It looks like we are likely to have an environmental disaster on the Gulf Coast. The off-shore oil drilling platform that blew out is spilling 5,000 barrels of oil a day and it is headed toward the shores of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Some have said that this oil spill could eclipse the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska.
I suspect the economic fallout from this disaster to far exceed the clean up costs. There are already forces driving up the price of oil due to concern about war in the Mideast. This disaster will only serve to reinforce the positions of those who don’t want us to drill for oil off our shores and say, “not in my backyard.” The net result will be that we will become even more dependant on oil from the Mideast; from Islamic nations that despise our way of life and fund terrorist groups to wage Jihad against us. So the price of oil is destined to go up stalling our economic recovery and fueling inflation; the price of oil impacts the price of everything.
There is a powerful political contingent in this country that secretly applauds the price of oil going up and even the economic crisis that will result. It is part of their agenda to bring the United States down and force us to be more subservient to the world community of nations. This is necessary to make way for the global government that mankind pins it hopes on to solve our problems. Any government that does not seek to please God will fail and the worldwide government of the Antichrist will fail spectacularly.
I can’t help but think that the reason the federal government has been slow to react to the Gulf oil spill is because president Obama is in the camp of those who want to diminish the power of the United States in order to make us more of a team player in the world. Playing this kind of politics will have consequences. The time will come when God will “destroy those who destroy the earth” (Revelation 11:18, NKJ).
This environmental disaster foreshadows even worse pollution during the Tribulation. Revelation 8:10-11 says, “a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.. many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.” While this is probably a reference to the effects of radioactive fallout from the use of nuclear weapons, it too is pollution resulting from the sin of man.
Every day something happens to make us cry out to Jesus to deliver us from the mess ungodly men are making of His creation. Indications are that it will not be long before we see that Day.
The spirit of Antichrist is not just being seen here in the United States, it is popping up everywhere. For example, it now looks like Ukraine has effectively returned to being a satellite of Russia. President Yanukovych has taken advantage of American indifference and European Union ineptitude to undo most of the pro-Western policies of his Orange Revolution predecessor, Viktor Yushchenko.
One might miss this as being the spirit of Antichrist except for a revealing tidbit in the Times OnLine article linked above: "He declared that the famine that killed millions of Ukrainians in the 1930s was not genocide perpetrated by the Soviet Union but a “shared tragedy” with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan at the hands of Joseph Stalin." This kind of historical revisionism is what the Antichrist will do; "He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law" (Daniel 7:25, NKJ).
Unseen pressures are causing governments to seek bailouts from higher authorities. Of course they are not seeking deliverance from the highest authority, only human agencies. It seems like the trend toward more centralized governmental authority is becoming bolder and more urgent. It has become easier to see how a major crisis could catapult the world into embracing a world-wide governmental leader. God is in the process of giving the world over to total human authority which will culminate during the Tribulation when "authority was given him [the Antichrist] over every tribe, tongue, and nation" (Revelation 13:7).
As we experience more birth pangs heralding the proximity of the Tribulation, there will be plenty of crises for governments to take advantage of in grabbing more control over the people. The goal is total control. The day will come when "no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name" (Revelation 13:17).
I am convinced that followers of Jesus in this Age of Grace will not have to suffer through the Tribulation. Yesterday's blog pointed out how the flood of Noah's day is connected to the pouring out of God's wrath during the Tribulation. Thus one would expect Genesis to offer insight into the timing of the Rapture since it is such a significant event. And indeed it does, Genesis 5:24 says Enoch who "walked with God" was taken directly to heaven to be with the Lord ahead of the flood. Enoch was a type of the church. As Enoch was protected from God's wrath in the Flood, those who walk with Christ will be protected from God's wrath during the Tribulation.
Considering Enoch reminds me to make sure I'm walking with the Lord all the time because we don't know when Jesus will return. I certainly don't want to miss out on His coming for us.
The remains of Noah’s Ark have been seen by many people before but the site has now been documented sufficiently to be revealed to the worldwide community. A group of Chinese and Turkish evangelical explorers found the remains of the ark at 13,000 feet on Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey. This is just as one would expect from Genesis 8:4. Carbon dating of the wooden beams proves the relics are 4,800 years old, around the same time the ark would have been built.
This may be the most significant archaeological discovery of all time. Representatives of Hong Cong based Noah's Ark Ministries said the structure contained several compartments used to house animals. The structure could not have been part of a building since no established human settlement has ever been found above 11,000 feet in the vicinity. The freezing temperatures at the altitude the ark remains were found preserved the wood for just such a time as this.
It is interesting to me that the Lord would allow evidence of Noah’s Ark to be made public now. The discovery of Noah’s Ark reinforces what the Bible says about the last time God poured out his wrath on the earth and indications are that we are close to the Tribulation when God will change the earth yet again. Of course most of the world does not believe the Genesis flood was world-wide, just as they scoff at the idea that Jesus is coming back…
“Scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.’ For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.” (2 Peter 3:3-6, NKJ)
The denial that Jesus is returning is coupled with the denial that God poured out His wrath on the earth by a literal world-wide flood. Besides this connection, there are a lot of similarities between the first time God poured out His wrath on the earth and the next time. Indeed, Jesus said, "as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be" (Matthew 24:37-39, NKJ).
Thank God that followers of Jesus in this Age of Grace will not have to go through the Tribulation. "For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:9, NKJ). Every day there is more evidence that we do not have long to wait before we get to experience that salvation.
Unprecedented changes are occurring in the world that are subtle enough that they could easily be dismissed unless you are actively watching for signs of the Lord’s soon return. A good example of this is that more than one-third of the nation's commercial honey bee population has mysteriously disappeared.
This phenomenon is not limited to the United States but has been observed in other food exporting nations worldwide. It was in fact first documented in Israel which indicates to me that this development has special prophetic significance. Ohio State University's state honey bee specialist, James Tew said if bees are unable to pollinate the nation's crops, Americans could be forced to settle for a menu of wheat and corn.
God is the source of the diversity we enjoy and His reducing our food options foreshadows the coming Tribulation. The Third Horse of the Apocalypse symbolizes one of mankind’s afflictions after the Antichrist emerges. Revelation 6:5-6 says, “when He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, ‘Come and see.’ So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, ‘A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine’” (NKJ).
