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The Isaiah 9:10 Effect Reveals

The Stunning Future of America

An ancient prophecy reveals the secret of Americas future, where we are headed, and why disaster lies on the horizon, beckoning us to our doom. It is a surreal, remarkable, prescient story of pathos, anguish, anger and defiance and the consequences of national pride and rebellion. Read here of a mysterious, coded prophecy hidden in a small passage in the book of Isaiah the prophet, written some 2,800 years ago, and pregnant with foreboding and meaning for our generation, today. William F. Dankenbring Have you ever wondered why so many trials and problems seem to be piling up for the world, especially America? Why the tumultuous financial storms, the staggering mortgage meltdown, the collapse of major banks and financial institutions on Wall Street and beyond, and the massive bail-outs of businesses and industry? Where are we headed as a nation and the western world, so interlocked today? What does the future hold? The answer is revealed in an astonishing prophecy hidden away in a few lines of the ninth chapter of the book of Isaiah the key that unlocks the future. It is a wake up call an alarm clock a wailing siren of warning to us all. The passage reads: The Lord sent a word against Jacob, and it has fallen on Israel. All the people will knowEphraim and the inhabitants of Samariawho say with pride and arrogance of heart, the bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with hewn stones; the sycamores are cut down, but we will replace them with cedars. (Isaiah 9:8-10). The prophecy goes on to describe the fact that the peoples boast is in vain, because they are fighting against the LORD. Because of their boastful attitude and swelling pride, Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and spur his enemies on, the Syrians before and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth (verse 11-12).

But even after this strife and punishment, the people in ancient Israel did not change their attitudes, or repent, so the prophecy goes on, For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still [in judgment]. For the people do not turn to Him who strikes them, nor do they seek the LORD of hosts. Therefore the LORD will cut off head and tail from Israel, palm branch and bulrush in one day. The elder and honorable, he is the head, the prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail. For the leaders of this people cause them to err, and those who are led by them are destroyed. Therefore the LORD will have no joy in their young men, nor have mercy on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is a hypocrite and an evil doer, and every mouth speaks folly (vs.12-17). What is the meaning of this prophecy? Let us examine it more closely. The Assyrians The Assyrian Empire attacked the kingdom of northern Israel in 732 B.C. The Assyrians were masters of terror. They made it into a science. They systematized it, perfected it, implemented it as it had never been done before. They burned cities to the ground, mutilated prisoners, flayed them alive and nailed their skins to walls for public display of their cruelty. In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maachah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria (II Kings 15:29). But Ephraim did not repent of their sins. They ignored this breach and conquest, and went on in their defiant ways, ignoring Gods warning. Who is Ephraim, today? Ephraim is mentioned a great deal in Biblical prophecy for the end times, especially in the book of Hosea.
Who is Ephraim, Today?

In the book of Genesis we read the astounding statement, and prophecy, made by God to Abraham and his descendants: By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall POSSESS THE GATE OF HIS ENEMIES; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice (Gen.22:16-18). This prophecy was later repeated to Rebekah by her brothers, who said to her when she accepted the proposal of marriage on Isaac's behalf made by Abrahams servant: And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions [literally, billions], and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them (Gen.24:60).

One of the most important, astonishing truths of Biblical prophecy is that the Anglo-Saxon people the founders of the United Kingdom, and the United States of America are descended from ancient Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Our forefathers are descended from the fabled Lost Ten Tribes of ancient Israel. The United States in Prophecy Many Biblical prophecies speak of the fate of the leading nation of "Israel" during the last days that is, the United States of America. In Bible prophecy, we are the tribe of Ephraim, the leading birthright tribe, the younger of the two sons of Joseph. God inspired the patriarch Jacob to prophesy of the two brothers, Ephraim and Manasseh: The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth" (Gen.48:16). Jacob later said that Manasseh would be great, but added, but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations [or, states] (v.19). Ephraim was set before or above Manasseh in rank and power and blessing. They were to become a multitude of STATES, as the original Hebrew says and truly the United STATES of America, comprised of FIFTY SOVEREIGN, INDIVIDUAL STATES, fulfills this prophecy to the T! Ephraim was to become a united company or assembly of peoples. Isn't it interesting that the United States is famous around the world for being the "melting pot" of the nations? The United States has more emigrants from more diverse locations, than any other nation on earth! This is both a strength, and a fatal weakness. The prophet Hosea foretold this condition would describe Ephraim in the last days! Hosea wrote, Ephraim MIXES with the nations; Ephraim is a flat cake not turned over [white on one side, baked black or brown on the other side!]. Foreigners sap his strength, but he does not realize it. His hair is sprinkled with gray, but he does not notice (Hosea 7:8-9). The Greatness of Ephraim Jacob prophesied that the younger brother, Ephraim, was to be greater than his older brother, Manasseh. Manasseh, the firstborn, was the older brother. Which nation is older the United States or Great Britain? That fact alone should tell us that Great Britain was the older brother, Manasseh, which was to be great, and even has the word great in its name, unlike any other country on the earth today! But what about the United States? Is it greater than Great Britain, even as Ephraim was to be greater than Manasseh? When Jacob, or Israel, blessed Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, he knew what he was doing. He deliberately blessed the YOUNGER son with the primogenital blessing of the firstborn, making him the son of the right hand. The older son, Manasseh, shared in the blessing but a double portion went to Ephraim! When Joseph protested this sudden switch from the expected, saying that Manasseh was the

