The “End Times” – 2
A Look into the Immediate Future
Dr. Roger G. Ford, Ph.D., P.E.
dr-ford.net
April 2018

Introduction

We started out last time asking the question, “Just what is meant by the ‘End Times’?” The end of what? Well, to be frank, the end of life as we know it. The end of what we are used to. The end of so-called “normal”. What is to come next?

First of all, why do we think there is a “next” at all? Primarily because we know there is a God, and He has made promises to those who believe that Jesus Christ gave Himself as a sacrifice to cover our sin, and we have accepted Him as Lord and Savior. One of the promises Jesus made to us is that we ALREADY HAVE eternal life with Him. But, what about unbelievers? What is their “next”? Daniel 12:2 tells us, “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.” That is Michael the Archangel telling Daniel of the End Times. And, Matthew 25:46 tells us of Jesus after His Second Coming, separating the sheep from the goats (or separating the survivors of the Tribulation into believers and unbelievers). He tells the goats or unbelievers, “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous (the sheep) into eternal life.”

That eternal life for those still sinful human survivors of the Tribulation starts with Christ’s Millennial Kingdom, you know, the “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done” – that Kingdom. It lasts a thousand years, a millennium, with Jesus reigning, in person, in Jerusalem with those raptured (that’s us) reigning with Jesus. This Millennial reign of Christ is a certain time period, an era in future history, that Jesus’ actions or lack thereof answer questions that we, as sinful humans, ask God to try to justify our sinful natures.

Dispensationalism

The term “dispensations” is used to refer to the eras or time periods of history that God has answered all the questions we have of God to try to get out of trouble because of sin or to try to convince God that “if only” such and such were true, then we could make it without Him. And, “dispensations” are biblical! Hebrews 1:1-2 says, “In many separate revelations (dispensations) – each of which set forth a portion of the truth – and in different ways God spoke of old to our forefathers in and by the prophets. But in the last of these days He has spoken to us in the person of a Son…” The Greek word “oikonomia” (“dispensation”) signifies a disposition of affairs or an outcome of a question.

The total number of these “dispensations” is sometimes in dispute, but just about everyone can agree that there are at least three – Old Testament times, New Testament times, and future times. But, I believe that there are seven dispensations of varying length starting with the Garden of Eden and ending with Millennial Kingdom. There was nothing before the Garden since that is where the life of mankind began with the creation of Adam and Eve. And, there will be a New Heaven and a New Earth after the Millennial Kingdom that lasts a thousand years still in our future. Each successive dispensation or era was and is God’s answer to man’s proposal for existence without God. Each time, God shows decidedly that we always need God, we will never be self-reliant and attain perfection, we can never “make it” on our own.

Quickly, the seven dispensations and their related questions of God are: (1) Innocence in the Garden; question, “You can trust us, can’t You, God?”; (2) Conscience from Cain to Noah; question, “We know now that we are sinners, God, and You hate sin, so, You can trust us now, can’t You?”; (3) Human Government from Noah to the Tower of Babel; question, “If we have a commanding leader like Nimrod, we will be OK, right?”; (4) Promise from Abraham to Moses; question, “If You bless us and lead us in a visible way, we can make it, right?”; (5) Law from Moses to the Resurrection; question, “Now that we know exactly what sin is in Your Eyes, we will make it, right?”; (6) Grace from the Resurrection to the Rapture; question, “Our sins are forgiven, so we can make it on our own, right?”; and (7) The Millennial Kingdom; question, “When we can actually see and hear You, Jesus, we will make it, right?”. All these time periods deal with man’s excuses of how WE would deal with the problem of sin by doing what WE want, not what God wants.

Clearly, that answer to all of the questions in all of the dispensations is a resounding “NO”! We always need God, we can never “make it” on our own. For those of us that have accepted Jesus Christ, our next “dispensation” will be WITH Christ for eternity starting with the Millennial Kingdom as co-heirs and co-regents with Christ. But, the next “dispensation” for those not knowing Christ at the Rapture is, very unfortunately, the Tribulation which, technically, is a continuation of the dispensation of the Law – the Time of Jacob’s Trouble.

What is the Tribulation? When does it start? Is it immediately after the Rapture? Is the Tribulation for any specific purpose? How long does it last? How bad will it get? Who is this Antichrist anyway? Why does God even need a time of Tribulation? And many, many other questions can be asked about this very near time of immense destruction and judgment. But first, we need to dig into the Bible to see that the End Times have been foretold from the earliest of the books in the Old Testament in the form of prophecy or foretelling of events to come.