A denarius represents a day’s wages. The time is coming when war and plagues from God pouring out His wrath on the earth will result in so much scarcity that a typical day’s wages will be required to pay for a day’s food. Jesus said that an increase in famines would be a sign of His soon return in Luke 21:11. These famines will get so bad during the Tribulation that most of the world will be touched by them during this time.
Most people dismiss the idea that we will experience a famine here in America. But there is more than the disappearing honey bees that threaten our food supply. The coming war in the Mid-East will disrupt the oil supply which will drive up the cost of producing and distributing food. A major terrorist attack on this country or some other macro-economic event that crashes our economy would also make food scarcer. One of the effects of a nuclear attack is EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) that will fry electrical systems including the ignition systems in vehicles used to transport food.
Of course, such events are unthinkable and painful to imagine for our life time. But upon considering all the trends we are seeing today and the accelerating pace of developments; it is hard not to conclude that the Bible's dramatic culmination of history can not be far off.
The mysterious disappearance of the honey bees is just a subtle foreshadowing of what is to come. I expect we’ll see increasingly less subtle signs up until the Rapture when it will be hard for people to deny that God is trying to shake the world awake.
We should definitely take notice when a leading scientist makes a prediction that is aligned with Scripture. Mankind is being prepared for a great deception involving alien disclosure…
Stephen Hawking believes that extraterrestrials are almost certain to exist but humanity should be doing all we can to avoid any contact. Hawking said, “We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet. I imagine they might exist in massive ships, having used up all the resources from their home planet. Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonize whatever planets they can reach.”
Despite Hawking being a materialist, his basic expectation that mankind mixing it up with extraterrestrials will not have a good outcome is consistent with the Bible. The extraterrestrials described in the Bible are angels. About a third of the angels are or will eventually be fallen angels, also known as demons (see Revelation 12:4).
Jesus told us when He returns it would be “as the days of Noah were” (Matthew 24:37, NKJ). Among the things characterizing the time preceding the worldwide flood was this: “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown” (Genesis 6:4, NIV). The term “sons of God” is a reference to angels (see Job 1:6, 2:1). Non-corporeal beings can not have children so this must be a reference to propagating those possessed by demons.
The angels that mixed it up with mankind during this period have been incarcerated awaiting punishment… “The angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day” (Jude 1:6, NKJ). Fallen angels have gotten involved in the affairs of men in the past and they will do so again…
Jesus warned that there will be great deception during the Tribulation that will precede His return (Matthew 24:24). I believe that during this time extraterrestrials will introduce themselves to mankind. Revelation 16:13-14 says, “I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” I think it likely that these demons will masquerade as friendly aliens rallying earth to come together to thwart an impending alien invasion.
It is interesting that the Apostle John refers to the three demons as looking "like frogs." The most common depiction of alien faces have big eyes, smooth features, and no nose… "like frogs." Fallen angels are preparing mankind to have this expectation for when they formally introduce themselves. And indeed there will be an extraterrestrial invasion coming… “Immediately after the tribulation of those days… Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:29-30, NKJ).
I could certainly see the scenario where the three friendly alien ambassadors deceive mankind into coming together at Armageddon where Jesus and the armies of heaven squelch mankind’s rebellion against God. What most of mankind on the earth at that time perceives to be “good” aliens will really be bad aliens and visa versa. “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20, NKJ).
Our government is careful not to label Islam as the root cause of the terrorism radical Islamists direct against Western Civilization. Our politically correct fear of offending Muslims is on display for all to see virtually every day. A good example of this occurred on Thursday when the U.S. Army withdrew an invitation to Franklin Graham to speak at a Pentagon prayer service next month.
Ostensibly, our government is fearful of inciting the easily offended Islamists. But I suspect that this politically correct attitude has come more out of postmodernism than anything else. After all, who are we to impose our values on others? This attitude apparently also applies to people who are working hard at doing everything they can to kill Americans.
Postmodernism is a lethal doctrine. It leads to spiritual death and it will likely also lead to the physical death of many people in this country. We should not be fighting a war if we can not identify who the enemy is. I’m sure that is the conclusion our government has come to since they are actively seeking to extract our selves from Afghanistan as well as Iraq as soon as possible.
Our lack of resolve will embolden those who seek to do us harm so it is just a matter of time before we see another major terrorist attack on our country. That is if something else does not happen to keep the Islamic terrorists busy in the Middle East. I think it likely that Israel’s need to do something about Iran’s existential threat will be the only thing that keeps Islamic terrorists distracted enough to leave us alone. It does look like throwing Israel under the bus is our government's secret strategy to keep us safe from terror attacks.
I have observed so many times before that those who try to accomplish anything apart from God will end up experiencing that which they are trying to avoid. As 1Thessalonians 5:3 says, “for when they say, 'Peace and safety!' then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape” (NKJ).
In the case of postmodernists trying to appease radical Islamists, they will end up becoming subservient to those they fear offending. This is totally consistent with my conclusion from Scripture that the Antichrist will be al Mahdi, the Muslim savior. “They worshiped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?’” (Revelation 13:4).
Postmodernists fear following Christ because they do not want to be “constrained” by a narrow understanding of the truth. But Jesus admonished us to “enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction” (Matthew 7:13).
While it is frustrating to see the path so many in this world is on, it is a blessing to know that Jesus has promised salvation for His followers.
Just when you think the pendulum is swinging back toward more conservative ideas, the European Union has declared travelling a human right, and is launching a scheme to subsidize vacations with taxpayers’ dollars for those too poor to afford their own trips. There appears to be no bounds to growth of government.
The governments in Europe have taxed their people about as far as they can go so to pay for any new entitlement scheme such as this they'll need to go further into debt. Western nations already have major debt and the sky has not fallen so what is the harm in just a little more debt? Of course this will inevitably lead to inflation which is really a form of hidden taxation.
It seems to me that there is a general sense among government authorities that the end is near so let's spend all we can while we can. This attitude is the fruit of materialism which denies the judgment of God and says, "If the dead do not rise, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!" (1 Corinthians 15:32, NKJ). It is an amazing thing when even unbelievers are acting like the end is near.
