.

The next question was: WHERE would this earthquake occur? Well, we had long seen that Washington State represented Washington D.C., and since D.C. was the heart of modern Babylon, we came to believe that Seattle would experience a significant earthquake on January 17, 1995.

Seven weeks later, on January 17, 1994, a 6.8 Richter quake struck Los Angeles at 4:31 a.m., killing 57 people. I was quite puzzled by this, because not only did the quake hit in a different place, but it was also precisely a year early. Yet I learned later that a month before the quake struck, my friend Ron had been with friends driving all around that area, praying and interceding intensely for God's people to be protected from the effects of an earthquake that had been revealed to them.

Ron also pointed out that the time of the L.A. quake was linked to Acts 4:31, which speaks of the second outpouring of the Holy Spirit shortly after Pentecost in those days:

"And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak the word of God with boldness."

Obviously, he and his friends had just driven all around the area praying for the people. So this quake appeared to be a sign of a coming outpouring of the Holy Spirit, even though a casual observer would see only destruction by natural means. When the Holy Spirit comes, the carnal mind is the first casualty. And we cannot forget that this quake struck the heart of the pornography industry in Los Angeles.

Likewise, I took note that 980 days later was Sept. 23, 1996--the day that we were to declare the Jubilee. The number 980 is 2 x 490, the factor of Blessed Time. So the time cycles showed a definite link to the date of this earthquake, even though it appeared to strike a year early. In spite of this quake, we still felt that we could very well see another quake on the expected date in 1995 and that it would probably occur in Seattle (where we were living at the time).

So what happened on January 17, 1995? A 7.2 Richter earthquake struck Kobe, Japan at 5:46 a.m. (local day and time). I was not surprised at the quake, but I was certainly surprised that it had not struck Seattle. Yet it was not long before the news media explained the missing connection. Kobe, Japan was Seattle's "Sister City."

Further, as we did research, we discovered that Kobe is the Japanese word for "God's Door" or "God's Gate." We also discovered that the Babylonians called Babylon "Bab-ili," which in their language literally meant "God's Gate."

In other words, if one would translate "Bab-ili" into Japanese, a good translation of the name would probably be "Kobe." Thus, Kobe was a type of Babylon all along, but until the quake struck there in 1995, we had no reason to search out the meaning of its name.

The bottom line is this: The Jubilee Prayer Campaign brought Babylon into judgment on Nov. 29, 1993. Precisely 414 days later, on Jan. 17, 1995 we saw a 7.2 Richter earthquake strike Kobe as a sign of the overthrow of Babylon. Kobe is Seattle's sister city and essentially represents Seattle, Washington, which in turn is a known type of Washington D.C.

The problem with prophecy, of course, is as Paul says in 1 Cor. 13:9, "we know in part, and we prophesy in part." Even Daniel's prophecies, great as they are, were incomplete, and they required further revelation from John in the book of Revelation. And even then, there were many pieces of the puzzle that were not seen until their fulfillment. So also it is with us today, and for this reason we cannot assume that we know the full meaning or application of any revelation.

Likewise, we must know the difference between prophecy and one's understanding of that prophecy. It is the difference between the word itself and our understanding of the word. Much grief could be avoided if we kept that in mind. If the people and priests of Jerusalem had understood this, they would not have been so quick to stone the prophets for "false prophecy."

About ten days after the quake in Japan, the Father led three of us to the State Capitol in Olympia, Washington to observe and perhaps to speak a Word there. Dave, Ken, and I got there just in time for a pro-Life rally that we had not known about. It was obvious that God sent us there not only to observe what He was doing, but also to bless and confirm God's view about so-called "abortion rights." Abortion is not a right; it is a government-sponsored privilege that has been given without regard to the will of God. All rights come from God; government can only grant privileges, according to the Declaration of Independence.

The next evening, Saturday, January 28, 1995, the three of us were led to drive to the top of the hill overlooking downtown Seattle. It is called Capital Hill, and it is an important New Age center. The Father told us to park the car and walk to the corner of 12th and John Streets and read John 17 at 7:00 p.m. The Lord said, "Then watch what I will do."

So we did this. Then we decided that since we were there anyway, we would walk around and observe what the Lord was doing. We had hardly walked a single block when we noticed a lot of people running out of the shops and talking excitedly. We asked what was going on, and they told us that a strong earthquake had just hit. What? We had felt nothing. But later, the news said that there had been a 5.0 Richter quake that had hit just a few miles south of Seattle under the town of Federal Way. It struck at 7:11 p.m. Of course, we had begun to read aloud John 17 at 7:00 p.m. precisely, so we finished our reading just before the quake struck.

The fact that it struck Federal Way connected it with the government in Washington, D.C., and since it was also the conclusion of our trip to Olympia the previous day, we understood that the abortion issue had a lot to do with this. After all, "abortion rights" is the Federal Way and is directly connected to the ways of Babylon today.

This and much more occurred in those days. There is no way to give a complete account of events during that time--or any other time, for that matter. But this should be sufficient to give you a glimpse of how the Jubilee Prayer Campaign in 1993 was confirmed with signs following. The two major signs occurred one year later when Washington was "de-Foley-ated," and again after 414 days with the quake in Kobe, Japan.

These not only confirm the prayer campaign, but also give us some indications about the divine judgment coming upon Babylon. Any government, church, or individual who is in agreement with the Babylonian system will probably feel the effects of this divine judgment. But those who are in agreement with the Lord's Prayer (i.e., John 17) will be divinely protected when the "quakes" hit. That is what we discerned when the quake struck and when everyone around us felt it, but we did not.