As you all know, many prophecies have multiple fulfillments.  Oh, the marvelous scriptures that have come from the mind of God Almighty!!  How unsearchable are His truths, and His ways past finding out!!

I was perplexed about the fish also, after 1988 when the equivalent of Harold Camping, one Edgar Whisenant "woke" up the world with his prediction of September 12, 1988 as the day of rapture.  It created exactly the same thing that Camping has created now.  IT SORT OF SEPARATED THE BELIEVING CHURCH MEMBERS FROM THE SKEPTICAL ONES.  It sure had an effect on me.

The Berlin wall fell in November, 1989 and that started the collapse of the Soviet Union.  Suddenly, iron curtain countries became "free" of the Soviets.  Both the American Bible Society and the Gideon International organizations took full advantage of this happening and SATURATED the former Soviet countries with Bibles.

On June 3, 1993, the Gideon International Magazine published that it had saturated the 153rd nation of the world of nations with God's Word.  That nation was Latvia.  Each nation = 1 fish.  I thought the age of grace would end then, but of course, it didn't.

Now, at the very same time, Richard M. Nixon, disgraced POTUS who had resigned, became very ill.  He approached his deathbed.  He called for Billy Graham, who responded about six months before his death on April 22, 1994.  Later in April, Graham preached the funeral of Richard Nixon DELIVERING A SIMPLE GOSPEL MESSAGE by prearrangement with Nixon IN SECRET, to ambassadors from all over the world at that funeral.  The reason it was kept secret so that even the family did not know Graham was going to do it, was that since his was to be a state funeral, the message would have been stopped.  But, Nixon specifically requested Graham to do it and he did.

Exactly a year later, in April 1995, the Graham Evangelistic Association mounted the largest crusade ever, using the miracle of TelStar satellite to preach the San Juan, Puerto Rico crusade to 1/2 of the world's population, finance mostly by the Association with some help from the churches.  It sent the message to the more civilized half as that was the least costly and easiest to do.  It used radio, tv, tape recorders, videotape, language experts, missionaries, etc to do this.

Exactly a year later, in April 1996, the Graham Evangelistic Association mounted another crusade preaching the gospel to the other half of the world, financed mainly by the churches of the world.  This one was more intense in the use of language experts and missionaries, testament, tracts, etc.   The effort was deemed successful to the point that in 1996, Billy Graham published in the Association's magazine that he felt that they had fulfilled Matthew 24:14 which said that "this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached to the whole world FOR A WITNESS, and then shall the end come".

I was immediately reminded of Jesus story of a great man making a feast.  He called on those who were invited to come, but they each made excuse saying, "I have married a bride", or "I have purchased new property", etc.  The king was wroth at those (the ambassadors in our day) for declining (not carrying Graham's message to their countries) and ordered servants to go out into the highways and byways and bring people in, "that my house may be full".  These servants obeyed, but the house was only half full.  So the king ordered the servants to go get the halt, lame, blind, etc. in order "that my house may be full".  Evidently this filled the house, for the story ended there.

I saw here a fulfillment of this story of Jesus Christ in the death of His newly saved servant, Richard Nixon.  I also saw a message WHICH IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWED the 153rd nation, Latvia, being saturated with Bibles.
I read that the number 153 is composed of two number 100 and 53.  The 100 is universal and 53 is "sons of God".  Together it means "universal Sons of God", or, I suppose, the Church.

God has been mightily moving since the wake up call in 1988, and Camping is the latest wake up call now in 2011.  The time element is nearly 23 years.  I agree that we should not judge Camping for he may have done much more good than harm, whether he, or we, realize it or not.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY ALWAYS AND EVER

YBIC

Gerry Almond