Despite strong resistance, maxing out on taxes while piling on as much debt as the government can get away with is the direction we are headed in the United States. A lot of people think that the Tea Party movement and general populist outrage over the excesses of our federal government will turn things around. I hope it will but I can see a scenario where a third party is formed which divides conservatives and allows the socialists to continue their schemes to rob workers of their pay and make everyone subservient to the elites running government.
There is a limit to how far God will allow the socialists to practice their corrupted form of justice. "Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth" (James 5:4).
The unchecked rise of socialism in the world is just one more reminder of how sorely we need Jesus to return. There is no reason why that Day couldn't be today.
A science fiction buff challenged me to write a science fiction story from a Christian perspective. The thought had previously crossed my mind. I think it would be a great story to depict the adventures of people during the Millennial reign of Christ. Here are some rough notes outlining a potential story line…
The story is told from the perspective of the main character, Chet, a 20-something computer whiz-kid who works for a major electronics manufacturing company, Zion Instruments. His technical wherewithal gets noticed by senior management in the company and he is asked if he’d like to be a part of an extraordinary expedition that would require a lot of travel away from home for extended periods of time. The company executive could not tell him the nature of the expedition but it would require a rigorous training program. He would only be permitted to go on the expedition if he passed the requirements of the training program.
Chet agrees to go because he was in the mood for some adventure and was getting bored with the often routine tasks required by his job. The training program at a remote desert location was mostly a physically demanding military boot camp type of training but he was part of a special group learning how to work with new technology that was rumored to be from extraterrestrial origin.
Chet perseveres through the physical part of the training because he was enamored with learning how to use the extraordinary technology that apparently had the capability to transport physical matter and communicate across vast distances in space. Chet was not a big fan of the military style discipline which was part of the training but he did come to appreciate it due to how it facilitated getting things done efficiently. Chet excelled in the technical portion of his training and was going to graduate at the top of his class.
When his training was nearing completion, he learned he needed to be interviewed by one of the Ascended Ones who would command the expedition. The Ascended Ones ran all the levels of the planetary government and all the business. Chet had gotten to know some of them since most college professors were Ascended Ones. The thing that fascinated him the most about the Ascended Ones was that it seemed like they were usually attended by one or more of the Shining Ones who were rumored to be extraterrestrials.
The Shining Ones looked like normal people but they rarely spoke, mostly they watched and served as assistants to the Ascended Ones. The Shining Ones were powerful beings that rarely displayed their power but they glowed with an outer worldly light when they did. People who provoked shining Ones to display their power were severely punished by the government.
Chet was apprehensive about his interview with the Ascended One that would command the expedition because they expected all their associates to adopt their religion and worship the King. Chet just didn’t believe the King was as Almighty as the Ascended Ones and Elders said he was. Chet knew that the Ascended Ones had an uncanny ability to know what people were thinking so you could not fool them. That was why all the judges were Ascended Ones; justice was always swift and severe. It discouraged any kind of dissent.
In the interview Chet comes clean that he did not think the King was the Creator-God but Ascended One accepted him for the expedition anyway and told him what it was… to test a star ship with a dimensional drive. But Chet learns later that there was more to the expedition than just a test flight... their mission was to explore the universe along with track down and send to the pit any of the Fallen Ones they could find. It was rumored that the Fallen Ones had scattered throughout the galaxy when the Shining Ones came to the rescue of earth during the Great War. Of course the politically correct version give the King credit for ending the Great War.
On the expedition Chet learns that the universe is teaming with life. And during the course of it and as a result of his relationships with his crew mates and the Ascended Ones leading the expedition, he comes to accept King Jesus as the Creator God and Savior of mankind.
OK, so what is the biblical basis for this? Revelation 20:6 says, "Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years" (NKJ). When Jesus comes back to establish His Millennial Kingdom, we come back with Him in our resurrected bodies. We will mix it up with mortal people who survived the Tribulation. people born during the Millennial Kingdom will need to accept Christ the same as everyone throughout history. They will have every advantage to do so with Jesus ruling from Jerusalem, a Utopian society where the government is run by resurrected saints, and with Satan bound and other fallen angels on the run.
People who follow Jesus will have a grand adventure. "He who overcomes [the deception of this world] shall inherit all things" (Revelation 21:7, NKJV). The stars are part of all things, I'm convinced we will explore them for, "the heavens declare the glory of God" (Psalm 19:1, NIV).
Will we be limited to viewing God’s glory in the heavens from earth? God’s glory will increase the more we know Him through His creation… "Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end" (Isaiah 9:7, NIV). All dispensations have foreshadowed aspects of what things will be like during the Eternal State. I believe the Millennial Kingdom will be the closest to what the Eternal State will be like since the fall of mankind.
God will enable us to explore the stars. Jesus promised, "I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am" (John 14:3, NIV) . Jesus promised us that we would be able to go where ever He may be; and He can go anywhere… "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there"
Is it only science fiction to think God will enable us to explore the stars? "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us" (Ephesians 3:20, NKJV). Sci-Fi has a propensity to come to fruition. It is the result of mankind’s God-given sense of adventure, wonder, creativity, and imagination… Is God’s imagination less than that of His image-bearers? Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart" (NKJV).
Granted, there are a lot of details to fill in for this story but it is interesting to speculate what things will be like during the Millennial Kingdom. Meanwhile, we have our missions during this Age of Grace... adventure awaits!
I recently had a discussion with an associate where my faith in Christ was maligned as being too constrained. The more I thought about this, the more I was struck by the bad logic of that rationale. Truth is very constrained. A common argument for not allowing yourself to be constrained by the truth is to deny that we can know the truth.
Postmodernism denies that we can know the truth which leaves people to accept for themselves as valid what ever wild thought pops into their head. Such a perspective is attractive because it enables people to be accountable only to themselves and denies an Almighty Creator who will judge us. This perspective is what gets the nations in hot water with God during the Tribulation...
Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, "Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us." He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the LORD shall hold them in derision. (Psalm 2:1-4, NKJ)
I am convinced that people who doubt we can know the truth about God really don't want to know the truth about Him. They are happy going along as they are with whatever belief system they have manufactured for themselves since it just feels right. They have made God in their own image. This is plain and simple rebellion against God. And the consequences for holding to this philosophy is to get what they desire... separation from their Creator for eternity. "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death" (Proverbs 14:12).
