And over 350,000 people from across the globe have already let us know via the MyWorld2030 survey how they perceive progress so far. Twenty countries were supported in assessing the readiness of their national statistical systems for SDG implementation. About 200 policymakers from 35 countries were trained on modelling tools to inform policymaking for the Goals. The project also enabled UNDP and UN DESA to support 43 countries to prepare Voluntary National Reviews as a contribution to SDG follow-up and review. Over the last two years, UNDP has facilitated 26 missions, undertaken in cooperation with UN and other partners, to support national SDG implementation. UNDP has been busy advancing this work, not least through its global ‘MAPS project’. Guided by MAPS, we’re supporting countries to translate the goals into national and sub-national plans and budgets, raising public awareness and establishing practices for monitoring and reporting ( mainstreaming – the ‘M’ of MAPS) identifying country-specific actions that will boost progress across several SDGs ( acceleration – the ‘A’ of MAPS) and providing thematic policy support (the ‘PS’ of MAPS). That is why the 32 members of the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) have adopted ‘MAPS’, a common approach to help countries implement the 2030 Agenda and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Doing business as usual - focusing on one policy area at a time - is simply not good enough anymore.
The 2030 Agenda champions a new way of thinking about development that embraces the symbiosis between social, economic and environmental sustainability. Some of you like to start counting from 1948.Learn more about the MAPS approach and how it can support efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda through this animated video. Now let us subtract 7 years for the Rapture, and we arrive at 2030!!! And, now you know the rest of the story!! Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not!! Now for some simple math: Starting with 1967, the date that Israel recognized Jerusalem as their true capital, and adding 70 years for the average lifetime of a man, we get 2037. “Our days on earth are seventy years and if by reason of strength they are eighty years.” So, our time on Earth is 70 years on the average and 80 if we possess extra strength. So, we ask ourselves, “How long is a generation?” The Bible answers that one for us in Psalms 90:10. 34, “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” In other words, what He was saying is that some of the generation of people alive and on the earth who see all these signs taking place would be alive to witness His coming. Jesus was asked by his disciples how long would the world last and what would be the sign of his coming. So, whatever date we come up with, we must subtract 7 years from it to allow for the Rapture. The Rapture takes place 7 years before the final countdown of the Earth begins, known as the Tribulation Period. That occurred on May 14, 1948, but others say the countdown began when Israel took back, or recognized, Jerusalem as their capital, which was 1967. OK, “sometime in the near future!” How near? Many of today’s latter-day pastors and prophets say that the countdown to the Rapture officially began when Israel became a sovereign nation. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, we are given a clear description of the Rapture: “the dead in Christ will rise, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord.” Jesus will come in the air, catch up the Church from the earth, and then return to Heaven with the Church.
The Rapture is an event that will take place sometime in the near future. Well, it has to do with the timing of the Rapture.
Now, you may be wondering why I deem this significant.