Sequence of Events to Come and Why –
New Testament References to the End Times
(Fourth in a Series of Seven titled “Are These Days the End Times?”)
Dr. Roger G. Ford, Ph.D., P.E.
Dr-ford.net
2019
Preliminary Discussion
We have stated before that the reading of God’s Word on a regular basis, a daily basis, in its entirety, is essential and mandatory to know God, to discern true meaning from God’s Word, and to understand Bible Prophecy. Listening to others teach and preach on or about God’s Word is useful, enlightening, and certainly recommended as long as care is taken to be sure that the Word being taught and preached by others is the accurate and trustworthy Word of God and not someone’s biased interpretation.
To be sure, we have all heard of those who say certain parts of the Bible are either old-fashioned, do not pertain to the “modern” world, are hard to understand, or contain errors in translation. Let me assure you that none of those things are correct even though translations differ and can lead us down a road that terminates in unbelief. God is God! Because that is true, He is outside time, space, and His Creation or us. God cannot lie, so His inspired Word, straight from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit through about 40 blessed writers over a time span of 2,000 years, is true and eternal just as He is.
Many make statements that they generally hear from others such as: (1) the Bible has errors in it due to misinterpretations or bad translations; (2) the Bible, especially the Old Testament, is not pertinent to our “modern” age; (3) God is different in the Old Testament than He appears to be in the New Testament; (4) the Bible, in general, is hard to understand and interpret; and, (5) Prophecy is vague and difficult to see how it affects Christians in this time of advanced communications, computer technology, artificial intelligence, and the internet. Let me be clear. All of these are incorrect, absurd, and dangerous. And the significant reason, and there is only one reason, for these fallacies is the simple fact that individual people do not read God’s Word for themselves! The danger lies in accepting these falsehoods as truth and miss out on the blessings that God has promised those that read His Word. Revelation 1:3 promises such a blessing when Revelation is read.
God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8), so He is the same God in both Testaments. Also, faith in God is the theme of both Testaments showing clearly that the times were different, the circumstances were different, but God is consistent, truthful, and trustworthy because He is God! When it comes to Bible Prophecy, the claim that Prophecy is difficult to understand is almost universal in modern Christianity. Not true! This false claim is, again, generally what people hear and just repeat. When and individual commits himself to reading God’s Word regularly, daily, the Spirit of God opens up the Word of God to our understanding. A.W. Tozer said, “We shall not seek to understand in order to believe, but to believe in order that we may understand.” Put another way, we should not seek proof that God is wise. The unbelieving mind would never be convinced regardless of the proof presented. But the believing heart, the worshipping heart, never needs proof.
The Christian Church today, in general, is ignoring the Old Testament, is ignoring Prophecy, has turned against Israel, is losing sight of the true nature of God, is reading less and less of God’s Word as individuals much less as churches, and is concentrating on prosperity when the Bible basically tells us that we will have difficulties and trials throughout our lives even after we become Christians. For these reasons and many others, we should be driven to learn more and more from God’s Word. We should let our reading of the Bible show us that proper interpretation of the Word is to let Scripture interpret Scripture and leave personal opinions out of consideration. All of God’s Word is relevant to our lives today, and the sooner we realize that, the sooner we will be in God’s Will and live more joyously in a world gone mad!
Introduction
When we look at Bible Prophecy, we tend to think that the Old Testament has prophecies pertaining to the time before Christ and the New Testament prophecies pertain to His Second Coming. Actually, that is a very unfortunate stance since the Old Testament has a multitude of prophecies yet to be fulfilled even in our day. Plus, many of the Old Testament prophecies are extremely detailed in their content which seem to be shouting at us from the headlines of today’s news sites. And, there are many prophecies in the New Testament that have as their basis prophecies from the Old Testament, the most prominent of which is Daniel’s third vision of the seventy weeks which was completely fulfilled in Old Testament times except for the 70th week which is the Tribulation and the Time of Jacob’s Trouble.
Scholars have concluded that one-third of the Bible was and is prophecy or a foretelling of events that did or will come to pass. The Bible is the only book in all the world that has dared to prophesy events that will occur hundreds or thousands of years in the future from the dates of their writing. The prophet Ezekiel was called to prophesy “of the times that are far off” (Ezek. 12:27).
Fulfilled prophecies of the Bible are proof beyond dispute of the Living God Who knows all things from the beginning to the end because He is outside of time, infinite, and transcendent. There are hundreds of prophecies in the Bible that have been fulfilled. Dr. Harold Willmington of Liberty University has listed 416 Bible prophecies that have been fulfilled in accordance with their projected time table. Every prophecy of the Bible that should have been fulfilled to this date has been fulfilled. To cite just one example, Moses prophesied that because of spiritual apostasy Israel would be scattered into all nations, not just Assyria or Babylon (Deuteronomy 28). Moses also prophesied that in the end of the age Israel would be regathered out of all nations (Deuteronomy 30). After Moses, prophet after prophet to Jesus Christ foretold the dispersion of Israel into all the world, and then their return. We know all of this to be true as we look at a thriving nation of Israel today revived after over 1800 years being totally abandoned.
We read in Genesis 10:25 that at the time of the building of the Tower of Babel, in the days of Peleg, God divided the land mass of the earth into continents and islands. The explanation for that would take a lot of time, but, suffice it to say, that the one-and-only Ice Age lasted at least a couple of hundred years after the Flood of Noah, then started melting thus filling the oceans and dividing the land masses into islands and continents and probably sinking cities on the seashore like Atlantis. According to Acts 17:24-27, God purposed to disperse mankind into islands and continents to establish nations. Nations grew into empires, but God said that empires would fall and be broken up again into separate nations until His own King of Kings would reign supreme. The prophetic course of empires and nations is given in the second chapter of Daniel from the image of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. What is important is that this sequence of empires stretches from ancient Babylon over 500 years B.C. all the way to today, some 2500 years later thus spanning much of the Old Testament and all of the New Testament!
- Babylon, the head of gold, would fall to Medo-Persia. Fulfilled, 538 B.C.
- Medo-Persia would fall to Greece. Fulfilled, 333 B.C.
- Greece would be divided into four empires: Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Asia. Fulfilled, 320 B.C.
- The four-part division of Greece would be absorbed by Rome, the iron empire, and the last world empire. Fulfilled, approximately 165 B.C.
- The Roman Empire would split and turn into separate entities. Fulfilled, A.D. 500.
- The split areas, certain of them from the Roman Empire, would continue to rule the world until the end of the age: the Spanish, French, British, German, Portuguese, Belgium, and Italian empires, etc.
- The separate small empires would bruise, or war, between themselves (Daniel 2:40). English-Spanish War; French and English wars; Napoleonic wars; World War I and II, etc.
- In the extremity of the age, the small empires would be broken into many smaller pieces (Daniel 2:41). Franklin Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin forced Winston Churchill to agree to a break-up of the Roman colonial system. The number of nations in 1945 of 70 rose to approximately 200 by the year 2000.
- A combination of European nations within the original Roman Empire will form a revived Roman Empire to bring forth the Antichrist. This now seems to be in process within the E.U.
Transitioning from the Old Testament Prophecies to the New Testament Prophecies
We want to look at the New Testament prophecies concerning the End Times, but, it is not an easy thing to just change from Old Testament prophecy about the End Times to New Testament prophecy about the End Times because they are inseparably linked! There are many prophecies in the Old Testament that have parallels in the New Testament. Some have been fulfilled, some have not – yet. There are many of those prophecies in the Old Testament that have been amazingly fulfilled in Jesus Christ yet some remain to be fulfilled. Some scholars have listed over 100 prophecies in the Old Testament relating to the birth, earthly mission, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. To list just a few of these prophecies:
- He would be born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14).
- He would be an Israelite from the tribe of Judah (Gen, 49:10).
- He would be from the lineage of David (2 Sam. 7:12-13).
- He would be called Emmanuel, God with us (Isa. 7:14).
- He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).
- Wise men would worship Him with gifts (Ps. 72:10; Isa. 60:3-9).
