And this whole land will be a desolation and an astonishment; and these nations will serve the king of Babylon 70 years. 14 Jeremiah 25

If we are to interpret the Bible, the Philippines will continue to be a nation of desolation, misery, despair and sadness until the prophetic 70 years would have elapsed. The 70-year period began in 1946 when the Philippines finally became a politically-independent country – after the United States restored its independence that it took away in 1898.

The period 1946-2016 – as the Filipino equivalent of the 70 years that “the land would lie fallow” – was confirmed when the people-powered EDSA revolution happened in 1986.

Again the Bible has this reference: “And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?” –   Hebrews 3:17 

The Lord gives his chosen people a chance to cleanse themselves and purge their society of evil practices and corrupt leaders at the end of every Biblical generation. Ergo, 1946 + 40 = 1986. But the Filipino people wasted their chance for redemption and many of their leaders continued on their corrupt existence and their subservience to their false gods.

Editor’s Note: This is not the first time that Bobby Reyes has written about the Biblical vision for the Philippines. In his political novel, “One Day in the Life of a Filipino Sonovabitch” (1993), he wrote of the Biblical generation as applied to the timing of the EDSA Revolution (Chapter II of Reyes’ novel, 10^th paragraph, page 16).

T he Biblical “Babylon” is interpreted to mean the “Imperial Manila,” which is the hotbed of corruption and center of influence-peddling, human-rights abuses and the false gods of materialism, illegal drugs, gambling, sex and politics. 

Like the Israelis who roamed and ambled on the desert for 40 years after they fled the land of their exile, Egypt, the Filipinos – some nine-million of them – have replaced the Wandering Jews in the 21st century and some of them also went into exile in foreign lands. From the sands of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Middle East to the sands of Nevada in the United States, Overseas-Filipino workers have toiled and are still toiling, as they wait for the end of their Biblical period when their country would no longer lie in fallow. Then the Overseas Filipinos will return to their homeland, “so that the land could catch up on these missing years” (when their country did lie in fallow).

The Filipinos – whether of the Christian, Islam or of the Jewish faiths – can trace their ancestry to the house of Abraham. For the Philippines is a true melting pot. Perhaps God has ordained the Filipinos to be his chosen people for the Third Millennium. Proofs? There are now tens of thousands of Filipino men and women of the cloth who are preaching the Good News in many countries of the world. There are also thousands of Filipino teachers who are now teaching even American pupils how to speak grammatically-correct English. And how about the countless Filipino medical professionals who minister to the health of many foreigners in different lands – be they are Christian, Muslim, or Jew or of other creed and color in compliance of Jesus Christ’s teachings to heal the sick . . .

Perfect Biblical Timing

T here is the perfect timing, as ordained in the Biblical periods and points in time. Christianity was introduced to the Philippines by the Spanish expedition led by Fernando de Magallanes in 1521. The 500th anniversary of the introduction of Christianity to the Philippine archipelago will happen in 2021, or just five years after the end of the Biblical period in fallow.

Editor’s Note: To understand the impact of the Bible and biblical figures in the history of nations, please read this article from TIME magazine:

How Moses Shaped America - TIME

J ust look at the words of the prophet Daniel: “The prophets said that the land would lie fallow for 70 years so that it could catch up on all its missing Sabbath-years. (Every 7th year the land was to be left fallow, but Israel did not obey God in this so that they went into exile so that the land could catch up on these missing years.) Over a space of 490 years, exactly 70 years would have been (intended) fallow since one in every 7 years is fallow. (Seven divided into 490 is 70. See all of Daniel 9 again. The context agrees. Daniel had just finished praying about the 70 years (in) captivity when he received the revelation of the ‘70 x 7.’)

“The years and dates are arranged to agree with this ‘catch-up-of-missing-Sabbaths’ pattern. It also takes into consideration the missing 50th year of the Jubilee cycle. (That is, every 490 or 500 years there would be 10 accumulated missing un-kept jubilee years, plus the 70 regular missing Sabbath years—80 every 490 or 500 years.”

http://www.1260-1290-days-bible-prophecy.org/Jubilee-missing-Sabbaths.htm 

It is forecast that the Filipino people, with the help and leadership of their overseas brethren, will accomplish from July 2016 to January 2018 – in 17.5 months – the seventy weeks that Daniel talked about.

Daniel 9:24 24: “Seventy weeks are determined

For your people and for your holy city,

To finish the transgression,

To make an end of sins,

To make reconciliation for iniquity,

To bring in everlasting righteousness,

To seal up vision and prophecy,

And to anoint the Most Holy.”

A nd when the year 2021 comes, the Filipino people would then have built new settlements that will be their versions of the Biblical new “city upon a hill” – as found in Matthew 5:14 – “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden."

There is really a need to build new “cities upon hills” because chances are by the end of this century, most lowland areas would have by then been swamped by the sea because of the effects of Global Warming. This is the message that the Bible brings to the Filipinos and all the peaceful peoples of the world.

Yes, the Filipino people can never go wrong after 2016 because the Bible says so. It is their destiny as God’s chosen people to serve humanity and help in making the Earth a lot better than the world seen by Fernando de Magallanes and his crew, especially after they set foot on Philippine soil in March 1521. # # #

* Editor’s Notes: 1.) To read Part II of this series, please click on this hyperlink:

Some People Are No Longer Laughing at “A Biblical Vision of the Philippines”

2.) To contact the author, please e-mail him at mediabcla@aol.com