The Open Scroll - A Personal Chronicle of the Opening of the Scroll

A Personal Chronicle of the Opening of the Scroll

By Bob Schlenker  (Prints about 3 pages)




The Lord has led me three times in the last two weeks to chronicle the events of the past 10 years, so here is a brief history of the past 10 years for those of you who are interested. I recognize this recent prompting to recount or chronicle the Lord's workings with me from the time the revelation of the end times began as the working of the holy spirit, which, according my understanding of the trend is that in refreshing my memory of what He has done in partnership with me, he is shedding light upon the present situation and preparing us as I share my testimony for what is about to happen. That's exciting! I have observed several trends over the years, and am grateful to have been preserved by his mercy for such a time as this. Over the span of time covered in this chronicle I have observed an increasing unity in the consensus of the community of genuine watchmen as to the timing and meaning of the events portrayed in the Bible as wrapping up the end of this age. This trend is itself a sign of the nearness of the end. I'm also observing that the Bridegroom's preparation of his Bride has reached another turning point, where she is coming out of another kind of wilderness phase. My hopes continue to rise in expectation of the upcoming sign for the church, which will rather be the sign for the Bride since only those qualifying for the Bride will not be deceived. I pray that we are prepared for His coming and that our robes will be white when he comes - for His pleasure and glory.

This story must begin with reference to the year 1989, in which through a personal health crisis I was prompted to discard what I had been taught about faith and begin to search the scriptures for a fresh understanding and a bold confidence in the leading of the holy spirit. I was zealous. I believe the Lord honored my desire to find the truth and then to share it. Though few listened, I found in the reponse to my sharing what I knew was true that the Lord had opened my eyes to what few could see, and that even those I had held in high esteem were unable to hear and accept the truth. I was honored to learn the rejection known by the Lord and those who obeyed him by the religious community. After this experience and being rejected by those I had considered my friends, there was a period of time where I discovered that I really did prefer the Lord's friendship.

In May of 1991, the Lord began a new thing, building upon the background of experience he had built with me over the previous 11 years and opening up to me the meaning of an upcoming celestial sign that would mark the time of His coming.

In 1991, based upon the outpouring of revelation about the celestial, scriptural and earthly signs, it was my expectation that the Lord was going to be coming in the fall marked on the Day of Atonement and that "the rapture" (as I didn't yet know about the Bride Theft and the three-fold division of the church of His body) would happen on Rosh Hashanah. You may recall that Menachem Schneerson (now deceased) attained prominence and garnered much attention by accurately interpreting the foretellings of the Gulf War and publicizing the date on which it would end. He then predicted the coming of haMashiach on Rosh Hashanah that year. Well, the many who believed him and the few others like myself who were partially informed about related matters were very disappointed when our expectations went unfulfilled. At that time, my understanding was that the 1991 Yom Kippur sign marked the beginning of a "final" seven year period preceding the Lord's millennial reign. I had been schooled in the popular "pre-trib" theology and didn't yet know any differently. After the fall feast season passed and I dealt with the disappointment, I reevaluated what I thought I knew and poured out my heart to the Lord, asking, "If not at the beginning, at what point of the seven would "the rapture" occur?" Immediately, the Lord took me into Genesis (where I was becoming accustomed to seeing revelation pour out about the timing of the end) and showed me that it was after two years of the seven and that there would be a special transition at the close of the age as it returned to how it was at the beginning, where Y'shua's brothers (Israel) would be preeminent. To confirm that revelation and instruct me further, from there I was led into Acts 12 to see the prophetic revelation of Peter as the church passing through the two watches of the prison representing the watches of the night - and on into the "new" city of Jerusalem. Adding to this, many other details were opened to me through the next two years. Although I had many many clues to point me towards the Spring, I ignorantly (oh, the power of a preconception) held that Rosh Hashanah was likely the targeted day. When the fall feasts of 1993 approached, I was expectant, though less so than in 1991 because the events in the world I saw as fulfilling prophecy weren't convincing enough. During that Feast season, I realized how I had missed the obvious and overwhelming evidence that the last day of Pesach / Hag HaMatzah was the targeted day. Of course, given my expectation that I was entering into that special third year of the special seven, I looked ahead to the coming Nisan. Once again, As I watched somewhat unfruitfully for the anticipated attending signs, my hopes did not rise to previous levels and the Passover of that year came and went with little of note to encourage me. What necessarily followed was another period of reevaluation. I did not want to make more assumptions, so acknowledging my state of lacking clear direction, I moved away from the direct quest for when and what and how of the season of His coming to develop my skills in researching out the hidden treasures of what I knew were prominent prophetic passages. I did most of my "architectural structure" studies during this time, some of which are posted on my website. During this period the Lord had me hidden away, out of sight and out of touch with most of the body of believers with few exceptions. I had tried every way I could to share what the Lord was doing with little success. In 1995, I began a newsletter to advertise, promote and broadcast by any means what the Lord was doing to unveil his truths concerning these last days. Fourteen issues of The Open Scroll were produced from November 1995 through July 1998. As well, November of 1995 saw the initial presentation of The Open Scroll on the Internet that continues to this day. Since 1994, I have come to a strong conviction that a 14 year period leading up to the time when the Son of Yahweh would reign on earth as in heaven began in 1991, marking seven years from 1998 and, as should be noted, 21 years from 1984. Another personal milestone in this chronicle came in 1999 when, prior to attending an "apostles gathering," I sought some verification in the resolution of an outstanding issue I had with timing. I knew I hadn't resolved to my satisfaction the critical matter of how the turning of the millennia corresponded with the turning of the seven year periods. Some more background is here called for.

