Mercy Time from Clinton's Impeachment to WTC Attack

Abraham pleaded with the Lord for Mercy. That plea bought time for a Great Nation. It bought the time between Clinton's bombing of Iraq in December 1998 and the WTC Attack in September 2001, 1000 days exactly.

Abraham's response

Abraham seems to have understood the story applied to his family, not just Lot alone.

1 Genesis 18:23-24 23וַיִּגַּ֥שׁ אַבְרָהָ֖ם וַיֹּאמַ֑ר הַאַ֣ף תִּסְפֶּ֔ה צַדִּ֖יק עִם־ רָשָֽׁע׃ 24אוּלַ֥י יֵ֛שׁ חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים צַדִּיקִ֖ם בְּת֣וֹךְ הָעִ֑יר הַאַ֤ף תִּסְפֶּה֙ וְלֹא־ תִשָּׂ֣א לַמָּק֔וֹם לְמַ֛עַן חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים הַצַּדִּיקִ֖ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר בְּקִרְבָּֽהּ׃ (WLC)

1 Genesis 18:23-24 23And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? (KJV)

1 Genesis 18:23-24 23And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24Peradventure there be 50 righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the 50 righteous that are therein? (KJV/NC)

1 Genesis 18:23-24 23And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou consume the righteous with the wicked? 24Peradventure there are fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? (ASV)

1 Genesis 18:23-24 23¶ And Abraham drew near and said, Wilt thou in thine anger destroy the righteous with the sinners? 24Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt thou in thine anger destroy it, and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous that are in it? (LAM)

1 Genesis 18:23-24 23Then Abraham drew near, and said, "Wilt thou indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt thou then destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? (RSV)

1 Genesis 18:23-24 23Then Abraham approached him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? (NIV)

1 Genesis 18:23-24 23Abraham drew near, and said, 'Will you consume the righteous with the wicked? 24What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are therein? (WEB)

1 Genesis 18:23-24 23Abraham drew near, and said, 'Will you consume the righteous with the wicked? 24What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are in it? (WEB/HNV)

1 Genesis 18:23-24 23And Abraham drew near and said, Will you in your anger destroy the righteous with the sinners? 24Suppose there are 50 righteous inside the city; will you in your anger destroy it, and not spare the place for the sake of the 50 righteous that are in it? (BRB)

This dialog opens up additional time, time for mercy on Sodom, as Abraham pleads with the Lord for mercy on the City. Part of this story appears to reveal the Lord's nature, that he will allow some to escape, and would do this with or without Abraham's plea. The other part of this dialog appears to be the Lord granting mercy time to the Sodomites based on Abraham's plea. That time is driven by the counts in the story.

Note, though, how the dialog immediately launches into references regarding "50." This count is a reference to a people group, a people group identified by 50. In the modern world those 50 are the 50 states of the United States. Abraham's first round of pleading for Sodom actually references a double 50, consistent with the "Great Nation" double portion inheritance and consistent with the "double 50" Senators that make up the upper house of the American Congress. Hillary's win simply points even more at this specific house in view in this story.

Sodom's mercy time:

As soon as Abraham realized he was being told of a future great nation that would prophetically spring from his family line, he immediately burst into a mercy plea. The whole plea goes like this:

1 Genesis 18:22-33 22וַיִּפְנ֤וּ מִשָּׁם֙ הָֽאֲנָשִׁ֔ים וַיֵּלְכ֖וּ סְדֹ֑מָה וְאַ֨בְרָהָ֔ם עוֹדֶ֥נּוּ עֹמֵ֖ד לִפְנֵ֥י יְהוָֽה׃ 23וַיִּגַּ֥שׁ אַבְרָהָ֖ם וַיֹּאמַ֑ר הַאַ֣ף תִּסְפֶּ֔ה צַדִּ֖יק עִם־ רָשָֽׁע׃ 24אוּלַ֥י יֵ֛שׁ חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים צַדִּיקִ֖ם בְּת֣וֹךְ הָעִ֑יר הַאַ֤ף תִּסְפֶּה֙ וְלֹא־ תִשָּׂ֣א לַמָּק֔וֹם לְמַ֛עַן חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים הַצַּדִּיקִ֖ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר בְּקִרְבָּֽהּ׃ 25חָלִ֨לָה לְּךָ֜ מֵעֲשֹׂ֣ת׀ כַּדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֗ה לְהָמִ֤ית צַדִּיק֙ עִם־ רָשָׁ֔ע וְהָיָ֥ה כַצַּדִּ֖יק כָּרָשָׁ֑ע חָלִ֣לָה לָּ֔ךְ הֲשֹׁפֵט֙ כָּל־ הָאָ֔רֶץ לֹ֥א יַעֲשֶׂ֖ה מִשְׁפָּֽט׃ 26וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהוָ֔ה אִם־ אֶמְצָ֥א בִסְדֹ֛ם חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים צַדִּיקִ֖ם בְּת֣וֹךְ הָעִ֑יר וְנָשָׂ֥אתִי לְכָל־ הַמָּק֖וֹם בַּעֲבוּרָֽם׃ 27וַיַּ֥עַן אַבְרָהָ֖ם וַיֹּאמַ֑ר הִנֵּה־ נָ֤א הוֹאַ֙לְתִּי֙ לְדַבֵּ֣ר אֶל־ אֲדֹנָ֔י וְאָנֹכִ֖י עָפָ֥ר וָאֵֽפֶר׃ 28א֠וּלַי יַחְסְר֞וּן חֲמִשִּׁ֤ים הַצַּדִּיקִם֙ חֲמִשָּׁ֔ה הֲתַשְׁחִ֥ית בַּחֲמִשָּׁ֖ה אֶת־ כָּל־ הָעִ֑יר וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ לֹ֣א אַשְׁחִ֔ית אִם־ אֶמְצָ֣א שָׁ֔ם אַרְבָּעִ֖ים וַחֲמִשָּֽׁה׃ 29וַיֹּ֨סֶף ע֜וֹד לְדַבֵּ֤ר אֵלָיו֙ וַיֹּאמַ֔ר אוּלַ֛י יִמָּצְא֥וּן שָׁ֖ם אַרְבָּעִ֑ים וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ לֹ֣א אֶֽעֱשֶׂ֔ה בַּעֲב֖וּר הָאַרְבָּעִֽים׃ 30וַ֠יֹּאמֶר אַל־ נָ֞א יִ֤חַר לַֽאדֹנָי֙ וַאֲדַבֵּ֔רָה אוּלַ֛י יִמָּצְא֥וּן שָׁ֖ם שְׁלֹשִׁ֑ים וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ לֹ֣א אֶֽעֱשֶׂ֔ה אִם־ אֶמְצָ֥א שָׁ֖ם שְׁלֹשִֽׁים׃ 31וַיֹּ֗אמֶר הִנֵּֽה־ נָ֤א הוֹאַ֙לְתִּי֙ לְדַבֵּ֣ר אֶל־ אֲדֹנָ֔י אוּלַ֛י יִמָּצְא֥וּן שָׁ֖ם עֶשְׂרִ֑ים וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ לֹ֣א אַשְׁחִ֔ית בַּעֲב֖וּר הָֽעֶשְׂרִֽים׃ 32וַ֠יֹּאמֶר אַל־ נָ֞א יִ֤חַר לַֽאדֹנָי֙ וַאֲדַבְּרָ֣ה אַךְ־ הַפַּ֔עַם אוּלַ֛י יִמָּצְא֥וּן שָׁ֖ם עֲשָׂרָ֑ה וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ לֹ֣א אַשְׁחִ֔ית בַּעֲב֖וּר הָעֲשָׂרָֽה׃ 33וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ יְהוָ֔ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר כִּלָּ֔ה לְדַבֵּ֖ר אֶל־ אַבְרָהָ֑ם וְאַבְרָהָ֖ם שָׁ֥ב לִמְקֹמֽוֹ׃ (WLC)

1 Genesis 18:22-33 22And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD. 23And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? 25That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? 26And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. 27And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes: 28Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it. 29And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for fortys sake. 30And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there. 31And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twentys sake. 32And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for tens sake. 33And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.(KJV)

1 Genesis 18:22-33 22And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD. 23And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24Peradventure there be 50 righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the 50 righteous that are therein? 25That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? 26And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom 50 righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. 27And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes: 28Peradventure there shall lack 5 of the 50 righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of 5? And he said, If I find there 45, I will not destroy it. 29And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be 40 found there. And he said, I will not do it for the sake of 40. 30And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall 30 be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find 30 there. 31And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be 20 found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for the sake of 20. 32And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure 10 shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for the sake of 10. 33And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.(KJV/NC)

1 Genesis 18:22-33 22And the men turned from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before Jehovah. 23And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou consume the righteous with the wicked? 24Peradventure there are fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? 25That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked, that so the righteous should be as the wicked; that be far from thee: shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? 26And Jehovah said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sake. 27And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, who am but dust and ashes: 28peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, I will not destroy it, if I find there forty and five. 29And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for the forty's sake. 30And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there. 31And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for the twenty's sake. 32And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for the ten's sake. 33And Jehovah went his way, as soon as he had left off communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.(ASV)

1 Genesis 18:22-33 22So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom; but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.