Old Testament End Times Prophecies

The Bible, when written was close to a third prophecy. Many of those prophecies dealt with Israel, many with Jesus’ First Advent or First Coming, and many with Jesus’ Second Advent or Second Coming. The prophecies of Jesus’ First Coming have already come to pass with over 300 prophecies fulfilled exactly. The probability of only 8 of those 300 coming true, fulfilled in just one God/man, Jesus Christ, has been calculated to be one chance in ten to the seventeenth power or equivalent to covering Texas with two feet of silver dollars, putting a red “X” on just one of them, mixing them all up and re-spreading them across the entire state, and having one person pick just one silver dollar and it being the one with the red “X”. In other words, impossible. And, that is only 8 out of 300 proving without question that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God! Therefore, Jesus fulfilled all prophecies concerning the First Coming of God to the Earth in the form of a sinless man so that He could die for the sins of everyone and defeat death by resurrecting from the dead. This also should show everyone that the prophecies concerning His Second Coming will also be fulfilled, each and every one.

Many of the prophecies concerning Israel are End Times prophecies. In fact, the determination of the actual start of the End Times relies on Israel being restored to their land which happened exactly 70 years ago in 1948. More on that later. The prophecies concerning the Second Coming of Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords are on the doorstep of being fulfilled as we will see as we progress.

Many of the Old Testament prophecies have a partial fulfillment in the past with a complete fulfillment in the End Times, our immediate future. These types of prophecies are sometimes called “dual mountain” prophecies where we look to the future initially and cannot see the second large mountain because it is obscured by the closer, smaller mountain. This is exemplified by, as one of many occurrences, Isaiah 30:19 says, “For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; You shall weep no more.” This refers to the Jews being exiled from Jerusalem in their near future by the Babylonians (606, 597, and 586 B.C.) and then returning 70 years later in 536 B.C. at the decree of Cyrus, king of the Medo-Persian Empire. But, this also refers to the future, today, when the Jews “returned” to their land, Israel, in 1948 and/or captured their capitol city, Jerusalem, in 1967 as a sign of the End Times being about to take place. Any of these dual prophecies can have spiritual applications at any time for all believers before their complete fulfillment at the end of the age.

We must begin the Old Testament prophecies of the End Times with Genesis 3:15, or the “Protoevangelium” which means literally “first gospel”. “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” The capitalization is not by accident. Seed, He, and His all refer to Jesus Christ, Jesus being the Seed of Mary since God is Jesus’ Father, and no woman has “seed” – that comes from man. Therefore, Jesus was born of a virgin who knew no man prior to Jesus’ birth making the prophecy of the Savior “born of a virgin” (Isaiah 7:14). The reference to “you shall bruise His heel” is fulfilled when Jesus died on the cross and Satan and his fallen angels rejoiced greatly for three days. Of course, when Jesus rose from the dead on the third day, the evidence that Satan only “bruised” Jesus was evident. “He shall bruise your head” is a mortal wound. The power of Satan is crushed by the cross of Christ. At the cross, Jesus dealt Satan a fatal blow. There, He paid for the penalty of sin fully.

There are many Old Testament prophecies that relate to the End Times. We will not be able to cover them all in this venue, but we will cover a significant number of them this night and the next meeting. We start with the Pentateuch, Moses’ first five books in the Old Testament.

Specific Old Testament End Times Prophecies

Leviticus 26:14-45 contains the promises of blessings on Israel’s obedience and warnings for her disobedience. A seven-fold judgment on Israel’s rebellion is promised by God in order to “break the pride of her power”. This judgment will come to fullness in the End Times, the Tribulation, so that Israel will confess her iniquity and a remnant will be saved because God never goes back on a promise that lasts forever, in this case the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:1-3, 13:15). The Jews will have their land in its entirety in the Millennium ruled by Jesus, their Messiah, in person.

Numbers 23 and 24 contain four prophetic oracles from Balaam to Balak, the king of Moab. Some of these prophecies were fulfilled by King David, but the fullness of them does not occur until the end of the Tribulation when Jesus returns as “A star shall come out of Jacob; a scepter shall rise out of Israel” to crush Israel’s enemies (Who the Jews were looking for at Christ’s First Coming).

Deuteronomy 32 contains the Song of Moses sung after the Israelites crossed the Red Sea. A song modeled after the Song of Moses will be sung, according to Revelation 15:2-4, in Heaven by martyred saints just prior to the beginning of the terrible bowl judgments of God that occur very near the end of the Tribulation. Israel will be delivered from ALL her enemies and Israel will join in with Gentiles in rejoicing. “For all nations shall come and worship before you, for Your judgments have been manifested” (Revelation 15:4).