firstborn, Israel refused to change the blessing, and said: I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he ALSO shall be GREAT: but truly his YOUNGER BROTHER shall be GREATER THAN HE, and his seed shall become a MULTITUDE of nations. And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh (Gen.48:19-20). Let us notice two things about this verse this prophetic blessing. The younger brother, born last, would rise up and become greater than the older brother, in time. The older would also become great but not as great as the younger! For proof of this conclusion, read our article The United States in Prophecy! and our book America and Great Britain Our Identity Revealed. There is no doubt about it Ephraim today is most represented by the United States of America the worlds last remaining superpower the end-time goliath and colossus that has its hands in the inner affairs of nations throughout the world. But our pride and arrogance is about to become our ruin and bring disaster upon us!
Isaiah and Ephraim

Ephraim is America, the dominant nation of the sons of Jacob in economic power and population the worlds last standing super power. This prophecy is dual and applied in Isaiahs time and it applies to America today and the national attitude of intransigent stubborn pride and rebellion. Therefore the Lord will set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and spur his enemies on, the Syrians before and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with an open mouth (Isa.9:11). In ancient times, Ephraim was the leading tribe of the northern kingdom of Israel the ten tribes which broke away from the son of Solomon and became an independent nation. Assyria was the great enemy of ancient Israel and Ephraim. The Adam Clarke Commentary tells us the bricks in the passage in Isaiah are contrasted to hewn stones, as being inferior, and the sycamore tree is inferior to the cedar. Historically, Israel was invaded by the Assyrian Empire in 732 B.C., and several cities destroyed, but the Assyrians then withdrew. Israel boasted that they would rebuild, bigger and stronger than ever! Says the Adam Clarke Commentary, by this figurative speech, they boast that they shall easily be able to repair their present losses, suffered perhaps by the first Assyrian invasion under Titlath-Pileser; and to bring their affairs to a more flourishing condition than ever. The Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary points out that the Lord sent a word of warning to Israel, through His prophets, that they were headed in the wrong direction, but rather than receive the rebuke and repent of their sins, they rejected the divine warning. Granting, say the Ephraimites to the prophets threat, that our affairs are in a

ruinous state, we will restore them to more than their former magnificence. confident unwillingness to see and to repent under the judgments of God.

Self-

Because Israel refused to repent after the first Assyrian incursion, God was going to send the adversaries of Rezin, the Assyrians, against Israel again. This is the punishment of Ephraims pride in making light of the judgment already inflicted by God through Tiglath-Pileser (II Kings 15:17-22). A second Assyrian invasion shall follow. It followed in 722-718 B.C., when all Israel was captured and carried off into captivity. But what does this ancient prophecy have to do with us, today, and modern America and Great Britain, the leaders of the so-called Lost Ten Tribes of Israel? Our Hedge Being Removed God is removing His protection from our country. We had Gods protection in the War of 1812, the War with Mexico, the Spanish American War in 1898, WWI against Germany and the Turkish Empire, WW II against Hitler and the Kingdom of Japan. We were delivered from tyranny and granted victory over our enemies. God even performed miracles to grant success to our arms miracles occurred. But because we have been behaving badly, ever since, and cast God our of our classrooms, and cast prayer out of our schools, and legalized abortion, and have allowed pornography to inundate our land, and destroy the morals of our young people, God has begun to remove His protection. God warns us, Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel: Because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and perversity, and rely on them, therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a BREACH ready to fall, a bulge in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant (Isa.30:12-13). The breach in our wall of national protection occurred on September 11, 2001 now often referred to as simply 9-11. On that fateful, profound day, Americans were dazed, stupefied, struck dumb, as they watched in horror continual replays of the crashing of jet-liners into the Twin Trade Towers in Manhattan, New York, symbols of our national preeminence in financial and economic power, and a similar jetliner plunging into the Pentagon, symbol of our nations military and defense structure. Yet after all this punishment the people still will not repent and turn to the Lord Almighty (who strikes them), nor do they seek the Lord of Hosts. Therefore in a single day, the Lord will destroy both the head and the tail, the palm branch and the reed. The leaders (elders and prominent men) of Israel are the head and prophets who teach lies are the tail. The leaders of this people cause them to err, God declares. Prayer has been removed from the nations school systems, and public displays of the Ten Commandments are no longer allowed on public property, and pornography abounds throughout the land, in television, the internet, and raucous partying. Modern America, Ephraim, just like ancient Ephraim and Israel, has an attitude of stubborn pride and arrogance, perversity and defiance of the laws of Almighty God.