- He would be in Egypt for a season (Num. 24:8; Hos. 11:1).
- His birth would result in a massacre of infants (Jer. 31:15).
- He would be called a Nazarene (Isa. 11:1).
- He would make the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk (Isa. 53:4-5).
- He would be rejected by His own nation (Ps. 69:8; Isa.53:3).
- He would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey (Zech. 9:9).
- A friend would betray Him for 30 pieces of silver (Ps. 41:9; 55:12-14; Zech. 11:12-13).
- He would be a man of sorrows (Isa. 53:3).
- He would be forsaken by His followers (Zech. 13:7).
- He would be scourged and spat upon (Isa. 50:6).
- He would be crucified between two thieves (Isa. 53:12).
- He would be given vinegar to drink (Ps. 69:21).
- His feet and hands would be pierced (Ps. 22:16; Zech. 12:10).
- His garments would be gambled for at His death (Ps. 22:18).
- He would commend His spirit to the Father (Ps. 31:5).
- Although crucified, no bones would be broken (Exod. 12:46; Ps. 34:20).
- He would be buried with the rich (Isa. 53:9).
- He would be raised from the dead (Ps. 16:10).
- He would ascend to heaven (Ps. 24:7-10).
- He would be seated at God’s right hand to intercede for us (Ps. 110:1).
There are many other prophecies in the Old Testament relating to the triumphant return of Jesus Christ, His millennial reign, and His eternal Kingdom. Therefore, we can be sure that if all the prophecies concerning Jesus Christ at His first coming were fulfilled to the letter, that all the prophecies relating to His Second Coming will be fulfilled to the letter. The prophecies in the Old Testament concerning our Lord Jesus Christ will all be completely fulfilled as will all the prophecies in the New Testament surrounding the times we live in today, the times that will see His imminent return, the so-called End Times in which we live!
Shortly before His crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus Christ delivered a major prophecy of end-time events, recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21. He was asked by His disciples: “When will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3). Jesus responded with a description of conditions and events that would lead up to His second coming. Moreover, He said that when these signs became evident, His return would occur within one generation (Matthew 24:34). Could this be that generation? And what is a generation? Psalm 90:10 says, “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” So, a generation is 70 years at least, maybe 80 years, and if we look at the fulfillment of specific Bible prophecies that we see occurring around us today, I believe that we can see, without question, that we, indeed, are that generation that will see the total fulfillment of all the End Times prophecies!
Throughout the nearly 2,000 years since Christ gave His prophecy, many have thought that theirs was the time of His return and turned out to be wrong, of course. But interestingly, there are a number of prophecies in the Bible that could not be fulfilled until our modern era, the post–World War II period and, more significantly, post-Israel becoming a nation on May 14, 1948! It is important to see that there is a sequence, a timing to all of the New Testament fulfillment of the End Times prophecies. It is also important to see that those prophecies come from unfulfilled Old Testament prophecies as well as those from the New Testament. It is also very important to see that God Almighty wants us to learn from our mistakes, to grasp His Truths, to see that we are completely unable to be sinless and righteous on our own which are the very requirements He has set to be able to be with Him in Heaven when we die.
Before we dig deeply into the New Testament prophecies of the End Times, and in light of our wanting complete understanding of how prophecy works, how prophecy makes logical and reasonable sense, we have to look again at what the Bible calls dispensations. The need to clearly see just how dispensations fit into prophecy becomes evident when we examine the timeline of the End Times. How does the Age of Grace and the Tribulation fit together? Isn’t the Tribulation God’s Wrath and the Age of Grace all about the removal of God’s punishment for sin? It seems that the Age of Grace and the Tribulation are different in message and action, and, in fact, they are of different dispensations entirely. The age of Grace is all about Jesus Christ and redemption and the Tribulation relates to the Dispensation of the Law and the Jews. How do these relate to each other in the sense that they seem to be out of order? When we examine deeply what the dispensations are, we see the connections and the sequencing clearly.
How do dispensations fit into Bible Prophecy? There are several ways why we need to know and understand dispensations. First, dispensations show us that God is a caring God who gives mankind every opportunity to discover that only through Him can we gain salvation. Second, dispensations give us a timeline of human existence both in the past, in the present, and in the future. Third, dispensations clear up questions that we have as humans concerning God and His plan for us not to mention our complete depravity and need for Him. Fourth, dispensations give us glimpses into the past, the struggles our forefathers went through so that we can possibly learn from past mistakes and not repeat them. Fifth, and last, dispensations show the way of the future, what is in store for the Earth, for mankind, and for us as saved people.
Often, when one is asked about the Dispensations of God, the response is, “What is a dispensation?” We have briefly covered this subject before, but multiple exposures to a subject solidifies the meaning into our minds and dispensations relate significantly to understanding Bible Prophecy. The easiest answer is that a definition of dispensation is an age or a length of time that God has used to teach mankind a lesson. What lesson in particular? That we, as humans, cannot live and succeed without God, cannot please God, cannot attain salvation and the reward of Heaven without God regardless of what we think or do.
Formally, the dictionary refers to dispensation in a number of ways from a special permission or release from a rule or a law to an act of providing something to people, dispensing something. It can mean a general state or ordering of things; specifically, a system of revealed commands and promises regulating human affairs or a particular arrangement or provision especially of Providence (God). The best way to look at a Biblical dispensation is that it is a scheme over a period of time according to which God carries out his purposes towards men. Systematic Theology, whose author was the founder of Dallas Theological Seminary Lewis Sperry Chafer, views Scripture as an unfolding revelation and doctrine or as a process of on-going “dispensing” of God’s message to man.
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” signifies a disposition of affairs entrusted to someone. Thus 1 Corinthians 9:16, 17, the King James Version says, “For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel! For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me,” the Revised Version (British and American) “I have stewardship entrusted to me.” In Ephesians 1:10, God’s own working is spoken of as dispensation. “Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him.”
Later in Ephesians, Paul emphasizes the complete fulfillment of His will in Ephesians 3:1, 2, “For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward”. Finally, Paul refers to his ministry as administration of God passed to him and intended to be given to a lost humanity in Colossians 1:25, “Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God”.
Is Dispensationalism (the acceptance of dispensations throughout the Bible) necessary for salvation? Of course not! So, why is Dispensationalism important?
• Dispensationalism is a theological approach that teaches Biblical history as a number of successive administrations of God dealing with man
• Dispensationalism maintains fundamental distinctions of the way God deals with different tests for man to consider concerning sin and man’s responsibility for sin
• At each stage of Dispensationalism, man has failed to be obedient to the responsibilities set forth by God mainly because of man’s selfishness
• The method of salvation (justification by faith alone) never changes through all of the dispensations
• However, the responsibilities God gives to man, the questions God places into man’s conscious as to whether man can survive and exist outside of God, does change
Is this concept of the Dispensations anything new? Certainly not! Early church fathers Justin Martyr (2nd century), Iranaeus (2nd century), Clement of Alexandria (late 1st and early 2nd century), and Augustine (late 3rd and early 4th century) all wrote of Dispensationalism. More current and respected church leaders and pastors also wrote extensively on Dispensationalism, men such as Jonathan Edwards (1700s), Isaac Watts (1700s), C.I. Scofield (1800s and early 1900s), Lewis Sperry Chafer (early 1900s), Charles Ryrie (late 1900s and died 2016), Dwight Pentecost (1900s and died 2014), and John Walvoord (1900s and died 2002).
