'Rampant Spirit of Lawlessness' a Major Indicator of End Times, Says Pastor
Our world is shuddering almost daily with terrorist attacks and other acts of violence and bloodshed.
This is clearly evident as far as Pastor Phil Hotsenpiller is concerned, according to CBN News.
Hotsenpiller, the author of "One Nation Without Law," says this "rampant spirit of lawlessness—demonstrated most recently during the deadly terrorist attacks in England—is not occurring randomly or by chance.
He sees a pattern emerging out of the recent acts of violence, and they all point to Revelation chapter 18—the End Times.
"Lawlessness is more than lawbreaking. It is a spirit that began with Lucifer before the creation of man and it runs completely through our Biblical narrative and history, culminating in Revelation chapter 18," he tells CBN News.
Hotsenpiller sees darker days ahead.
"Lawlessness will increase. Jesus told us that. He said you're going to see evil men get worse, you're going to see lawlessness increase, you're going to see men be lovers of self, all of these different things coming into place, and society will be unable to deal with it," he says.
In his analysis of the various acts of violence that have rocked the world, Hotsenpiller says he realized that certain locations are hotspots for evil.
For instance, in June 1996, the provisional Irish Republican Army detonated a 3,300-pound truck bomb in Manchester's city center—the largest bomb to explode in the United Kingdom since World War II.
That was just "three-tenths of a mile away from the Ariana Grande concert" in Manchester Arena that was struck by a terrorist suicide bomber last May 22, he says.
The Washington Post also took notice of these two seemingly unrelated incidents.
Hotsenpiller cites more acts of violence occurring in certain places more than once.
• In July 2016, five police officers were killed by a lone sniper in Dallas. "That shooting was one three-tenths of a mile away from where JFK was shot," he says.
• In September 1972, 11 Israeli Olympic athletes and coaches were killed by a terrorist group in Munich. "That was only about four-tenths of a mile from where the McDonald's shooting took place" in July last year that killed 10 people, he says.
"So, what we see is the repetitive nature of terror acts in the same places. These territorial spirits don't leave. They reside and they replicate their terror over and over again when times are ripe for those kind of strikes," Hotsenpiller says.
In an earlier CP report, Gordon Robertson, president of CBN and son of Pat Robertson, also said he sees End Times prophecy being fulfilled in Israel.
"One of the bad parts about prophecy in the Old Testament is the prophecy that all the nations in the world will gather against Israel," Robertson told The Christian Post. "In my absolute amazement the U.N. passed a resolution in December of 2016 condemning Israel and calling its ownership of East Jerusalem a blatantly illegal occupation. We're seeing the set up for that, for me we're in the time where we wait for the appearing of Elijah."