Despite the horror of 9-11, our nation continues to be defiant toward God. The word defiance comes up again and again in the commentaries relating to the attitude of Ephraim depicted in Isaiah 9:10. It was a defiance of a people who far from being repentant, gloried in their iniquity. To be heedless when God is speaking by whatever voice He may address us, is surely iniquitous enough, but to act in deliberate defiance of the Almighty is by many degrees far worse. Proud defiance of God always brings disaster. That is what I saw after 9-11God bless America on bumper stickers, stadiums filled with people chanting USA, USA, USApeople were expressing their pride, and were proud to be Americans, we sent our soldiers overseas to Iraq and Afghanistan to fight the enemy. We have spent billions, even trillions, and what has it accomplished? The world still hates us. The Muslim nations despise us. In their eyes, we were meddling in the affairs of other nations. We refused to humble ourselves, and to repent, and to return to our God and His ways! Where has all this pride and haughtiness brought us? To the edge of a cliff teetering on the lip of a precipice clinging to a rope dangling over an abyss! From Bricks to Hewn Stones The word for bricks is #3843, lebenah, meaning a brick, from the whiteness of the clay. Made of mud, straw and clay, and baked, they are used in building, commonly, but hewn stones are much more solid, lasting, and visually beautiful. The Hebrew for hewn is #1996, gaziyth, meaning something cut, i.e. dressed stone hewed, hewn stone, wrought. After 9-11, a gathering of leaders including the mayor of New York and the governor of the state and the governor of New Jersey met at Ground Zero with spectators and other officials, and focused on a singular object a gaziyth stone, a massive rectangular block of stone quarried from the mountains and brought and laid on the pavement at Ground Zero. They called it the Freedom Stone. It was a symbol of the nations rebuilding and restoration. The leaders declared that this stone would forever remain a symbolic cornerstone for the rebuilding of New York and the nation. As one commentary states, concerning Isaiah 9:10, the attitude of the people is, Far from being humbled and becoming repentant as a result of the chastening judgments of the Lord, they are resolutely determined to withstand God, and rebuild on an even grander scale. The attitude was one of defiance shaking the fist at God, or those who would thwart our national intentions and will. As when Nimrod built the tower of Babel, shortly after the Flood of Noahs time, as an act of insufferable defiance, the tower ascending to heaven, enabling men to escape any future flood waters.

Even so, a twenty-ton massive block of quarried stone was placed at Ground Zero, to mark the beginning of the rebuilding a symbolic cornerstone called the Stone of Freedom. This symbolized the spirit of defiance the spirit of stubborn pride antagonistic to the rule of heaven and the laws of God. As the apostle Paul wrote, The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be (Rom.8:7). Or as Jeremiah the prophet declared, The heart [of man] is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? (Jer.17:9). The Sycamores The prophecy says the people boast that since the sycamore trees are cut down, the people will replace them with cedar trees. The Hebrew word #8256, shaqam, means a sycamore tree a tree of no great value, growing about fifty feet tall. The people boast they will plant cedar trees instead Hebrew eretz, meaning a root meaning to be firm, translated cedar, from the tenacity of its roots. It is of much greater value, taller, more stately, harder wood. In the middle of the ash and debris from the fallen buildings at Ground Zero was the remains of a fallen sycamore tree. It would soon become a symbol of 9-11 and Ground Zero. In the maelstrom the tree was uprooted, and cast down. It, too, became a symbol. The prophecy of Isaiah 9:10 stated the people would exchange the feeble sycamore that were cut down and replace them with cedar trees. The cedar is a coniferous evergreen tree. Again, in remarkable precision, the sycamore tree at Ground Zero was taken from its place of falling and displayed publicly as a symbol of the calamity which had occurred. Even its root system was removed. Then, in late November of 2003, a strange sight appeared at Ground Zero a crane carried a new tree, a cedar tree, to the very spot where the sycamore had been, and it was planted as a symbol of rebuilding. A ceremony was held. Officials declared, This Ground Zero Tree of Hope will be a sign of the indomitable nature of human hope. The Tree of Hope was planted in the very spot where the old sycamore tree had once stood. But American defiance in the face of God does not sit well with the Almighty. On the morning after 9-11, Tom Daschle, Senate Majority leader at the time, gave an address to the U.S. Senate. He declared, in riveting words, I know that there is only the smallest measure of inspiration that can be taken from this devastation, but there is a passage in the Bible from Isaiah that I think speaks to all of us at times like this. He then quoted Isaiah 9:10 exactly proclaiming the nations intention of rebuilding, vowing to rebuild. He tried to spin the prophecy in a positive context, overlooking the fact that it was a dire warning and a call to repentance a censure of divine judgment being pronounced on a rebellious, defiant nation!