The very foundations of Dispensationalism stem from the Bible and are also the foundations of Christianity:
• A literal interpretation of the Bible in its entirety
• God works in different ways with man in distinct periods of history – example, the Old and New Testaments
• Israel is made up from descendants of Abraham literally not spiritually
• Israel is heir to the promises made to Abraham
• There are two distinct groups in the Bible and in God’s heart – Israel and the Church
• The Church began at Pentecost
• Salvation is by faith in accordance to the revelation given in a particular dispensation
• The Holy Spirit did not indwell permanently in all dispensations – only in the Dispensation of Grace
• Christ will reign in the future 1,000 year period known as the Millennial Kingdom (the last dispensation) which occurs after the Rapture and the Tribulation
Selfish In Nature
Mankind fell from Grace in the Garden of Eden. As a result of Adam and Eve’s disobedience, sin and death entered the world. Sin can be thought of as an acronym. Selfish In Nature – SIN. Selfishness characterizes what each of us is born into, the very essence of our infancy is concentrating on what WE want to the exclusion of everyone else. What many refer to as the “age of accountability” is that particular age, and that age can differ from one individual to another, when we as one person standing in the presence of God are held accountable by God for our actions, emotions, spirituality, and behavior. And, as we all know all too well, we search for excuses for our sin if, that is, we are truly aware of hurt to others.
When it comes to God, our excuses do not stop. We still think again selfishly that we can make it on our own. After all, we are good, basically, or the good we do outweighs the bad, right? So, when God says that there is only one way to Him and that way is through His Son, Jesus Christ, we sort of look for other ways that we think are better or more doable, then test them out on God. But, He is way ahead of us. God has from the very beginning been allowing us as a human race, made in His image, to test out all the excuses that we could possibly come up with to avoid doing things God’s way. So, what would you have God do to “fix” everything? You might say God could “test us” and answer our questions like, “if only God would give us or allow us or say something to us…then could we be righteous and get to God our own way?”
Those tests that God saw beforehand that we would ask to go through to prove our worth to Him (which we could never do because He is Holy and we are NOT) is what we call the dispensations. For instance, wouldn’t we think that if we knew EXACTLY what God thought was sin, we could avoid it and be pleasing in His sight? Sorry, He already did that when He gave the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mt. Sinai in Midian (which, by the way, is not in the Sinai Peninsula but in Saudi Arabia in a place the Bible calls Midian). Or, how about this one, if Jesus Himself ruled on Earth and was visible to everyone, we would never do anything to displease Him. Sorry, again, because Revelation 20:7-9 says when Satan is loosed on the Earth after having been bound for a thousand years (while Jesus was ruling IN PERSON on the Earth), literally millions who have witnessed Jesus all their lives during the Millennium will rebel against Jesus and join in with the devil against Him. Of course, their outcome is eternity in the Lake of Fire.
Simplistically, we can easily see three dispensations or time periods that God has shown us in the Bible. All three ages or dispensations are centered on faith, the faith of the Grace of God to grant salvation to believers in Him. The first age or dispensation is Old Testament times before Christ where getting the approval of God was attained by faith such as that of Abraham. His faith was counted unto him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6, “Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”) The second age or dispensation is New Testament times after the resurrection of Christ where faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior guarantees righteousness (Romans 4:5, “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”) Then the third age or dispensation is the Millennial Kingdom of Christ where Jesus Christ reigns on the Earth for a thousand years. But, even then, there will be those that can potentially live the entire thousand years but have their life cut short at 100 years because of the sin of rejection of Christ’s sovereignty (Isaiah 65:20, “There shall be no more there an infant of days, nor an old man that has not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.”)
There are actually seven dispensations that each answer a different situation or question or excuse that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that we cannot please God on our own. Why? Because we are sinners, and Jesus was not a sinner. He lived a perfect life, sin-free as a human, so He could sacrifice His perfect human life for us thereby fulfilling the Law and then covering our many sins with His shed blood, for the Bible says in Hebrews 9:22 that there is no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood. And, since Jesus’ blood was sin-free, His sacrifice covered all sin, past, present, and future for all men, for all time. The only act on our part is the act of the humility of repentance and acceptance of Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins. Then we know that Jesus was raised from the dead and sits on the right of the Father in Heaven until He comes back for us in the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). The seven dispensations are the dispensations of Innocence, Conscience, Human or Civil Government, Promise, Law, Grace, and the Millennial Kingdom.
For each of the dispensations, God is providing a time for mankind to live under specific circumstances that will answer precise questions dealing with our ability to function according to God’s Will on our own without Him. The first dispensation of Innocence was in the Garden of Eden when all Adam and Eve had to refrain from was just one thing – not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God asked, “Can I trust you?” and they failed resulting in death, which was not known before, and changes to plants and animals and the Earth.
The second dispensation was of Conscience where mankind knew that disobeying God had severe consequences. God said, “Now that you know I expect obedience, can I trust you?” and they failed resulting in the Great Flood of Noah which destroyed all breathing life save for those on Noah’s Ark. The third dispensation was Human Government which allowed mankind to have a ruler, Nimrod, to control Human nature. This failed because of the hubris of the people to build a tower to reach the Heavens and consult with fallen angels, the Tower of Babel. The result was a confusion of languages and dispersion over the entire planet.
The fourth dispensation was of Promise where God went to a specific man, Abram, and promised that if he would trust in God, God would bless him with a mighty nation. Over time, this nation was enslaved in Egypt because of their disobedience, but saved by their deliverer Moses. The fifth dispensation was called the Law which was given to the Jewish people at Mt Sinai in Midian, Arabia. God said He would define sin for the Jews so that they could obey but they had to be perfect in their obedience and not break even one of the 613 laws. Again, failure. They failed over many years and this dispensation ended with Jesus dying on the cross.
The sixth and current dispensation is the Age of Grace starting with the Resurrection and ending with the soon to come Rapture of the Church. This is also called the Church Age because God has provided a Savior for all to believe in and be subject to His Lordship. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of mankind has or is repenting of sin and accepting Christ’s sacrifice on their behalf. One day, Jesus will call for His Church to rise and be with Him to avoid the Wrath of God to come on a sinful and rebellious world thus ending the Age of Grace.
The seventh and last dispensation is the Millennial Kingdom where Jesus Himself will reign in Person on Earth for a thousand years thus showing himself as God and King of kings and Lord of lords. Of course, many will reject Him because Revelation 20:7,8 tells us the number of the final rebellion is as the sand on the seashore. That’s hard to grasp, but it is true. Even with Jesus visible, humans will still be so arrogant and rebellious to want their own way, they will rebel against Almighty God Himself.
The Dispensation of Grace versus the Tribulation
The dispensation of Grace begins about the time of the Resurrection since Pentecost occurred soon after. That was in approximately 27 A.D. Subtracting 33 years from 27 A.D. we arrive at about 6 B.C. Since we know that Herod the Great died in 4 B.C. (remember, there is no year zero), that gives us about 2 years for Jesus to grow into a toddler before the wise men arrived with their gifts according to Matthew 2:11.
Counting from the Creation, the date of Jesus’ resurrection (27 A.D.) would correspond to about 4027 A.M. or 4,027 years from Creation. The ending date for the dispensation of Grace can be assumed to be 2,000 years after the Resurrection because from Adam to Abraham was 2,000 years; from Abraham to Jesus was 2,000 years; and from Jesus to the Rapture should be 2,000 years as well. The date for the Rapture is approximate, of course, since the Rapture has not happened yet and it is supposed to be imminent. So, let’s assume 2027 A.D. or 6027 A.M. (A.M. = After Creation or Anno Mundi or the Year of the World). That would make the duration of the dispensation of Grace to be about 2,000 years. Hosea 6:2 that says, “After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight”. And, since we know that 2 Peter 3:8 says, “…that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day”, then we are at the end of the second day – the second thousand years since Christ pointing to the “third day” or the Millennial Reign of Christ that lasts a thousand years.
The end of the Age of Grace marks the transition into the Tribulation or the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, a return to the end of the Dispensation of the Law where God restores His people, the Jews, from their lost position and brings them to the belief and the saving Grace of their Messiah, Jesus Christ! It is very important to see that the Age of Grace is for the Church and the Tribulation is Daniel’s 70th Week which is the very end of the Age of the Law for the Jews. The believing Jews of that time will be transformed into their new immortal Jesus-like bodies (just as the Church received after the Rapture) after the Battle of Armageddon, after the Sheep and Goat Judgment, and just before the Millennial Kingdom starts – the last or seventh dispensation. The people who are “raised up” from Hosea’s prophecy are Israel and Judah, the Jews. The third day is the Millennium when Jesus does indeed “raise up” the living Jews and all living Christians that believe in Him from the Great Tribulation and allow them to enter His Millennial reign on the Earth as well as the Old Testament saints and those that perished in the Tribulation that became believers within the Tribulation, both Jew and Gentile.