There are a number of times that Israel’s destiny is described in the Psalms with the eventual result of Israel being reigned over by Jesus in the Millennial Kingdom. Here are but a few from the Psalms:

In Psalm 2, David prophesies the rage of the nations against Jesus, God’s Anointed, which will fully manifest in the battle of Armageddon. Psalm 14 prophesies about the fullness of sin and oppression of God’s people that occurs in a great falling away. Psalm 24 speaks of King Jesus making triumphal entry into Jerusalem after defeating the kings of the earth. Psalm 46 tells us of the ultimate victory over all nations and the forever reign of God.

Psalm 83 depicts the victory of Israel over her close-in enemies (the modern areas of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, and down south toward Egypt) which will occur, probably, before the start of the Tribulation but after the Rapture – an “In-Between” war. This war happens to set up the larger war of Ezekiel 38 and 39 which we will discuss a little later. Prophecy tells us that the Antichrist comes to power over the entire earth. The fifth empire of Nebuchadnezzar’s huge statue was represented as the feet of mixed iron and clay signifying fragile strength. These feet are attached to the legs of the fourth kingdom or the Roman Empire, so this fifth kingdom is called by the unbiblical name, the Revived Roman Empire. Today, it seems that the European Union will someday rise in power and assume that fifth empire of Daniel. But, until that day happens, and the Antichrist becomes world leader of a globalist utopia, Islam stands in the way. Psalm 83 shows us how God gives peace to Israel for a short time by removing the close-in Islamic threat, and how God reveals to the nations that He is in control. Unfortunately, not everyone will believe it quite yet. Much more will come to convince even the skeptical!

Today, no one man regardless of his power could overcome the two billion people who call themselves Muslim. The radical Muslims would fight to the death, and, considering the 16-year war in Afghanistan we have been fighting, it would take an Antichrist quite some time to rid the world of radical Muslims. The majority of Muslims are not radical, but they still believe in the supremacy of their religion and would not give their allegiance to a Gentile leader like the Antichrist. Something must happen and happen quickly to remove the Muslims from the world stage. The first step of that removal is the Psalm 83 war in which Israel and Israel’s God defeat the afore-mentioned close-in enemies of Israel and they are removed as any kind of threat. It is then that Israel can say that they will “dwell safely” (Ezekiel 38). This war probably happens immediately after the Rapture.

Psalm 96 shows that Jesus at His Second Coming is coming as Judge to judge the whole earth. Psalm 110 describes Jesus’ reign in the Millennium and His End Time judgment of the nations. There are others in the Psalms, so, when you read them, be aware of predictions of Israel’s future!

The Bible divides the prophets into two categories: major prophets and minor prophets. The only reason for this is that the major prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel) wrote books of greater length than the minor prophets (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi). There is nothing “minor” about what these prophets had to tell us. In fact, some of the “minor” prophets speak stronger words than the “major” ones do (Zechariah 14:12, “…their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths.”)

Each of the Major prophets has a lot to say concerning the End Times. Isaiah uses the “dual Mountain” prophetic method often to show an early fulfillment of prophecy to the Jews (Isaiah wrote in about 730 B.C. over a hundred years before the Jews were sent into exile), the exile of the Jews to Babylon (606, 597, 586 B.C.), and their release 70 years later to go back to Jerusalem (536 B.C.), and a late fulfillment of the Jews going through the Tribulation ending in the Millennial Kingdom. Here are a few of Isaiah’s prophecies concerning the End Times:

Isaiah 2 is all about the Millennial reign of Jesus. Isaiah 4 calls Jesus “The Branch”, which Jeremiah uses in Jeremiah 23, Who rules over the Millennial Kingdom. Isaiah 11 tells of the peace in the Millennium when ruled over by the Branch or Jesus. This is also where “the wolf shall dwell with the lamb…and a little child will lead them”. The Lord will gather His people (The Jews) from the four corners of the earth and all the nations will be subdued before them. Isaiah 13 covers the fall of Babylon which fell to the Medo-Persians in the 6th century B.C., but also refers to the Day of the Lord when the Lord will bring His wrath upon the earth during the Tribulation. Isaiah 14 is the ultimate defeat of Satan and the Antichrist again in the Day of the Lord.