God has made the truth easily accessible to anyone who really wants to know it. The Bible is the most published book in the world by a huge margin. The Bible has been translated into more languages than any book in history. There is a reason the Bible has been so successful... the Almighty Creator wants us to know him. The first thing governmental authorities who hate God do when they come to power is make the Bible illegal; yet it is amazing how the Bible has overcome all opposition to be everywhere. There is a reason for this, God is behind it.
A common way of dismissing the Bible by skeptics who don't want to let go of their personal view of God is to say that the Bible is subject to interpretation... "who can know what it really says?" This is just more postmodern philosophy that corrupts a person's ability to think clearly. God gave us His Word so that we may know Him. Thus God would have to make the Bible understandable by the common person without needing some specially anointed intermediary to tell us what God is really saying to us.
The problem is that people just don't want to believe what God has said to us in His Word. They may accept this piece or that piece but reject the truths they don't like. Such lukewarm acknowledgement of God is worse than being a blaspheming atheist... Jesus said, "because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth" (Revelation 3:16).
My own personal discovery that I can take God's Word literally was the most liberating development I have ever experienced next to being born again. The Bible is full of prophecies that have been literally fulfilled; thus we should expect the ones yet to be fulfilled to be fulfilled literally as well. This is simple logic that anyone who honestly seeks the truth must acknowledge.
God wants us to check these things out for ourselves. "Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!" (Psalm 34:8).
Antisemitism is another trend we can expect to see in the time leading up to the return of the Lord. A friend pointed out to me that Pastor Mark Blitz in his latest newsletter believes God raised up a volcano to shut down tourism in the U.K because the British government is attacking tourism in Israel. The British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) criticized Israel for including pictures of the Western Wall in a tourism advertisement, claiming that the holy site is technically not located within the country's borders.
Now I know a lot of skeptics will simply say this is a coincidence; but I don't believe there are coincidences with an Almighty God who is in control of His creation. Despite immediate repercussions for "touching the apple of God's eye" (Zechariah 2:8), antisemitism will increase as we get closer to the Lord's return because all nations will seek the demise of Israel... "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" (Zechariah 12:3, NKJ).
Israel is being backed into a corner by the world and so it is just a matter of time before they will be forced to respond decisively. It amazes me that most people don't see this trend or are just content to put their head in the sand denying what is happening so that they can go about pursuing their own personal agenda that excludes any recognition of God. Of course the Bible tells us why there is such spiritual blindness in 1 Corinthians 2:14.
I get the sense that we are on the cusp of some dramatic changes among the nations of the world. Habakkuk 1:5 says, "Look among the nations and watch-- be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days which you would not believe, though it were told you." God is allowing the evil of antisemitism to grow so that Israel will be forced to take action. The chain of events this triggers will plunge this world into the Tribulation.
I don't look forward to the Tribulation, but I do look forward to the Rapture that has to precede it. Let the grand adventure begin!
The increase of earthquake activity is now getting hard to ignore. It hasn’t been long since I commented on the major quakes in Haiti and Chile and now we have just had another one in China. Also in the news is a major volcano eruption in Iceland that is disrupting air travel across Northern Europe.
People don’t usually think of a volcano as a type of earthquake but it is; volcanoes are caused by tectonic movements the same as earthquakes. And a shaking of the earth is always associated with volcanoes.
The message to everyone in this obvious increase in earthquake activity is that all things are not continuing as they have from the beginning (see 2 Peter 3:4). Volcanoes have the potential affect more people over a broader range than earthquakes as we are seeing in this case with the travel disruption. And ash from volcanoes has been known to significantly cool the earth by blocking the sun… God will show the global warming humanists who really controls the climate.
Volcano ash in the atmosphere also foreshadows the even greater darkness God will bring during the Tribulation. Joel 2:31 says, “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD” (NKJ).
We are blessed to live in a time when Bible prophecy is being fulfilled. I can’t wait to see what God will do next.
It never fails to amaze me how people generally end up experiencing the very thing they are trying to avoid when they leave God out of their effort. That is the thought which occurs to me when I hear about President Obama's efforts at nuclear non-proliferation.
President Obama recently watered down our policy for using nuclear weapons and signed an arms reduction treaty with Russia. These developments were followed closely by a nuclear summit of world leaders where Obama declared that, "We've made real progress in building a safer world." So why do I get the sense that the President's rhetoric is really far from the truth? It might be because so much of what this president says has been found to be deceptive. Or that history has shown appeasement to have a poor track record of success (remember Chamberlain and WW II). Or it could be because of the age we are in, "for when they say, 'Peace and safety!' then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape" (1 Thessalonians 5:3, NKJ).
The Bible certainly makes it clear that nuclear weapons will be used. Zechariah 14:12 says, "this shall be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: 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." Now this could be supernatural but since God most often works through natural means this certainly could be a description of nuclear weapon effects.
And consider this passage which describes an aspect of God's wrath during the Tribulation: "He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place" (Revelation 6:12-14). The blast effects of nuclear weapons are like an earthquake; the sun and moon being obscured could be from dust in the atmosphere thrown up by nuclear ground bursts; ICBM warheads re-entering the earth's atmosphere at night will look like falling stars; the sky receding like a scroll could describe a mushroom cloud; and thermonuclear weapons even have the power to displace mountains and islands.
The situation today is significantly more dangerous than during the Cold War when the use of a nuclear weapon was unthinkable because it would clearly result in a massive response. We no longer have this balance of Mutually Assured Destruction. We have rogue nations like North Korea and Iran with, or about to have nukes. We have a potentially unstable government with nukes in Pakistan. The turmoil and corruption of a rapid transition to a market economy has resulted in some nukes going missing in Russia. We have the rapid growth of Islamic Jihadists who believe they have a mandate from god to kill as many infidels as they can. The world is backing Israel into a corner daring them to use their nukes preemptively against Iran. And God is removing His restraint of evil in the world.
I believe that a likely time for the Rapture would be during a nuclear exchange. Who would miss a few million Christians when the world is busy dealing with a crisis where millions more have died from war. 2 Thessalonians 2:11 says "God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie" explaining away the Rapture. People will be significantly more receptive to a superficial apologetic when they have other concerns on their minds.