Since we are at present only about seven or so years from 2,000 years since Christ’s Resurrection, the “second day” is just about over. That means the third “day” of 1,000 years, the Millennium, will come very soon. Christ’s Second Coming is not that far away which means that the Rapture is even closer since it must come seven years before, and more probably ten years before, to allow for the seven years of Tribulation. Jesus is at the door! Even so, Come Lord Jesus!
Now, getting back to the end of the Age of Grace in which we exist at present, there are many New Testament End Times events that are occurring which Jesus told us about in Matthew 24 that have to occur before He calls His Church up to be with Him. Since we see all of these End Times events today occurring simultaneously and in increasing intensity in what is called “Convergence”, we need to examine the most important of them. Let’s look at some of these events but certainly not all of them:
1. The human race would have the ability to exterminate itself
In Matthew 24:22, describing world conditions prior to His second coming, Jesus said that “if that time of troubles were not cut short, no living thing could survive; but for the sake of God’s chosen it will be cut short”. Matthew 24:22 shows us that if Jesus Christ does not intervene in world affairs, the human race will be faced with extinction. It’s crucial to note that humanity has had the capability for self-annihilation for only about 60 years, since both the United States and the Soviet Union developed and stockpiled hydrogen bombs and the world had to learn to live with “mutually assured destruction.”
At that time there were only three nuclear powers, the U.S., the Soviet Union, and Great Britain. By the middle of the 1960s France and China had joined the nuclear club. Today at least nine nations have nuclear warheads and the number looks set to increase with a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, Iran, and other rogue nations. Of course, the more nuclear powers we have in the world, the more likely it is that someone will use this deadly force for evil. Although international attention has been focused on the nuclear programs of North Korea and Iran during the last few years, little attention has been given to the possibility of some or all of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal falling into the hands of radical Islamists. China seems to be very interested in space weapons which include the possibility of launching nuclear devices from space to any point on the globe.
During the ongoing crisis in Pakistan, the Taliban and al-Qaeda and their sympathizers have steadily gained more power, territory and influence, making nuclear terrorism more likely. Consider the consequences for the rest of the world if Osama bin Laden (or others like him) had access to nuclear weapons! Our biased media today does not report on these kind of things, so that may answer some questions as to why we have not heard much from these terrorist organizations lately. Meanwhile, Russia and China are determinedly flexing their military muscles, raising fears of a return to Cold War era tensions.
The good news in all this is that Christians have an assurance that Jesus Christ will intervene to save mankind from annihilation. This prophecy could not be fulfilled until man had the potential for self-extinction through weapons of mass destruction. Again, only in the last 60 years has this become possible.
2. A Jewish homeland had to be reestablished in the Middle East
Luke 21 is a parallel chapter to Matthew 24. Notice Luke’s account of Christ’s long prophecy that answered the disciples’ questions: “Teacher, . . . when will these things be? And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?” (Luke 21:7). In response, Jesus showed that Jerusalem would be the central focus of the political and military upheavals that would immediately precede His return: “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near . . . For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled” (Luke 21:20-22).
Anyone living even a century ago would have found these words implausible, even impossible since Israel and Jerusalem were immaterial to world politics. Jerusalem in ancient times had been fought over countless times, but for four centuries from 1517 the city had been at peace under control of the Ottoman Empire. Some Jews lived there as a minority under Turkish rule. Events in the 20th century made Bible Prophecy very relevant to world politics because Israel became a nation once again, and Jerusalem came under Jewish control after almost two millennia.
The Old Testament prophet Zechariah was used by God to reveal a great deal about end-time events and the second coming of the Messiah. Zechariah lived and prophesied more than 500 years before Christ’s first coming, yet his prophetic book tells us a great deal about our world of today. In Zechariah 12:2-3 God says: “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah [the Jews inhabiting the land of Israel] and Jerusalem. And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.” In Zechariah 12:9 He adds, “It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.”
Reading these verses, it is possible to think that they apply to ancient events, as Jerusalem has been fought over repeatedly down through the ages. However, chapter 14 makes clear that this is talking about future, not past, events. The time setting is immediately before Jesus Christ’s return. “Behold, the day of the Lord is coming . . . For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; the city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity . . . Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south” (Zechariah 14:1-4). Note how obvious that the last part of this prophecy remain to be fulfilled.
Shortly before Zechariah, another Jewish prophet named Daniel lived during the time of the captivity of the Jews in Babylon. His book speaks of the Jews’ daily sacrifices being cut off by the Antichrist in the end time (Daniel 12:1-13), an event that had a forerunner in the temple defilement under Syrian ruler Antiochus Epiphanes IV in 165 B.C. However, Jesus Christ confirmed this as a future event to precede His return (Daniel 11:31; Matthew 24:15). This means that these sacrifices must first be reinstituted in Jerusalem requiring Jewish rule over the city which was re-established in 1967.
One hundred years ago such developments were hard to imagine for the simple reason that no independent Jewish political entity existed in the Middle East. After rebelling against the Romans in 70 A.D. and again in 135 A.D., Judea was leveled and salted by Hadrian and most of the remaining Jews were dispersed throughout the Roman Empire and beyond. It was at that time that Hadrian destroyed Jerusalem and renamed the land Palestina with Jerusalem renamed Aulina Capitolina. No Jewish homeland existed again until 1948, after 1,813 years, when the modern nation of Israel was established.
An independent Jewish homeland was merely a dream for a small group of zealots a century ago. It moved a step nearer during World War I, when forces of the British Commonwealth took control of Jerusalem from the Turks in December 1916. A few months later in 1917, the British government pledged itself to the establishment of an independent Jewish homeland in the ancient lands the Jews had inhabited for centuries.
It was to be another 30 years before the dream was realized starting in 1947 with a League of Nations (forerunner to the U.N.) proclamation, then fulfilled in 1948. Yet since then, Israel has had to fight wars for survival in 1948, 1967 and 1973 and has suffered countless terrorist attacks and threats of annihilation from hostile neighbors determined even today to eliminate the Jewish state. Once again, this prophecy can now be fulfilled in our time as never before.
3. The end-time king of the North and king of the South
In Daniel 11 we find an amazing prophecy about two leaders, the kings of the North and South, the heads of regions that were geographically north and south of the Holy Land. To understand this prophecy, we have to go to the time of Alexander the Great, who lived 200 years after Daniel. Alexander figures prominently throughout the book of Daniel, even though Daniel did not know his name and never knew him personally since he died almost two centuries before Alexander. God revealed to Daniel that after Babylon, Persia would arise as the greatest power of the region, to be followed by Greece. Not surprisingly, the prophecies regarding the rise of Greece are centered on Alexander the Great, one of the greatest conquerors in history.
Chapter 8 of Daniel tells of the coming war between Persia and Greece. A horn symbolizes royal power and authority. Persia had “two horns and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last.” This refers to the Medo-Persian Empire, the coming together of two nations or peoples. As foretold here in Daniel 8:3, the Persians rose to greatness after the Medes accounting for the higher horn “coming up”.
In Daniel 8:5 we read of Persia’s later defeat by Alexander the Great: “And as I was considering, suddenly a male goat came from the west, across the surface of the whole earth, without touching the ground; and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes” (Daniel 8:5). The “notable horn” or royal leader was Alexander the Great. The prophecy about his army not even touching the ground is a reference to the incredible speed with which he conquered the known world. All this was achieved in a very short time. Alexander died in 323 B.C. when he was only about 33 years old reportedly either by poisoning or a depraved lifestyle.
