THE VERY BASICS OF END TIME PROPHECY – PART 8

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BASIC PROPHECY

THE TRIBULATION FROM START TO MIDPOINT

The Rapture of the church will leave the world struggling to make sense of what has happened and to recover from the vanishing of millions of people. A group of ten leaders will form a reunited Roman Empire to restore order and some semblance of normalcy. The Antichrist will appear from the shadows. He will rise out of insignificance and obscurity. He will seem to come out of nowhere, yet quickly ascend to prominence.

Revelation 4–19 gives a detailed, sequential outline of the events. Using Revelation as a framework, a Bible student is able to harmonize many other passages that speak of the seven-year tribulation into a clear model of the next time period for planet earth.

TIMING THE TRIBULATION

The Bible does not tell us how much time passes between the Rapture and the beginning of the Tribulation, but it seems that it probably will not be too long, as part of the purpose of the Rapture is to deliver God’s people from the coming wrath of the Tribulation. Once the stage is set and all the players are in place, a seven-year treaty will be enacted.

Daniel 9:27 describes this treaty that begins the Tribulation. This verse teaches us at least five key things about this future peace agreement:

  1. It will be between Israel and the Antichrist but will almost certainly involve others. Since the Antichrist will rise from a reunited Roman Empire centered in Europe, Europe in its final form will be the key player.
  2. It will begin the final seven-year period of the Tribulation.
  3. It will be a “firm” covenant; this firmness may indicate that it will initially be forced or compelled. It is also possible that this means the Antichrist will enforce or make strong a covenant that already exists.
  4. It will eventually give Jews the right to offer sacrifices in a rebuilt Temple. This fact assumes a Jewish Temple must be rebuilt.
  5. It will be broken by the Antichrist himself at the midpoint of the treaty.

REASON FOR THE TRIBULATION

Scripture provides us at least five reasons for the Tribulation. Each reason relates to a specific group or person: Israel, the Gentiles, God, Satan, and believers.

  1. TO PREPARE ISRAEL (A PURPOSE FOR ISRAEL)

The Tribulation will bring the Jewish people to their knees in submission to God. God will use this “time of trouble for my people Israel” to prepare the nation for her Messiah (Jeremiah 30:7). He will refine the rebellious nation in the fire of the Tribulation period (Zechariah 13:8-9). God’s purpose for Israel in the Tribulation is to bring about the conversion of a multitude of Jews, who will enter into the blessings of the kingdom and experience the fulfillment of all Israel’s covenants.

Many of the Jewish people will cry out to God for salvation from their sins during the Tribulation. They will implore God to pierce the heavens and come down to save them (Isaiah 64:1-2, 5-6, 8-9). God will mercifully answer this prayer of confession, will save many in Israel, and will bring them into the millennial kingdom under the reign of their Messiah (Jeremiah 30:8-24).

  1. TO PUNISH SINNERS (A PURPOSE FOR GENTILES)

God will use the Tribulation to punish the godless Gentile nations and all unbelievers for their sin, especially for rejecting His Son and receiving the Antichrist (Revelation 16:2). The world will worship the beast, and divine judgment will come upon them because they have despised God, rejected His Son, and acknowledged a demon-possessed man as their only king and deity.

Revelation 6–18 describes this sobering purpose. According to Revelation 3:10, one purpose of the Tribulation is “to test those who dwell on the earth.” The phrase “those who dwell on the earth” occurs eleven times in the book of Revelation. Revelation consistently pictures “earth dwellers” as the objects of God’s wrath because of their hardened rebellion against Him. God gives up to evil those who continue rejecting Him even in spite of His judgments.

According to Isaiah 24–27, often called Isaiah’s Apocalypse, no one will be able to hide from God’s judgment during the Tribulation. “Look! The LORD is coming from heaven to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will no longer hide those who have been killed. They will be brought out for all to see” (Isaiah 26:21).

  1. TO PROVE GOD’S POWER (A PURPOSE FOR GOD)

About 3,500 years ago, the Pharaoh of Egypt mocked the God of heaven. When God is finished with the ten plagues, Pharaoh is begging the children of Israel to leave.

In a similar show of foolish bravado, the Antichrist will deny the true God and declare himself to be god. God will once again pour out His plagues to prove His power and to vindicate His reputation. Only this time it will be on a worldwide scale. Many of the Tribulation judgments described in Revelation are the same as or similar to the ten plagues of Egypt. God will prove to a rebellious world that He alone is God (Revelation 15:3-4).

  1. TO PORTRAY SATAN’S TRUE CHARACTER (A PURPOSE FOR SATAN)

God will use the Tribulation to fully unmask Satan for what he is—a liar, a thief, and a murderer. When God removes all restraints (2 Thessalonians 2:7), Satan will be fully manifest as the world experiences the final firestorm from the dragon. Realizing that his time is short, the devil will pour out his venom with force and violence (Revelation 12:12).

  1. TO PROVIDE SALVATION (A PURPOSE FOR BELIEVERS)

The Lord will graciously use the Tribulation to drive men to Himself in repentance and trust. He will harvest more souls during this time than anyone can count. There will be great revival during the Great Tribulation (Revelation 7:9-10, 13-14).

While the Tribulation will be a time of unparalleled turmoil and may be difficult for us to understand, God will use it to accomplish His sovereign purposes.

THE BEGINNING OF BIRTH PAINS – THE FIRST 3½ YEARS

The Rise of the Group of Ten – Reuniting of the Roman Empire

According to the Bible, the world will be divided into three main power blocs: the Western confederacy led by the Antichrist (Daniel 7:8), the Southern and Northern coalition comprised of Russia and a group of North African and Middle Eastern nations (Daniel 11:40-41; Ezekiel 38), and the Eastern alliance known as the “kings from the East” (Revelation 16:12). The Western confederation of nations will reconstitute the Roman Empire.

Ten leaders will ally together to protect the interests of the West. In Daniel 2:42-44, the group of ten is symbolized as ten toes on a great statue, and in Daniel 7:7 and 7:24 by ten horns on a beast that represents the last world empire—the Roman Empire in its final form. Many interpreters of biblical prophecy believe that the European Union could be the embryonic form of what Scripture predicts and could ultimately fulfill this predicted alliance of nations.

This Western power bloc will embody the revived Roman Empire and will have the economic and political power needed to control the Mediterranean region. Its final leader, the Antichrist, will eventually wrest control from three of the ten leaders and consolidate power very much like the Roman Empire did in the past (Daniel 7:8).

Daniel 2 and 7 lay the foundation for all that follows. These two chapters describe four great world empires that would rule over Israel in succession throughout history. With the benefit of history, we now know that these four empires were Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. In Daniel 2 these four empires are pictured as four metals in a great statue that the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar saw in a dream from God.

–      Head of Gold: Babylon (Daniel 7 – Lion with the Wings of an Eagle)

–      Chest and Arms of Silver: Medo-Persia (Daniel 7 – Lopsided Bear with Three Ribs in Its Mouth)

–      Belly and Thighs of Brass: Greece (Daniel 7 – Leopard with Four Wings and Four Heads)

–      Legs od Iron: Rome (Daniel 7 – Terrible Beast with Teeth of Iron and Claws of Bronze)

The feet and the ten toes of Iron and clay represent the final reunited Roman empire, while the Stone Kingdom that falls on earth are representative of the Millennial Kingdom of Christ. In Daniel 7, the reunited Roman empire, under the control of the Antichrist, is presented by the ten Horns and the little horn.

Daniel identifies the ten toes and ten horns as ten kings (Daniel 2:44; 7:24). Revelation 13 and 17 confirm it: ten kings—symbolized by ten horns (Revelation 13:1; 17:3, 12-13). The little horn in Daniel 7:8 clearly symbolizes the Antichrist. Daniel’s prophecies about the four world empires were literally fulfilled, but one final phase of the fourth empire is still awaiting fulfillment.

First, ten kings will appear within the boundaries of the old Roman Empire. Second, a strong man whom we call the Antichrist will emerge and consolidate these ten leaders and the territory they represent into a united empire and probably extend its borders in various directions. As he makes this move, three of the ten leaders will object to his power play and will be killed (Daniel 7:8, 24). They will be replaced, and the ten kings will submit to the authority of the Antichrist and relinquish their power to him (Revelation 17:12-13). The ten kings will turn over “their kingdom to the beast” (Revelation 17:17, NASB). At this point, the Antichrist will rule over the reunited Roman Empire. Third, the Roman Empire will, by declaration or edict, extend its power over the entire earth.

THE SEVEN SEAL JUDGMENTS

Revelation 4–5 presents a scene in heaven where a seven-sealed scroll is introduced. This is the beginning of the Tribulation. The seals must be removed and the scroll must be opened by the Lord Jesus Christ. The theme of Revelation 4–5 is worship, but the subject of Revelation 6 is wrath.

The First Seal—Rider on a White Horse (Revelation 6:2)

The four horsemen are all to be interpreted together as a kind of unit.

Military Conquest – For the rider to remove peace from the earth, peace must first exist there. Therefore, the conquest of the first rider must represent a bloodless conquest and victory through diplomacy. The first horse is white, the color often associated with Christ or something good in Revelation. The image in Revelation 6:2 supports this peace-bringing interpretation. The rider wears a victor’s crown and has a bow but no arrows.

There are significant contrasts between the riders in Revelation 6:2 and Revelation 19:11-19. This rider bears the unmistakable marks of a counterfeit, and we should expect the Antichrist to imitate Christ.

The Second Seal—Rider on the Red Horse (Revelation 6:3-4)

There is almost universal agreement among scholars that this horse and rider represent war. The promised peace of the white horse is swiftly shattered by the war of the red horse.

The Third Seal—Rider on the Black Horse (Revelation 6:5-6)

The war of the red horse will result in famine and poverty—represented by the black horse. In other words, the world will suffer hyper-inflation. Food prices will skyrocket so high it will take everything a person can earn in one day just to buy enough food for one day for himself.

The global economic collapse and food shortage will set the stage for the Antichrist to move into position to begin seizing control of the world economy as described in Revelation 13.

The Fourth Seal—Rider on the Pale Horse (Revelation 6:7-8)

The fourth horseman will use four means to wreak his havoc: war, famine, disease, and the wild beasts of the earth. Some sees the wild beasts of the earth as referring to the military and political leaders who overpower, oppress, and persecute their subjects. A fourth of Earth’s population will be killed.

The Fifth Seal—Martyrs (Revelation 6:9-11)

The death of God’s people brings judgment in two ways. First, the removal of God’s people, the salt and light of the world, will allow darkness and corruption to overrun the earth unchecked. Second, as the enemies of God murder His people, they are unknowingly heaping more judgment upon themselves. Also, God will answer these martyrs’ prayers for vindication when He pours out His wrath on His enemies.

The Sixth Seal—Devastation (Revelation 6:12-17)

These disasters produce sheer panic on earth. Instead of fleeing to the God of mercy for refuge and humbly bowing before Him in worship, they conceal themselves in caves, consumed with frenzied fear.

The Seventh Seal—Seven Trumpets (Revelation 8:1-2)

When it is opened there is “silence throughout heaven for about half an hour.” The stunned silence in Revelation may result from the anticipation that more judgments are coming. The seventh seal is not the end; when it is opened it contains seven trumpets of judgment.

The fact that the seventh seal contains the seven trumpets indicates that the seven trumpets follow the seven seals and that the seven bowls in turn follow the seven trumpets. Also, since the judgments in each series are different and intensify as the Tribulation progresses, the succession view is best.

HALFWAY POINT

The midpoint of the tribulation marks a major turning point in the end times.

SATANIC WARFARE

Phase 1: War in Heaven—Angels and Demons (Revelation 12:7-12)

A clash occurs in heaven between Satan, accompanied by his demonic minions and Michael the archangel with the angelic host (12:7-8). Michael and the angels will defeat Satan’s army, expelling them from heaven and casting them down to the earth. Knowing that his time is short, Satan will wreak as much havoc as possible.

Phase 2: War on Earth—Satan v. Israel (Revelation 12:13-17)

Satan will immediately turn his anger toward Israel. Revelation 12:1 pictures Israel as a woman “clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” The woman gives birth to Jesus in Revelation 12:2, 5.

Satan focuses his fury on the woman and tries to wipe out the Jewish people once and for all to thwart the promises of God. Satan’s final assault against Israel will also fail. It will result in the repentance of Israel, the second coming of Jesus, and the establishment of the messianic kingdom.

Satan tried to kill Jesus to keep Him from fulfilling His ministry (Revelation 12:5). Satan’s fury against Israel will last for 1,260 days (3½ years) according to Revelation 12:6, 14. This is the second half of the Tribulation. God will supernaturally protect Israel from Satan’s onslaught, symbolized by a ferocious flood flowing from the dragon’s mouth (Revelation 12:14-16).

SATANIC WORSHIP—THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION

This event will involve the Antichrist, the false prophet, and the rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem. During at least part of the first half of the Tribulation, the Jewish people, under their peace treaty with the Antichrist, will rebuild their Temple and begin offering sacrifices there (Daniel 9:27). However, midway through the seven-year Tribulation, that will all change. Likening the seven years to one week, Daniel 9:27 (NASB) says, “In the middle of the week he [the Antichrist] will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.” At this point, the Antichrist will break his treaty with Israel and commit an act that is most often called “the abomination of desolation.” Scripture refers to this sacrilege several times (Daniel 9:27; 12:11; Matthew 24:15; Mark 13:14).

In his initial takeover of Jerusalem, the Antichrist will sit in the very Holy of Holies in the Temple, declaring to the world that he is God, thus establishing the final false religion that he will impose on the entire world (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4). The Antichrist will not be able to sit in the Temple 24/7 to receive worship, so in this second phase of abomination, he will commission an image or idol of his likeness to be constructed to sit in the Temple in his place (Revelation 13:11-15).

The Antichrist’s right-hand man, the false prophet, will be given the authority to do great signs and wonders, deceiving people into worshiping the Beast. His greatest deception will be the construction of an image or likeness of the Antichrist that will come alive. All the earth will be required to worship the Beast and his image or face death (Revelation 13:15).

