Preface
for Creation ... Counterfeits ... and the 70th Week

Have you ever tried to reconcile the Bible’s creation account with scientific evidence?  Have you wondered if there really is a “devil” and if he actually meddles in world affairs?  And have you been curious about what Bible prophecy has to say about the world’s future?  These, and numerous other topics, are presented and discussed in detail in this, the most comprehensive, detailed study of the Bible that you will see on the Internet.

The Bible is not an outdated book with nothing relevant to say to us now in the third millennium A.D.  I believe its wealth of information is more pertinent to us at this time in history than it has been to any generation of people in the past.  In fact, it recently has been discovered that within the original Hebrew characters of the Old Testament is contained a “hidden code” of information precisely forseeing a multitude of events and people thousands of years before they occurred or lived—with 100% accuracy.  Even startling events yet in our future seem to be included in the hidden Bible code.  It was not until the advent of modern computers that the hidden infomation in the ancient biblical text could be “unsealed.”  (An amazing and fascinating presentation of this may be found in The Bible Code by Michael Drosnin.)  The discovery of this heretofore hidden knowledge appears to be a fulfillment of a supernatural prophecy given to the ancient prophet Daniel:  “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end” (Daniel 12:9).

There are many ways to approach my lengthy online Bible study, Creation ... Counterfeits ... and the 70th Week, due to the extensive cross-hyperlinking contained within it.  (Note that all hyperlinks in each chapter, initially, are supposed to be brown; however, with some browsers, some hyperlinks may appear tan even before they are visited.)  You might simply begin with Chapter 1, reading straight through and linking, as it interests you, to sections in other chapters.  (Keep in mind that, when you link to a section in another document, the document itself may be lengthy and take a few moments to load completely, at which time the browser will skip to the specified item.)

Another good way to explore this Bible study is to view the Table of Contents, the Comprehensive Outline, and/or the Synopses of Chapters and to skip directly to topics which interest you.

Those interested in future prophecy may wish to jump directly to The 70th Week & Extensions: “Pre-Wrath” Rapture Table.  This comprehensive table, complete with numerous hyperlinks, details the final seven-year period of this age, referred to in this book as “The 70th Week.”  (Other Rapture theories are discussed elsewhere.  If you activate the latter hyperlink, wait until the link fully connects before scrolling down the page, or else the link may not connect properly.  If the link does not connect after a couple of minutes, return here and try the link again.)

Some, with at least a moderate knowledge of the Bible, might wish to scan the extensive Scripture Index, which includes over 4,700 Bible scripture entries, and link to portions of this book referring to certain Bible passages.  (Each scripture links to the beginning of the paragraph in which that scripture reference is located.)  The Bible Book Abbreviations list may be utilized for any unfamiliar abbreviations which are encountered. 

When hyperlinking, via a cross-reference or scripture reference, to another portion of the book, please be patient in waiting for the document to download from the Web.  Many of the documents are quite lengthy—especially those with informative tables—and may take up to a few minutes, depending on the speed of your modem, to appear in their completeness.  Remember two things:  1) While any document is downloading from the Web, you can perform other tasks on your computer until the document is fully loaded.  2) Once a document is loaded, future reference to it will be much swifter, because it will have been stored in the Internet cache on your computer.  (Incidentally, while reading any Internet document on your brower, you can press the Home key to go immediately to the top of the document and the End key to go immediately to the bottom of the document.)

For the benefit of those who are not familiar with the chapter/verse format of the Bible, let me explain this so that my statements and claims in this book may be checked easily.  The Bible is divided into the Old and New Testaments; the Old Testament (before Jesus) is approximately the first three-fourths, and the New Testament (during and after Jesus) the last one-fourth of the Bible.  The book of “John” is the fourth book of the New Testament, while “1 John” (or “First John”) is the first of three books (including “2 John” and “3 John”) by the same author near the back of the Bible.

Rom. 10:9,10” signifies Chapter 10 of Romans, verses nine and ten.  “Isa. 8:19b” indicates that the second (“b”) portion or phrase of verse nineteen, in Chapter 8, is the one to which I refer—in this case, “Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?”  (I have tried to separate components of verses—a, b, c, etc.—according to punctuation and/or completeness of thought.)  All of my references are from The New International Version (NIV) of the Bible, unless otherwise specified.  Please keep in mind that other versions may have a different order for the components of some verses, and there may some confusion using my notations when checking them with anything other than The New International Version.

You will note that all of the scripture references are hyperlinks.  Each one will link to a particular Bible book and chapter within that book.  After the link has been completed, simply scroll down to the appropriate verse(s) to view the passage.  Then return to the original text and continue.

When a biblical scripture reference in a paragraph includes only a chapter and verse(s) and excludes the name of the Bible book, this reference is contained in the book of the Bible most recently mentioned in that paragraph.  For instance, if “2:15-17” is listed, and the last Bible book mentioned was “Gen.,” then it may be assumed that the reference in consideration is Genesis, Chapter 2, verses 15 through 17 (involving the commandment by God to Adam “...not [to] eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil...” in the Garden of Eden).

