Dear Doves,

For the last couple of weeks, a few of you had put out a fleece asking the LORD for confirmation of a 2010 rapture. After reading the latest fleece by Fay, I can no longer hold back anymore. I, too, had put out a fleece the day after my birthday. Two weeks ago on my birthday, I prayed to God to give me a birthday present. At the end of the day I was very disappointed -- God gave me something I did not expect. I kept reminding myself that I should not be too attached to the things of this world especially given the nearness of His coming. Yet, deep down, I was unhappy, felt like a failure and thought that I deserved better.

To cut the long story short, God gave me this number -- 8.23. I have seen this number before although I have not worked with it. Immediately I recalled that it is  the licence plate number of a car of someone I know; at the back of my mind for some inexplicable reason I have always associated it with the scripture "we know that all things work together for good to them that love God" from the book of Romans. In my downcast state the scripture comforted me.

When I got home, I looked up e-Sword and was dumbfounded by what I found -- Rom 8:23 is another scripture altogether; I have mistaken it for Rom 8:28 -- the all-things-work-together-for-good scripture. After reading the scripture on e-Sword, my unhappiness was somewhat lessened by the clear rapture message contained therein -- "And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body."

Then I started thinking, maybe afterall this is truly the 50th birthday present I was supposed to receive from the LORD -- a rapture clue, perhaps. The number drew out the numericist in me and my numerate mind started ticking in search of patterns and clues. I vaguely recalled that the chapter order of Rom 7 was something I worked with before. A quick check sent a shiver down my spine as I confirmed that Rom 8 is chapter 2010 of the 22 Epistles of the Bible -- the third cycle of the Bible Wheel!

[Note: There are 143 chapters from Rom 1 to Rev 22. If we continue the count after Rev 22 by looping back to Rom 1, and repeat the counting several times, we will reach 2010 precisely at Rom 8.]

The next day I was still pondering over the scripture the LORD gave me while I still had not completely gotten over my disappointment. Taking the cue from Charles Holler (see post) who shared his fleece that day, I decided to put out my own fleece. On the way to work that morning, I told the LORD to show me the number again so that I know for sure it was sent from Him. As the day progressed, I had forgotten about the fleece. In the afternoon I felt hungry and decided to get a bite at a nearby deli, which is quite unusual for me. While queuing for my egg sandwich and coffee, I saw the number 8:23 on the microwave oven staring back at me! As I was trying to figure out the meaning of the display, it turned 8:24. It was then that I realized the digital clock on the microwave oven was not showing accurate time as it was around three in the afternoon at the time -- the same time I received 8:23 from God the day before!

Isn't it confirmation from God that He has sent me the number 8:23 given that the number came to me around the same time one day after another in close succession in answering to my two prayers -- one for a birthday present, and the other for a rapture fleece?

I continued to ponder and waver on whether I should share it with the doves as I was still a bit doubtful of the 2010 connection. On the third day, while at work, I had to attend a meeting scheduled late in the afternoon. I decided to get a bite first in case the meeting stretched on (meeting of this nature takes place once in a year). Since I don't have the habit of having afternoon tea so this hunger pang is highly unusual. The whole thing was déjà vu all over again -- the deli, egg sandwich,  coffee and 3 pm. While waiting for my coffee, I decided to check the digital clock on the microwave oven to see what time it displayed. Secretly I was hoping to see 8:23 again, but to my disappointment the clock indicated one minute past two.

It did not take long before it hit me that 2:01 is the first three digits of 2010! Isn't God trying to tell me directly that Rom 8:23 will be fulfilled in 2010?

May this be the year of our redemption!

John