In these perilous times, it helps to remember the promises of God... "For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:9).
Energy companies appear to have discovered just off the Israeli Mediterranean coast the largest natural gas resource ever found. Prophecy watchers have often said that some sort of development such as this would have to happen for the Ezekiel 38-39 war to take place. We no longer have to wonder what that the hooks in the jaws of Gog will be (Ezekiel 38:4).
Ezekiel 38:13 makes it clear that coveting material wealth is the motivation of the coalition of nations that come against Israel in the "latter days," a reference to the time preceding the return of the Messiah. Israel has been blessed with technological prowess but that is less of a temptation for an attacker because it can not be exploited like mineral resources. So this discovery in Israel changes things.
However, there is yet another problem thinking we are on the verge of Ezekiel 38 being fulfilled. Ezekiel 38:11 says that Gog will seek to attack, "a land of unwalled villages... all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates" (NKJ). Since symbolic language is common in prophetic literature, I once rationalized that the security barriers in Israel today are nothing to a modern mechanized force but God put this detail in the Bible for some reason. And couple that with the fact that the nations listed in Ezekiel 38 do not include Israel's immediate neighbors. You would think they would be involved given all the rhetoric regarding the plight of the Palestinians today.
There is a growing body of prophecy watchers today saying that the problems with Ezekiel 38 being on the verge of fulfillment is explained by Psalm 83. The agenda and fate of the nations immediately adjacent to Israel are addressed in Psalm 83. I plan to study this more thoroughly in the coming few weeks but it looks very much like a Psalm 83 battle will precede Ezekiel 38. This certainly is reinforced by my recent conviction that Gog is another term for the Antichrist; besides Ezekiel 38-39, the only other reference to Gog in the Bible is Revelation 20:8, clearly a world leader that is allowed to emerge to oppose Christ.
As we can see the stage being set for the world-wide government of the Antichrist during the Tribulation, we can also see the ground-work being laid for the Ezekiel 38-39 war. I believe this war must happen during the Tribulation. This is reinforced by the fact that Israel will be living in a false peace at the beginning of the Tribulation as a result of a peace treaty guaranteed by the Antichrist (Daniel 9:27).
Since the Rapture of the true followers of Christ must occur prior to the Tribulation, we can see we're getting close. This massive gas discovery in Israel is just one more piece falling into place.
The fact that Poland has been one of the United States' closest friends has been a source of tension between them and Russia. So the Russians are doing their best to show that they were not complicit in the plane crash that killed Poland's president and other top government officials. All indications are that fog and the pilot not wanting to disrupt the schedule of his country's most important dignitaries were the causes of the accident.
Still, God is in control and could have prevented this accident so He must have allowed it to happen for a reason. We will probably not know the full scope of that reason while we're in our mortal bodies but it appears to me at least part of the reason is that this reinforces our suspicions we are in the season when God is increasingly removing His restraint on evil in this world. Jesus said in Matthew 24:6-8 that the incidence of tragedies common to this fallen world would increase in frequency and intensity like birth pangs as His return gets closer.
The Apostle Paul reinforced this when he explained to the Thessalonians that God is keeping the government of the Antichrist from rising up through the ministry of the Holy Spirit who restrains evil... "For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way" (2 Thessalonians 2:7, NKJ).
The tragedy of losing a country's top government officials could have happened to any country. The fact that it happened to a close ally of the United States is just more evidence that God is allowing the influence of the United States to be diminished in the world. This is necessary to have a more level playing field between the nations of the world to make way for a worldwide government to emerge.
Even though God is removing His restraint on evil in the world, it doesn't mean evil has to affect us personally. Spiritual warfare is not new to followers of Christ; Ephesians 6:10-18 explains the resources God has given us "to stand against the wiles of the devil." We are entering a time when superficial faith will not be suffice... "Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man" (Luke 21:36).
The price of oil is beginning to creep up. A barrel of oil is now $87 a barrel, its highest level since October 2008 prompting concerns that triple-digit crude was once again in the offing. The pundits are saying this is because speculators are anticipating increasing demand as the world comes out of the recession. But I suspect there is another dynamic at work: fear that the supply will be disrupted.
A war in the Mideast threatens a disruption in oil supplies which honest analysts would have to conclude is inevitable. Iran is defiant in developing nuclear weapons so that they can execute their mission from Allah to rid the world of Israel. The world community of nations are unable to impose effective sanctions on Iran. And Israel will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon while Iran's proxies in Syria and Lebanon are itching to punish Israel for an attack on Iran's nuclear capacity. It doesn't take a political science scholar to figure out what all this will lead to.
You also have to wonder if the world is really coming out of the recession. The number of US workers claiming jobless benefits for the first time recorded an unexpected rise last week. And the economic melt-down in Greece is about to come to a head. The fundamentals that plunged us into a recession are still at work... there is massive debt everywhere with no real resolve to do anything about it. Thus many financial analysts think that conditions are ripe for a second dip recession. So this means the main reason for the price of oil going up must be jitters about supply disruption.
Jesus told us that an increase incidence of "rumors of wars" is a sign of His coming soon in Matthew 24:6. The price of oil going up in anticipation of a war disrupting supply certainly qualifies as a rumor. The only consolation for me about paying more at the pump is that we are getting closer to the Day when Jesus will come for us. It behooves us to stay ready.
The United Nations does not have a very good track record of doing anything of value. Yet the world keeps trying to improve our condition by working through this community of nations. The U.N. is the world’s great hope of being able to “beat swords into plowshares” and not have to “learn war any more.” But Micah 4:3 says that it is the Messiah that makes this possible.
The struggle over how severe the sanctions imposed on Iran should be is only the latest display of U.N. fruitlessness. You have to wonder how long the governments of the world will tolerate a powerless body like the U.N. The day is coming when they will yield their sovereignty to a strong world leader who can get things done… “These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast” (Revelation 17:13, NKJ).
The trend toward more centralized governmental power has certainly been accelerating in this country. It wouldn’t take much to see this trend extend to the nations of the world. There will be some crisis that precipitates it. The situation between Iran and Israel is likely to be the catalyst that causes the nations to cry out for a strong leader to fix our problems. The idea that we can fix our own problems without God will lead to His wrath.