Isaiah 17 is a prophecy clearly relevant to today. The chapter is generally a prophecy against Syria and their capitol city Damascus. But, verse 1 says, “The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, and it will become a ruinous heap”. It goes on to say that the remnant of Syria will be the glory of Israel says the Lord of Hosts. These prophecies are not fulfilled today, but we all see how close they are to becoming reality. Assad of Syria is gassing his own people and Israel as well as the United States are certainly not going to let that stand. Plus, Assad is very close to Israel with Damascus being only a hundred miles from Jerusalem. Threats from Assad towards Israel as well as Assad’s barbaric actions using chemical weapons could very well lead to the very destruction of Damascus and, possibly, Israel gaining at least some of the land of Syria. The total fulfillment of this prophecy against Syria could occur in the “In-Between” time after the Rapture and before the Tribulation.
Isaiah 34 is about the Day of the Lord when He will judge the nations with the result of that judgment violently portrayed. Isaiah 40 is obviously prophetic because “all flesh” has not seen the Glory of the Lord which only happens at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Isaiah 44 promises that the Spirit of the Lord will be poured out on Israel and that Israel is NOT forgotten. Isaiah 60 shows God’s blessings on Israel in the Millennial Kingdom as many nations bring wealth to her. Isaiah 65 promises the New Heaven and the New Earth after the Millennium created anew with great rejoicing, no crying, no more danger. Isaiah 66 is a prophecy of Israel being re-born as a nation in one day (May 14, 1948), the judgment of the nations, and the vindication of Israel.

Isaiah prophesied at the end of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and Jeremiah prophesied at the end of the Kingdom of Judah about a hundred years later. Jeremiah 30 tells of The Lord’s restoration of both Israel and Judah to their Promised Land which happened beginning in 1948. But, this chapter goes on to predict the time of Jacob’s Trouble (30:7) which is the Tribulation which will result in God’s punishment on Israel, but not total destruction (30:11). The final condition of God’s people is their complete restoration in the Millennial Kingdom. Jeremiah 33 describes the fullness of God’s promises to Israel and Judah, honored above ALL nations, in the Millennium. Jeremiah 50 and 51 first foretells the destruction of ancient Babylon at the hands of the Medo-Persians in 539 B.C. But, the future judgment of Babylon described in Jeremiah 51 is also the future judgment of the kingdom of the Antichrist from Revelation is found in Revelation 18.

We finish off tonight with Ezekiel, a Levite, who was captured in 597 by Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar as a young man. He joined Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael as exiles in Babylon and probably lived out his life in Babylon. Ezekiel prophesies about Israel in the latter days, some of which we are seeing come to pass in our lifetimes, and some that are yet to happen although their fulfillment is imminent. Ezekiel 11 prophecies that God will restore all of Israel to their God-given land, put a new spirit in them, and cause them to be obedient to the Lord. This another of the “dual mountain” prophecies since this one was fulfilled after the Babylonian captivity in 536 B.C. but also in 1948, and fully in the Millennium.

Ezekiel 37 is the famous “Dry Bones” chapter where the valley of the dry bones is suddenly infused with life by God, the Jews are raised from obscurity as a nation once again in 1948, and Israel will be fully restored and blessed at the Second Coming of Jesus Who reigns from Jerusalem for a thousand years.

Probably two of the most exciting two chapters pertaining to the End Times are Ezekiel 38 and 39. What is described here is the second “In-Between” war occurring after the Rapture and before the start of the Tribulation. The first war of Psalm 83 was to remove the close-in enemies of Israel so that Israel can “dwell in peace” as a requisite for the Ezekiel 38 and 39 war. Ezekiel 38:11 speaks of Gog, the leader of Rosh or Russia says, “I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars or gates – to take plunder and to take booty…”. This means that the present conditions in Israel make the timing of the Ezekiel 38 and 39 war come after the Psalm 83 war.

Psalm 83 refers to a confederacy of nations that come against Israel. These nations are the biblical names of the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites(Central Jordan, Northwestern Arabia, and, perhaps, Palestinian tent cities), Moab and the Hagrites (Northern Jordan), Gebal (Syria), Ammon (Southern Jordan), Amalek (Eastern Egypt), Philistia (Gaza and Hamas), the inhabitants of Tyre (Sidon and Lebanon with Hezbollah backed by Iran), and Assyria (Iran and Russia controlled Iraq. The descendents of Lot settled in Northern Syria

Psalm 83 refers to a confederacy of nations that come against Israel. These nations are the biblical names of the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites(Central Jordan, Northwestern Arabia, and, perhaps, Palestinian tent cities), Moab and the Hagrites (Northern Jordan), Gebal (Syria), Ammon (Southern Jordan), Amalek (Eastern Egypt), Philistia (Gaza and Hamas), the inhabitants of Tyre (Sidon and Lebanon with Hezbollah backed by Iran), and Assyria (Iran and Russia controlled Iraq), and the descendants of Lot settled in northern Syria.