The idol will remain there for the final 1,260 days or 3½ years of the Tribulation period. Daniel 12:11 says that the abomination of desolation will stand in the Holy Place for 1,290 days. That is the final 3½ years of the Tribulation (1,260 days) plus thirty extra days. The judgments of Christ will take some time to complete.

THE ASSASSINATION AND RESURRECTION OF THE ANTICHRIST

Revelation 13:3-4 describes this event. This stunning event will happen at the midpoint of the seven-year Tribulation and will coincide with Satan’s being cast out of heaven (Revelation 12:12). This resurrection is the event that propels the Beast to popularity and compels the world to fall at his feet. Many scholars argue that since Satan does not have the power to give life, this death and resurrection will be an illusion. They will not accept the resurrection of Christ, but they sure are going to fake the resurrection of the Antichrist. If Satan has the power to give life to a dead idol, then why is it not also possible for him (with God’s permission) to resurrect a man from the dead? Revelation 13 contains the repeated refrain “and it was given to him” (NASB) or “and the beast was allowed” (NLT). This phrase makes clear that God is the One permitting the Antichrist to carry out his plans.

Revelation 17:8, 11 supports this when it refers to the Beast, which “was, and is not” (NASB). John Phillips builds on this notion, saying, “The Beast has two comings. He appears first as the ‘beast . . . out of the sea’ (13:1), and later, after his assassination, as the ‘beast . . . out of the abyss’ (17:8).” In other words, the Antichrist will be resurrected from the abyss with hellish powers to deceive the world.

DEALING WITH FEAR AND ANXIETY (PART 2)

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FEAR

2

AVOIDING ANXIETY THROUGH PRAYER

Philippians 4 provides the apostle Paul’s advice on how to avoid anxiety. It is the most comprehensive portion of Scripture dealing with anxiety and therefore is foundational to understand how God feels about anxiety and why He feels that way. In Philippians 4:6–9, Paul issued a series of commands:

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

The best way to eliminate a bad habit is to replace it with a good one, and few habits are as bad as worrying. The foremost way to avoid anxiety is through prayer. Right thinking and action are the next logical steps, but it all begins with prayer.

React to Problems with Thankful Prayer

Instead of praying to God with feelings of doubt, discouragement, or discontent, we are to approach Him with a thankful attitude before we utter even one word. We can only do that with sincerity when we realize that God promises not to allow anything to happen to us that will be too much for us to bear (1 Cor. 10:13), to work out everything for our good in the end (Rom. 8:28), and to “perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish” us in the midst of our suffering (1 Peter 5:10).

Know that all your difficulties are within God’s purpose and thank Him for His available power and promises. Being thankful will release you from fear and worry. There are so many blessings to be thankful for: knowing that God will supply all our needs (Phil. 4:19), that He stays closely in touch with our lives (Ps. 139:3), that He cares about us (1 Peter 5:7), that all power belongs to Him (Ps. 62:11), that He is making us more and more like Christ (Rom. 8:29; Phil. 1:6), and that no detail escapes Him (Ps. 147:5).

That’s the promise of Philippians 4:7: “The peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” This precious verse promises inner calm and tranquillity to believers who pray with a thankful attitude. Notice, however, it doesn’t promise what the answer to our prayers will be.

The real challenge of Christian living is not to eliminate every uncomfortable circumstance from our lives, but to trust our sovereign, wise, good, and powerful God in the midst of every situation. Things that might trouble us can actually be sources of strength, not weakness.

Jesus said to His disciples, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation but take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). As disciples of Christ, we need to accept the fact that we live in an imperfect world and allow God to do His perfect work in us. Our Lord will give us His peace as we confidently entrust ourselves to His care. The peace of God “will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7).

The believer who doesn’t live in the confidence of God’s sovereignty will lack God’s peace and be left to the chaos of a troubled heart. But our confident trust in the Lord will allow us to thank Him in the midst of trials because we have God’s peace on duty to protect our hearts.

Focus on Godly Virtues

Prayer is our chief means of avoiding anxiety. After Paul said not to be anxious (Phil. 4:6), he added two complete sentences specifying how we’re to pray and what the benefits will be. Philippians 4 is often oversimplified and misrepresented as a mere grocery list on how to deal with worry, but it is much more than that. As believers, we’re to leave the sin of worry behind with our prayers and gradually become different people through new ways of thinking and acting.

Paul wrote these words: “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things” (Phil. 4:8). We are the products of our thinking. According to Proverbs 23:7, “As [a person] thinks within himself, so he is.” Unfortunately, many psychologists believe an individual can find stability by recalling his past sins, hurts, and abuses. That kind of thinking has infiltrated Christianity. The apostle Paul, however, said to focus only on what is right and honorable, not on the sins of darkness (see Eph. 5:12).

How We Think

Now let’s survey what Scripture says about our thinking patterns before, at, and after salvation.

Describing unredeemed humanity, Paul wrote: “As they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind” (Rom. 1:28). Once, our minds were corrupt. Worse, our minds were also blind, for “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving” (2 Cor. 4:4). As a result, our minds were engaged in futile thoughts (Eph. 4:17). Indeed, prior to salvation, people’s minds are “darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them” (v. 18).

The ability to think clearly and correctly is a blessing from God. It all begins with the gospel, which is “the power of God for salvation” (Rom. 1:16). The Lord uses the gospel to illumine the mind of the unbeliever. Salvation begins in the mind as an individual comes to realize the seriousness of sin and Christ’s atoning work on his or her behalf. The Holy Spirit is at work in us, renewing us; and we receive a new mind or way of thinking. Divine and supernatural thoughts inject our human thought patterns.

“The thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God,” said Paul, but we as believers “have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may know the things freely given to us by God” (1 Cor. 2:11– 12). In other words, because the Holy Spirit indwells us, the very thoughts of God are available to us.

The Bible is full of logic, and we must never think of faith as something purely mystical. We do not just sit down in an armchair and expect marvelous things to happen to us. That is not Christian faith. Christian faith is essentially about thinking. Look at the birds, think about them, and draw your deductions. Look at the grass, look at the lilies of the field, consider them.… The trouble with the person of little faith is that, instead of controlling his own thought, his thought is being controlled by something else, and he goes round and round in circles. Some people assume worry is the result of too much thinking. Actually, it’s the result of too little thinking in the right direction. If you know who God is and understand His purposes, promises, and plans, it will help you not to worry.

Faith isn’t psychological self-hypnosis or wishful thinking, but a reasoned response to revealed truth. When we in faith embrace Christ as our Lord and Savior, our minds are transformed.

Since we still live in a fallen world, however, our renewed minds need ongoing cleansing and refreshment. Jesus said that God’s chief agent for purifying our thinking is His Word (John 15:3). Paul reiterated that concept many times:

  • Romans 12:1–2: “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
  • Ephesians 4:23: “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.”
  • Colossians 3:10: “Put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him.”

The New Testament calls us to the mental discipline of right thinking. Paul said, “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth” (Col. 3:2). In addition, Peter said, “Prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13).

What We Should Think About

What is that right focus? Dwelling on “whatever is true … honorable … right … pure … lovely … of good repute” (Phil. 4:8).

Truthful Things – We will find what is true in God’s Word. Jesus said, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth” (John 17:17; see also Ps. 119:151). The truth is also in Christ Himself, “just as truth is in Jesus,” said Paul (Eph. 4:21). Dwelling on what is true necessitates meditating on God’s Word and “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of [our] faith” (Heb. 12:2).

Noble Things –  We are to dwell on whatever is worthy of awe and adoration—the sacred as opposed to the profane.

Righteous Things The term “right” speaks of righteousness. Our thoughts are to be in perfect harmony with the eternal, unchanging, divine standard of our Holy God as revealed in Scripture. Right thinking is always consistent with God’s absolute holiness.

Pure Things – “Pure” refers to something morally clean and undefiled. We are to dwell on what is clean, not soiled.

Gracious Things – The Greek term translated “lovely” occurs only here in the New Testament and means “pleasing” or “amiable.” The implication is that we are to focus on whatever is kind or gracious.

Praiseworthy Things – “Honorable” predominantly refers to something worthy of veneration by believers, but “good repute” refers more to what is reputable in the world at large. This term includes universally praised virtues such as courage and respect for others.

Whenever you catch your mind wandering back into the forbidden territory (and you can be sure that it will—more frequently at first, until you retrain and discipline it), change the direction of your thought. Instead, crisply ask God to help you to refocus upon those things that fit into Paul’s list recorded in Philippians 4:8–9.

Practice What’s Been Preached

All this godly thinking is to lead to a practical end. Paul put it this way: “The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (Phil. 4:9).

Paul’s words speak of action that’s repetitious or continuous working to improve our skill. God’s Word cultivates the godly attitudes, thoughts, and actions that will keep trials and temptations from overwhelming us.

Right attitudes and thoughts must precede right practices. Only spiritual weapons will help in our warfare against the flesh (2 Cor. 10:4). By avoiding anxiety through prayer and making other such attitude adjustments, we can take “every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (v. 5).

Finally, “the God of peace will be with you” (Phil. 4:9), said Paul, who ended on this note because he was addressing the issue of spiritual stability in the midst of trialsWhen we follow that practice, “the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard [our] hearts and … minds in Christ Jesus” (v. 7). There’s no better protection from worry than that.

DEALING WITH FEAR AND ANXIETY (PART 1)

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FEAR

INTRODUCTION

Anxiety, fear, worry, and stress are familiar words in our day and familiar experiences to many. More and more we’re hearing of an extreme form of anxiety referred to as a “panic attack.” Anxiety is, at its core, an inappropriate response to circumstances.

The wrong way to handle the stresses of life is to worry about them. Jesus said three times, “Do not be anxious” (see Matt. 6:25, 31, 34). Paul later reiterated, “Be anxious for nothing” (Phil. 4:6). Worry at any time is a sin because it violates the clear biblical command.

Such thoughts are unproductive, and they end up controlling us. That brings on legitimate feelings of guilt. If we don’t deal with those feelings in a productive manner by getting back on track with our duties in life, we’ll lose hope instead of finding answers. When left unresolved, anxiety can debilitate one’s mind and body—and even lead to panic attacks.

You need to be careful how you deal with your worries and to also discern the kind of counsel you receive. To tackle anxiety in a biblical fashion, first we need to know the primary Scripture passages on the topic. Then we need to consider those passages in their context.

As we realign our thinking on anxiety with what God says about it in His Word and why, we will be different people. We will be ready to apply His precious Word to our hearts. We won’t just know we’re not to worry; we will have confidence and success in doing something about it.

1 – OBSERVING HOW GOD CARES FOR YOU

In Matthew 6:25–34 Jesus directly addressed the topic of worry, telling us what to do about it and why. Jesus said we need to take a good look around us and observe or think deeply about the meaning behind what we see. This is what Jesus told us to ponder if we want to be free from worry:

“For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, as to what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “With what will we wear for clothing?” For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Expressions of Worry

We all have to admit that worry is a common temptation in life, and it can occupy a person’s thoughts for a great portion of the day. The Christian who worries is really thinking, God, I know You mean well by what You say, but I’m not sure You can pull it off. Anxiety is blatant distrust of the power and love of God.

We’re not much different from the people to whom Jesus spoke. They worried about what they were going to eat, drink, and wear. And if you want to legitimize your worry, what better way than to think, Well, after all, I’m not worrying about extravagant things; I’m just worrying about the basics. But even that is forbidden for the Christian.

God wants His children preoccupied with Him, not with the mundane, passing things of this world. Scripture says, “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth” (Col. 3:2). To free us to do that God says, “Don’t worry about the basics. I’ll take care of that.” Fully trusting our heavenly Father dispels anxiety. And the more we know about Him, the more we will trust Him. God promised to provide all your needs, and He will: “My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19). That is His concern, not yours.

Believers are commanded to be financially responsible and care for their families (1 Tim. 5:8). Scripture does not imply that having a savings account, investing extra money, or owning insurance shows a lack of trust in God. Such provisions from the Lord are reasonable safeguards for the average person in any complex, modern society. However, they ought to be balanced with Jesus’ command to “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” (Matt. 6:33) and to “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (v. 20 KJV).

What Jesus Said about Worry

Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21). Focusing on earthly treasures produces earthly affections. It blinds our spiritual vision and draws us away from serving God. That’s why God promises to provide what we need.

As children of God we have a single goal—treasure in heaven; a single vision —God’s purposes; and a single Master—God, not money (Matt. 6:19–24). Therefore, we must not let ourselves become preoccupied with the mundane things of this world—“what [we] will eat or what [we] will drink” (v. 25).

Jesus then asked rhetorically, “Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” (v. 25). Of course it is, but you wouldn’t know it judging by what’s advertised today and what people seem to feel they need to be pursuing.

Why He Said It

Jesus gave us, His children, three reasons for not worrying about this life:

  1. Worry Is Unnecessary because of Our Father

If your concept of God is right and you see Him as Owner, Controller, and Provider, and beyond that as your loving Father, then you know you have nothing to worry about. Jesus said, “What man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” (Matt. 7:9–11).

Since all things come under God’s control, rest assured He controls those things on behalf of His children.

God Always Feeds His Creatures

In Matthew 6:26 Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?”

Jesus wants us to think about birds. They have no self-consciousness or ability to reason, but God has planted within them the instinct or divine capacity to find what is necessary to live. God doesn’t just create life; He also sustains life.

Now that isn’t an excuse for idleness. Perhaps you’ve noticed: It never rains worms! God feeds birds through the instinct that tells them where to find food. They work hard for it. They’re always busy searching, gobbling up little insects, migrating with the seasons, preparing their nests, caring for their young, then teaching them to fly and pushing them out of the nest at the right time, and so on.

Not even in your strangest dream would a bird say, “I’m going to build bigger nests. I’m going to store more worms. I’m going to say to myself.” Birds work within the framework of God’s design and never overindulge themselves.

Birds have no reason to worry, and if they don’t, what are you worrying for? Jesus put it this way: “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows” (Matt. 10:29–31).

If God sustains the life of a bird, don’t you think He will take care of you? Life is a gift from God. If God gives you the greater gift of life itself, don’t you think He will give you the lesser gift of sustaining that life? Of course He will, so don’t worry about it.