I’m looking forward to the true peace between nations that will only happen when Jesus returns to rule on the earth.
As we get closer to the return of Christ, we can expect to see what 2 Timothy 3:1 calls perilous times. Since we don’t exactly have anarchy in the streets, perilous times seems like it could be far off but we are seeing political posturing that reduces our security.
President Barack Obama has declared that the United States has changed its doctrine on using nuclear weapons essentially saying that they will not be used against nations that do not possess them. This sounds good on the surface (a la, imagine a world without nukes); but it completely disregards the realities of human nature…
You have to ask yourself, does narrowing our nuclear weapon options make us safer or less safe? The answer to this question depends which side of the ideological divide you are on. I’m sure that secular humanists will think it is one step closer to world peace. But those of us with a biblical world view know that reducing the nuclear deterrent will only make this world more dangerous.
Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (NKJ). The only thing that keeps wicked hearts at bay in this world is the threat and use of force. Resolving to back off on that force allows wickedness to grow bolder. There are a number of specific results I expect will be seen from Obama’s new nuclear doctrine…
This new nuclear weapons posture seeks to appease those who would like to see the demise of the United States. History shows how well appeasing despots work; it fails every time it is tried. The timing of this in the midst of growing Islamic Jihad is pretty significant. This new policy encourages Islamic Jihadists to use chemical or biological weapons to test our resolve not to punish a nation that harbors them.
I think this new policy makes Ezekiel 38-39 more likely to happen since there is less risk that the United States would intervene on behalf of Israel. Many will ask what the danger is in the Ezekiel 38 war to the United States… I think a close reading of Ezekiel 38-39 reveals that it describes a nuclear war that escalates (see especially Ezekiel 38:22 and 39:6). The reference to “fire on the coastlands” may well include the United States. The real danger of nuclear weapons is that their use by any nation is guaranteed to escalate.
President Obama’s new policy makes the US less of a military super power and thus more likely to go along with the will of the world community of nations. I’m sure many will applaud that feature. I’ll only point out that this is designed to be coupled with our reduced economic super power status to make it easier for a world government to emerge.
President Obama thinks his new nuclear policy is a step toward peace in the world. But what it does in fact is reduce our security by encouraging those with terrorist visions. This is one more sign that God’s restraint of evil is being removed. “For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3).
While we have been fiddling around with domestic issues associated with the economy and health care, things have been heating up in the Mideast. Not only is there now general acknowledgement that Iran will soon be a nuclear state, Palestinians believe the peace process has reached a dead-end in the wake of Israel moving forward with building in East Jerusalem.
Jordan's King Abdullah told The Wall Street Journal that, “I think the long-term future of Israel is in jeopardy unless we solve our problems.” This could be interpreted as a threat and is somewhat of a surprise coming from a neighbor of Israel who used to be a friend. There are other indications that the relationship between Israel and Jordan has going sour.
King Abdullah must not know what God has said about the future of Israel or he wouldn’t make such ominous predictions… “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again... and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children's children, forever” (Ezekiel 37:21-25, NKJV).
A lot of this prophecy has already been fulfilled. Jews have returned to the land of Israel from the nations where they have been dispersed. And they have been one nation in the land of their ancestors for 62 years this May. So since the first part of this prophecy has been fulfilled, we should expect the rest to be fulfilled as well; thus Israel is back in their own land to stay.
An increasing number of people think that peace in the Mideast can not be achieved without the demise of Israel. These people are opposing the will of God and will suffer His wrath as a result. Betting against God’s Word is illogical and its growing pervasiveness shows that God is giving more people over to a debased mind (Romans 1:28).
All people should need to be convinced that God’s Word is true is to look at Israel. It is amazing to me that so many reject this evidence for the veracity of the Bible to pursue their own path. “If it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15).
The Constitution of the United States represents the rule of law and not rule by the whims of rulers. As we get closer to the world being ruled by the Antichrist, we can expect to see us moving away from the rule of law and toward more rule by decree of the king.
U.S. Representative Phil Hare (D-Ill) revealed his mindset regarding the rule of law recently in a heated exchange with his constituents. While being pressed on the complications of “Obamacare” he was asked, "Where in the Constitution?" Hare’s reply was, “I don't worry about the Constitution on this to be honest.” This is amazing to hear from one of our “lawmakers.” Phil Hare must not have really meant it when he swore to uphold the Constitution.
This kind of Freudian slip that reveals a person’s true thoughts about a matter is more evidence that the spirit of Antichrist is growing stronger in our day. Indeed seeking to change from the rule of law will be one of the character traits of the Antichrist. Daniel 7:25 says, “he shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law” (NKJ). It is interesting to note that our president ran promising change. I wonder how many people would have actually voted for him if they knew what kind of change Liberal Democrats really want to make.
Jesus also told us that there would be an increasing departure from the rule of law as a sign of His soon return. Matthew 24:12 says, “because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” There are many who do things under the auspices of caring about others but their real motives are to secure power for themselves or their political party. I look forward to the day when Jesus returns to expose such schemes for all to see.
I’m guessing that when President Obama breaks himself away from his domestic agenda to deal with foreign policy that he genuinely wants to see peace in the Mideast. But it is amazing how actions by rulers with a materialistic world view end up with exactly what they are trying to avoid.
After Israel approved 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem, President Obama diverted JDAM kits for turning bunker buster bombs into smart bombs from Israel to the US Air Force base on Diego Garcia. I’m sure this is intended to punish Israel for building in Jerusalem by discouraging them from attacking Iran. But all this does is signal to Israel that they are on their own regarding Iran so their first strike has to be effective. There were already questions that conventional bunker buster smart bombs would be effective, so this only makes it more likely that Israel will employ tactical nuclear weapons to take out Iran’s hardened targets.
Given the existential nature of the threat Iran’s nuclear weapons program represents for Israel, using nuclear weapons against it is justified. And the world will ostracize Israel for attacking Iran whether they use conventional weapons or nukes. This is all the more reason for making sure the first strike will not require a second.
