Dear friends:

Thanks to a telephone call from an old friend yesterday, I discovered that May 2007 will see an unprecedented, once-in-history convergence of two major prophetic dates.

FIRST, Thursday, May 17 will be Ascension Day, observing the day Jesus rose into heaven.  "After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight" (Acts 1:9).   This came 40 days after the resurrection.  "He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God" (Acts 1:3).  This is a type of rapture, and for that reason many believe the rapture itself will be on some Ascension Day.

SECOND, Wednesday, May 16 (overlapping May 17), will be Iyyar 28 on the Jewish calender.  Possibly the most important prophetic day in 2,000 years was June 7, 1967 when Israeli forces took Jerusalem in the miracle Six-Day War.  In Israel, they observe the day, called "Jerusalem Day," not according to the modern Gentile calendar but according to the Jewish calendar.  On the Jewish calendar, June 7, 1967 was on Iyyar 28.  Again, in 2007, Iyyar 28 will land on Wednesday, May 16.

Therefore, since that Jewish day begins at sundown on the 16th, that means Ascension Day, or the 17th, begins just a few hours later, which makes both days overlap.  These two major historical dates coincide in 2007! 

But that's not all!  It is a once-in-history convergence!

THE TWO DATES COINCIDE ON THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THAT 1967 EVENT!  THEREFORE, MAY 16/17, 2007 MARKS THE END OF WHAT MANY CONSIDER A BIBLICAL GENERATION. And it was In that war that Israel, the biblical fig tree, "sprouted its leaves" and recaptured not only Jerusalem, but the Golan Heights, Gaza and the West Bank.  Jesus' words seem extremely relevant:

 “Look at the fig tree (Israel) and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.  I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened" (Luke 21:29-32).

Are we "this generation?"  It's interesting that just before His crucifixion, Jesus spoke of that future event in 1967 when He prophesied, "They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations (referring to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70).  Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled" (Luke 21:24). 

Many believe that prophecy in Luke 21:24 was fulfilled in 1967 because Jerusalem finally came under Israeli control, even though there are still some Gentiles (Arabs) trampling on Jerusalem.  Satan is still trying to hold on to it, thus the Arab attempts to control all or part of the city.  Unfortunately after the 1967 war, as an act of good will, Israeli General Moise Dayan gave control of the Temple Mount over to the Arabs, which has caused nothing but conflict ever since.  It proves that you cannot placate the Muslims.  They will take any act of generosity as a sign of weakness and violently use it against you.  Many believe General Dayan was disobedient to God's gift of the Temple Mount to Israel, causing Israel to experience 40 more years of testing and suffering.  That 40 years expires in May 2007.  Does that mean anything?  Let us be watchful.

Also, just moments before He ascended, Jesus told His disciples not to depart from Jerusalem until they received the promise of the Father and were empowered from on high, then they would be His witnesses to "Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). That prophecy has now come full circle, with the gospel literally going to the ends of the earth, then back to Jerusalem again, where gospel-preaching Christian TV is now available 24/7.

The above unique convergence of major dates in 2007 seems significant but I do not know what it might mean.  In this special prophetic season, it could be quite significant, for some major prophetic event, or maybe it is just a marker of some kind.

Jim