Even his sudden, unexpected death was prophesied: “The male goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it four notable ones came up toward the four winds of heaven” (Daniel 8:8). When Alexander died, his empire was eventually divided between four of his generals, the four “notable horns”. Two of these established dynasties would have a profound effect on the Jewish people, caught in the middle between them. These two dynasties were the descendants of Seleucus who ruled a vast empire from Antioch in Syria North of Jerusalem, and Ptolemy who ruled Egypt from Alexandria South of Jerusalem.
Daniel 11 is a long and detailed prophecy about the conflicts between these two powers, their respective leaders being referred to as “the king of the North” and “the king of the South.” It is interesting to note that the first 35 verses in Daniel Chapter 11 contain 145 prophecies that were written long before they came to pass, yet every one of them happened exactly as Daniel wrote. This amazing accuracy led critics to believe that Daniel could not have written them because of their accuracy. Critics claim even today that that chapter in Daniel was written after Antiochus nearer the 165 B.C. date rather than the 536 B.C. date of Daniel. Of great significance is that whenever those two kings went to battle against each other, the Jews, being in the middle, suffered. This was to continue from the time of Alexander until the middle of the second century B.C., a period of almost two centuries. Then, suddenly, the prophecy jumps to the time of the end, the Tribulation.
In Daniel 11:40 we read: “At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them and pass through. He shall also enter the Glorious Land [the Holy Land], and many countries shall be overthrown” (Daniel 11:40-41). The latter part of Daniel’s prophecy of the North-South conflict describes a war between the leader who is the successor to the Ptolemaic rule of the ancient Egyptian Empire and part of the Psalm 83 war to come which is now part of the Islamic world, and a leader of a soon-coming European superpower, a revived Roman Empire which will rise to be the Antichrist himself of Revelation!
4. An end-time union of European nations
In Daniel 2 and 7 we see prophecies about four great gentile empires that would arise in the period between the time of Daniel and the coming establishment of the Kingdom of God (Daniel 2:44). Daniel was himself living in the first of these great empires (Daniel 7:4) as a Jewish exile in ancient Babylon. Following the fall of Babylon in 538 B.C., the Medo-Persian Empire would become the greatest power, to be followed by Greece (Daniel 7:5-6). After Greece came the Roman Empire, “dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong.” This empire was to have “ten horns” and would continue in some form until the establishment of God’s Kingdom at Christ’s return (Daniel 7:7-9).
As we saw in the previous section, horns represent leaders or governments.
We find more details in Revelation 17 where we read of a revived Roman Empire which consists of “ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast” (Revelation 17:12-13). They will also “make war with the Lamb [Jesus Christ], and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings” (Revelation 17:14). Again, it is clear that this prophecy is still future since nothing like this has ever happened in recorded history to the present, although signs of it coming true are also becoming evident.
Previous attempts to forge a united European empire, from Justinian in the sixth century through Charlemagne, Napoleon, Mussolini and Hitler, all involved force. The final resurrection of the Roman Empire will not be attempted in the same way. Revelation 17 suggests this will be a voluntary union. When these 10 leaders receive power, they will then give their authority to a single leader. Scripture refers to both this individual and the new superpower he leads as “the beast”, acknowledging it as the continuation of the four gentile empires prophesied in Daniel, each one depicted as a beast or wild animal. Only now is it possible for this to be fulfilled.
In 1957, the Treaty of Rome was signed by six European nations that formed the European Economic Community. Today the EEC has grown into the European Union (EU) with 27 member-nations, soon to be 26 or less because of the “Brexit” movements. Out of these will likely come the 10 nations or 10 leaders that form the final resurrection of the Roman Empire.
Some have speculated that the 10 kings referred to in this prophecy will be leaders of 10 regions of the EU that will redraw the boundaries of Europe, ending the present nation-states. The Bible is not clear on exactly which 10 regions or nations will configure the final revival of the militaristic Roman superpower, only that this new superpower will indeed emerge just before Christ’s return. An ominous development has come from the U.N. where the leaders of the world have envisioned dividing up the entire planet into regions that each have a king or leader. The U.S., Canada, and Mexico become one of the ten re-named “North America”. Not surprisingly, the number of regions that are envisioned in this plan for the globe’s future one-world organization? Ten!
5. The gospel will be preached in all the world
In His major end-time prophecy, Jesus answers the question posed by the disciples: “When will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3). After listing a number of signs of the nearness of His coming, He reveals that “this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). Also, in Mark 13:10, “And the gospel must first be published among all nations.” The gospel is the good news of the coming Kingdom of God. This message could not be preached around the world without the Bible and freedom of religion. Both came gradually with the ascendancy of the English-speaking peoples from the 16th century until the present day.
It was only when the technological advances of television and radio and other means of mass communication after World War II and their widespread acceptance that it became possible to reach hundreds of millions of human beings with the message of the Bible. The gospel of the Kingdom of God continues to be preached to all nations through the internet and its use of global satellites. During the last 50 years it still has not been possible to reach all countries. China, with one quarter of the world’s people, still does not allow evangelism because it opposes tyrannical rule. Other nations also try to suppress the publication of biblical truth and even the Bible itself. Many Islamic nations do not allow religious freedom. In some countries people risk the death penalty for changing religion. But none of this opposition will halt the spread of the Gospel since God is in control and He can always and does utilize dreams and visions to stir peoples’ hearts.
6. Instant worldwide communications and God’s final witnesses
In His major end-time prophecy of Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21, Jesus gave an outline of disasters that would occur on the world scene with increasing frequency and magnitude to the point where people would be shaken with fear (Luke 21:26). Discerning an increase in the scale of these events and reacting to them requires knowing about them. At the time this prophecy was given, it could be many months or years before people heard about various disasters, and many they would never hear about at all much less be able to put together the fact that catastrophes were on some kind of global increase.
Only with the proliferation of newspapers and other forms of mass communications did this become remotely possible. Yet the level of awareness and fear that Christ speaks of implies an even greater availability of information. This availability of information has only been since the development of rapid electronic communications. Only with the technological advances of the last few years has it become possible for the events in Revelation 11 to occur, specifically for people around the world to see the fate of God’s final two Witnesses. These two witnesses, reminiscent of other biblical prophets like Elijah and Elisha, will carry God’s final warning to the world in the first 3 ½ years of the Tribulation. In fact, one of the two Witnesses could very well be Elijah since he did not see death because he was “taken”.
“And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days . . . When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth” (Revelation 11:3, Revelation 11:7-10).
Note that people the world over will be able to see their dead bodies during the 3 1⁄2 days that they lie on display in Jerusalem. This was not possible before satellite television, portable communications devices, and the Internet. Again, only in the last few years has it become possible for this prophecy to be fulfilled. It still lies in the future, of course, but only now it is clearly possible for this to take place.
7. Will this generation see God’s Kingdom established on earth?
The establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 was the key to the fulfillment of Bible prophecy. This means that our generation will live to see Jesus Christ return and establish the Kingdom of God on earth. After all, Jesus Himself said that once these things begin, the generation alive at that time “will by no means pass away till all these things take place” (Matthew 24:34). Since a generation according to Psalm 90:10 is 70 years, perhaps 80, and Israel is 70 years old (we are in the 70th year of Israel’s existence until May 14, 2019), and we are the generation alive today that is seeing all of these signs converging at once, then we should be expecting the Rapture any day!