Keep in mind, of course, that like a bird, we have to work because God has designed that people should earn their bread by the sweat of their brows (Gen. 3:19). If we don’t work, it is not fitting that we eat (2 Thess. 3:10). Just as God provides for the birds through their instinct, so God provides for people through their efforts.

  1. Worry Is Unable to Accomplish Anything Productive

Jesus gave another practical observation that highlights the folly of worry: “Who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?” (Matt. 6:27).

Not only will you not lengthen your life by worrying, but you will probably shorten it, as the observation was made that worry adversely affects the circulatory system, heart, glands, and entire nervous system.

We live in a day when people have an excessive interest in vitamins, health spas, diet, and exercise. God, however, has previously determined how long we shall live. Job 14:5 says of man, “His days are determined, the number of his months is with You; and his limits You have set so that he cannot pass.” To worry about how long you are going to live and how to add years onto your life is to distrust God. If you give Him your life and are obedient to Him, He will give you the fullness of days. You will experience life to the fullest when you live it to the glory of God.

God Clothes Even the Meadows in Splendor

Jesus gave another illustration from nature on why not to worry: “Why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!” (Matt. 6:28–30).

For some people, the most important place in their whole world is the closet. Instead of being afraid they won’t have anything to wear, they fear not being able to look their best! Lusting after costly clothes is a common sin in our society.

“Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God” (1 Peter 3:3–4).

If you want to talk about fancy clothing, though, Jesus said that the best this world has to offer doesn’t even compare to “the lilies of the field” (Matt. 6:28). “They do not toil nor do they spin” (v. 28). If you’ve ever taken a good look at a flower, you know there is a texture, form, design, substance, and color that man with all his ingenuity cannot come close to duplicating.

Jesus said, “if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you?” (Matt. 6:30). Wildflowers have a very short life span. A God who would lavish such beauty on temporary fire fodder certainly will provide the necessary clothing for His eternal children.

If you worry, what kind of faith do you manifest? “Little faith,” according to Jesus (Matt. 6:30). If you are a child of God, you by definition have a heavenly Father. To act like you don’t, nervously asking, “What will I eat? What will I drink? With what will I clothe myself?” is to act like an unbeliever in God’s eyes (see vv. 31–32).

Christians who worry believe God can redeem them, break the shackles of Satan, take them from hell to heaven, put them into His kingdom, and give them eternal life; but they just don’t think He can get them through the next couple of days. That is pretty ridiculous. We can believe God for the greater gift and then stumble and not believe Him for the lesser one.

The Worrier Strikes Out at God

When you worry, you are saying in effect, “God, I just don’t think I can trust You.” Worry strikes a blow at the person and character of God.

The Worrier Disbelieves Scripture

It is incongruous to say how much we believe the Bible and then worry about God fulfilling what He says in it.

The Worrier Is Mastered by Circumstances

When you or I worry, we are choosing to be mastered by our circumstances instead of by the truth of God. The hardships and trials of life are pale in comparison to the greatness of our salvation. Jesus wants us to realize it doesn’t make sense to believe God can save us from eternal hell but not help us in the practical matters of life.

The Worrier Distrusts God

When we worry, we are not trusting our heavenly Father. That means we don’t know Him well enough. Study the Word of God to find out who He really is and how He has supplied the needs of His people in the past. That will build confidence for the future. Stay fresh in the Word every day so that God is in your mind. Otherwise Satan is apt to move into the vacuum and tempt you to worry about something. Instead, let God’s track record in Scripture and in your own life assure you that worry is needless because of God’s bounty, senseless because of God’s promise, useless because of its impotence to do anything productive, and faithless because it is characteristic of unbelievers.

  1. Worry Is Unwise because of Our Future

Jesus said, “So do not worry for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matt. 6:34). He was saying, “Don’t worry about the future. Even though it will have its share of problems, they have a way of working themselves out at the time. Just deal with them as they come, for there’s no way to solve them in advance.” Providing for tomorrow is good, but worrying about tomorrow is a sin because God is the God of tomorrow just as He is the God of today. Lamentations 3:23 tells us His mercies “are new every morning.” He feeds us as He fed the children of Israel—with just enough manna for the day.

Worry paralyzes its victim, making him or her too upset to accomplish anything productive. It will seek to do that to you by taking you mentally into tomorrow until you find something to worry about. Refuse to go along for the ride. The Lord said you have enough to deal with today. Apply today’s resources to today’s needs or you will lose today’s joy.

God gives you the glorious gift of life today; live in the light and full joy of that day, using the resources God supplies. Don’t push yourself into the future and forfeit the day’s joy over some tomorrow that may never happen. Today is all you really have, for God permits none of us to live in tomorrow until it turns into today.

Realize God gives you strength one day at a time. He gives you what you need when you need it. He doesn’t encumber you with excess baggage. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8). That means He will be doing the same thing tomorrow that He was doing yesterday. If you have any question about the future, look at the past. Did He sustain you then? He will sustain you in the future.

Replacing Worry with the Right Focus

This is what Jesus says to you today: “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:33). In other words, move your thoughts up to the divine level, and God will take care of all your physical needs. God wants to free His children from being preoccupied with the mundane. Colossians 3:2 says as directly as possible, “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” Therefore a materialistic Christian is a contradiction in terms.

When the world sees those virtues in your life instead of worry, it’s evidence that the kingdom of God is there. You can say, “I want to tell people about Jesus so they can be saved,” but if your life is marked by anxiety and fear, they will not believe you have anything they want. They are certainly going to question the power of God. Perhaps you already are painfully aware of your less-than-perfect testimony.

We as believers don’t need to do that. Our Lord “gives grace and glory; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Ps. 84:11).

 

WAKE UP – THE IMMINENT COMING OF CHRIST

HEAVENLY REMNANT MINISTRIES2 Comments

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The Cambridge Dictionary describes the word “Imminent” as “coming or likely to happen very soon.”

EXPECTATIONS OF THE EARLY CHURCH

Christ could come at any moment according to Scripture. From the very earliest days of the church, the apostles and first-generation Christians had an earnest expectation and hope that Christ might suddenly return to gather His church to heaven. The New Testament writers often wrote of Christ’s “appearing,” and they never failed to convey the sense that this could happen imminently. James, probably the earliest of the New Testament epistles, expressly told his readers that the return of Christ was imminent:

“Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!” James 5:7-9

Peter echoed that same expectation when he wrote, “The end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers” (1 Pet. 4:7). The writer of Hebrews cited the imminent return of Christ as a reason to remain faithful: “Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” (Heb. 10:24-25). He wrote, “Yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry” (v. 37). And the apostle John made the most confident pronouncement of all: “Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour” (1 John 2:18). John wrote “And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming” (1 John 2:28; cf. 3:2; Col. 3:4; 2 Tim. 4:8; 1 Pet. 5:4). When John recorded his vision in the book of Revelation, he prefaced it by saying that these things “must shortly take place” (1:1).

When the apostle Paul described the Lord’s coming for the church, he clearly was convinced that he himself might be among those who would be caught up alive to meet the Lord: “According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thess. 4:15, 17). He obviously looked for Christ to return in his lifetime. He furthermore made it plain that a watchful, hopeful expectancy about Christ’s Second Coming is one of the godly attitudes divine grace teaches all believers: “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:11-13).

 WILL THE TRIBULATION PRECEDE CHRIST’S COMING FOR THE CHURCH?  

Nonetheless, according to some students of Bible prophecy, “the blessed hope” becomes relevant only after the church has gone through the Tribulation. When Christ outlined the events of the last days, He included many prophecies about tribulation and hardship, and He said these signs would precede and point to His return (Matt. 24:21, 30).

First, they argue that all the general “signs of the times” given in the New Testament either have been fulfilled or are being fulfilled before our eyes. They are, in fact, characteristics of the entire church age. Apostasy and unbelief, self-love, sin, wars, rumors of wars, and natural disasters have all been common throughout the church age. Practically every generation of Christians since the time of Christ has believed they were seeing the end-times signs fulfilled before their very eyes. And the church was already in the last days even before the apostolic era ended. In fact, “last days” is a biblical term for the Christian era itself (Heb. 1:1-2).

Second, those who believe the church must suffer through the hardships of the Tribulation period invariably cite 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 as proof:

“Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition.”

If 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 indeed means that Christ’s coming for the church cannot occur until after the Antichrist was revealed and the seven years of Tribulation took place, it nullifies everything the New Testament teaches about the imminence of Christ’s return.

So, on the one hand, the New Testament reflects an eager sense of expectancy and the conviction that the blessed hope of Christ’s return is imminent. On the other hand, we are warned about trouble and affliction that will precede Christ’s return. How can we reconcile these two threads of prophecy? How can we cultivate a daily expectation of Christ’s return if these preliminary signs must yet be fulfilled before He returns?

But look carefully at the context of 2 Thessalonians 2. The Thessalonians had been confused and upset by some false teachers who were teaching that the persecutions and sufferings they experienced were the very judgments associated with the Day of the Lord’s final apocalyptic wrath. They were deeply troubled by this, for in his earlier epistle Paul encouraged them by telling them of the Rapture (1 Thess. 4:14-17). He even instructed them to comfort one another with the promise of Christ’s coming for them (v. 18), so they obviously feared they had missed the Rapture.

“Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him” (v.1) is a clear reference to the Rapture. But “The day of Christ” mentioned later in verse 2, however refers to the Day of the Lord (in fact, the older manuscripts use the expression “day of the Lord” in this verse). So when Paul says, “that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition” (v.3), he is talking about the Day of the Lord and its apocalyptic judgment, not the Rapture.

He most certainly was not suggesting that the coming of Christ for the church would be delayed until after the Tribulation events had all played out. If this was what he meant, it would overturn everything the New Testament has to say about Christ’s return being imminent, comforting, and hopeful.

So, the consistent teaching of the New Testament is that Christians should be looking for the imminent coming of Christ for His church, and 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 is no exception.

 THE SCOFFERS AND THE MOCKERS  

Some argue that Christ’s coming could not possibly have been imminent for the early church, given the obvious fact that 2,000 years later He has still not returned, even though James, Peter, John, Paul, and the writer of Hebrews all believed Christ’s return was very near—“at the door” (James 5:9); “at hand” (Phil. 4:5; 1 Pet. 4:7); “approaching” (Heb. 10:25); “coming quickly” (Rev. 3:11; 22:7).

Some sceptics even claim that the apostles have been in error about the timing. What shall we make of this charge against the truthfulness of Scripture? Does the passing of 2,000 years indeed prove that Christ’s coming was not imminent in the early church era and that the apostles were mistaken?

Certainly not. Remember the clear statement of Christ in Matthew 24:42: “You do not know what hour your Lord is coming.” The exact time remains hidden from us, as it was from the apostles. There are no other events that must occur on the prophetic calendar before Christ comes to meet us in the air. He could come at any moment. And it is in that sense that Christ’s coming is imminent. In the very same sense, His coming was imminent even in the days of the early church.

It is also possible that Christ could delay His coming another 2,000 years or longer, but given the rapid decline of society, another 2,000 years do not seem possible. That is why Christ taught us to be prepared, whether He comes immediately or delays longer than we think possible (cf. Matt. 24:42—25:13).

Peter anticipated the scoffers who would arise, mocking the promise of Christ’s return (2 Pet. 3:3-4). Peter’s reply to those scoffers? “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (v. 8). The amount of earthly time that passes is certainly irrelevant from God’s timeless point of view. He is not bound by time as we are, and no amount of time can ever nullify His faithfulness. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (v. 9).

In other words, the real reason for the Lord’s delay is simply because He is longsuffering and kind, delaying Christ’s coming and the wrath that will accompany it while He calls people unto salvation. And Christ will not return before the merciful purposes of God are complete.

Therefore, the fact that 2,000 years have elapsed is utterly irrelevant to the doctrine of Christ’s imminent return. The command to be ready and watchful is as applicable to us as it was to the early church. In fact, the return of Christ should be an even more urgent issue for us because it is drawing nearer with the passing of each day. We still do not know when Christ is coming, but we do know that we are 2,000 years closer to that event than James was in those earliest days of the Christian era, when the Holy Spirit moved him to warn the church that the coming of the Lord was “at hand” and the Judge was already standing “at the door.”

 WHY IS CHRIST’S IMMINENT RETURN SO IMPORTANT?

The hope of Christ’s imminent coming has a powerful sanctifying and purifying effect on us. “Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:3). The knowledge that Christ’s coming is drawing closer should motivate us to prepare, to pursue Christlikeness, and to put off all the things that pertain to our former lives without Christ.

The apostle Paul says in Romans 13:11-14: “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”

The Lord is coming soon, and the event draws nearer every moment. The time to obey is now. The only time we can take for granted is now. And since there is no guarantee of more time, it is unconscionable to defer our obedience. Paul was stressing the urgency of this commandment in his day, 2,000 years ago. How much more urgent are these things for our time? Rather than despairing because He tarries, we ought to realize that the time is nearer now than it has ever been. Our hope should be growing stronger, not diminishing, as He delays his coming.

Christ rebuked the Pharisees for lacking discernment. “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times” (Matt. 16:1-3).

The society in which we live caters to the flesh, offering many material comforts and earthly amusements. Spiritually many fall asleep and sometimes it seems as if the entire church today is in a state of spiritual drowsiness. Where is the sense of expectation that characterized the early church? Most Christians are far more concerned about the arrival of a new cell phone or a new vehicle than what they are with the arrival of the Millennial King! They have become unresponsive to the things of God. They are like the foolish virgins who “while the bridegroom was delayed . . . all slumbered and slept” (Matt. 25:5). It is high time to awake from that slumber.

Paul sent a similar wake-up call to the church at Ephesus: “‘Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.’ See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:14-16). Never was such an alarm more needed than today. In the words of our Lord Himself, “Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning—lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping” (Mark 13:35-36).