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Rather than heed the 9-11 warning as a call to national repentance, the leadership of the nation used it for their own purposes as a call to arms, to fight terrorism and to squander American military might in hot spots around the world, most notably Iraq and Afghanistan. Isaiah 9:10 was a warning blast. 9-11 was a warning call to repentance. It was studiously ignored. Therefore, it is a warning that an even greater calamity lies in our future if the first warning is ignored, then a greater catastrophe will strike! If a nations underlying problem is spiritual, then all the political, economic, or military solutions will do nothing to remove it. . . A spiritual problem can only be solved by a spiritual solution. Apart from that, every solution will end up producing another crisis. So writes Jonathan Cahn in The Harbinger, an extraordinary analysis of the Isaiah 9:10 effect and its ramifications on the future of America (page 134). The first attempts to rebuild America after 9-11 were economic measures. The U.S. Federal Reserve began to slash interest rates until three months later they were below the rate of inflation. By June of 2003 the rate had reached 1 percent and remained under 2 percent for years the equivalent of passing out free money to the public, and fueling a buying frenzy and causing home prices to escalate through the roof and into the stratosphere. As Jonathan Cahn writes, The attempt of nation to defy its course of judgment, apart from repentance, will, instead, set in motion a chain of events to bring about the very calamity it sought to avert (The Harbinger, p.141). The prolonged lowering of interest rates sowed the seeds of future disaster. The explosion in credit led to a massive explosion in debt. An economic house of cards was created almost overnight. The economic balloon was blown bigger and bigger and bigger, until . . . . What happened in the wake of 9-11, and the loosening of credit restraints and the lowering of interest rates? As Cahn puts it, The increased liquidity would mask a multitude of economic dangers. The standard cautions and restraints involved in borrowing and loaning would be thrown away. Banks would make loans they never otherwise would have made, consumers would spend money they never otherwise would have spent, and people would buy houses they never otherwise could have afforded. Personal debt, government debt, and corporate debt all mushroomed (p.141). Wall Street itself, the economic capital of America, was founded in March of 1792 at a Manhattan hotel, involving 24 of the citys leading merchants. They gathered at Wall Street to sign a document known as the Buttonwood Agreement. Thus the foundation was laid for Americas towering financial megalopolitic superpower. The Buttonwood Association became the New York Stock Exchange. The buttonwood tree is just another name for the sycamore tree. Thus the whole enterprise began under the