It’s both sobering and encouraging to think that we appear to be living in the generation that will ultimately witness the most important event in the history of mankind. As Jesus Christ tells His followers in Luke 21:28, “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”
8. A Look at the Convergence of Coming End Times Human Events
To capture the meaning of the prophetic Word for today, here is a listing of human-oriented evil prophecies and technological advances in both testaments occurring all at once showing just how close we are to Christ’s return. In the past ten years or so, these prophecies have started to occur, have converged (the “Convergence”) so that all are happening at the same time, and now the intensity of them is impossible to miss. What we experience in our daily lives, what we seem to pay little attention to, what we need to grasp as highly unusual and overwhelmingly dangerous and disturbing is the recognition of just how close we are to the end of the age, the end of the Age of Grace, and the obvious fact that these are the very End Times that the Word of God speaks of. Note that the references to verses are from both the Old and New Testaments:
• Increase of wars and rumors of wars (Joel 3:9-10; Matt. 24:6-7)
• Extreme materialism (2 Tim. 3:1-2; Rev. 3:14-19)
• Lawlessness (Prov. 30:11-14; 2 Tim. 3:1-3)
• Population explosion (Gen. 6:1; Luke 17:26)
• Increasing speed and knowledge (Dan. 12:4)
• Departure from the Christian faith (2 Thess. 2:3; 1 Tim. 4:1, 3-4; 2 Tim. 3:5; 4:3-4; 2 Pet. 3:3-4)
• Unification of the world’s religious, political, and economic systems (Rev. 13:4-8, 16-17; 17:1-18; 18:1-24)
• Universal drug usage (“sorceries” here can also refer to drugs) (Rev. 9:21)
• Abnormal sexual activity (Rom. 1:17-32; 2 Pet. 2:10, 14; 3:3; Jude 18)
• Intense demonic activity (Gen. 6:1-4; 1 Tim. 4:1-3)
• Mass slaughter of innocents by unconcerned mothers (abortion) (Rom. 1:31; 2 Tim. 3:3)
• Widespread violence (Gen. 6:11, 13; 2 Tim. 3:1; Rev. 9:21)
• Rejection of God’s Word (2 Tim. 4:3-4; 2 Pet. 3:3-4, 16)
• Rejection of God Himself (Ps. 2:1-3)
• Blasphemy (2 Tim. 3:2; 2 Pet. 3:3; Jude 18)
• Self-seeking and pleasure-seeking (2 Tim. 3:2, 4)
• Men minus a conscience (1 Tim. 4:2)
• Religious hucksters (2 Pet. 2:3)
• Outright devil worshippers (Rev. 9:20; 13:11-14)
• Rise of false prophets and antichrists (Matt. 24:5, 11; 2 Pet. 2:1-2)
• False claims of peace (1 Thess. 5:1-3)
• Rapid advances in technology (Gen. 4:22; Luke 17:26)
• Great political and religious upheavals in the Holy Land (Matt. 24:32-34)
To these we would add the development of weapons of mass destruction; space travel; space weaponry; increase of deceivers and lying wonders; depreciation of nationalism and unimaginable rise of globalism mimicking the Tower of Babel times; wildly unstable financial markets and governments all over the world; and the difficult to grasp return to the socialism government movement. As we consider that over 90 percent of all the prophecies in the Bible have been fulfilled exactly as foretold, the less than 10 percent that apply to our immediate future will also be fulfilled exactly as foretold. Get ready! Are you prepared? Jesus will call His Church up very soon! Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior?
9. Obadiah and Similarities to Today
One of the Old Testament “Minor” Prophets was Obadiah who wrote a very small book, in fact, THE smallest in the Old Testament. In most Bibles, Obadiah takes only one page and a very short time to read. Obadiah’s message was to Edom or the land of Esau, Jacob’s twin brother. Even from the time of Jacob’s return to the Promised Land from his wife’s brother Laban’s land, Esau and Edom had been unfriendly towards Jacob, read Israel, and had raised the attention of God.
Obadiah tells Edom, which is located South of Israel where Petra is located in a wilderness. Edomites apparently thought very highly of themselves, but God, because of past atrocities toward Israel, pronounces destruction, total destruction on Edom for their transgressions against Israel. All of this happened back in the time of the Babylonian Empire, and Edom was wiped out by Nebuchadnezzar. Arabs living in the land of Edom today will be removed from the Earth by the Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38 & 39 wars thus enabling Israel to occupy the Edomite land.
But there is a parallel that I think God may be showing us. Israel is the “apple of God’s eye” (Zechariah 2:8), and the Church belongs to Jesus Christ. Now Israel is Israel and the Church is the Church, make no mistake. But, since God is the same today and forever (Hebrews 13:8), and Jesus and God the Father are One (John 10:30), then it is reasonable to think that when God is upset at Edom for attacking and treating Israel wrongly, then Jesus must be upset when those alive today do the same to the Church. I know that Obadiah was written to Israel’s enemy Edom, but consider how God may be seeing some today in the same light!
Obadiah 3 and 4 says, “The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, who shall bring me down to the ground? Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD.” The Edomites thought highly of themselves way back then, but consider the attitudes of many elites, many of the super-rich, many of the social media chiefs today. Sounds rather similar, right? It’s just interesting to read Obadiah and know it’s about Israel’s enemy Edom, which, by the way came from Esau as did the Persians, or, as we call them today, Iranians. But if you substitute 21st Century socialists and liberals for Edom in Obadiah, the prophecy could be a prayer from our time to the Gracious Lord to take care of the opposition to Christianity and righteousness. Seems like a repeat of the similar attitudes Israel has experienced for centuries, and we are experiencing the same attitudes right alongside Israel today.
Here are the most significant Bible prophecies that remain to be fulfilled concerning the End Times and after, some are looming on the immediate horizon with many harbingers testifying to the truth of their soon appearance:
The actual word “Rapture” is not in the Bible, but in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 there is a translation “caught up” which is “harpazo” in Greek which is the actual disappearance of all dead and living Christians from everyday life and from cemeteries to be with Jesus “in the air”. Rapture is an inclusive word used to describe the exclusive resurrection of Christians who have died in the past, along with the changing of Christians who are alive from mortal bodies to immortal bodies, all rising to meet Jesus Christ in the air. The aftermath of this event, which likely disrupts many countries especially the U.S., will be total chaos worldwide for a brief period of time. But soon those left behind will consider the Christian absence to be a good thing and the march toward a globalist one-world society will gain continual strength changing everyone’s thinking to align with that of the soon-to-come Antichrist. The globalists will get their way and, at the same time, walk right into Satan’s trap run by the Antichrist himself.
I believe that there will be a time that falls “in-between” the Rapture of the Church and the start of the Tribulation period of seven years thereby fulfilling Daniel’s 70th week. Why? Primarily because of Ezekiel 39:9, “And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the hand staves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years.” This is the aftermath of what God does to the invaders of Israel by the enemies of Israel found beyond Israel’s close-in borders. The enemies of Israel that are close-in neighbors are all destroyed in the Psalm 83 war, results in Israel having peace and safety (a requirement for the Gog Magog War to happen), which precedes the Ezekiel 38 and 39 war. If Israel is to burn the weapons of the Ezekiel war for seven years, they must do so before the middle of the Tribulation since at that precise time, Antichrist will be determined to kill all of the Jews, but the Jews will flee and be protected by God at the mid-Trib point, about 3 ½ years into the Tribulation. This means the Ezekiel war must occur sometime before the start of the Tribulation to allow for this burning of the weapons of war time period.
The sequence of Psalm 83 removing all close-in enemies of Israel results in peace in the nation of Israel – another prerequisite of the Ezekiel war (Ezekiel 38:11, “And you shall say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates.”) So, the Psalm 83 war precedes the Ezekiel 38 and 39 war, both occurring during the “In-between” time after the Rapture and before the Tribulation.
Other prophecies probably occur during this time as well such as the destruction of Damascus, Isaiah 17:1; the destruction of Elam (nuclear area of Iran), Jeremiah 49:34-39; and the complete removal of Islam as a hindrance to the Antichrist’s rise to power, Ezekiel 39:2).
The war referred to in Psalm 83 is a Psalm of Asaph wherein he asks God to intervene by shaming and destroying the countries, the nations that immediately border Israel on all sides – the nations that have hated Israel, they have spoken out against both Israel and God Almighty Himself. The Bible identifies those enemies of Israel today that have done just that. They are Edom, which is South of Israel and part of Jordan; Moab, which is Southeast in Southern Jordan; Gebal, which is Northwest of Israel and the old Phoenician land now Lebanon; Ammon, which is Jordan and to Israel’s East; Amalek, which is to Israel’s Northeast; the Philistines, which used to occupy Gaza (West) and today is Hamas; Tyre, which is old Lebanon (Northwest) and today Hezbollah; and Assur, which is Iraq today to Israel’s East. Notice that these countries surround Israel and share borders with Israel.