When Paul says “our salvation is nearer than when we first believed” (Rom. 13:11), he is speaking, of course, about the consummation of our salvation. He was not suggesting that the Romans were unregenerate or telling them their justification was a yet-future reality. He reminded them that what began at their regeneration was drawing closer by the moment. “Salvation” in this context refers to our glorification, the final goal of God’s saving work (Rom. 8:30). Throughout Scripture this is connected with the appearing of Christ. “We know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him” (1 John 3:2). We “eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body” (Phil. 3:2021). “When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Col. 3:4). “He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation” (Heb. 9:28). Notice that the writer of Hebrews employs the word salvation the same way Paul uses it in Romans 13:11.

In Romans 8:23: “We ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” That is the aspect of our salvation that is nearer than when we first believed, and it only awaits Christ’s coming.

If the Tribulation was going to occur prior to Christ’s return for the church, Paul would have surely urged the Romans to prepare for it. But far from warning them that a dark era of tribulation was in their future, what he told them was virtually the opposite: “The night is far spent, the day is at hand” (v. 12).

We have no idea how much sand remains in the hourglass of human history. But we ought to realize that a lot of sand has passed through the hourglass since the apostle Paul said the dawning of daylight was already at hand. How much more urgent is this wake-up call for the church today!

The nighttime of Satan’s dominion will soon give way to the dawn of Christ’s coming for His own. The apostle Paul used precisely the same imagery of darkness and dawn when he wrote to the Thessalonians:

“But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 THESS. 5:1-9)

God did not appoint us to wrath. The day of wrath that will come in the Tribulation is not what we are to be prepared for. The sudden appearing of Christ to take us to glory is our hope. Wake up. Be sober. Be alert. Your redemption draws nigh.

Throw Off! The approaching of dawn means it’s time for a change of garments. “Let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light” (Rom. 13:12). Paul’s imagery evokes the picture of a soldier who has spent the night in a drunken orgy. Still clad in the garments of his sin, he has fallen into a drunken sleep. But dawn is approaching, and now it is time to wake up, throw off the clothes of night, and put on the armor of light.

Put On! There’s another aspect of being prepared for the Lord’s appearing. We’re not fully prepared for the dawn of the new day unless we have put on the appropriate attire: “put on the armor of light . . . put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 13:12, 14).

“Armor” suggests warfare, and that is fitting. Though the return of Christ is imminent, that is no warrant to forsake the battle. There is never any suggestion in Scripture that His people should sit on a hillside somewhere to await His coming.

In fact, between now and His coming we are locked in a battle “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). Now is not the time to slacken our diligence; in fact, the opposite is true. We should engage the battle with new vigor, knowing that the time is short. “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (v. 13).

The Christian who is not living a holy and obedient life with heavenly priorities is a Christian who does not grasp the significance of the Lord’s imminent return. If we genuinely are expecting our Lord to appear at any time, that blessed hope should move us to be faithful and to walk properly, lest our Lord return to find us walking improperly, disobeying or dishonoring Him.

The hope of Christ’s imminent return is therefore the hinge on which a proper understanding of sanctification turns.

Let’s review some of the key texts that speak of the imminence of Christ’s return, and notice specifically what kind of practical duties this doctrine places on us.

Steadfastness: “Be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” (Jas. 5:8).

Kindness: “Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!” (Jas. 5:9).

Prayer: “The end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers” (1 Pet. 4:7).

Faithfulness in assembling together and encouraging one another : “Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” (Heb. 10:24-25).

Holy conduct and godliness: “Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness” (2 Pet. 3:11).

Purity and Christlikeness: “When He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:2-3).

Those cover several broad categories, embracing every aspect of our sanctification. The hope of Christ’s imminent return is a catalyst and an incentive for all these things—every fruit of the Spirit, every Christian virtue, everything that pertains to holiness and Christlikeness, everything that belongs to life and godliness.

That’s why it’s so important to cultivate a watchful expectancy for the imminent coming of Christ. The point is not to make us obsessed with earthly events. In fact, if your interest in the return of Christ becomes a consuming fixation with what is happening in this world, you have utterly missed the point. The knowledge that Christ’s return is imminent should turn our hearts toward heaven, “from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20).

“Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.” (2 Pet. 3:14)

(Key Source: John MacArthur – The Second Coming: Signs of Christ’s Return And The End of The Age)

WHO IS A JEW? WHO IS ISRAEL?

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0 the church is not israel

Who is a Jew and who is Israel of the Bible? Is it the “church,” or those who practice Orthodox Judiasm? Or maybe a nation?

In his book, “The Remnant of Israel: The History, Theology, and Philosophy of The Messianic Jewish Comunity,” Dr. Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, a Messianic Jew, attempted to answer this much debated question. There are few topics in the Jewish and Christian world that have been more debated than this one. To this day there is no consistent definition among most people.

A Biblical Definition

If Jewishness is defined in terms of religion, and that religion is defined as Orthodox Judaism, then obviously Messianic Jews are not Jewish. But according to this definition neither are most Jews, because most Jews do not practice Orthodox Judaism. Defining Jewishness on a purely religious basis does not satisfactorily explain who a Jew is.

The Messianic Jewish definition has an objective standard; it goes back to the very source of Jewishness: the Scriptures. The further any definition departs from the Scriptures, the foggier it gets. The Messianic Jew is forced to define Jewishness in the biblical sense of the term, for to him the Scriptures are the source of authority. Hence the Messianic Jewish definition can also be called the biblical definition. The biblical basis for defining Jewishness lies in the Abrahamic Covenant in Genesis:

“Now Jehovah said unto Abram, Get you out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father’s house, unto the land that I will show you: and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and be you a blessing: and I will bless them that bless you, and him that curses you will I curse: and in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3)

It is further described in two other passages:

“For all the land which you see, to you will I give it, and to your seed forever. And I will make your seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then may your seed also be numbered.” (Genesis 13:15-16)

“And, behold, the word of Jehovah came unto him, saying, This man shall not be your heir; but he that shall come forth out of your own bowels shall be your heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and number the stars, if you be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall your seed be.” (Genesis 15:4-5)

Later, the Abrahamic Covenant is confirmed through Isaac in Genesis 26:2-5 and Genesis 26:2-5. After Isaac, it is reconfirmed through Jacob in Genesis 28:13-15.

From the Abrahamic Covenant a simple definition of Jewishness can be deduced. It lies in the repeated statement that a nation will come through the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and thus defines Jewishness in terms of nationality. This nationality is not confined to the State of Israel alone, but it includes all the Jewish people no matter where they are. It is a nationality based on descent and not on Zionism.

Biblically speaking, the Jewish people are a nation. Although many of them today, are still scattered, they are nevertheless, a nation. They are a nation because they are descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The implication of this definition is that no matter what a Jew does he can never become a non-Jew; no matter what the individual Jew may believe or disbelieve he remains a Jew. If a Jew chooses to believe that Yeshua is his Messiah, he too remains a Jew. Nothing, absolutely nothing, can change the fact that he is a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

At this point the problem of children of mixed marriages comes up. These children are usually designated half-Jewish and half-Gentile. The theology of Judaism teaches that Jewishness is determined by the mother; if the mother is Jewish, then the children are Jewish. But again, this is a departure from the biblical norm. In the Scriptures it is not the mother who determines Jewishness but the father; consequently the genealogies of both the Old and New Testaments list the names of the men and not of the women, except in cases where a mother was notable in Jewish history. Thus if the father is Jewish, the children are Jewish. King David was definitely Jewish, although his great grandmother Ruth and his great-great grandmother Rahab were both Gentiles.

Can the church be called a Jew (or “Israel”)?

The New Testament divides the world into three groups of people: Jews, Gentiles, and believers (I Corinthians 10:32). It plainly teaches that no one can ever be born a Christian; everyone is either born a Jew or born a Gentile. A Christian is therefore, either a Jew or a Gentile who has become a believer. He is not a Jew (or “Ïsrael”) merely because he holds church membership or is baptized.

In the Levitt newsletter for May 1996, Dr. Thomas McCall, the Senior Theologian of Zola Levitt Ministries, also addressed the battle regarding the nature and character of the Church, especially in relation to its biblical predecessor, Israel. The two major views are that:

  1. The Church is a continuation of Israel.
  2. The Church is completely different from Israel.

First View: The Church is Israel

The predominant view has been that the Church is the “new” Israel, a continuation of the concept of Israel which began in the Old Testament. In this view, the Church is the refinement and higher development of the concept of Israel. All of the promises made to Israel in the Scriptures find their fulfillment in the Church. Thus, the prophecies relating to the blessing and restoration of Israel to the Promised Land are “spiritualized” into promises of blessing to the Church. The prophecies of condemnation and judgment, though, are retained literally by the Jewish nation of Israel.

This view is sometimes called Replacement Theology, because the Church is seen to replace Israel in God’s economy. One of the problems with the view, among others, is the continuing existence of the Jewish people, especially with regard to the revival of the new modern state of Israel. If Israel has been condemned to extinction, and there is no divinely ordained future for the Jewish nation, how does one account for the supernatural survival of the Jewish people since the establishment of the Church, for almost 2,000 years against all odds? Furthermore, how does one account for Israel’s resurgence among the family of nations as an independent nation, victorious in several wars and flourishing economically?

Second View: Israel and the Church are Different

The other view, we believe, is clearly taught in the New Testament, but it has been suppressed throughout most of Church history. This view is that the Church is completely different and distinct from Israel, and the two should not be confused. In fact, the Church is an entirely new creation that came into being on the Day of Pentecost after Christ’s resurrection from the dead, and will continue until it is taken to Heaven at the Rapture return of the Lord (Eph. 1:9-11). None of the curses or blessings pronounced upon Israel refer directly to the Church. The Church enters into the Abrahamic and New Covenants, for instance, only by divine application, not by original interpretation (Matt 26:28).

This leaves all the covenants, promises, and warnings to Israel intact. Israel, the natural Jewish nation, is still Israel. To be sure, Israel has been side-lined during these past 1,900 years of the Diaspora. The Church has taken center stage in the Lord’s affairs as the Gospel has spread throughout the world. Nevertheless, God has carefully preserved the Jewish people, even in unbelief, through every kind of distress and persecution. Sometimes, the professing Church itself (I speak to our shame) has been a cause of these persecutions to the Jews.

Not only has God preserved the Jewish nation, but He has also kept His promise to save a remnant of Israel in every generation. The remnant of Israel in this age are the Jewish believers in Christ who have joined the Gentile believers, and form the Church, the Body of Christ (Rom. 11:5). In this respect, then, a part of Israel (the believing remnant) intersects with the Church during the Church Age. But this does not make Israel the Church, or vice versa.

In the future, both God’s warnings and promises to Israel will come to pass. After the Lord is finished with the Church Age, and has taken the Church to Heaven in the Rapture 1 Thess. 4:16-18), God will restore Israel to center stage on the world’s divine theater. First comes the devastating “Time of Jacob’s Trouble” (Jer. 30:7) also known as the Great Tribulation. This is a dreadful period of seven years, which begins relatively lightly during the first half, but intensifies into full focus during the latter half. During this time the world is judged for rejecting Christ, but, more specifically, Israel is judged, purged and prepared through the fiery trials of the Great Tribulation for the Second Coming of the Messiah. This is the bad news.

The good news is that, when Christ does return to the earth at the end of the Tribulation, Israel will be ready, willing, and eager to receive Him, and proclaim, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Matt. 23:39). As the stumbling of Israel brought blessing to the world at Christ’s First Coming, the reception of Israel to Christ at His Second Advent will be like “life from the dead” (Rom. 11:15). The remnant of Israel which survives the Tribulation (some one-third of the Jewish people who enter the Tribulation), will be saved, and the Lord will establish His kingdom on the same earth and the same capital city, Jerusalem, that rejected Him centuries before. Israel will be the head of the nations, and no longer the tail, and all nations will send representatives to Jerusalem to honor and worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Isa. 2:2-3;Micah 4:1). The Church will return with Christ, and will rule with Him for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-5). He Himself told His disciples that they would rule over the 12 tribes of Israel in the restoration (Matt. 19:28). Thus, Israel has not been forgotten in God’s plan. While the Jewish nation still has a dark period facing it, there is a glorious finale to Israel’s long history.

How Did the Church Decide the Demise of Israel?

The New Testament Church was very much involved with the vicissitudes of Israel. Jesus is an Israeli, as were all the apostles, and the concerns of Israel, spiritually and politically, were very much a part of their lives. The greatest struggles the early Church had were over the relationship between Israel and the Church, law and grace, and the fellowship between Jewish and Gentile believers in Christ (Galatians). Many of the Jewish believers were not comfortable with the Gentile believers at first; and as time went on and Gentiles began to predominate numerically, the attitudes were reversed. Galatians shows how the Jewish party tried to impose the Mosaic Law on Gentile Christians, and Romans shows how the Gentile party began to “boast against the branches” (Rom. 11:18), resenting the place of Israel in history and theology.

It took some time, perhaps a couple of centuries, but eventually the vast Gentile majority in the Church began to view Israel as a vestigial organ that had outlived its usefulness. In fact, the predominant Christian view was that the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Romans in 70 AD signaled the official and divinely-ordained end of the Jewish nation, never more to be re-instituted as a national entity. The fact that Jerusalem lay in ruins and the Jewish people were scattered over the world was seen as conclusive evidence that God was forever finished with national Israel. If there were any purpose for the existence of the Jewish people, it was to remind the world of the severe judgment of God upon a disobedient people.

If this harsh view of Israel were true, though, what of the promises of God to Israel in the Old Testament? For those who claimed to believe in the entire Bible as the Word of God, this was a great problem. How could a faithful God not keep His promises to His ancient people? To deal with this took extraordinary theological dexterity and alchemy. The theologians had to propose that Israel in the Scriptures did not really mean Israel, especially when it came to the promises of eternal blessing. Instead, Israel meant something else, something that came to be known in the New Testament as the Church. The Church became the new Israel, and through this remarkable transformation, wherever blessing is promised to Israel in the Old Testament, it was interpreted to mean the Church. This is Replacement Theology, in which the Church has become Israel.