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branches of a sycamore tree. The toppling of the sycamore tree at Ground Zero was a symbol of the fall of Wall Street! Mystery of the Shemitah Year Fast forward seven years from 9-11, 2001. It is the fall of 2008. Lehman Brothers stood at the pinnacle of the worlds financial empire. Its collapse and fall took place together with the American economy over one weeks time. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac collapsed on September 7. By September 10 Lehman Brothers announced it had lost almost four billion dollars. Its stock plunged on September 11, the anniversary of 9-11. That collapse sounded the death knell throughout Wall Street and the nation. AIG alerted the Fed that it was also in danger of collapsing September 11. It was seven years to the exact date from 9-11. The 2008 collapse took place seven years to the very date from the 9-11 disaster. What is the significance of the seven years? Incredibly, God instituted a financial cycle called the Shemitah cycle every seventh year was to be a year of financial release, and purging of all indebtedness, in Israel a year of rest from production, agriculture, and economic work. It was a Sabbatical year (Lev.25:1-8). The seventh year was called a Shemitah a year of release, remission, letting rest. In the seventh year, the land owner opened up his land to those in need, so the poor also could share equally in the fruit of the land which grew of itself that year. At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts. And this is the form of the release: Every creditor who has lent anything to his neighbor shall release it; he shall not require it of his neighbor or his brother, because it is called the LORDs release (Deut.15:1-2). The letting go, or release, of all debt, would be done on the final day of the Hebrew year, or Elul 29, as the next day, Tishri 1, would begin a new civil year. Thus Elul 29 was the climax, or focal point, of the Shemitah year. The Shemitah year was to be a blessing to all the people and the nation, but it could also be looked at as a curse, in the case of national disobedience to Gods laws. God thundered, Your land shall be desolate and your cities waste. Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate (Lev.26:33-34). Says Jonathan Cahn, For the nation that attempts to rule God out of its existence, the Shemitah changes from a vessel of blessing to a vessel of judgmentthe judgment of a nations prosperity (The Harbinger, p.159). Is there a divine connection between the judgment of 9-11, 2001, and the debacle on Wall Street, September 2008? The collapse of 2008 took place at the seven year mark from 9-11, and specifically concerned the principle of the Shemitah. The collapse of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Lehman Brothers all involved the matter of debt and credit. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were bailed out by the government for over five trillion dollars.

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Their debts were remitted or rescinded, taken over by the government. Lehman Brothers was refused a bailout, so their case ended in bankruptcy, causing its debts to also be canceled. The fall of Lehman Brothers triggered an avalanche of financial collapses from Wall Street to Asia. Trillions of dollars of credit and debt were liquidated canceled out. The economic collapse was, in effect, one colossal Shemitah! The stock market plunged over 499 points. The next day it plunged over 700 points. Over the next two weeks, it fell nearly 2,700 points, or almost 25 percent of market value. Heres the kickerthe greatest single day stock market crash took place on the 29 day of Elul the key critical date of the Shemitah year of release!
th

But irony of ironies, the Shemitah year is the seventh year. Seven hundred billion dollars were wiped out that single day, or 7 percent of the stock market. The stock market crash itself on that day declined exactly 777 points look at the 7s and this occurred on the final key day of the seventh year! Billions of dollars were wiped out. The stock market, which had been climbing, reversed momentum. During the Shemitah year, it continued its descent, a slow motion crash, which at the end of the Shemitah year went over the cliff, with trillions lost in the juggernaut catastrophe. Ground Zero The Septuagint version of the Old Testament has these verses in Isaiah as follows: The Lord has sent death upon Jacob, and it has come upon Israel. And all the people of Ephraim, and they that dwell in Samaria shall know, who say in their pride and lofty heart, The bricks are fallen down, but come, let us hew stones, and cut down sycamores and cedars, and let us build for ourselves a tower. And God shall dash down them that rise up against Him on Mount Zion, and shall scatter His enemies (Isa.9:9-11, LXX). How prophetic! Even before the dust had settled, from the devastation on Ground Zero, an American Senator declared: I believe one of the first things we should commit towith federal help that underscores our nations purposeis to rebuild the towers of the World Trade Center and show the world we are not afraidWE ARE DEFIANT (John Kerry, speech given in U.S. Senate, Sept.12, 2001). From the pavement of Ground Zero, the governor of New York proclaimed,

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Let this great Freedom Tower show the world that what our enemies sought to destroy . . . stands taller than ever (Telegraph, July 5, 2004). Stop and think about what happened after 9-11. Says Cahn, On the first Monday after 9-11 the Federal Reserve slashed its interest rates, as the first concrete act in Americas rebuilding. The rate had already been lowered to 3.5 % but the extreme nature of 9-11 would now cause it to begin descending to extremely low levels. In fact September 11, 2001 would force the interest rates below the rate of inflation. They were really trying to stimulate the economy and they did. What they were doing was creating free money, and people began to spend money. Houses began to inflate in value. Prices began to go up, and people could no longer afford their mortgages which resulted in foreclosures. By June of 2003 the interest rate was down to 1%. It would remain under 2% for several years. As a result there was an economic boom in the country. Rabbi Cahn calls it the Isaiah 9:10 effect, and says that the attempts of a nation to defy the courts of its judgment just increases the problem and will set in motion a chain of events to bring about the very calamity it sought to avert. The words of Isaiah 9:11 would lead Israel to its downfall. The actions of the Federal Reserve Board after 911 have led America to a greater judgment and a greater downfall. In 2008 is when the hammer hit, and the economy of the United States was torpedoed. In the case of America the extreme and prolonged lowering of interest rates sowed the future seeds of disaster. The explosion in credit would lead to a massive explosion in debt. The increased liquidity would amass a multitude of economic dangers. The standard cautions and restraints of a more practical era involved in borrowing, loaning and making loans would be cast away. Banks would make loans that otherwise they never would have made in this time of free money. An economic house of cards was created after 9-11, and all the prosperity was very temporary. Right after 9-11, first there was an economic collapse, and that is why the interest was lowered in order to jimmy the economy and then jack it up again to avert total collapse. It did begin to rise and everybody thought it was getting better, but the nation went into massive unbelievable debt. In Leviticus 25 God says that every seven years shall be a year of release (a canceling of credit and debt)a Sabbatical year, or Shemitah year. This is Gods economical program. The collapse of Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac happened on September 7, 2008. Lehman Brothers collapse took place over the course of one week beginning on September 9, 2008, when it lost 40% of its value. On September 10 they announced their loss of almost 4 billion dollars. The following day on September 11, its stock took a second precipitous plunge. Then the Federal Reserve set in motion a series of actions and emergency meetings that end up in the fall of the Lehman Brothers. It was after September 11 that a second fall reached its critical mass and the second alarm was sounded. The AIG alerted