Why form this confederacy? Verse 4 says that “they have said, ‘Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” This is a direct confession that this confederacy of the nations listed want the land that Israel has, and that Israel disappear. Sort of throws the “Two-state solution” idea into the trash, doesn’t it? We are dealing with radical thinking enemies of Israel that want them all dead, not neighboring countries that want to co-exist! So, the Psalm 83 war eliminates this confederacy, and Israel then dwells safely, without walls because they are no longer needed to keep the radicals out, and ceases to need bars and gates since the close-in enemies are gone! The perfect set-up for Ezekiel 38 and 39.

There is an additional prophecy in Ezekiel 28:24 referring to Sidon which is essentially Lebanon along with Tyre, both part of the Psalm 83 confederacy. This verse adds confirmation of the result of the Psalm 83 war when it says, “And there shall no longer be a pricking brier or a painful thorn for the house of Israel from among all who are around them, who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord God.” This is in a direct prophecy against Sidon, but this particular verse points to all of Israel’s enemies being no longer a threat to them.

Ezekiel 38 then sets up the war that will eliminate five-sixths of the Muslims in the world that want Israel gone. (Ezekiel 39:2 KJV) These enemies of Israel are those that are far-off; first Russia (Leader Gog of the country Magog with Rosh (Siberia), Meshech or Moscow (Western Russia), and Tubal or Tobolsk (southern central Russia) which locates these people firmly in Russia today – they came from the sons of Japheth after the Flood of Noah in Genesis 10:2; then Persia (Iran); then Ethiopia (south of Egypt); then Libya (northern Afrika); Gomer (Eastern Europe); and last, Togarmah (Turkey). On a map, it is easy to see that this confederation of countries contains all of the distant countries that despise Israel, most of which are Muslim countries.

Notice that Saudi Arabia is not listed. Neither is Egypt. Today, these two countries are very friendly to the United States and with Israel due to their fear and anxiety over Iran and their nuclear weapon capabilities. Saudi Arabia is in negotiation with Israel and the U.S. currently to partner and somehow resolve the Iran problem. There is a prophecy in Jeremiah 49:34-39 concerning Elam and its scattering to the winds with great disaster still future. Elam is located on the Persian Gulf in southern Iran where their nuclear facilities are located. Perhaps the coalition of the U.S., Israel, and Saudi Arabia have something to do with that?

Back to Ezekiel 38, the pre-requisite for the invasion of Gog and his partners is Israel dwelling safely in the “latter days”. (Ezekiel 38:15-17) Then, God says that His fury and wrath accompanied by a great earthquake will come down on these invaders. They will turn against each other, not to Israel. Great hailstones, fire, and brimstone will rain down on them, the result of which will glorify God and will show to the rest of the nations that God Almighty has done this. Then Ezekiel 39 tells us that the weapons of this war will be burned by Israel for seven years. This fact firmly places this war in the “In-Between” time after the Rapture and before the start of the Tribulation because in the last half of the seven-year Tribulation, the Jews will have fled Jerusalem because of Satan’s possession of the Antichrist to be divinely protected by God for the last three and one-half years of the Tribulation, or the Great Tribulation, and they cannot burn those weapons of war because they are hiding from the Antichrist!

The end of Ezekiel 39 and the next nine chapters tell of the restoration of Israel to their promised land, the Millennium for them, and the building of the Millennial Temple from which Christ will reign in Jerusalem.

Conclusion

Old Testament prophecy, as we have seen, is very timely for us today since there are many prophecies that have been partially fulfilled in the past but remain to have their ultimate fulfillment in our immediate future. The plan of God to reconcile mankind to Him is coming to a close. But, as we are beginning to see, God’s desire to have as many Gentiles and Jews come to know and accept His Son as their Savior and Lord will have to be dramatically demonstrated through His Wrath on unbelieving humanity. We get into the global government that the Antichrist reigns over next time. Remember that we believers alive today are not subject to God’s Wrath because of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. We do see tribulation or stress or persecution in our lives even as Christians, but we will not see THE Tribulation because of the imminent and sudden Rapture, set to occur at any time. There is absolutely NOTHING that has to happen before the Rapture can happen, unlike so many of the coming prophecies concerning the End Times. Actually, the Rapture is the starting point of virtually ALL of the events of the End Times, even though we are experiencing what Jesus called “birth pains” or precursors and warnings of the very bad things to come to wake up God’s people, the Jews, and the rest of humanity to our loving but vengeful God.

Next, we will cover Daniel in detail as well as the very significant prophecies of the End Times found in many of the Minor Prophets at the end of the Old Testament. Then we will show all the New Testament End Times prophecies, relate all of them to what’s happening in the world today, and end with a timeline, a sequence, of End Time events. God Bless!