April 1999 Personal Letter

Dear Friends:

As I prepared to go to the God’s News Behind the News prophecy conference in Florida, I was asked to speak on subjects I never learned from the Bible. The most interesting topic was “Y2K Chaos — Fact or Fiction?.” I am more accustomed to explaining Passover, the Tabernacle, and the types and shadows of the Lord, etc., but the computer is a matter of concern these days, and we are all, more or less, dependent on these machines.

To that end, I started looking into the Hebrew language and certain computer designations. I’ve said some of this before, but it probably bears repeating. In any case, here is the information I contributed to the workbook handed out at that conference. I hope it gives you food for thought.

The Hebrew language has always been the best clue to understanding Biblical affairs. Not only is it the original text of most of the Bible, but it is full of hidden clues to meanings. It is rich in language describing spiritual things, for which it was originally conceived.

An example might be the recent book on Bible codes, which seemed to reveal some prophetic material established by looking at the arrangement of Hebrew letters in the text. While I’m not ruling favorably or unfavorably on that particular example, it does serve to show that the Hebrew language can guide us to greater knowledge of Scripture.

The conclusions below are not dogmatic, but merely interesting. They pertain to Y2K and how looking at certain computer terms, as they would be rendered in Hebrew, might elucidate it.

To begin with, the familiar symbol for the Internet, World Wide Web or “www”, would be rendered in Hebrew as Vav, Vav, Vav (the Hebrew alphabet does not have a “W” and Hebrew-speaking people use the Vav, or “V” in place of our “W”). The interesting part is that, since Hebrew letters also have numerical values (the Hebrew language does not recognize Arabic numerals), we can arrive at a number for the letter Vav. Since it is the sixth letter of the alphabet, the expression “www”, in Hebrew, is 666. [See the May 1999 Levitt Letter for more]

The designation “http” is also interesting in Hebrew. Most Bible commentators agree that Adam was born about 6,000 years ago. If we assume that he was born in exactly 4000 B.C. on our calendar, then we have spent exactly 5,998 years to the present day. (We deduct one year when adding A.D. years to B.C. years since 1 B.C. and 1 A.D. were the same year.) “Http” in Hebrew is Heh, Tav, Tav, Peh, which would be in numerical values, 5998.

September 9, 1999, could conceivably be the day that marks what the disciples called “the end of the age.” According to computer researcher Michael S. Hyatt, “On this date, many computers will encounter the infamous ‘99’ problem. For decades, programmers designated the end of a file, or the termination of a program, by entering a series of four nines in a row (i.e., “9999”) in a date field … this code, like the millennium bug, is embedded in millions of computer programs throughout the world. Unless it is tracked down and removed, these programs will abruptly terminate — often with unexpected results.”

This year, on September 9, 1999, we will write the date as 9/9/99, but the results don’t have to be so unexpected to Bible students. Those familiar with the schedule of the seven feasts realize that the Rapture of the Church may occur on the Feast of Trumpets, or Rosh Hashana. This year, that festival will begin on September 10! Could it be that the Age of Man, that is, from the creation of Adam to the end of the Church Age, will indeed terminate on September 9? And then will the Kingdom Age, for believers, begin with the catching up to heaven on September 10?

Finally, the popular search engine, Yahoo, is an important Hebrew word repeated often in the Scriptures. The name Yahweh is shortened to Yah in names; and Hu, in Hebrew, stands for the pronoun “he.” Thus, “Yahoo,” on the end of the name, such as Netanyahu, means “he … God,” in English. In the case of Netanyahu, since Netan means “gift,” his entire name is “He is the gift of God.” The prophets Isaiah (Yeshayahu) and Jeremiah (Yirmeyahu) also had Yahu on the ends of their names. These were meant in complimentary terms, but in the case of the Antichrist, Yahoo by itself expresses exactly his counterfeit: “he is God.”

There might be still more to learn from the Hebrew equivalents of computer terms, but a message might be gleaned from the above information like this: 5,998 years after Adam, the one who claims “he is God” will control all men through the designation 666, or some such idea.

The above reasoning would place the coming of the Antichrist later in this very year, 1999 A.D., and would agree with expositors who say that the year 2000 will mark a huge change in human affairs — the start of the Tribulation.

All of the above is, of course, speculation, but it is interesting that the Hebrew equivalents produce so convincing a display. One such clue might be interesting, and two a coincidence, three is noteworthy, but four seems especially convincing since they all pertain to the computer and its tremendous influence in modern affairs.

One more caution: I am not a date-setter and am only offering the above speculations as just that — speculations.

As this millennium is drawing to a close, more and more people are becoming concerned with Israel and Biblical prophecy about the End Times. The number of inquiries that our ministry has received concerning the End Times gives me cause to ponder the verse that says “In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men … shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you” (Zec. 8:23).

As a result of this marvelous surge of interest, I am finding that there is more of a demand than ever for new information. I am spending a great deal of time this year touring the country and sharing what information the Lord has imparted to me with whomever “has ears to hear”. Another method of sharing this information will be through the End Times prophecy series that we will be filming on location in Israel during our upcoming (and now completely booked) tour in April. Please be in prayer for this project.

I have been gratified by the response we have received to our June Kibbutz Tour. Could it be that people are feeling the intensity of these times and feel the need to “connect” with Israel, the land of our Messiah? Please make your plans now to join us in June. This tour will cover the same Biblical sites as our April tour, including the Sea of Galilee, the Upper Room, the Garden Tomb, Calvary, the Mount of Olives, and Masada along with some exciting extras, like camel rides and lunch with the Bedouins, not to mention the opportunity to spend more time in the lovely Israeli countryside. The timing and lower price of this tour make it a wonderful opportunity for our teachers and students.

Remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

Your messenger,