There is speculation that the reason Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu recently visited President Obama was to notify him about Israel’s single-strike plan. This conjecture is reinforced by the White House stepping up efforts on getting sanctions imposed on Iran by the world community of nations in weeks rather than months. All that sanctions will do is give the nations participated in it the perception of the moral high ground; it gives them cover that they did all they could to avoid a war. Iran has sufficient support from other nations that universal sanctions will not happen and thus will not be effective. Israel knows this and will not risk waiting for the world to come around to realizing this as well.
So Israel will attack Iran in a single, multiple target strike with tactical nuclear weapons. We don’t know when but I’d expect it to happen this year, probably by summer. The world will be outraged and I expect this will likely precipitate the Ezekiel 38 nations to mass for an attack on Israel. What will the outcome be? Israel will prevail. Zechariah 12:6 says, “In that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place—Jerusalem” (NKJ).
Any time nuclear weapons are used, even for a limited tactical objective, there is high risk of escalation. And it is very likely that the Ezekiel 38-39 war which includes a nuclear exchange will be the result. Ezekiel 38:22 describes how God will devastate those who attack Israel, “I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.” I’m sure this defensive action is what will cause the world’s longest continuously inhabited city, Damascus to become “be a ruinous heap” (Isaiah 17:1). And the devastation will not be limited to the massing soldiers: “I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in security in the coastlands. Then they shall know that I am the LORD” (Ezekiel 39:6).
This war will set the stage for the Antichrist to come on the scene to clean things up. If this scenario is plausible, the Rapture must happen in conjunction with the Ezekiel 38 war. And I think that a nuclear exchange would be a likely time for the Rapture to occur. Who will miss a few millions Christians when the world has lost millions more from a nuclear war? 2 Thessalonians 2:11 reinforces the idea that God will time the Rapture in such a way that people will not give it the significance it deserves.
Developments in the Mideast bear watching… “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:28)
In the book of Revelation, Jesus dictated letters to seven churches that existed at that time. Scholars have marveled at the order these churches were addressed because the characteristics of these churches mirror church history. Thus it is instructive to take a good look at the letter to the Laodicean church because it describes the state of Christendom in the time leading up to the end of the Church Age. Since the Laodicean error is the spirit of the Age, it would be to our advantage to really understand it so as not to contribute to it. We may be in the Laodicean church but we don't have to be Laodicean believers.
The letter to the church at Laodicea is found in Revelation 3:14-22. Jesus rebuked the church for their being lukewarm toward Him and thinking they were wealthy due to their worldly things when in fact they were very poor spiritually. Jesus admonishes the church to purchase from Him true spiritual wealth that only comes from growing in our relationship with Him along with "white garments" which represent righteous acts per Revelation 19:8 and "eye salve" so that we may see the truth with the help of the Holy Spirit per 1 Corinthians 2:14.
Clues as to the root cause of the Laodicean lukewarm-ness can be found in other passages about the final phase of the Church Age. The error of the Laodicean Church is represented by 1 Timothy 3:1-5, "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money... having a form of godliness but denying its power" (NKJV). The end of the Church Age will be characterized by the practice of religion but being on fire in a relationship with the Creator will be lacking. The remedy for this that the Apostle Paul goes on to tell Timothy about is the need to follow true doctrine: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work" (1 Timothy 3:16-17).
Thus, the Apostle Paul says that not correctly recognizing the authority of Scripture will be a problem in the last days. He reinforces this issue in 1 Timothy 4:3-4, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." Bad doctrine from misinterpreting Scripture is what contributes to people being lukewarm toward Jesus. Truth resonates with people but falsehoods to support a personal agenda does not. The more people get the idea that the Bible is just a collection of sayings to support the latest wind of doctrine, the more they will ignore it and the God who inspired it.
The alternative to seeing the Bible as being inspired by God is to see it as being the story of man's search for God. People who deny the supernatural inspiration of God's Word expect the Bible to be subject to errors and contradictions since it was written by flawed men. So when they force Scripture to support their pet ideology, they ignore the contradictions pointed out to them because such discrepancies are to be expected if the Bible was authored by flawed men. But if the Bible is truly God's Word, there will be no contradictions in Scripture, only gaps in our understanding.
There is a plethora of doctrinal errors that people fall into if they don't see Scripture as being inspired by God. Some of these include salvation by works, the idea that once born again a person can lose their salvation, and the view that all people will go to heaven regardless their relationship to the Lord. Playing fast and loose with what Scripture actually says has lead to a proliferation of denominations that have divided over disputable matters and also cults that promote fundamental heresies. Among the errors that the Laodicean church has embraced in this end-phase of the Church Age is related to beginning things and end things, theistic evolution and amillennialism.
Theistic evolution is nothing more than a compromise with an anti-Christ worldview that sows doubt about the veracity of God's Word. If God really did use an evolutionary process, why didn't He make that more clear in His Word rather than force us to just accept contradictions in order to fit the human theory of evolution into Scripture? If we can't trust the Bible to be true then we end up having to trust in human authority as the final arbiter of what is true, a very dangerous practice. Indeed, the Lord warned us about this in Luke 16:31: "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead."
We are told in 2 Peter 3:3 that the end times would be characterized by scoffing about the return of Jesus. Such scoffing is growing in the church due to the the pervasiveness of of amillennialism. It is interesting to note that those who adopt this superficial, lazy approach to eschatology generally also embrace theistic evolution. The false doctrine of amillennialism effectively says Jesus will not return until He comes back to usher in the Eternal State. But proponents of this view don't believe the Eternal State will be any time soon because if it took Jesus millions of years from the beginning of creation to come the first time then it could be millions of years before He returns. This means amillennialists generally have no sense of urgency to get on with what God is calling us to do, hence their lukewarm-ness.
The practice of doubting God's Word began early in history. "Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1). This was the tactic Satan used to tempt Eve in the Garden and this tried-and-true approach is still being used today. The Enemy of God takes advantage of our human propensity to apply our own meaning to what God has clearly told us.
We can trust that the Bible is true because of the nature of God: He is Almighty enough to have accurately given mankind His Word and preserved it through time even using His flawed subjects. We can also trust the Bible is true because of the love of God: He has provided us a way that we can know Him and know what is of Him and what is not. And there is plenty of evidence that the Bible really is from God in its fulfilled prophecy; only God can declare the end from the beginning per Isaiah 46:10.
