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The True Fulfillment of Prophecy, part 22

In my book, Secrets of Time, I showed the three main judgment cycles: Cursed Time (414), Judged Time (434), and Blessed Time (490). The year 1492 occurred on Cursed Time, dating back to Noah’s curse upon Canaan in Genesis 25:9 (9 x 414 years). The same year was also 7 x 414 years from Israel’s Jordan Crossing, which brought divine judgment upon the Canaanites when they refused to repent and submit to the divine court ruling.

Again, when the Amalekites attacked the Israelites shortly after their exodus from Egypt, God put Amalek under a curse (Exodus 17:14-18), and 414 years later, God commissioned King Saul to bring judgment upon Amalek (1 Samuel 15:3). He spared King Agag, who embodied the divine curse, thereby taking upon himself Agag’s curse. (The law does not allow a judge to deviate from the penalty of the law unless he is willing to pay the penalty himself.)

This would have put Saul on Cursed Time, except that Samuel then executed Agag himself. So Saul (and the monarchy itself) was put on Judged Time for late obedience. We see, then, that 434 years later, King Jehoiachin, the ruling monarch at the time, paid the price for Saul’s late obedience when he was taken captive to Babylon (2 Kings 24:12-15).

America has given us another example of Judged Time. As we have shown, America is directly linked by the “seven times” cycle to the House of Israel. America failed to end slavery and to extend equal rights to all men in its original Constitution. This failure provided the main irritant that ultimately resulted in the Civil War after the election of Abraham Lincoln in November of 1860. The slavery issue was delayed, and this made America a candidate for fulfilling a Judged Time cycle (434) for late obedience.

From 745 B.C. to 1860 A.D. is precisely 6 x 434 years, making it a factor of Judged Time. We have already shown how 745 B.C. was the first of three starting points for the “seven times” of divine judgment upon the House of Israel. We have also shown how the first endpoint of this judgment arrived in 1776 A.D., the year of the American Declaration of Independence. So 1776 became America’s first major hinge date in its fulfillment of the reconstitution of the lost tribes of Israel.

America’s Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, was adopted on July 4, 1776. Few today realize that the issue of slavery had indeed been discussed and debated among the delegates. Wayne Holstad points out on page 97 of his book, Leviticus vs Leviathan,

“In the first draft of the declaration, among the list of claims against King George, Jefferson had written:

“ ‘He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery into another hemisphere.’

“Southern delegates to the Continental Congress demanded that this statement be deleted from the Declaration.”

According to General John A. Logan's 1885 book, The Great Conspiracy, which is one of the great books showing the background and progression of the American Civil War, there was more that was deleted from the Declaration of Independence. He makes the point that the writers of the Declaration defined “men” (as in “all men are created equal”) as being irrespective of race:

“Determined to keep open a market where MEN should be bought and sold, he [King George] has prostituted his negative for suppressing every Legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce [as in the case of Georgia in 1752]. And that this assemblage of horrors might want [lack] no fact of distinguished dye, he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them, by murdering the people on whom he also obtruded them; thus paying off former crimes committed against the Liberties of our people with crimes which he urges them to commit against the lives of another.” (Logan, pp. 2, 3)

As the term “men” is used in the context of black slaves being sold in the open market, it is apparent that the black slaves were included in the previous statement that “all men are created equal.” The term was not to be taken in contrast to women, but in contrast to white men.

This statement was omitted in order to secure the votes of South Carolina and Georgia. This was the first opportunity to abolish slavery that America lost. But the issue did not go away.

In 1784 the new Republic began to move toward the abolition of slavery in all future states. Jefferson wrote that “after the year 1800 of the Christian era, there shall be neither Slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the said States.” He said that this fact was “unalterable but by the joint consent of the United States in Congress assembled, and of the particular State within which such alteration is proposed to be made.” (Logan, pages 3, 4)

It seemed as if slavery itself would be firmly restricted to a few southern states with no new states being allowed to enslave others. But Logan then explains how “a signal misfortune befell.” Six States voted for this 1784 resolution to ban slavery in all new territories and new States that would yet join the Union. Three states voted against it. North Carolina's two delegates split their votes. So there were 13 votes for the resolution and 7 votes against it.

One of New Jersey’s delegates was absent. The remaining delegate from New Jersey voted to retain this prohibition against slavery, but his 14^th affirmative vote was lost, because the rules required the vote of two delegates from each state. A single vote would not count.