23¶ And Abraham drew near and said, Wilt thou in thine anger destroy the righteous with the sinners? 24Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt thou in thine anger destroy it, and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous that are in it? 25Far be it from thee to do such a thing as this, to slay the innocent with the guilty, far be it from thee, O thou Judge of the whole earth! Such a judgment should never be carried out. 26And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole country for their sake. 27And Abraham answered and said, Behold, I have ventured to speak before the LORD, and yet I am but dust and ashes; 28Suppose there shall lack five of the fifty righteous; wilt thou destroy the whole city for the lack of five men? And he said, If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it. 29And Abraham spoke to him and said, Suppose there shall be forty found there? And he said, I will not destroy it, if I find there forty. 30Then Abraham said, Oh let not the LORD be displeased and I will speak: Suppose there shall thirty be found there? And he said, I will not destroy it, if I find thirty there. 31And he said, Behold, I have ventured to speak before the LORD; suppose there shall be twenty found there? And he said, I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty. 32And he said, Oh, let not the LORD be displeased, and I will speak only once more; suppose ten shall be found there? And he said, I will not destroy it for the sake of ten. 33And the LORD went his way when he had finished communing with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place. (LAM)

1 Genesis 18:22-33 22So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom; but Abraham still stood before the LORD. 23Then Abraham drew near, and said, "Wilt thou indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt thou then destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? 25Far be it from thee to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from thee! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" 26And the LORD said, "If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake." 27Abraham answered, "Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. 28Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Wilt thou destroy the whole city for lack of five?" And he said, "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there." 29Again he spoke to him, and said, "Suppose forty are found there." He answered, "For the sake of forty I will not do it." 30Then he said, "Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there." He answered, "I will not do it, if I find thirty there." 31He said, "Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there." He answered, "For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it." 32Then he said, "Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there." He answered, "For the sake of ten I will not destroy it." 33And the LORD went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.(RSV)

1 Genesis 18:22-33 22The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD. 23Then Abraham approached him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25Far be it from you to do such a thing -- to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?"

26The LORD said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake."

27Then Abraham spoke up again: "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, 28what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?" "If I find forty-five there," he said, "I will not destroy it."

29Once again he spoke to him, "What if only forty are found there?" He said, "For the sake of forty, I will not do it."

30Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?" He answered, "I will not do it if I find thirty there."

31Abraham said, "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?" He said, "For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it."

32Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?" He answered, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it."

33When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.(NIV)

1 Genesis 18:22-33 22The men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before Yahweh. 23Abraham drew near, and said, 'Will you consume the righteous with the wicked? 24What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are therein? 25Be it far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, that so the righteous should be as the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn't the Judge of all the earth do right?'

26Yahweh said, 'If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sake.' 27Abraham answered, 'See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, who am but dust and ashes. 28What if there will lack five of the fifty righteous? Will you destroy all the city for lack of five?'

He said, 'I will not destroy it, if I find forty-five there.'

29He spoke to him yet again, and said, 'What if there are forty found there?'

He said, 'I will not do it for the forty's sake.'

30He said, 'Oh don't let the Lord be angry, and I will speak. What if there are thirty found there?'

He said, 'I will not do it, if I find thirty there.'

31He said, 'See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord. What if there are twenty found there?'

He said, 'I will not destroy it for the twenty's sake.'

32He said, 'Oh don't let the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once. What if ten are found there?'

He said, 'I will not destroy it for the ten's sake.'

33Yahweh went his way, as soon as he had finished communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.(WEB)

1 Genesis 18:22-33 22The men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before the LORD. 23Abraham drew near, and said, 'Will you consume the righteous with the wicked? 24What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are in it? 25Be it far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn't the Judge of all the earth do right?'

26The LORD said, 'If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sake.' 27Abraham answered, 'See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, who am but dust and ashes. 28What if there will lack five of the fifty righteous? Will you destroy all the city for lack of five?'

He said, 'I will not destroy it, if I find forty-five there.'

29He spoke to him yet again, and said, 'What if there are forty found there?'

He said, 'I will not do it for the forty's sake.'