Replacement Theology was already around before the end of the First Century, but did not become the official position of professing Christian leadership until Augustine popularized the concept, primarily in THE CITY OF GOD, in the latter part of the Fourth Century. Augustine actually states that he was previously a Chiliast, meaning that he was a believer in the thousand-year reign of Christ on the earth after His return. This is the same as our current description of Premillennialism. However, he had come to the conclusion that this view was “carnal,” and had adopted the view that the reign of Christ would be something more “spiritual,” and would actually occur during the Church Age. Such a view necessitated the extinction of Israel, and the cancellation of all promises God made to the Jewish nation. These promises of blessing would now be fulfilled within the framework of the Church.

This view, which had been latent in Christendom, now flourished throughout the Byzantine world. From this point on, the theological legs were cut out from under Israel, and the predominant Christian theology was that there was no future for Israel. Replacement Theology has been the rule that has survived the Middle Ages, the Crusades and the Reformation in Church History. Only during the last Century or so has the Premillennial concept of the future of Israel come to the forefront in evangelical Christianity. Even so, it is a minority view.

Does Israel’s Future Demean the Church’s Glory?

Some suggest that if Israel has not ceased to exist in its covenant relationship to God, and if Israel still has a future in the divine plan, this somehow diminishes the position of the Church. Is such a concern valid? It is almost as though the Church has been jealous of Israel, and afraid that if it recognized Israel’s future promises, it would somehow demean Christ and the Church. Nothing could be further from the truth.

It is when the Church recognizes Israel that the true distinctiveness and glory of the Body of Christ becomes evident. This called-out body, composed of believing Jews and Gentiles during the Church Age, is the highest entity the Lord has created, superior to the universe, all the Angels, the nations, and Israel. Our Head, our Husband, our Friend is the Son of God Himself. We shall reign with Him when He rules the earth, and our 12 Founding Apostles will rule over the 12 tribes of Israel. The Angels themselves will study us forever as the greatest exhibit of God’s grace, and we will actually judge the Angels. This is our destiny, and this writer, for one, would not trade his position in the Body of Christ with any creature in the universe! Why, then, be disturbed over what God has promised the Jewish people? Why be jealous over the future destiny of Israel? How short sighted of us! Indeed, the Church’s finest and most distinctive hour will be when Israel is restored nationally and spiritually to the Lord at the Second Coming of Christ. We will return from Heaven with Him as His glorious Bride to rule the world. What more could we ask? (Sadly, those who follow Replacement theology, would rather also reject the prophecies regarding the rapture of the church and the 1000 year reign, than accepting that God will honour His covenant to the Jews – Israel).

So, if we are not to suffer from spiritual myopia, we must recognize what the Lord is doing with Israel, not shrinking from it as though our own interests will be overshadowed. Rather, we rejoice in these developments, with full assurance that our own redemption draws ever closer.

(Main Source: https://www.levitt.com/essays/israel-church )

AGENDA 2030 – DEVELOPMENT OF THE NWO

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AGENDA 2030

SUBSEQUENT TO UN AGENDA 2030: AGENDA 21

The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization that was set up by the winners of World War II to maintain global peace and security, foster friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and coordinate harmonic interactions between nations. The UN’s primary goal was to prevent future wars.

Since its debut and in spite of its founders’ best intentions, the UN has become nothing short of a dictatorial body of New World Order totalitarian globalists. This elite consortium wants to micro-manage every human’s daily affairs and has enacted international pacts to get their way.

For decades, the UN has been pushing a concept they continue to promote which they call “sustainable development.” It is the driving force behind everything else on Agenda 21 which, for the first time in international politics: “recognized each nation’s right to pursue social and economic progress and assigned to States the responsibility of adopting a model of sustainable development.”

Agenda 21 was signed and supported by more than 178 governments at the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from June 3-14, 1992. The “21” in Agenda 21 refers to the 21st century.

Critics regard Agenda 21 as the action plan implemented worldwide to inventory and control all land, all water, all minerals, all plants, all animals, all construction, all means of production, all energy, all education, all information, and all human beings in the world.

UN Agenda 21, in short:

  • Calls for governments to take control of all land use and not leave any of the decision making in the hands of private property owners;
  • Assumes that people are not good stewards of their land and the government will do a better job if they are in control;
  • Individual rights, in general, are to give way to the needs of communities as determined by the governing body;
  • People should be rounded up off the land and packed into human settlements, or islands of human habitation, close to employment centers and transportation.

Before Agenda 21 came the United Nation’s Millennium Declaration, “signed in September 2000 (and) commits world leaders to combat poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, and discrimination against women. The MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) are derived from this Declaration, and all have specific targets and indicators.”

The notion underlying sustainable development is that humankind is already damned by and guilty of irrecoverable socioeconomic and climate conditions – which is itself debatable – and that there are too many people living on earth for the resources available to them in their specific localities.

Therefore, according to this thinking, large populations of impoverished, third-world citizens must be moved to first- and second-world countries to equal opportunity for everyone. This will solve global poverty, say the UN pundits.

In fact, the recent migrant influx into European Union countries has paid off in rising crime and an unwillingness to integrate into the host communities and culture. Yet, the UN sustainability goals are still the driving force behind much of the international policy-making.

 

AGENDA 2030

The United Nations 2030 Agenda is a blueprint for the global enslavement of humanity under the boot of corporate masters. The UN trotted out its latest Agenda 2030, also known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) for approval during the UN Sustainable Development Summit in 2015. Agenda 2030 is a continuation and further refinement of the eight “Millennium Development Goals,” (MDGs) adopted in 2000, as well as the goals specified in Agenda 21, approved in 2012 with its outcome document called “The Future We Want.”

Since 1 January 2016, the 17 “Sustainable Development Goals Post-2015” (SDGs) of UN Agenda 2030 have been in force. These goals cover seven broad categories that govern pretty much everyone and everything on earth:

  • Water and sanitation
  • Water resources
  • Transboundary integrated management (river borders)
  • Energy
  • Climate change
  • Sustainable consumption and production – lifestyles
  • Deforestation

Tom DeWeese, president of the American Policy Center, called Agenda 21 “a new kind of tyranny that, if not stopped, will surely lead us to a new Dark Ages of pain and misery yet unknown to mankind.”

Many critics believe that Agenda 2030 is leading the world toward a New World Order with a One World Government hell-bent on steam-rolling individual nations’ rights for the “common good” and “sustainability.”

Furthermore, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals may be “actively dangerous” and “a missed opportunity” because they “lock the global development agenda around a failing economic model.”

The document describes nothing less than a global government takeover of every nation across the planet. The “goals” of this document are nothing more than code words for a corporate-government fascist agenda that will imprison humanity in a devastating cycle of poverty while enriching the world’s most powerful globalist corporations. To interpret this document, you need to understand how globalists disguise their monopolistic agendas in “feel good” language.

Notice carefully that nowhere does this document state that “achieving human freedom” is one of its goals. Nor does it explain how these goals are to be achieved. As you’ll see here, every single point in this UN agenda is to be achieved through centralized government control and totalitarian mandates that resemble communism / socialism:

Goal 1) End poverty in all its forms everywhere

Translation: Put everyone on government welfare, food stamps, housing subsidies and handouts that make them obedient slaves to global government. Never allow people upward mobility to help themselves. Instead, teach mass victimization and obedience to a government that provides monthly “allowance” money for basic essentials like food and medicine. Label it “ending poverty.”

Goal 2) End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

Translation: Invade the entire planet with GMOs and Monsanto’s patented seeds while increasing the use of deadly herbicides under the false claim of “increased output” of food crops. Engineer genetically modified plants to boost specific vitamin chemicals while having no idea of the long-term consequences of genetic pollution or cross-species genetic experiments carried out openly in a fragile ecosystem.

Goal 3) Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Translation: Mandate 100+ vaccines for all children and adults at gunpoint, threatening parents with arrest and imprisonment if they refuse to cooperate. Push heavy medication use on children and teens while rolling out “screening” programs. Call mass medication “prevention” programs and claim they improve the health of citizens.

Goal 4) Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

Translation: Push a false history and a dumbed-down education under “Common Core” education standards that produce obedient workers rather than independent thinkers. Never let people learn real history, or else they might realize they don’t want to repeat it.

Goal 5) Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Translation: Criminalize Christianity, marginalize heterosexuality, demonize males and promote the LGBT agenda everywhere. The real goal is never “equality” but rather the marginalization and shaming of anyone who expresses any male characteristics whatsoever. The ultimate goal is to feminize society, creating widespread acceptance of “gentle obedience” along with the self-weakening ideas of communal property and “sharing” everything. Because mainly male energy has the strength to rise up against oppression and fight for human rights, the suppression of male energy is key to keeping the population in a state of eternal acquiescence.

Goal 6) Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

Translation: Allow powerful corporations to seize control of the world’s water supplies and charge monopoly prices to “build new water delivery infrastructure” that “ensures availability.”

Goal 7) Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

Translation: Penalize coal, gas and oil while pushing doomed-to-fail “green” energy subsidies to brain-dead startups headed by friends of the politicians who all go bankrupt in five years or less. The green startups make for impressive speeches and media coverage, but because these companies are led by corrupt idiots rather than capable entrepreneurs, they always go broke. (And the media hopes you don’t remember all the fanfare surrounding their original launch.)

Goal 8) Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Translation: Regulate small business out of existence with government-mandated minimum wages that bankrupt entire sectors of the economy. Force employers to meet hiring quotas of LGBT workers while mandating wage tiers under a centrally planned work economy dictated by the government. Destroy free market economics and deny permits and licenses to those companies that don’t obey government dictates.

Goal 9) Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

Translation: Put nations into extreme debt with the World Bank, spending debt money to hire corrupt corporations to build large-scale infrastructure projects that trap developing nations in an endless spiral of debt. See the book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins to understand the details of how this scheme has been repeated countless times over the last several decades.

Goal 10) Reduce inequality within and among countries

Translation: Punish the rich, the entrepreneurs and the innovators, confiscating nearly all gains by those who choose to work and excel. Redistribute the confiscated wealth to the masses of non-working humans that feed off a productive economy while contributing nothing to it… all while screaming about “equality!”

Goal 11) Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Translation: Ban all gun ownership by private citizens, concentrating guns into the hands of obedient government enforcers who rule over an unarmed, enslaved class of impoverished workers. Criminalize living in most rural areas by instituting Hunger Games-style “protected areas” which the government will claim are owned by “the People” even though no people are allowed to live there. Force all humans into densely packed, tightly controlled cities where they are under 24/7 surveillance and subject to easy manipulation by government.

Goal 12) Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

Translation: Begin levying punitive taxes on the consumption of fossil fuels and electricity, forcing people to live under conditions of worsening standards of living that increasingly resemble Third World conditions. Use social influence campaigns in TV, movies and social media to shame people who use gasoline, water or electricity, establishing a social construct of ninnies and tattlers who rat out their neighbors in exchange for food credit rewards.

Goal 13) Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

Translation: Set energy consumption quotas on each human being and start punishing or even criminalizing “lifestyle decisions” that exceed energy usage limits set by governments. Institute total surveillance of individuals in order to track and calculate their energy consumption. Penalize private vehicle ownership and force the masses onto public transit, where TSA grunts and facial recognition cameras can monitor and record the movement of every person in society, like a scene ripped right out of Minority Report.

Goal 14) Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

Translation: Ban most ocean fishing, plunging the food supply into an extreme shortage and causing runaway food price inflation that puts even more people into economic desperation. Criminalize the operation of private fishing vessels and place all ocean fishing operations under the control of government central planning. Only allow favored corporations to conduct ocean fishing operations (and make this decision based entirely on which corporations give the most campaign contributions to corrupt lawmakers).

Goal 15) Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

Translation: Roll out Agenda 21 and force humans off the land and into controlled cities. Criminalize private land ownership, including ranches and agricultural tracts. Tightly control all agriculture through a corporate-corrupted government bureaucracy whose policies are determined almost entirely by the rich globalists and the large corporates. Ban woodstoves, rainwater collection and home gardening in order to criminalize self-reliance and force total dependence on government.

Goal 16) Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

Translation: Grant legal immunity to illegal aliens and “protected” minority groups, which will be free to engage in any illegal activity — including openly calling for the mass murder of police officers — because they are the new protected class in society. “Inclusive institutions” means granting favorable tax structures and government grants to corporations that hire LGBT workers or whatever groups are currently in favor with the central planners in government. Use the IRS and other federal agencies to selectively punish unfavorable groups with punitive audits and regulatory harassment, all while ignoring the criminal activities of favored corporations that are friends of the political elite.

Goal 17) Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

Translation: Enact global trade mandates that override national laws while granting unrestricted imperialism powers to companies like Monsanto, Dow Chemical, RJ Reynolds, Coca-Cola and Merck. Pass global trade pacts that bypass a nation’s lawmakers and override intellectual property laws to make sure the world’s most powerful corporations maintain total monopolies over drugs, seeds, chemicals and technology. Nullify national laws and demand total global obedience to trade agreements authored by powerful corporations and rubber-stamped by the UN.

TOTAL ENSLAVEMENT OF THE PLANET BY 2030

As the UN document says, “We commit ourselves to working tirelessly for the full implementation of this Agenda by 2030.”

If you read the full document and can read beyond the fluffery and public relations phrases, you’ll quickly realize that this UN agenda is going to be forced upon all the citizens of the world through the invocation of government coercion. Nowhere does this document state that the rights of the individual will be protected. Nor does it even acknowledge the existence of human rights granted to individuals by the Creator. Even the so-called “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” utterly denies individuals the right to self-defence, the right to medical choice and the right to parental control over their own children.

The UN is planning nothing less than a global government tyranny that enslaves all of humanity while calling the scheme “sustainable development” and “equality.”

(Source 1: https://patriots4trump2020.com/2019/08/un-agenda-2030-exposed/ )

(Source 2: https://globalpossibilities.org/the-united-nations-2030-agenda-decoded-its-a-blueprint-for-the-global-enslavement-of-humanity-under-the-boot-of-corporate-masters/ )

GAIA WORSHIP – A TOOL TO CREATE THE NEW WORLD ORDER

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CLIMATE CHANGE

Webster’s New World Dictionary defines Gaia as “earth personified as the Roman goddess, Tellus, the goddess of the earth”. The “Gaia Atlas of Future Worlds” by Dr. Norman Myers, “adviser to the UN, WB, US State Department, and Rockefeller Fund,” sets “forth the basic tenets of the Gaia religion.” Norman Myers calls for a “new humanism, a new world view, a new planetary concern” which requires “a UN ministry of religion.” The “Futurist Magazine” (September-October 1994) says: “Religions are now headed toward what may eventually form a United Religions Organization, structured in much the same way as the UN, and sharing the same goals.”