Psalm 83 says God will put all these countries to shame so that all men will know that He is Jehovah, the Most High over all the Earth. The result of this war will be Israel living in peace without walls since all close-in enemies have been destroyed.
Ezekiel 38 and 39 tell of a major war consisting of Israel’s enemies lying some distance away from Israel’s borders. The war is a confederation of nations that almost all share in Islam as a religion, but all share in their hatred of Israel. The prime mover in the war is the land of Gog and Magog which we know to be Russia to Israel’s direct North. Ezekiel tells us that their motivation is come and take a spoil from Israel at the direction of God Himself since only He knows the timing of the invasion. The rest of the confederation are Muslim countries: first Russia identified through the references to Meshech (Moscow) and Tubal (Tobolsk) both major cities in modern Russia; Persia, which is modern Iran to Israel’s extreme East; Ethiopia, which is South of Egypt; Libya, West of Israel on Africa’s Northern coast; Gomer, which is Eastern Europe and to Israel’s Northwest; and Togarmah, which is Turkey today and to Israel’s North.
The blood moons of 2014 and 2015 seemed to be of little consequence to the world and certainly to the U.S. But we must realize that signs in the heavens will almost always be directed to Israel. The blood moons of 2014 were when Russia moved against Crimea which basically moved their armies half the distance from Moscow to Israel in one move. Next, the blood moons of 2015 coincided with Russia moving to Syria to set up bases there ostensibly to assist in the ISIS invasion of Iraq, but in reality to assist Iran in its quest to destroy Israel. If you look at a map and trace the movement of Russian troops from Moscow to Crimea to Syria, you see that it takes the shape of a hook, exactly what God said He would do to them, “And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth…to the mountains of Israel.” (Ezekiel 38:4 & 8)
The Bible says that these nations will come against a land of unwalled villages, a people at rest dwelling in safety, to take a spoil. First of all, Israel is certainly not a land of unwalled villages. They have a 400 mile wall all around Judah and Samaria (the “occupied territories”) to keep the violent Palestinians out of their country. And, Israel is certainly not at peace because of all the rockets falling on them as well as the Syrian activity North of them supported by Iran and Russia. But, these situations will be reversed after the Psalm 83 war.
Next, Israel has found the world’s most vast supply of natural gas off their shore in the Mediterranean Sea. There is also a prophecy in Deuteronomy 33:24 from Moses, “And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil.” Many believe this to be a prophecy that Israel will find very soon a storehouse of oil in the ancient land of Asher, one of Jacob’s sons, which will entice Russia to come and try to steal it by conquest.
Ezekiel 38 says that God draws these rogue nations down to Israel. Then, Ezekiel 39 says that God will destroy five-sixths of the army to glorify His Name and show the world that He loves Israel and its people. This wipes out not only Russia but all of the contentious Muslims in the world because the prophecy includes all of the distant lands as well as on the mountains of Israel. The main impact of this is the freedom it gives to Israel but also to the Antichrist to rise to power since major opposition from Russia and Islam has just been destroyed.
Isaiah 17:1 describes an event that has never happened in human history – the total destruction of the eternal city of Damascus. When I say “eternal”, that is from a human perspective since Damascus has existed from not long after Noah’s Flood until today, some 4,500 years approximately. Damascus has seen many wars, many nations ruling it, and many despots governing it. It has remained. But the Bible tells us that in our immediate future, Damascus will become a “ruinous heap”, without life, thoroughly destroyed. Some would say, “Have you seen Damascus today? It looks totally destroyed now!” True, but there are areas still with people living in Damascus, so the prophecy has not been completely fulfilled yet. Israel has threatened to destroy Damascus because of Syria’s and Iran’s constant attacks on Israel. But it has not happened yet. But it will soon and probably in the “In-Between” years.
Jeremiah 49:34-39 contains a prophecy of the destruction of Elam. Where is Elam? Elam is an ancient land where Susa was located, the city of Ahasuerus (a Persian) and Esther. Elam also contains what we today call the Persian Gulf and the city of Bushehr. Bushehr is significant because much of the Iranian nuclear technology and installations are near there. Since Iran has been the world’s most dangerous and prolific supporter of terror, plus the fact that Iran has been developing nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles in that area and in Tehran as well as other areas, add to that Iran’s stated main enemy in the world is Israel with the U.S. a close second, Israel likely has Bushehr targeted for a nuclear strike to eliminate Iranian threats of nuclear war. And that is exactly what the Jeremiah 49 prophecy describes. Jeremiah says God will break Elam’s bow, a reference to their nuclear weaponry. He will scatter the remaining people from Elam to the four winds of heaven which means that all will flee the nuclear fallout from the attack. Of course, God can do all of this without Israel. But it sounds like this could be what happens during the “In-Between” years.
We are instructed by Zechariah and other prophets that Jerusalem will be a matter of controversy to all nations in the last days. The only peace that Israel has ever known was in the days of Solomon, and since it became a nation in 1948 there has been no peace, even though there have been more than fifty peace treaties or agreements negotiated and signed. According to Daniel 9:27, the Antichrist will confirm or guarantee a peace agreement or treaty between Israel and its enemies. However, there will be no peace. In fact, this false peace treaty initiates the Great Tribulation period.
In the chronological order of eschatology, the Tribulation is a seven-year period that completes the Dispensation of the Law, and is full of war, pandemic plagues, earthquakes, cosmological catastrophes, and other judgments that will kill approximately three-fourths of the population of the world. Daniel said of this period, “. . . and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time . . .” (Dan. 12:1). Jesus said, “For there shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matt. 24:22). The Antichrist will lead the world during the first half of the Tribulation but transform into the possessed by Satan tyrant in the last half. The Tribulation period will end with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ at Armageddon who will send the Antichrist and the False prophet to the Lake of Fire.
For the first half of the Tribulation, the Antichrist solidifies his leadership and advantage. He will be a great orator (Dan. 11:36); a political and commercial genius (Dan. 11:41; Rev. 13:16-17); he may be a homosexual (Dan. 11:37); and a clever liar and deceiver (2 Thess. 2:9-10). If you think about it, you might be able to picture in your mind a very good candidate for the Antichrist familiar to us all. At the middle of the Tribulation (after three and a half years), he gains political and economic control over all the world (Rev. 13:7, 16-17), and then demands on penalty of death that everyone worship him as God (Rev. 13:8; 2 Thess. 2:3-4). The last half of the Tribulation, the Antichrist will be the most cruel dictator the world has ever known. Literally millions will be killed for not worshipping him as God. Although Christians may never know exactly who the Antichrist is, he is in the world today.
Coming of Elijah; the Two Witnesses
Elijah and Enoch are the only two men who escaped physical death by being taken up to Heaven alive. According to the prophet Malachi, Elijah must come back to precede the Messiah when He comes in power and glory to bring in the Kingdom (Mal. 4:4-6). Malachi mentioned Moses also in conjunction with the coming of Elijah, and both Moses and Elijah were with Jesus on The Mount of Transfiguration when He revealed to James, John, and Peter His glory when He would come again. According to Revelation 11, God will send two witnesses to bring judgments against the Antichrist. There are two guesses as to the identity of these two witnesses since the Bible does not tell us directly. The first is that the two witnesses will be Moses and Elijah. This could be, but Moses actually died (Deuteronomy 34:5-7) and Enoch did not. The second guess is that the two witnesses will be Elijah and Enoch because neither died, Enoch represents the people before the Flood and Elijah the people after the Flood, and Hebrews 9:27 says, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” But, we will have to look down from Heaven to see who the two witnesses really are.
The Abomination of Desolation is referenced many places in scripture, four times in the book of Daniel alone. The “abomination” is when the Antichrist stands in the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on worldwide television and declares himself to be God. This will be ultimate abomination committed in the Temple (Dan. 12:11; Matt. 24:15; 2 Thess. 2:3-4). The “desolation” will be the actual desecration of the Tribulation Temple with a man claiming to be God all happening at the mid-point of the Tribulation when Satan possesses the Antichrist.