30He said, 'Oh don't let the Lord be angry, and I will speak. What if there are thirty found there?'

He said, 'I will not do it, if I find thirty there.'

31He said, 'See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord. What if there are twenty found there?'

He said, 'I will not destroy it for the twenty's sake.'

32He said, 'Oh don't let the Lord be angry, and I will speak just once more. What if ten are found there?'

He said, 'I will not destroy it for the ten's sake.'

33The LORD went his way, as soon as he had finished communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.(WEB/HNV)

1 Genesis 18:22-33 22So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom; but Abraham stood yet before Yahvah.

23And Abraham drew near and said, Will you in your anger destroy the righteous with the sinners? 24Suppose there are 50 righteous inside the city; will you in your anger destroy it, and not spare the place for the sake of the 50 righteous that are in it? 25Far be it from you to do such a thing as this, to slay the innocent with the guilty, far be it from you, oh Judge of the whole earth. Such a judgment should never be carried out. 26And Yahvah said, If I find in Sodom 50 righteous inside the city, then I will spare the whole country for their sake. 27And Abraham answered and said, Look, I have ventured to speak before the Lord, yet I am but dust and ashes; 28Suppose there will lack 5 of the 50 righteous; will you destroy the whole city for the lack of 5 men? And he said, If I find 45 there, I will not destroy it. 29And Abraham spoke to him and said, Suppose 40 will be found there? And he said, I will not destroy it, if I find 40 there. 30Then Abraham said, Oh do not let the Lord be displeased and I will speak: Suppose 30 will be found there? And he said, I will not destroy it, if I find 30 there. 31And he said, Look, I have ventured to speak before the Lord; suppose 20 will be found there? And he said, I will not destroy it for the sake of 20. 32And he said, Oh, do not let the Lord be displeased, and I will speak only once more; suppose 10 will be found there? And he said, I will not destroy it for the sake of 10. 33And Yahvah went his way when he had finished communing with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place. (BRB)

Misconceptions

A common misconception of this account is to thing that Abraham is somehow working his way down in counts in order to gain mercy for Lot and his family. Lot and his family are indeed in Sodom, but his family does not number 10. At best Lot's family is 6: Lot, Lot's wife, 2 daughters and 2 future sons-in-law.

Abraham is clearly taking a risk to even raise the issue, his careful words surrounding his request suggests each request is in some respect torcherous for Abraham to speak. If Abraham had intended to plead with the Lord for Lot and his kin only, Abraham would simply have started with 10, and not whittled his way down to that number.

Another misconception is the thought that 10 righteous people in a city can prevent its destruction. If this was the meaning of this passage then the intricate dialog would be pointless. Again, Abraham would have started with 10 and only asked one time.

Neither of these interpretations can explain another curious feature of the list: Why did the Lord echo Abraham? This is a highly curious feature that must have some application to the prophetic use. Common interpretations do not integrate that feature of this passage.

Mercy Time

In the Bible all counts of things, no matter what they also may be, are references to time. This is established by a proof text in the account of Joseph when he interprets a pair of dreams that included counts. Joseph explains that each time the Lord speaks a number, those numbers are references to time. In Joseph's case it was 3 days. Of course the Bible itself is the Lord speaking in a written form so all counts of anything within the book are references to time.

Abraham seems to know that he could not stop the destruction on future Great Nation. He seems to know that he can buy time for his future descendents. It is his intention to buy time that lends the purpose to this mercy plea. Abraham is getting the Lord to grant Mercy Time not mercy on specific counts of people. This is why it was so important to construct his plea in such a special way.

Under this interpretation each stanza in the plea has equal importance. Abraham draws out his plea, even structuring one stanza as a subtraction, in order to increase the mercy time. Each time the Lord echo's Abraham's request the Lord himself effectively doubles the amount of time Abraham had already secured.

To find out the ammount of time granted in this plea we simply add up each count given in the Bible's text within this dialog. The total of such counts is 455. (Abraham's opening... what if there are 50 what about 50... counts for 100, then the Lord's answer adds another 50 yeilding 150, and so on down the list.)

Adding More Mercy Time

Many people think that the Lord is a God of wrath. He is, but he is asl merciful and looks for any opportunity to grant mercy. People under the blood of Jesus are granted mercy even to eternal life. In this story there are several other sources of mercy time that add to the story and extend it out, much longer still.

Doubling the plea

The structure of the passage is the Lord doubling the value spoken by Abraham. This is a pattern that works for the entire passage It is not just 455, but a double of that number, to 910. Understand his mercy? This starts to reveal how this works.