The UN has embraced a Commission on Religion to assist in uniting the world in their NWO. “The New American”, (April 3, 1998) quotes UN leaders’ ideas on how to introduce “One-World Worship for all.”

According to reports, the UN needs this paganism to justify their program of “sustainable development”: their way of controlling the world’s resources, depopulation, and enslaving us serfs. The plan is to force all nations into “Gaia Hypothesis”. This “holds that earth is itself the deity we should worship, and the UN is the instrument through which the earth goddess will dictate our forms of devotion.”

Lynn Townsend White Jr, an American historian from Princeton, wrote an influential essay in 1967, arguing that Christianity and Judeo-Christian values are responsible for ecological disaster and climate change. The essay was adapted by generations thereafter, almost like a document of faith.

In May 2018, the “Extinction Rebellion” movement was established in the United Kingdom, with about one hundred academics signing. In November 2018, five bridges across the River Thames in London were blockaded. In April 2019, Extinction Rebellion occupied five prominent sites in central London, including the area around Parliament Square. Extinction Rebellion wants to rally worldwide support around a common sense of urgency to tackle “climate breakdown.” The movement uses a circled hourglass, known as the extinction symbol, to serve as a warning that time is rapidly running out for many species.

Extinction Rebellion uses mass arrest as a tactic to try to achieve its goals. Co-founder Roger Hallam has said “letters, emailing, marches don’t work. You need about 400 people to go to prison. About two to three thousand people to be arrested.” Extinction Rebellion is an apocalyptic cult that wants to radically end everything around us, from our private cars to the burgers we eat and the plastic chairs in our yards. They also believe that “phasing out the human race by voluntarily ceasing to breed will allow Earth’s biosphere to return to good health. Crowded conditions and resource shortages will improve as we become less dense.” This is the spiritual core of modern-day environmentalism:  Humans are evil. Nature is good.

Meanwhile, the media is all in a state of nervous excitement about Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish prophetess of doom who came to New York to give the world a final warning:  Repent or face climate judgment. The Pope, for his part, has shown great willingness to entertain the angry gods of climate–having written an entire encyclical on the matter. On 15 November 2019 Pope Francis said that he is thinking about adding the “‘ecological sin’ against our common home” to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

The pope also recently had a meeting with Thailand’s supreme Buddhist patriarch Somdej Phra Maha Muneewong at Bangkok’s Ratchabophit Temple. The meeting took place in front of a 150-year-old gold statue of Buddha. The Pope followed Buddhist custom by removing his shoes. During the meeting, the Pope gave the Buddhist Patriarch the Declaration on Human Brotherhood.  The Declaration is a joint statement previously signed by Pope Francis of the Catholic Church and Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, in February 2019 in Abu Dhabi. This pope seems to be the ideal candidate for the role of the false prophet in the book of Revelation.

Environment-Ecology.com recently published an article called “GAIA WORSHIP – THE NEW PAGAN RELIGION,” in which they stated that Gaia is a revival of Paganism, that rejects Christianity, considers Christianity its biggest enemy, and views the Christian faith as its only obstacle to a global religion centered on Gaia worship and the uniting of all life forms around the goddess of “Mother Earth”. A cunning mixture of science, paganism, eastern mysticism, and feminism have made this pagan cult a growing threat to the Christian Church Here are some excepts from their article:

A document mandated by the U.N.-sponsored Convention on Biological Diversity, the Global Biodiversity Assessment, explicitly refers to Christianity as a faith that has set humans apart from nature and stripped nature of its sacred qualities. While condemning Christianity as the root of all ecological evil, the document goes on to praise Buddhism and Hinduism as they “did not depart as drastically from the perspective of humans as members of a community of beings including other living and non-living elements”.  Non-Christian religions are definitely favored by the global government as good stewards of Mother Earth.

Gaia is basically a rehashed, modernized version of the paganism, condemned by God in the Bible. The Gaia hypothesis can be credited to James Lovelock, who worked for NASA during the 1960’s as a consultant to the “life on Mars” Viking spacecraft project. According to Lovelock, all of the lifeforms on this planet are a part of Gaia – a part of one spirit goddess that sustains life on earth. His theory presents earth not as the rock that it is, but as a living being.  He named this being Gaia, after the Greek goddess that was once believed to have drawn the living world forth from Chaos. Gaia is eagerly accepted by the new age movement and fits neatly into eastern mysticism, but science was needed to gather in the evolutionists and science-minded humanists.

Lovelock introduces the Daisyworld model, a mathematical and scientific theory designed to refute the criticisms of Darwin’s groupies.  Just as evolution eliminates the need for a divine creator, the Daisyworld model provided a theory that eliminates a personal yet separate God, and makes humans a part of the divine spirit that is Gaia.

More appealing to the New Agers and the interfaith movement is the mystical side of Gaia.  They can easily relate to the belief that humans can have mystical experiences or a spiritual relationship with Gaia.  A connectedness to nature and the belief that humans are a part of this collective consciousness called Gaia appeals to them. Gaia teaches that an “Earth spirit”, goddess, or planetary brain must be protected.

Members of this “Green Religion” will all agree that the Earth is in a crisis state and this ecological emergency is the result of Christian traditions.  They believe that the Judeo Christian belief that God assigned man to rule over the earth has caused us to exploit and abuse it.  Monotheism, they assert, has separated humans from their ancient connection to the earth, and to reverse this trend governments, the media, our education system, artists, and other areas of influence must revive earth-centered myth and reconnect us to Earth’s spirit.

Romans 1:18-24 warns, “18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Our societies today are becoming a picture of this wickedness, evil, greed and depravity.  As the Christian church is brought into the fold by organizations such as the National Council of Churches and the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, we can be sure the results will be a further decline into immorality and chaos.  There is a drive by these organizations and others to meld Earth worship with Christianity in the name of tolerance, biodiversity, sustainability, and the preservation of Mother Earth.

(http://environment-ecology.com/)

Those who have been leading us to a world government understand that the beliefs of the people must be erased and replaced in order to exchange the old religions with one that will allow the world leaders to control the worshippers. There are hundreds of religions that have jumped into this pot of religious stew. Bible believing Christians have dwindled in number while many sects are joining the Babel of worshipping, not a god, but the goddess – Gaia, Mother Earth.

In order for Globalists to succeed in their quest for a world government they must accomplish several goals. They label them the 3 Es of Sustainable Development. These three Es are: economy, ecology, and equality. The first, economy, utilizes the redistribution of wealth and destruction of private property rights to annihilate the middle class; the second, ecology, is using the development of the Wildlands Project plus the fake fear of ecological disaster via Global Warming/Climate Change to take away property rights, thus also the liberty of individuals; and the third, equality, is supposed to make all people equal. Not with equal rights under the law, but equal in all other ways — income, status, and religion. In fact, they’d like to make everyone equal in intelligence if that were possible.

Individualism, loyalty to family traditions, national patriotism, and religious dogmas are holding back the New World Order. To achieve a religion that fits all people, one of the key strategies will be to dumb down enough of society so that people will be willing to have their values, attitudes, and beliefs transformed from free-thinking individualists and become useful idiots to the UN and a one world government. All of this is now being pushed in our schools and universities and many millennials now buy into socialism.

 

THE VERY BASICS OF END TIME PROPHECY – PART 7

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BASIC PROPHECY

  1. KEY ROLE PLAYERS IN THE TRIBULATION

THE EVIL TRINITY

In the evil trinity, Satan is a counterfeit Father (anti-Father), the Antichrist is a counterfeit Son (anti-Christ), and the false prophet is a counterfeit of the Holy Spirit (anti-Spirit). This is the infernal trinity.

SATAN

Scripture indicates that Satan will be the ultimate power behind the Antichrist. Satan (the dragon) gives his authority to the Beast (Revelation 13:2, 4). He himself will indwell, energize, and control the Antichrist. Likewise, the false prophet is described as speaking with the voice of a dragon, which is a picture of Satan (13:11). This indicates that the false prophet is a foul mouthpiece for Satan.

THE ANTICHRIST

One of the key topics in Daniel 7–12 is the person and work of the coming world ruler, the Antichrist. He is the dominant human character in these chapters.

Titles of the Antichrist

  • the little horn (Daniel 7:8)
  • a king, insolent and skilled in intrigue (Daniel 8:23)
  • the prince who is to come (Daniel 9:26)
  • the one who makes desolate (Daniel 9:27)
  • the king who does as he pleases (Daniel 11:36-45)
  • a foolish shepherd (Zechariah 11:15-17)
  • the man of destruction (2 Thessalonians 2:3)
  • the lawless one (2 Thessalonians 2:8)
  • the rider on the white horse (Revelation 6:2)
  • the beast out of the sea (Revelation 13:1-2)

It refers both to an individual and to the system he represents (1 John 2:18; 4:3). In John 5:43, Jesus says, “I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him.”  The one coming in his own name will be the world’s final false messiah, the Antichrist.

The Appearance of the Antichrist

The Antichrist will debut on the world stage at the beginning of the Tribulation after the Rapture.  We can only imagine the chaos and confusion that will grip the world after the Rapture and the desperate cry for someone to bring things under control.

According to 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7, the Antichrist can only be revealed when the Holy Spirit is removed at the Rapture. “He who now restrains” (NASB)

Although he will be active throughout the entire 70th week of Daniel, he will be at his worst when he rules the world for the final 3½ years before the return of Christ.

The Attributes of the Antichrist

Putting Daniel and Revelation13 and 17 together, we can develop a short character profile for this final world ruler.

  • He will be a gentile, not a Jew: the origin of the Antichrist is symbolized by the beast in Revelation 13:1: “Then I saw a beast rising up out of the sea.” The word sea when used symbolically in the book of Revelation and the rest of Scripture symbolizes the Gentile nations. This is confirmed in Revelation 17:15 where “the waters . . .represent masses of people of every nation and language.” Having a Jew as the last world ruler over Gentile power does not seem likely, as one of the primary activities of the Antichrist will be persecuting the Jewish people, invading Israel, and desecrating the rebuilt Jewish Temple (Daniel 7:25; 9:27; 11:41, 45; 2 Thessalonians 2:4; Revelation 11:2; 12:6; 13:7).
  • He will mesmerize the world with his words (Daniel 7:8, 11; 11:36; Revelation 13:5) Over and over again, biblical passages draw attention to his mouth speaking great words.
  • He will rise from obscurity as a great peacemaker (Daniel 9:27; Revelation 17:11-12) He won’t attract much attention when he first enters the political arena. Daniel 7:8 characterizes him as the “little” horn among the ten horns in a reunited Roman Empire. His platform will be peace and prosperity. He will weld together opposing forces with ease. He will bring such peace to the Middle East that the Temple Mount area in Jerusalem will be returned to Jewish sovereignty (Daniel 9:27).
  • He will establish a one-world economy (Daniel 11:43; Revelation 13:16-17) From the midpoint of the Tribulation until the second coming of Christ, no one will be able to buy or sell without the Antichrist’s permission (Revelation 13:16-17). People all over the world will be compelled to take his mark. His one-world economy will be run by his sidekick, the false prophet (Revelation 13:11-18).
  • He will rule the world (Revelation 6:2; 13:2) No one will be able to stand in the way of his conquest. “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?” (Revelation 13:4).
  • He will claim to be God (2 Thessalonians 2:4; Revelation 13:8) He will proclaim that he is God and require the world to worship him (2 Thessalonians 2:4; Revelation 13:8).

Summary of the Antichrist’s activities

  1. He will appear in “the time of the end” of Israel’s history (Daniel 8:17).
  2. His manifestation will signal the beginning of the Day of the Lord (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3).
  3. His manifestation is currently being hindered by the “restrainer” (2 Thessalonians 2:3-7).
  4. His rise to power will come through peace programs (Revelation 6:2). He will make a covenant of peace with Israel (Daniel 9:27). This event will signal the beginning of the seven-year Tribulation. He will later break that covenant at its midpoint.
  5. Near the middle of the Tribulation, the Antichrist will be assassinated or violently killed (Revelation 13:3, 12, 14).
  6. He will descend into the abyss (Revelation 17:8).
  7. He will be raised back to life (Revelation 11:7; 13:3, 12, 14; 17:8).
  8. The whole world will be amazed and will follow after him (Revelation 13:3).
  9. He will be totally controlled and energized by Satan (Revelation 13:2-5).
  10. He will assassinate three of the ten kings in the reunited Roman Empire (Daniel 7:24).
  11. The kings will give all authority to him (Revelation 17:12-13).
  12. He will invade the land of Israel and desecrate the rebuilt Temple (Daniel 9:27; 11:41; 12:11; Matthew 24:15; Revelation 11:2).
  13. He will mercilessly pursue and persecute the Jewish people (Daniel 7:21, 25; Revelation 12:6).
  14. He will set himself up in the Temple as God (2 Thessalonians 2:4).
  15. He will be worshiped as God for 3½ years (Revelation 13:4-8).
  16. His claim to deity will be accompanied by great signs and wonders (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).
  17. He will speak great blasphemies against God (Daniel 7:8; Revelation 13:6).
  18. He will rule the world politically, religiously, and economically for 3½ years (Revelation 13:4-8, 16-18).
  19. He will be promoted by a second beast who will lead the world in worship of him (Revelation 13:11-18).
  20. He will require all to receive his mark (666) to buy and sell (Revelation 13:16-18).
  21. He will establish his political and economic capital in Babylon (Revelation 17).
  22. He and the ten kings will destroy Babylon (Revelation 18:16).
  23. He will kill the two witnesses (Revelation 11:7).
  24. He will gather all the nations against Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:1-2; 14:1-3; Revelation 16:16; 19:19).
  25. He will fight against Christ when He returns to earth and suffer total defeat (Revelation 19:19-20).
  26. He will be cast alive into the lake of fire (Daniel 7:11; Revelation 19:20).