Israel’s hiding place is the flight of Israel at the middle of the Tribulation to a place of safety. Jesus foretold that after the Antichrist commits the Abomination of Desolation, he will make a final attempt to kill every Jew. To escape, the Jews in Jerusalem must immediately run for cover, specifically the wilderness (Revelation 12:6) . Petra in History and Prophecy is a large cave city (Mt. Seir; Mt. Hor) and is one place that fits the biblical description of Israel’s hiding place in the last half of the Tribulation. Petra is in ancient Edom, in the “wilderness”, the ancient home of Esau. “Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom? Wilt not thou, 0 God …” (Ps.60:l,9-12;Ezek.35).
After the Antichrist becomes the dictator of the world and is worshipped as God, he will demand that every person be assigned a number and a (code) mark. Only those who are assigned a number will be able to work, buy, or sell. Only those who acknowledge Antichrist as God will get the mark, and an attempt will be made to kill everyone who does not have the mark (Rev. 13:16-17). Only in our day does the technology exist to employ and enforce the mark of the beast.
The Battle of Armageddon (Rev. 16:16) will terminate the Tribulation period. This last battle will include armies from all nations. Millions of men will be involved, as we read in Revelation 9:13-21 that the nations of the East (probably centered around China) will send an army of 200 million men. There are scores of prophecies in both the Old and New Testaments that describe the coming conflict (Zech. 14:2-3; Zeph. 3:8; Isa. 65; Rev. 19, etc.). This battle will continue from Megiddo near modern Haifa to Bozrah (modern Beseira) in Jordan, a distance of 1,600 furlongs, or 176 miles. The evident purpose of this battle is to destroy Jerusalem and prevent the return of Jesus Christ. However, the entire army is destroyed by Jesus Christ and the armies from heaven. The Antichrist and the False Prophet will be cast alive, without being judged, into the Lake of Fire, the first residents there to be followed by billions at a later date.
Jesus said, “If I go away, I will come again.” Angels on the Mt. of Olives at His ascension to Heaven said that He would come back to the Mt. of Olives (Acts 1:9-12). Zechariah said at that time the mountain would split (Zech. 14:1-5; Ez. 44:1-3), and the Eastern Gate that had been shut would open. At the Rapture, Jesus will not come to the Earth. At the Second Coming at the Battle of Armageddon, He will come down to Earth, and every eye of every person who survives the Tribulation, including the Jews, will see Him (Rev. 1:7; Mt. 24:27). During the Tribulation two thirds of the Jews in Israel will have been killed, but after the Battle of Armageddon, Jesus will go to Bozrah north of Petra, and lead the remnant back to Israel (Isa. 65). Then Jesus will establish His Throne upon Mt. Zion in Jerusalem and Judge (rule) the nations with a “rod of iron” (Rev. 2:27; 12:5; 19:15; Mt. 25:31,32).
Six times in Revelation 20 the thousand year reign of Jesus Christ on Earth over the nations is mentioned. This will be the seventh millennium since Adam. During this thousand-year reign, all nations will destroy their armaments and there will be no war (Isa. 2:4). Leaders of the nations will be required to go to Jerusalem and worship the Lord and learn of His laws. If any go not up as commanded, that nation will be judged (Zech. 15:16-21); Matt. 25:31-32; Rev. 12:5). Solar changes in the Tribulation will revert Earth’s ecology back to pre-flood conditions and people during the Millennium will live to be hundreds of years old because they live through all of the Millennium (Isa. 65:25). The Devil will be bound and God’s curse upon the Earth for sin will be removed, and the ground will again yield everything that man will need {Ezek. 34:27; Isa. 65:25; Rom. 8:18-23). The law will be enforced and criminals swiftly executed (Isa. 65:20). The Millennium ends with another rebellion of the nations with countless millions rebelling against Jesus led by Satan himself, Jesus will stop the rebellion, and the Earth and everything in it will be burned up (II Pet. 3:10; Rev. 20:9,11).
The Great White Throne Judgment
The Great White Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:11) is the last judgment of the unsaved. The chronology of resurrection for those who inherit eternal life is given in 1 Corinthians 15:23: “. . . Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.” However, Paul preceded this revelation with a qualifying phrase: “BUT EVERY MAN IN HIS OWN ORDER.” The resurrection of the “saved” is: Jesus Christ… all members of the church of the dispensation of grace . . . Old Testament saints … martyrs of the Tribulation period. “This is the first resurrection” (Rev. 20:5). The saved of the Millennium will live to be almost 1,000 years old (no man has yet to live 1,000 years in the flesh), then they will go into the New Heaven and New Earth without experiencing death. All the unsaved dead of all ages will be raised to be judged according to their works. All of those raised at the Great White Throne Judgement without Jesus will go into the eternal Lake of Fire because their names are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Rev. 20:12-15; Mt. 25:41).
The final, unfulfilled major prophecy of the Bible is a New Heaven and a New Earth (Rev. 21:1). Neither the heavens nor the Earth are clean in God’s sight (Isa. 34:4; Job 15:15,16; Rev. 6:14). At the beginning of the eighth millennium, God who created the first heavens and the first Earth with the Words of His mouth will create new heavens and a new Earth where the redeemed, who had chosen Him because they wanted to, not because they had to, will love and worship Him forever.
John, in Revelation 21-22, describes in earthly language the New Heavens and the New Earth where the redeemed will live forever (see also Eph. 1:1-14). But no language is sufficient to describe, or our minds visualize, the unfathomable beauty and glory of God’s new creation. “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say. Come. And let him that is athirst come .. .” (Rev. 22:17). Every person can come to the New Heaven and New Earth by receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Jesus said, “… I go to prepare a place for you . . . that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:2-3).
Conclusion
The Bible describes events and conditions that would mark “the conclusion of the [current] system of things,” or “the end of the world.” (Matthew 24:3; King James Version) The Bible calls this time period “the last days” and the “time of the end,” or “end times.” (2 Timothy 3:1; Daniel 8:19) These events are to be like birth pangs which we all know grow in frequency and intensity until the moment of birth. That is what all of these signs are doing at this very moment. The following are some outstanding features of last-days, or end-times, prophecies:
- War on a large scale, Matthew 24:7; Revelation 6:4
- Famine, Matthew 24:7; Revelation 6:5, 6
- Great earthquakes, Luke 21:11
- Pestilences, or epidemics of “terrible diseases”, Luke 21:11
- Increase of crime, Matthew 24:12.
- Ruining of the earth by mankind, Revelation 11:18
- Deterioration of people’s attitudes, as shown by many who are “unthankful, disloyal, . . . not open to any agreement, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, without love of goodness, betrayers, headstrong, puffed up with pride”, 2 Timothy 3:1-4
- Breakdown of the family, with people who have “no natural affection” and children who are “disobedient to parents”, 2 Timothy 3:2, 3
- Love of God growing cold in most people, Matthew 24:12
- Noteworthy displays of religious hypocrisy, 2 Timothy 3
- Increased understanding of Bible prophecies, including those related to the last days, Daniel 12:4
- Global preaching of the good news of the Kingdom, Matthew 24:14
- Widespread apathy and even ridicule toward the evidence of the approaching end, Matthew 24:37-39; 2 Peter 3:3, 4
Let us all take these at face value as well as God’s message to us all. First, repent, seek the Lord, accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, then we can observe from a perspective that is perfect as saved heirs of the riches of Heaven, outside of God’s Wrath, witnesses of His Glory forevermore! Next, be observant of the signs of the End Times! They are right in front of our very eyes, but relying on the mainstream media will get you nowhere since they are not interested in anything Biblical. There are numerous internet sites that the Truth can be found. All it takes is a little effort and a strong, Spirit-led desire to know the truth. Last, rejoice in the indescribable blessing to be alive in these days when we will see our Savior face to face, witness His Bema Judgment Seat and Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and actually see Him descend to the Mount of Olives to set up His Millennial Kingdom where we will co-reign with Him for a thousand years. Even so, Come Lord Jesus!