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the Federal Reserve that its firm was in critical danger of collapsing as well. Both of these alarms sounded on September 11 (see The Harbinger, p.161). The nation was commemorating the calamity of September 11 with another calamitythe financial calamity that shook Wall Street and Washington, D.C. and the global economy to the core, and the ravages were just beginning. Notice, there were seven years between the two calamities of 2001 and 2008. AIG was bailed out by the government with hundreds of billions of dollars created out of thin air by the Federal Reserve. Says Jonathan Cahn, the collapse of 2008 took place exactly on the seven year mark from September 11, 2001. Corporations were relieved of their debt of over five trillion dollars. The fall of the Lehman Brothers set off an avalanche of financial collapses from Wall Street to Asia which would continue to convulse the stock market around the world for months and months, plunging them to ever new lows. Massive fortunes were wiped out overnight. Trillions of dollars in effect had been cancelled by the collapse. God said that at the end of every seven years all debt was to be cancelled in the Shemitah year. The Sabbatical year of cancellation of all debts occurred in 2008. The government bailouts, corporate and personal bankruptcies, and foreclosures resulted. The global collapse itself was one giant Shemitah release made up of countless smaller ones. Gods laws work, sometimes against our will, they work despite our will because the debt cancellation is required by God. After the fall of the Lehman Brothers, Congress proposed a government bailout, but the bill was defeated in Congress. When news reached the Stock Market that the rescue plan had been defeated, Wall Street collapsed. In one day it fell 700 points. It was a crowning day in the first stage of the global collapse. In terms of point loss, the worst day in the history of Wall Street. One financial analyst summed it up this way, What happened on September 29 was this event more than anything else that shattered market confidence. Over the next two weeks the Dow fell close to 2,700 points, a decline of almost 25%. The damage had been done (The Harbinger, p.164). What is really remarkable to me and just shocks me beyond compare is that this greatest single day of Stock Market crash in history, took place on the 29th day of the Hebrew month of Elul. The 29th day of Elul is the final day of the Hebrew civil month of a Shemitah year. It is the day that all the debts had to be reckoned and cancelled, and that is the day they were! It raised my eyebrows that 700 billion dollars was lost and much of the Stock Market was wiped away that day and added up to 7 % of the Stock Market. How many points did 7% amount to? It was exactly 777 points were wiped away in one day on the Stock Market. Seven is Gods number the number of the Sabbath day, the number of