The rules also required a majority vote from all states—not merely all state delegates present. If all delegates from the 13 states had been present, the outcome of the vote could have been different. But as it stood, the prohibition resolution only received 13 votes, which was not a majority out of 26, because the deciding vote from New Jersey was lost. Logan then concludes:

“Thus was lost the great opportunity of restricting Slavery to the then existing Slave States, and of settling the question peaceably for all time” (Logan, p. 4).

This was the second lost opportunity to abolish slavery. The question of slavery was later settled by war, and the entire country suffered under God’s Judged Time for late obedience.

The US Constitution (1789)

Wayne Holstad writes about the debate among the delegates at the Continental Congress in 1789 in his book, Leviticus vs. Leviathan,

“The founding fathers agreed that the slave trade would end in 20 years after the adoption of the Constitution. That would allow current slave owners, including some of the southern delegates to the Constitutional Convention, to make adjustments in how they did business, while, at the same time, essentially prohibiting the impairment of current slave contracts. The delegates all planned that slavery would end in a generation.” (p. 98)

“Rufus King of Massachusetts and Governour Morris of Pensylvania bitterly opposed slavery. But because slavery was dying out . . . and because the South was so economically depressed compared to the North, they agreed with the majority of delegates that the slavery issue could be avoided until after ratification.” (p. 99)

“The founding fathers’ hopeful predictions that slavery would simply disappear were all made wrong because of a revolution in technology.” (p. 99)

“In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. A new industry, dependent upon slave labor, was spawned. The South expanded as far west as New Orleans. Alabama and Mississippi entered the Union as slave states.” (p. 99)

“The tactical decision to postpone the confrontation with the slavery issue because it would die a natural death had proven to be disastrous to the North. The avoidance strategy had failed. An unforeseen technological invention created a new generation of slave owners. The South had passed a point from which it could not retreat.” (p. 99)

It was recognized that slavery was becoming uneconomical in the late 18^th century. But Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin suddenly made slavery economical again. This unexpected technological advancement changed conditions in the southern states (where they grew cotton), and America lost its third opportunity to ban slavery.

Lincoln’s Election in 1860

Abraham Lincoln was elected US president in November of 1860. He was the candidate from the Republican Party, which had been only recently formed in 1854, declaring its opposition to the expansion of slavery into the new territories as the nation expanded westward.

Lincoln won the election with just 40% of the votes, because the Democratic Party fractured. Of the two Democrats, Douglas received 30%, and Breckenridge received 18%. Another party candidate, John Bell, received another 12% of the vote. As soon as Lincoln won the election—even before his inauguration in March 1861—the southern states began to secede from the Union.

Secession and War

The southern states began to secede from the Union shortly after Lincoln was elected, but four months before he was inaugurated. South Carolina passed the Ordinance of Secession on Dec. 20, 1860. Mississippi seceded on Jan. 9, 1861; Florida on Jan. 10; Alabama on Jan. 11; Georgia on Jan. 18; Louisiana on Jan. 26; and Texas on Feb. 1. Other states followed later. On February 18, 1861 the Confederate States of America was formed, and Jefferson Davis was elected provisional President.

But meanwhile, President Buchanan, a southerner, did nothing to prevent the disintegration of the Union. President-elect Lincoln could do nothing but watch in horror as the nation was torn apart. By the time Lincoln was inaugurated in March of 1861, the revolt was nearly complete, and he had to deal with this mess during his entire presidency.

Because the United States is fulfilling the time cycles of the ancient House of Israel, we became liable for our “late obedience” on a 434-year cycle dating from the captivity of Israel in ancient times. It was “seven times,” or 2,520 years, from the beginning of the reign of Tiglath-Pileser III (745 B.C.) to the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. So also, it was 6 x 434 years from 745 B.C. to 1860.

Both endpoints have the same beginning points but are measured by different time cycles to reflect different purposes. The “seven times” cycle points to the potential end of Israel’s long tribulation cycle; the Judged Time cycle points to the delay in the abolition of slavery. This also strongly suggests that obedience to God and His laws of equality was primarily manifested in the abolition of slavery. In other words, the purpose of reconstituting the House of Israel in America was to adopt the laws of God and make them applicable to all men equally.

When America failed to do this, the result was a violent Civil War. This settled the question legally, but as always, violence does not change the hearts of men. Slavery gave way to a culture of discrimination and resentment, which festered for another century. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was again messy, because legislation, however moral, does not by itself change hearts. It only regulates behavior. Hence, many problems persist, and because the government has openly rejected Christ and the law of God, it has reached the end of its ability to make positive changes.

I believe that America is approaching another historical crossroad. This time, however, the Kingdom of God will emerge which alone can resolve these disputes with true justice. This will require another Great Awakening to change the hearts of men so that they will truly love their neighbors as themselves.