THE FALSE PROPHET

Revelation 13:11-18 introduces a second beast that comes up out of the earth. Also known as the “false prophet,” he will serve as the lieutenant for the Antichrist, preparing the way. Using stunning miracles, signs, and wonders, the false prophet will convince the world that the Antichrist is the leader they’ve been longing for.

He is called “the false prophet” three times in Revelation (16:13; 19:20; 20:10) and is also known as the second beast in Revelation 13:11-18. He is the final person in the unholy trinity of the end times (Revelation 16:13; 19:20–20:2;20:10). Just as the Holy Spirit gives glory to Christ and points men to Him, the false prophet will glorify the Antichrist and lead people to trust and worship him.

Whereas the Antichrist will primarily be a military and political figure, the false prophet will be a religious figure. He will be a kind of “satanic John the Baptist” preparing the way for the coming of the Antichrist.

Facts about the False Prophet

His deceptive appearance (Revelation 13:11) He is hostile to God’s flock and he ravages God’s people, but he looks gentle, tender, mild, and harmless. In this verse, he is described as “the lamb with two horns.” He has the voice of a dragon and when he speaks, he becomes Satan’s mouthpiece.

His devilish authority (Revelation 13:12) The second beast will have great authority delegated to him by the Antichrist. He will exercise “all the authority of the first beast” (Revelation 13:12).

His deadly activity (Revelation 13:13-18) He will seduce the world with his words and stun the it with his wonders.

He will bring down fire from heaven and perform other miracles (Revelation 13:13-14)

He will erect an image of the antichrist for all the world to worship (Revelation 13:14-15) This image, called the abomination of desolation, will be placed in the Temple in Jerusalem (Matthew 24:15).

He will raise the antichrist from the dead (Revelation 13:14) While this is not stated explicitly in the text, it is strongly implied. Revelation 13 mentions the death and resurrection of the Antichrist three times (verses 3, 12,14), and it is mentioned again in Revelation 17:8. Since the false prophet is a miracle worker who deceives the world, it is probable that Satan will use the false prophet as his human instrument to raise the Antichrist back to life.

He will give life to the image of the beast (Revelation 13:15)

He will control world commerce on behalf of the beast forcing everyone to take the mark of the beast (Revelation 13:16) The crowning achievement for the false prophet will be the global registration of all people. He will use a totally controlled economy to secure the rule of the first beast, the Antichrist. No one will be able to buy or sell without pledging allegiance to the Beast, receiving his mark, and submitting to the global registration system.

Revelation 13:16-17 sets forth the false prophet’s economic program. “He causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name” (NASB).

He will deceive the whole world (13:14) and kill all who refuse to worship the Antichrist (13:15)

GOD’S PEOPLE

THE 144,000

They are mentioned in Revelation 7:1-8 and discussed again in Revelation 14:1-5. Revelation 7 is an intermission before the seventh seal is opened. It’s like a flashback to the beginning of the ministry of the 144,000 and gives a panorama of their activity. Revelation 14:1-5 pictures the 144,000 at the end of the Tribulation.

Jews and Gentiles are clearly distinguished from one another in Revelation 7. The 144,000 Jews are listed in 7:1-8 while 7:9-17 presents an uncountable host of “every nation and tribe and people and language.”

If the Scriptures are interpreted literally, then the 144,000 are a literal group of 144,000 Jewish men —12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel—raised up by God during the Tribulation to serve Him. They are not spiritual Israel (the church), but actual Israel.

The 144,000 “had been purchased from the earth” (Revelation 14:3, NASB). The word purchased means to “redeem or pay the price for something.” The precious blood of Christ purchased these servants of God.

The 144,000 are prepared for God’s service by being given His seal on their foreheads (Revelation 7:3-4). On earth during the Tribulation, the followers of the Beast will bear his mark on their right hand or forehead (Revelation 13:16). During this same time, the Lord will identify His people by placing a seal of ownership on their foreheads (Revelation 14:1).

God seals the 144,000 before allowing the four angels to bring their judgment on the earth (Revelation 7:1-3). The 144,000 will be protected from the wrath of God and Satan during the Tribulation (Revelation 9:4).

These Jewish servants fearlessly proclaim the gospel of Christ during the Tribulation period and will fulfil Matthew 24:14: “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come”

In Revelation 14:1-5, John sees the 144,000 at the end of the Tribulation standing triumphantly on Mount Zion—the city of Jerusalem.

THE TWO WITNESSES

Revelation 11:3-14 describes their ministry. God will anoint these two special witnesses who will minister on His behalf amid the darkness and devastation. They are described as wearing sackcloth, just like John the Baptist. Sackcloth signifies mourning and repentance.

They perform miracles and they prophesy for God for 1,260 days (3½ years). They die, and their bodies lie in the street for 3½ days. They are raised back to life and ascend to heaven.

Revelation 11:4 offers further evidence that the two witnesses are real people. There they are called “the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of all the earth.” If we look at the prophecy of Zechariah we see, again, two witnesses: Joshua and Zerubbabel (Zechariah 4:1-14). God uses the lampstand and the olive trees as a picture of them. Just as Joshua and Zerubbabel ministered to restore Israel to her land and her Lord, so will the two witnesses.

Early Christians such as Tertullian, Irenaeus, and Hippolytus believed Enoch and Elijah will reappear during the Tribulation and will be the two witnesses. Others have held that Moses will be one of the two witnesses along with either Enoch or Elijah. Enoch never died. He was a prophet of judgment who announced the coming of the Lord in the days before the Flood (Jude 1:14-15). First, like Moses, the witnesses will turn the rivers to blood and bring other plagues on the earth (Revelation 11:6). Second, Moses and Elijah appeared with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration, which foreshadowed the glory of Christ at His second coming (Matthew 17:1-11). Elijah also never tasted physical death. Second, like Moses, he was present at the Transfiguration. Third, the Scriptures predict that Elijah will come before “the great and dreadful day of the LORD” (Malachi 4:5).

They will be end times prophets who will “prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days” (Revelation 11:3, NASB). They will warn the world that the end is near. When they bring plague after plague upon the earth, the Beast (the Antichrist) and his followers throughout the world will view these two witnesses as public enemies. But God will supernaturally protect them for 3½ years. They will be invincible (Revelation 11:5). However, when the two witnesses have finished their unprecedented 3½-year ministry, God will allow the Antichrist to kill them (Revelation 11:7). The entire world, led by the Antichrist, will celebrate the deaths of these witnesses (Revelation 11:9-10). This is the only mention of any kind of rejoicing or celebrating on earth during the entire Tribulation period Revelation 11:9. This statement could be looking into the future when people from all over the world can see events via television and satellite.

After the dead bodies of the two witnesses have lain swelling in the sun for 3½ days, the Lord will raise their bodies back to life from the street in Jerusalem before a horror-stricken world (Revelation 11:11-12).

The context in Revelation 11:2-3 indicates that the two witnesses will minister during the same forty-two month period—1,260 days, or 3½ years—that the Temple is being trampled by the nations and is dominated by the worship of the Antichrist. This corresponds to the latter half of the Tribulation, when the Antichrist will control Jerusalem. The blowing of the seventh trumpet—which announces the second coming of Christ at the end of the Tribulation—immediately follows the description of the two witnesses (Revelation 11:15-19).

THE TRIBULATION SAINTS

The church will be raptured before the tribulation, but the Bible also indicates that a great number of people will place their faith in Jesus Christ during the tribulation. The tribulation saints will hear the gospel from several possible sources. The first is the Bible; there will be many copies of the Bible left in the world, and when God’s judgments begin to fall, many people will likely react by finding a Bible to see if prophecies are being fulfilled. Many of the tribulation saints will also have heard the gospel from the two witnesses (Revelation 11:1–13). And then there are the 144,000 Jewish missionaries who are redeemed and sealed by God during the tribulation (Revelation 7:1–8). Immediately following the description of their sealing in Revelation 7, we read of the multitudes of tribulation saints who are saved from every corner of the world (verses 9–17).

In his vision of heaven, John sees a vast number of these tribulation saints who have been martyred by the Antichrist: “There before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands” (Revelation 7:9). When John asks who they are, he is told, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (verse 14).

It will be a time of great persecution for the believers—or saints—because of the Antichrist’s persecution (Revelation 13:7). Daniel saw the Antichrist “waging war against the saints and defeating them” (Daniel 7:21). Faithful to the end, many of these believers will die for their faith. But in their death, they overcome; “They overcame [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death” (Revelation 12:11).

THE JEWS

Since the tribulation will cover a period of seven years, as indicated in Daniel 9:27, much interest is focused upon Israel’s year-week cycle. The final year-week before the coming of the Messiah on the Mount of Olives, will be a time of testing and spiritual awakening for Israel. This nation is still spiritually blinded and faces a tough time of purification during the seven years of tribulation (Jer. 30:7; Dan. 9:27; Ezek. 22:19-21; Zech. 13:8-9). After this purification a remnant of Israel will enter the rest of the Messianic kingdom and enjoy all the promises of blessing and perfection.

DON’T QUARREL ABOUT PROPHECY (2 TIMOTHY 2:14-26)

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2 TIM 2

As pre-millennials, we believe that there will be a rapture, a seven-year tribulation period, and a literal 1000-year reign of Christ on earth. We are often viciously attacked by those who differ from us, especially by amillennial and preterists. Is it really worth entering into relentless debates with these people? We often see how they blindly ignore any Scripture we present, while they stubbornly cling to what their pastors and their church fathers taught them. 2 Timothy 2:14-16 provides helpful guidelines on how to deal with these situations.

“I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” (2 Tim 4:1-5)

Satan attempts to obliterate God’s truth with his own falsehood. He attempts to keep the fallen world in spiritual darkness and to confuse and discourage God’s people. The father of lies is working relentlessly to pervert and corrupt the truth of God’s written Word, the Bible, and of the living Word, His Son, Jesus Christ.

Many Protestant / Reformed denominations that usually champion God’s inerrant Word have turned to human philosophy and secular wisdom when Bible prophecy is involved. The effects of their unbiblical teachings have been devastating and damning, not only for the members of those churches, but also discourage those who cling to the blessed hope.

It was the threat of deception that caused the Holy Spirit to inspire Paul to write, “Examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thess. 5:21–22).

Paul warned that “the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1).

2 TIMOTHY 2:14-26

Although 2 Timothy 2:14-26 was not specifically written with prophecy in mind, we can learn much from it, on how to handle our differences in eschatological views, especially when we are attacked by those who reject or twist Bible prophecy.

“Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers.” (2 Tim 2:14)

Paul was not speaking about immature wrangling over secondary matters, disruptive as that can be. Logomacheō (wrangle about words) carries the idea of waging a war of words, in this instance with false teachers, who are later described as “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7). Such deceivers use human wisdom and reason to undermine God’s Word, and believers are not to debate with them, especially within the church.

Even from a human perspective, it is obvious that no debate can be carried on effectively when the two sides argue from completely opposite and contradictory presuppositions. To discuss interpretations of Scripture and doctrine with other believers who recognize the Bible as God’s inerrant and authoritative Word is important when it is done in a spirit of humility and civility and is an honest attempt to grasp the truth. But to argue doctrine with someone who disdains Scripture is both futile and foolish.

Satan does indeed know that most people, including many who are intelligent and well-educated, are more apt to be persuaded by popular jargon than by biblical argument or actual proof—despite what they may claim to the contrary. As Christians become less and less familiar with Scripture and sound doctrine on a first-hand, regular basis, they become easy prey for jargon that sounds Christian but strongly mitigates against God’s truth.

It also does harm to believers, by causing confusion, doubt, discouragement, and disobedience.

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.” (2 Tim 2:15)

The diligent believer gives maximum effort to impart God’s truth as completely, as clearly, and as unambiguously as possible. The purpose of that diligence is not to please others, and certainly not to please oneself, but to present yourself approved to God.

Anyone who ignores, misrepresents, misinterprets, or detracts from God’s truth by adding to it or taking away from it (Rev. 22:18–19) has reason to be ashamed as well as fearful. Whether consciously or not, those who corrupt and denigrate God’s truth are under God’s sovereign and certain judgment.

Handling accurately translates a participle of orthotomeō, which means literally to cut straight. Every aspect of God’s truth is to be handled accurately, as a sacred trust by those who teach it and by those who hear it.

“But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness,” (2 Tim 2:16)

Paul had also given Timothy such advice earlier, adding the warning to also avoid “the opposing arguments of what is falsely called ‘knowledge’” (1 Tim. 6:20). That sort of talk is time-wasting and confusing at best and spiritually harmful at worst, which obviously is what Paul has in mind here. Words of worldly human opinion are no more than evil chatter.

He is speaking of destructive heresy that perverts divine truth and will lead to further ungodliness. We live in perilous times and as many teachers avoid or twist end time prophecy, people continue to live their worldly lives, as in the days of Noah and Lot, fully unaware of immanency of Christ’s return.

No one is exempt from the corruptive influence of falsehood. False teaching provides no strength for doing what is right and God-honoring. Avoid entering into worldly and empty arguments with those who do not seek the truths of prophecy, but blindly follow the teachings of their amillennial and preterist pastors and church fathers.

“and their talk will spread like gangrene.” (2 Tim 2:17a)

Because the book of Revelation is categorized as apocalyptic literature and contains numerous symbols, it undergoes a great deal of abuse due to allegorical interpretation. Allegorizing is searching for a so-called “hidden or secret meaning” underlying but remote from and unrelated in reality to the more obvious meaning of a text. They are, at best, the wild guesses of men. Sadly, the majority of Protestants / Reformers bought into this form of twisting holy Scripture.

Amillennialism was only systematized by St. Augustine in the 4th century, and this systematization carried amillennialism over as the dominant eschatology of the Medieval and Reformation periods. Augustine was originally a premillennialist, but he retracted that view, claiming the doctrine was carnal. Amillennialism has been widely held in the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches as well as in the Roman Catholic Church, which generally embraces an Augustinian eschatology. Today, the majority of Reformers are also following the amillennial position.