Adding Sarah's age

Sarah is 90 at the birth of Isaac. This was the focus of this story earlier in the passage. By this time next year, Sarah at age 90 will have a son. Those 90 years are also included in this mercy time adding 90 days and driving the entire mercy period to 1000 days.

Picking a start

The Lord waits until the prophetic replay of the presentation of Isaac on Mount Moriah before starting the 1000 days of mercy time. That testing of Abraham and the burning of the ram fulfilled in December, 1998, soon after the start of the impeachment process. It involved Clinton making a trip to the Middle East.

Clinton's trip to Moriah

While the House of Representives was handling the impeachment case, Clinton, on a trip arranged during the Wye River Memorandum negociations, went to Jerusalem on an overseas trip. Clinton took a veritable entorage, with about 600 White House staffers and aids taking over a hotel in Jerusalem. The aids remained behind, just as Abraham's servants had, while Clinton's close associates traveled the area by helicopter.

At the end of 3 days in Jerusalem and its environs, Clinton returned to Washington DC and ordered extensive bombing in Iraq, effectively ending the sanctions regime started by the United Nations at the end of the Persian Gulf War. The following is the date report.

The US and UK begin bombing in Iraq.
ET NumberDayModern DateBible DateAA Number
ET:8907 Wed 16 Dec 1998 NS 3489/12/1 FE AA:4738321

Clinton's trip was the prophetic replay of the three day journey of Abraham, Isaac and servants to the region of Moriah. Those three days were ended when Abraham and Isaac had sacrificed a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. The prophet Daniel defines the prophetic symbol "ram" as the Medes and Persians, modern Iraq and Iran. By accident a stray western bomb landed inside Iran, fulfilling the prophecy nicely.

During those 4 days of bombing, everyone wondered, is Clinton bombing Iraq in order to keep from being impeached? The Bible, of course, had the answer.

Burning the ram was a substitute for the death of the covenant made with Isaac. Clinton was under covenant with the citizens of the United States, begun at his innauguration. Clinton had indeed burned the ram in order substitute for his political death.

At that date, December 16, 1998, the 1000 day mercy time for Sodom began. That period ended September 11, 2001, the day of the destruction of the twin towers in New York. The following is the date report. Notice how the day-counting fields in this report are exactly 1000 days higher than the previous report.

WTC Bombing in New York City.
ET NumberDayModern DateBible DateAA Number
ET:9907 Tue 11 Sep 2001 NS 3492/9/11 FE AA:4739321

The parallels between the destruction of Sodom and the destruction of the WTC should be obvious. Two angels, fire from the sky. For most of the family, time to flee. The cities reduced to ash. In ancient Sodom's case it was a total of 5 cities destroyed, and New York made a good venue, being composed of 5 buroughs.

Who did it?

In several places along the timeline pairs of dates are linked by prophetic stories. In this case the bombing of Iraq in December of 1998 is linked to the destruction of the World Trade Center in September of 2001. We are not told what the mechanism is, we must figure it out on our own. Several points become clear:

  • The Lord had tested the country to see if sexual immorality was a sin. The nation failed the test and lost the Lord's hand of protection. A mercy period was begun that delayed destroying angels from acting for 1000 days. The timing was set precicely from the chronology of the Bible. It coincided with other prophetic stories we look at in our next installment.

    Many suggest Satan was behind the attack. Not so. Attributing power to Satan denies the power of God to stop Satan from foiling God's plans. If God had wanted the WTC protected someone, somewhere, in the law enforcement agencies of the west would have discovered the terrorist cell and quietly shut it down.

  • The bombing of Iraq in December of 1998 is also linked to this story. Though Clinton escaped impeachment, the bombing he ordered is linked to the events in New York.

    What Clinton apparently did by not acknowledging his own sin and bombing Iraq instead was to incite Iraq to retaliate. As most other nations from around the world sent condolences to the United States, Iraq's main newspaper gloated over America's misfortune. That newspaper also revealed Iraq's accomplice in the murder, a nation with a billion hands, a vieled reference to China helping Iraq with the plan.

    Saddam's name, like so many other names in the prophetic stories from the Bible exactly matches the name Sodom, the prophetic story we are following here. This helps seal Saddam's role in the story and confirms his part in this play.

The Lord was not silent in warning Americans as to what was going on. In February, 1999, at the height of the Senate impeachment debate the Pope arrived in St. Louis. We look at what the Pope said next.