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the annual holy daysGods holy number of perfection. This 777 point loss on Wall Street was at the hand of God and had Gods signature on it. On what day did this occur? It occurred on the Elul 29 the final day of the Shemitah year. God sent a warning in 2001 with the Twin Trade Towers being demolished and the Stock Market plunging downward 500 points. Then seven years later after building back up again, the Stock Market really plunged at the end term of George Bush and the beginning of Barack Obamas term in office on a Shemitah year, Elul 29. God is sending out a message to Israel today that the time to repent is now. Christ said in Mark 1: 14, 15the time is fulfilled the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe the gospel (the good news). Count back seven years to the month of September 2001 when 9-11 when the greatest crash in Wall Street history occurred up until that day. The record would remain intact until 2008. Then on September 17, 2008, exactly 7 years later a second crash occurredthe two greatest crashes in Wall Street in history up to that time. This was a seven year cycle (the Shemitah cycle) beginning and ending with two massive remissions of credit and debt. What day did this crash occur on in September 2001? The New York Stock exchange closed down until six days after 9-11, and then it reopened the following Monday, September 17 having suffered the greatest loss in its history up to that day. It was really the aftershock after 9-11, after the Twin Trade Towers were toppledwhen the symbol of American imperial financial hegemony over the earth was destroyed. Just as the crash of 2001 was the aftershock of 9-11, the extended aftershock in 2008 was the second massive aftershock. This is the Isaiah 9:10 effect. On what day did the second crash occur seven years later? Both crashes fell precisely on Elul 29, the last day of a Shemitah year, and the Biblical day of release of cancellation of debts! Was this mere accident? Or was Almighty God sending a divine WARNING? The very date of both crashes occurred on the day that was ordained by God on the Biblical calendar from ancient times to cause the wiping away of the nations credit and debt. Incredible! Unbelievable but true, nonetheless! What are the chances of that? What are the odds? God is dealing with His people in a most subtle manner let him that has eyes, see, and let him that has ears, listen and pay attention! It is astounding how God deals with mankind and how He works behind the scenes invisibly! God is orchestrating events today according to our actions and reactions, our attitude. America did not repent after 9-11, but chose pride and rebellion instead of turning around and seeking God.

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In the wake of 9-11 (2001), the suppression of interest rates began which was the first concrete act of defiance against the laws of God with government interference to forcibly lower the rates. That act then led to another economic collapse exactly seven years later. You cant have unrealistic interest rates forever. The government today is still spending, borrowing money and printing money that it does not have faster than ever, with no signs of sanity or fiscal repentance. The seed is being sown for the ultimate disaster the collapse of the American dollar and the total collapse of the American economy. Cahn writes, So then the two greatest Wall Street stock market crashes (2001 and 2008) not only happened on the same day of the Biblical calendar, and on the one day of the Biblical year ordained to wipe away credit and debt, but each one fell seven years apart on the exact once-in-seven-years occurrence of that one Hebrew day. Its beyond amazing (The Harbinger, p.174). It is astounding! The two greatest stock market crashes America has ever known or experienced occurred on the exact same Biblical date Elul 29 the date set by God for the final remission of debts! As religious Jews were observing the conclusion of the Shemitah, closing the seventh year in ritual acts, on the same day a mighty force was operating to cause a much more mysterious Shemitah-release to occurthe collapse of Wall Street and the loss of astronomical sums of money to be wiped out, overnight. The first concrete act of defiance was the arbitrary suppression of interest rates. On that day the seeds were sown for the second financial crash which occurred exactly seven years later, on the very same Biblical date of remission Elul 29! The Word of God warns, Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man sows, that he will also reap (Gal.6:7). God says to us today, modern Ephraim, They sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind (Hosea 8:7). After the Flood, Nimrod defied the God of heaven by building the Tower of Babel. God sent a mighty wind, and destroyed it. On February 14, 2009, newly elected President Barak (means lightning) Obama addressed Congress one month after his inauguration. He declared: I know that for many Americans watching right now, the state of our economy is a concern that rises above all others. He went on to say; But while our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want the Americans to know thisWE WILL REBUILD. Rather than repenting of the sins which led us to this national and international disaster, he proudly proclaimed, We will rebuild. President Obama proclaimed the same central declaration of ancient Israels fateful vow as the central declaration of his entire address.

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As the Septuagint translation reads: we will rebuild the tower. Americans have been living in the last seven years in a Walt Disney-like Fantasyland. We have witnessed soaring, ridiculously incredible real estate prices. We have seen the price of gold skyrocket from about $300 per ounce to about $1800 per ounce. We have gone down the rabbit hole and come upon a whole new world of Alice in Wonderland where nothing is as it seems, and the solution to every problem is print more money and off with their heads. After 9-11, what appeared to be an economic expansion and resurgence in America in reality was nothing but a daydream leading to a fiscal nightmare.. It was a house of cards. A very different dynamic was set in motion, working beneath the surface, to destroy the economy. The lesson has not yet been learned and the progression of judgment advances as we repeat the same mistakes. Now we are on the same path as our ancestors. We have not changed our ways, acknowledged our sins or yet come to repentance and turn back to God as a nation and people. Our nation was founded on Biblical principles and truth. Our nation and people were chosen to be a beacon of light to the whole world. Israel was to carry Gods Torah and way of life to the whole world, but we have failed miserably and became defiant. Our judgment day beckons. God was behind the founding of the United States. Pilgrims, and Puritans and persecuted Christians from Europe England, Ireland, France, Spain, Germany and Holland came to this country seeking freedom to worship God according to the word of God, and to establish governing bodies based on the Word of God and the laws and statutes of God. The Ten Commandments were held in great honor and viewed with favor. How far have we fallen! Full Circle When George Washington was inaugurated as Americas first president, it was determined that the day would be a day of prayer and dedication. A proclamation was sent forth: On the morning of the day which our illustrious president will be invested with his office the bells will ring at 9 oclock. The people may go up to the house of God and in a solemn manner commit the new government with its important train of consequences to the Holy protection and blessing of the Most High. An early hour is prudently fixed for this peculiar act of devotion and is designed wholly for prayer. In his inauguration address, George Washington declared: The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself hath ordained.