Although I had initially accepted the conclusion of Dr. Ernest Martin (and other students of his writings, to whom I attribute the latter day recognition of the celestial sign of Revelation 12:1) that the Lord was born on September 11, 3 B.C., (Tishri 1 - Rosh Hashanah) I came to believe that the Lord was born rather in 2 B.C., on Rosh Hashanah, the 29th of September. This revision of my understanding came initially as a result of some research with J.R. Church (with whom I had established a personal relationship by telephone) and his insight into the role of Jupiter as the crown of 12 stars in Revelation 12. Though J.R. later returned accept the 3 B.C. date, I noted a continuing stream of evidence affirming that 2 B.C. was rather the date of our Lord's birth. Others such as Stephen Jones, Chuck Missler and Stuart Best have reached this conclusion as well. Now, here's the problem I had to resolve. I was assuming that the turning of the seven year cycles was coincident with the turning of the millennia from the sixth to the seventh. My best calculations showed their being offset by a year. If the turning of the sevens occurred in 1991 and then again in 1998, (a matter about which I was thoroughly convinced), the counting of one thousand years from what had to have been the turning of the fourth into the fifth millennium marked by the Lord's birth in 2 B.C. brings the calculation of the turn of the sixth to the seventh millennia up to 1999. I needed to understand the matter of the offset transitions, because I had come to the place where I was convinced that the Lord was born in 2 rather than 3 B.C. After I clearly expressed my confusion to the Lord, the answer came within minutes. The key was in that the sevens are the same cycle of year-weeks (shmitah) that began at "the beginning." This is a simple matter that should have been obvious. The count of days we mark by thousands is the same count of days we mark by sevens. Their beginnings are coincident and after seven thousand years their conclusions will be coincident, but until then, the sevens will be divided at the turning of each millennia. One thousand divided by seven is not a whole number. There are only 142 and 6/7 units of seven in one thousand. After 6000 years, 857 1/7 shmitah have passed. This means the turning of the sixth to the seventh millennium comes one year into the 858th shmitah. The shmitah cycle turned in 1998 from the 857th to the 858th and, one year later, the sixth millennium turned to the seventh in. Hallelujah! I had reached a conviction about these two important and related pieces of the chronology puzzle independently, now I finally understood the simple precision of their relationship!

This thing I know, that the Lord watches closely over his secrets. He hides and he reveals. Nothing is known that he doesn't want known. These matters being revealed are military secrets in the battle waged in the heavens and in the earth. The Lord is the commander of His army. His plan is perfect and will be perfectly executed because he is sovereign over all. Certain people at the right time will know matters relating to his coming, even the timing of the events, according to his promises that it would be so. No one will at any time know any thing unless the Lord opens it to them. Amen?