A prominent preterist exposition of prophecy was written by the Jesuit Luis de Alcasar during the Counter Reformation. Moses Stuart noted that Alcasar’s preterist interpretation was of considerable benefit to the Roman Catholic Church during its arguments with Protestants, and preterism has been described in modern eschatological commentary as a Catholic defense against the Protestant Historicist view. Today we also see more and more Protestants accepting this false teaching.

“Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and thus they upset the faith of some.” (2 Tim 2:17b–18)

To deny or distort the truth about the resurrection is to deny and distort the heart of the gospel. It is therefore a tragic and damnable thing to teach falsehood about that doctrine. Not only does it blaspheme God and denigrate His Word but inevitably it will upset the faith of some.

Isn’t it almost ironic and interesting that full preterists believe that the destruction of Jerusalem fulfilled all eschatological or “end times” events, including the resurrection of the dead and Jesus’ Second Coming?

In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 Paul also had to comfort the Thessalonians by telling them that the second coming had not yet taken place. “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.”

We see almost daily how amillennials and preterists harshly attack those of us who believe in the rapture and the millennial reign of Christ, trying to steal our blessed hope.

“Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord abstain from wickedness.” (2 Tim 2:19)

Those who are God’s spiritual children and genuine disciples of Jesus Christ, are part of the firm foundation of God. In this context, the firm foundation of God seems most likely to refer to the church. The foundation of Christ’s church stands on the truth, “and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it” (Matt. 16:18). Truth on all matters in God’s Word, whether it is creation, salvation, the commandments, prophecy or whatever. Everything in the Bible was inspired by God, to whom it was important enough to include. Can man really say what is important and what is “secondary” (as so many use as an excuse not to treat prophecy with the necessary respect)?

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me,” Jesus assures us; “and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:27–28). “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6).

The seal is a sign of ownership, and God has placed His divine seal of ownership on the church. In the end times, those “who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads” will be tormented by the locusts (Rev. 9:4). It is also doubtless that God’s seal on their foreheads will protect believers from taking the mark of the beast (see Rev. 13:16).

“Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor.” (2 Thes 2:20)

The large house again represents the entire church of God, the body of Christ, composed of all true believers, the vessels in which represent individual believers—the honorable gold and silver vessels and the dishonorable vessels of wood and of earthenware.

Here, honor and dishonor do not refer to true and false Christians, respectively. Nor is he speaking here of the God-given differences among believers. The honourable vessels represent believers who are faithful and useful to the Lord. By contrast, the dishonourable vessels are only for the most menial, undistinguished purposes. Honour and dishonour therefore refer to the ways in which genuine believers are found useful to the Lord in fulfilling the work to which He has called them. In this sense, all believers should be, but are not always, vessels of honour.

With regards to Bible prophecy, sadly the majority of believers either ignore or allegorize 27% of God’s Word. How many in today’s church are unprepared for the imminent return of Christ? How many are represented by the five unwise virgins in Matthew 25:1-3? Dishonorable vessels of wood and of earthenware , as their preachers neglect to warn them.

“Therefore, if a man cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.” (2 Tim 2:21)

These things refer to the vessels of dishonour mentioned in the previous verse, from which a man who is faithful cleanses himself. The vessels of dishonour, from a prophecy perspective, are those who dishonour the prophecies by blindly ignoring it or who rather follow the teachings of men than the Word of God.  Paul’s exhortation is therefore for godly believers to separate themselves from the fellowship of these believers, especially if they attack truth and those who respect prophecy.

A doctrinally corrupt believer, especially a leader who is influential, is more dangerous than a pagan or atheist, because weak or careless brothers and sisters may be put under the impression that they are saved, while they are in fact not prepared for the imminent coming of Christ. (Many of them might find themselves becoming tribulation saints.)

Faithful service of the Lord requires separation from those who can contaminate you. God warned Jeremiah about associating with the wrong people, “If you extract the precious from the worthless, you will become My spokesman. They for their part may turn to you, but as for you, you must not turn to them” (Jer. 15:19).

We should not want to continuously associate with those who have a critical tongue, who do not tolerate truth, or whose respect for God’s Word is shallow and artificial. A vessel for honour cannot remain honourable and usable if it is continually contaminated by vessels of dishonour.

We should be useful to the Master, and be about our Father’s business. In these latter days, we should be watchful and warn others. Especially the leadership in the church should take note of Ezekiel 33:1-6. “Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, 3 when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, 4 then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will [a]save his life. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’”

“But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels.” (2 Tim 2:23)

Here, Paul forbids speculations, fruitless and unproductive debates that produce quarrels. Such speculations not only are worthless but are ungodly. They question Scripture, distort the truth, create doubt, weaken faith, undermine confidence in the Lord, often lead to compromise of convictions, and produce quarrels.

A vessel of honour to God must develop a discerning mind in these latter days. An unguarded mind, even of a believer, is subject to deceit, misunderstanding, and confusion. “If anyone advocates a different doctrine, and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain” (1 Tim. 6:3–5).

As we saw in 2 Tim. 2:14–17, Paul warns us “not to wrangle about words, which is useless, and leads to the ruin of the hearers” and to “avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene.”

The things we allow to enter our minds affect our thinking, our beliefs, our values, our motives, and our priorities. And the more willingly we allow them to enter, the more powerfully they affect us. The writer of Proverbs wisely observed that “a fool does not delight in understanding, but only in revealing his own mind,” and that “a fool’s lips bring strife, and his mouth calls for blows” (Prov. 18:2, 6).

From the early days of the church and continuing almost unabated to our own day, many believers have carelessly forsaken personal study of Scripture and have fallen prey to every sort of idea and practice their pastors and church fathers taught them. Not bothering to check what they read and hear against God’s own Word, they are corrupted by foolish and ignorant speculations regarding prophecy, which make them stumble and fall, often without knowing it.

“And the Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness” (2 Tim 2:24-25a)

This is a warning applicable to all of us. Most of us are guilty sometime or another, of immediately attacking those who have different views than us. As much as we are to speak boldly for the Lord without compromise, we are to do so with the attitude of meekness, gentleness, and humility. We are never to be harsh, abusive, overbearing, unkind, thoughtless, or pugnacious.

The godly man who is an honourable vessel must also be patient when wronged, which is perhaps the hardest qualification mentioned here. We are likely to become very offended when we ourselves are wronged. We need to accept that none of us can be 100% correct, all of the time.

“correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.” (2:25b—26)

The opposition may pertain to “foolish and ignorant speculations” (v. 23) or to the more serious matters of doctrine or morals they lead to. The faithful bond-servant of Christ is to be God’s instrument for correcting fellow believers, and to lead them to truth regarding prophecy.

God’s provision of genuine repentance and knowledge of His truth enable a believer to escape from the snare of the devil, after having been held captive by him to do his will. Our goal in sharing prophecy should be to lead people into truth, so that they may prepare and be found worthy  to escape God’s wrath to come.

THE VERY BASICS OF END TIME PROPHECY – PART 6

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BASIC PROPHECY

  1. THE GOG & MAGOG WAR

One of the most dramatic events of the end times is an invasion of Israel by a group of specifically mentioned nations. The prophet Ezekiel describes this invasion, known as the Battle of Gog and Magog (Ezekiel 38–39). Only the supernatural intervention of God will deliver Israel from total annihilation.

Events in our world today strikingly foreshadow the prophecy of the battle of Gog and Magog in Ezek 38–39. It will make the invasions of Israel in 1967 and 1973 by the Arab nations pale in comparison. When Russia assembles this last days strike force, it will look like Israel is finished. But God is in control of the entire situation. He will mount up in His fury to destroy these godless invaders. “It will come about on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel, declares the Lord God, that my fury will mount up in My anger. In my zeal and in My blazing wrath” (Ezek. 39:18-19a).

THE PURPOSE OF THE INVASION

First and foremost, the divine purpose in allowing this invasion is expressed in 38:14-16b. Through the attack God will be sanctified in the eyes of the nations.

The goal of the nations involved is twofold. First, the economies of all of these nations are crippled, especially Iran’s, due to strict sanctions imposed on it by the US. In the meantime, Israel’s economy is blooming and during recent years it has discovered massive oil and natural gas reserves. This most probably relates to the hook God said He would put in the mouth of Gog (Ezekiel 38:4). They will come to take spoil (some translations say “booty”).

Second, the invading Muslim horde will come to destroy the people of Israel and wipe them off the face of the earth (Ezekiel 38:10, 16).

TIMING OF THE INVASION

By far, the most controversial issue in Ezek 39–39 is the setting or timing of the invasion. We believe that the invasion will occur before the tribulation begins, and possibly even before or shortly after the rapture. It fits well with the seven years for burning the weapons and seven months to bury the dead in Ezek 39:9-12. Second, this view provides a reasonable explanation for how the Jewish people will be able to construct a temple on the temple mount in Jerusalem. If the armies of many of the major Islamic nations are decimated in Israel before the tribulation begins, the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem could be accomplished with much less Muslim resistance.

The invasion will occur at a time when Israel is “at rest,” “living securely,” and dwelling in “unwalled villages.” The Hebrew root batach which appears in Ezek 38:8 and 11 simply means “security.” Fruchtenbaum, an expert on Bible prophecy says, “This is not a security due to a state of peace, but a security due to confidence in their own strength. This, too, is a good description of Israel today. The Israeli army has fought four major wars since its founding and won them swiftly each time. Today Israel is secure, confident that her army can repel any invasion from the Arab states. Hence, Israel is dwelling securely.”

Some scholars however argue that the terminology in Ezek 38 fits much better with the first half of the seventieth week of Daniel when Israel will enjoy the protection of her covenant with Antichrist and will temporarily let down her guard (Dan 9:27). Most who hold this view place it closer to the midpoint of the tribulation.

THE ROLE PLAYERS

The prophecy of the battle of Gog and Magog begins with a list of ten proper names in 38:1-7. The name Gog, which occurs eleven times in Ezek 38–39, is a name or title of the leader of the invasion. Gog is an individual since he is directly addressed several times by God (38:14; 39:1) and since he is called a prince (38:2; 39:1).

The other nine proper names in Ezek 38:1-7 are specific geographical locations and they are all found in the Table of the Nations in Gen 10:2-7. The only one that is questionable is Rosh, but it is likely that the name Rosh is derived from the name Tiras in Gen 10:2, since all the other nations in Ezek 38:1-7 are also listed there. It is these specific geographical areas that will be involved.

Gog – the leader of the invasion.

Magog – Modern prophecy teachers often identify Rosh with Russia. Magog today probably represents the former underbelly of the Soviet Union: Kazakhstan, Kirghizia, Uzebekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan. Afghanistan could also be part of this territory. All of these nations are dominated by Islam.

Rosh – Bible scholars often identifies Rosh with Russia.

Meshech and Tubal – Meshech and Tubal are normally mentioned together in Scripture. The ancient locations are in modern Turkey.

Persia – The ancient land of Persia became the modern nation of Iran in March 1935, and then the name was changed to the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979.

Ethiopia (Cush) – Modern versions often translate the Hebrew word Cush in Ezekiel 38:5 as “Ethiopia.” Modern Sudan inhabits the ancient land of Cush today. Sudan is a hard-line Islamic nation in Northern Africa.

Libya (Put) – Modern Libya, is another Islamic nation in Northern Africa and has been under the rule of Colonel Mu‘ammar al-Gadhafi since 1969. This geographical area could possibly also include nations farther west, such as modern Algeria and Tunisia.

Gomer – Gomer has often been identified as Germany, or more particularly East Germany before the fall of communism. It does however seem more likely that this territory relates to modern Turkey.

Beth-togarmah – This territory also relates to modern Turkey, north of Israel.

Therefore, Russia will have at least five key allies: Turkey, Iran, Libya,Sudan, and the nations of Central Asia. Amazingly, all of these are Muslim nations, with Iran being Israel’s most ardent opponent. There’s no specific mention of Israel’s neighbours such as Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, or Iraq (ancient Babylon) in this prophecy.

THE END OF THE INVASION

No nation on earth will assist Israel. Ezek 38:13 mentions that “Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof” will question Gog and his allies but they will not physically intervene. These countries probably relate to modern Saudi-Arabia and the US and UK.

God Himself will intervene to rescue his helpless people and will use four means to destroy Russia and her allies. The four means of destruction are listed in Ezek 38:19-22: 1) A great earthquake (Ezekiel 38:19-20). 2) Infighting among the troops (Ezekiel 38:21). In the chaos after the powerful earthquake, the armies from each of the nations will turn against each other. 3) Disease (Ezekiel 38:22). 4) Torrential rain, hailstones, fire, and burning sulfur (Ezekiel 38:22).

THE AFTERMATH

Four key events that occur in the aftermath of this invasion.

  1. The Birds and the Beasts (Ezek. 39:4-5,17-20; cf. Rev. 19:17-18): The carnage that results from this slaughter will provide a great feast for the birds of the air and the beasts of the field. God refers to the carnage as “My sacrifice” and “My table” to which He invites the birds and the beasts as His guests.
  2. The Burying of the Dead for 7 Months (Ezek. 39:11-12, 14-16): Clean-up squads will be assembled to go through the land. They will set up markers wherever they see a human bone. When the gravediggers come behind them they will see the markers and take the remains to the Valley of Gog’s Hordes for burial. The cleansing will be so extensive that a town will be established in the valley at the gravesites to aid those who are cleansing the land. The name of the town will be Hamonah (horde).
  3. The Burning of the Weapons for 7 Years (Ezek. 39:9-10)
  4. The Blessing of Salvation (39:22): In the midst of His wrath and fury, God will also pour out His grace and mercy. God will use the awesome display of His power against Russia and her allies to bring many to salvation of both Jews and Gentiles. Many of those who turn to the true God as a result of this demonstration of His power will undoubtedly be among the vast group of the redeemed in Rev 7:9-14.

The seven-year peace treaty mentioned by Daniel will most probably be signed shortly after the Gog and Magog invasion. It will provide a false guarantee of protection for the people of Israel. Something significant must happen to launch the Antichrist to world power. The decimation of the Gog coalition would leave a massive power vacuum and provide a plausible explanation for the Antichrist’s sudden rise, as he may attempt to take credit for the destruction of Gog’s army.