My constant references to Bible passages throughout Creation ... Counterfeits ... and the 70th Week may seem distracting to some readers at first.  I include the biblical references within the text, rather than in a bibliography, because I feel they are important to consult as one is reading through this book and grasping its concepts.  (Moreover, all of my biblical references are included in the lengthy Scripture Index.)  I believe the Bible is the paramount source of knowledge about God and about life, and I strongly feel it is a book with which everyone should be reasonably familiar. 

Frequently I will provide a hyperlink to information in a section or subsection within a certain part or segment elsewhere in the book.  For instance, I may suggest that you see “Second Coming”: C-12, P-V, S-1.  This means that the section concerning the “Second Coming” of Jesus Christ is located in Chapter 12, Part V, Segment 1.  Or, if I say to see “street of gold; River and Tree of Life”: “the New Jerusalem”: C-14, P-II, this subsection, “street of gold; River and Tree of Life,” will be found in the section on “the New Jerusalem” in Chapter 14, Part II.  If the reference is within the same chapter currently being read, the chapter number [C-#] will not be included; only the part number [P-#] (and segment number [S-#] if there is one) will be provided.

I interpret Bible passages as literal except when certain symbolism or metaphor seems obvious.  (For instance, “He [God] will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge...”—Psalm 91:4a—does not mean that God literally has feathers or wings as we would imagine a bird to have.)  On the other hand, I do not necessarily agree with many who believe that the Creation took place in six 24-hour days a few thousand years ago (see C-1, P-II) or that the Rapture of the Church is a “pre-,” “mid-,” or “post-Tribulation” event (see C-12, P-V, S-2).  One purpose of this book is to discuss some of the differences I have with certain other biblical researchers.

I believe that the Bible is filled with prophecy pertaining to the last days of history (particularly the final seven years) as we know it.  While I do not see prophecy as the Bible’s major focus (rather, humankind’s relationship to God and vice versa is the primary message), I do believe that God has provided us with information about our future which is available to anyone who takes the time to explore it.  I have taken (and continue to take) the time.  In much of this book, I will attempt to show, with frequent quoting from the Bible, what I see as examples of ways God teaches us about the world in which we presently live, allows us to better understand Whom He is and how He works, and prepares us for the future—this world’s and our own personal futures.

I am an optometrist, and I have helped thousands of people improve their visual perception.  With this Bible study, I hope to help people enhance their spiritual perception.  I welcome anyone who reads these pages to do so with an open, honest mind, with the willingness to change one’s perception about—or at least to reconsider—certain things about God, the spirit realm, Christianity, and Christians if my explanations and arguments seem plausible.  To any of you adamantly set against accepting the existence of the God of the Bible, and the idea that He daily has influence and control over each person’s life, over world affairs, and over the universe, I suggest that you attempt to come to an agreement within yourself that 1) there must be something more to this existence, unexplainable by natural and visible means, than meets the eye and that 2) the “answers” you have found up to now for the purpose of life are inadequate to provide you with the elusive, lasting peace of mind you desire.

I will quote several Christian authors and speakers, even though I do not agree with everything that any given one of them has to say, nor would any of them concur with everything I have written.  Nobody has all the correct answers; I know that I certainly do not.  But I believe that, as we approach the end of this age, knowledge about God’s Creation and about the last days on the future horizon are being increased (Daniel 12:4); and more of God’s truth will be revealed by the Holy Spirit to those who carefully and earnestly search for it with the intent of extolling and honoring God by it.  Accordingly, I do not claim that this book is error-free or that God has bestowed upon me “special revelation” kept from anyone else.  Only God is perfect; I certainly am no god, nor will I (nor any other human being) ever “evolve” into one, as some philosophies and religions teach.  But I do believe I have some important concepts about God to relate that will be helpful in your daily—and eternal—life.

I want what you read to make you question the purpose for your being here and then cause you to search out answers, using the Bible as a foundation.  Some of the things I will say are my own opinions and are unsubstantiated by any other reference source; do not accept them until after you, at least, have given them serious deliberation.  I also encourage you to check all of my biblical scripture references for yourself to ascertain whether or not you feel that the things of which I speak are supported by the Bible.  For those not accustomed to regular reading of or reference to the Bible, this should provide a good exercise in doing so; and it may even encourage you to make such reading and reference a frequent (hopefully, daily) habit.  The Bible contains more than sufficient knowledge and wisdom to help us through all of life’s unexpected pitfalls, twists, and turns, with God as our Source of strength and security.  If you would like to read through the Bible in one year (or sooner), I recommend that you follow the Chronological Reading of the Bible in One Year schedule (a chronological listing suggested by Radio Bible Class of Grand Rapids, Michigan).

The Bible indicates that there will be a generation of people who will enter the final seven-year period of this age (“the 70th Week”—see C-12) when astonishing and perplexing things will occur—both cataclysmic and glorious and never experienced before in human history.  I truly believe that we are that generation; and I, for one, want to do what I can to be prepared in case I still am alive when the events of this final, awesome period in history begin.  I hope that you, too, will take decisive steps to be prepared.

If you have any comments or opinions you would like to relate to me about anything in this book, or if you find any errors (spelling, grammatical, punctuation, or non-working hyperlinks) that I should know about, please email me at TMont714@aol.com.  Thanks!

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