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Our nation was conceived in prayer to God. Today, our nation refuses to honor prayer to God or mention the name of Jesus Christ in schools, public institutions and gatherings. How far, we have departed from God. On the morning of April 30, 1789 the sounds of bells filled the capital, which was then New York City, for 30 minutes calling the people to go up to the house of God to commit the new government to the holy protection and blessing of the Most High. As for the nations president and government, it would be later that same day that they would gather together for prayer to commit the future into Gods hands at a place specially chosen and prepared for that purpose. So after President George Washington gave his first presidential address, he led the Senate and the House of Representatives on foot in a procession through the streets of the capital from Federal Hall, the site of the inauguration, to the place appointed for their prayers. What was the place appointed? It was a little church called St. Pauls Chapel. The first official act of the new formed government took place inside the walls of a church. The gathering is recorded in the Annals of Congress as part of the first-ever joint session of Congress with an acting president. The commencement of the United States, as we know it, began with a sacred gathering before God. The first collective act of the beginning of our U.S. Government was to gather together for prayer to give thanks and commit the future of America to the holy protection and blessing of the Most High. Our government began with a sacred gathering before God. St. Pauls Chapel in New York City where America was dedicated to God and it is still standing today much as it did on April 30, 1789. St. Pauls Chapel is located at the corner of what would become Ground Zero, at the Twin Trade Towers. Ground Zero was originally church land owned by the same church that operated out of St. Pauls Chapel. Thus the very property where America was consecrated to God became the very spot where His judgments began in earnest Ground Zero of 9-11! When calamity struck, the buildings in and around 9-11 were destroyed or badly damaged, except for oneSt. Pauls Chapel, where America had been dedicated to God. It was the only building that escaped the devastation of Ground Zero virtually untouched. This was called the miracle of 9-11. How did it escape damage and destruction? The sycamore tree of Ground Zero protected it, acting like a shield. The chapel was saved. The lesson? That salvation and safety can sometimes come through trial and tribulation redemption can come through calamity. We have come full circle. Where we began as a blessing, has been turned into a CURSE! Its not only that Americas ground of consecration was at Ground Zero

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Americas ground of consecration is now Ground Zero! It was here that the future of America was committed to Gods holy protection. 9-11 was a symbol. It was originally a place of dedication and consecration. It became a place of destruction and judgment. It can once again become a place of redemption and salvation. The spirit of defiance must be replaced by the spirit of repentance. The spirit of stubborn pride and rebellion must be replaced by the gentle spirit of humility, and obedience. Because of rebellion and defiance, our nation is teetering on the brink of total destruction. Our hedge of protection has been withdrawn and lies broken. The ground of dedication has become the ground of calamity and catastrophe. Will we repent? Will we turn to God before it is too late? There is not much time left. Ernest Hemmingway wrote: Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee. The bell is tolling for America today. Can we hear it? It is beckoning us, calling us, to repentance. The original and first invasive breach in the wall of ancient Israel by the Assyrian Empire was in 732 BC. The collapse of Samaria and Ephraim and the northern kingdom of Israel was about 14 years, and Israel was taken into captivity in 718 B.C., fourteen years later. The first breach in our nation of these end times was 2001. If God gives us two Shemitah year cycles or 14 years (7 yrs. + 7 = 14 yrs.) to repent, it brings us to the year 2015 A.D. In 2015 the third Shemitah release may occur the final one the decisive one. The Great Tribulation, lasting 3 years, may begin at that time, marking the final demise of America and the current economic world order. If so, then the last seven years of this age may well be 2012 2018/19. Midway through this period is 2015, the final 3 years of tribulation. Ancient Israel was forewarned and given 14 years before the captivity. We have also been forewarned twice -- September 11, 2001 and the economic collapse in 2008. Will we heed the warning? As George Washington said, The nation that disregards the eternal rules of God in heaven cannot expect His blessing. But God in His mercy extends His hands, pleading with His people, saying: If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins and heal their land (II Chron.7:14).