Given that we can trust the Bible to really be God's Word, we should interpret it then using a proper orthodox exegesis. Hermeneutics is the theory and methodology of text interpretation. The terms "hermeneutics" and "exegesis" are sometimes used interchangeably. While hermeneutics includes written, verbal, and nonverbal communication, the term exegesis focuses on just the text. The word exegesis means “to lead out of” and that means the interpreter is led to make conclusions by what the text actually says.
There is another approach to interpreting Scripture known as eisegesis which is the interpretation of a passage based on a subjective, non-analytical reading. Eisegesis means “to lead into” and results in the interpreter injecting his own ideas into the text effectively making it mean whatever he wants. Obviously, all the bad doctrines of our age come from eisegesis. We are commanded in 2 Timothy 2:15 to use exegetical methods: “Present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” An honest student of the Bible will be an exegete, allowing the text to speak for itself.
Among the ways people eisegete Scripture to make it support their favored ideology is to ignore its textual and historical context. They also ignore its literal meaning and instead apply some spiritual truth to it. This practice of spiritualization forces a text to mean something that it does not say and is the most common form of eisegesis.
The best approach to avoid eisegesis is to apply a consistent literal exegesis. This means seeing the text in a normal or plain sense first along with applying the ordinary meaning of words that are used. Yes, there is symbolism in Scripture that is typical of any good literature but it is generally easily recognized by the context and often even explained by the text itself. The Golden Rule of interpretation is this: when the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense or you'll end up with nonsense.
There is good news in the orthodox hermeneutics of literal interpretation: we can allow Scripture to interpret itself. We don't need to see the Bible as some mystical code book requiring a special decoding ring to figure out. Neither do we need some scholarly intermediary to tell us what the Bible really says. We can allow God to speak directly to us through the plan sense meaning of the Bible. Having this perspective is powerful medicine against the Laodicean spirit of lukewarm-ness because it will energize our personal Bible study and help us grow closer to the Lord.
The great error of our Age is not believing the Bible is in-errantly God's Word. But we don't have to be sucked into this dangerous doctrine. The more we appreciate the Bible as being inspired by God by studying it to know the Truth, the closer we'll grow to our Savior. And this is getting increasingly important as deception and other birth pangs of the Tribulation get more frequent and intense.
If you haven't noticed, Syria is a mess. ISIS has taken over large swaths of the country in order to kill Christians and anyone else who does not embrace their brand of radical Sunni Islam. Syria's president, Bashar Hafez al-Assad is being supported by Russia who is showing their commitment to him by building a base there and putting boots on the ground. ISIS is fighting against the Syrian regime and there are also apparently non-ISIS-aligned rebels fighting against Assad with U.S. support.
There are also Kurds in Northern Syria and Iraq that are fighting ISIS. While the Kurds are fighting ISIS, the U.S. has not been very helpful in that effort and even blocked Arab allies wanting to fly heavy weapons to aid in their fight. Our whole effort against ISIS has been lackadaisical launching a few air strikes just to say that we are dealing with the problem. The U.S. program to train rebel Syrians to fight ISIS has been a dismal failure spending $500 million to train 54 fighters of which only 4 or 5 have stayed in the fight.
You have to wonder if the U.S. really wants ISIS to be defeated. When the U.S. military pulled completely out of Iraq, a power vacuum was left that gave rise to ISIS. And President Obama no-doubt likes the fact that ISIS is fighting against the Assad regime because he still thinks Assad needs to go. Since President Obama praised the "Arab Spring" movement where Arab dictators were replaced by Muslim Brotherhood Theocracies, he must be disappointed that has not worked out in Syria. President Obama for some inexplicable reason favors the Muslim Brotherhood referring to them as a moderate alternative to more violent Islamist groups like al Qaeda and the Islamic State. Egyptian scholars have explained that while ISIS is publicly hostile to the Muslim Brotherhood, they share identical goals and support radical jihad.
Turkey has reluctantly entered the fight against ISIS but this is complicated because they are also fighting the Kurdistan Workers Party which has been calling for Kurdish autonomy. So far, the Kurds are the only group that has held their own against ISIS despite the U.S. and Turkey trying to impede their efforts. It is interesting to note that the Kurds are likely descendants of the Medes who where aligned with the Persians when they defeated ancient Babylon. Since history does repeat itself (Ecclesiastes 1:9), look for the Kurds to align themselves with Iran, they already have a common enemy in ISIS.
The Shiite Islamic Mullahs of Iran also support the Assad regime and has arranged Hezbollah to help him battle ISIS. Hezbollah, based in neighboring Lebanon is effectively the Iranian Foreign Legion. This anti-ISIS effort has no-doubt distracted Hezbollah from their mission to prepare for the inevitable war against Israel. It is likely that the Iran has pressured Russia to get involved in supporting Assad against ISIS so that Hezbollah may go back to their primary mission.
All these groups fighting in Syria has resulted in a massive flight of refugees into Europe. It also looks like ISIS is taking advantage of the refugee migration to embed more jihadists in Europe. And as you'd expect, the Obama administration wants to help Europe out by taking tens of thousands of the Syrian "migrants" into this country. It is a sign of the times that we have no problem bringing multitudes of Islamists into this country of which many are certainly ISIS jihadists while we refuse asylum for Christians fleeing the ISIS genocide.
Certainly the refugees fleeing Syria is a tragedy that the U.S. had a hand in causing through our inept foreign policy. Or maybe this was all calculated by the Obama Administration to facilitate Islam being spread throughout the Western world. The Syrian refugee crisis does show how prophecy is being fulfilled in our day... "The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined" (Daniel 9:26, NKJV). There are no-doubt many villages that are now desolate in Syria due to ISIS.
It is also clear that recent developments are setting the stage for fulfillment of other end-times prophecy. Russia going into Syria shows how easily the Ezekiel 38 war against Israel will develop. And the alignment of the nations involved in the Ezekiel 38 war against Israel are already in place, principally Russia (Magog), Iran (Persia) and Turkey (Gomer and Beth Togarmah).
More stage setting is seen in the growing enclaves of Muslims in Western nations. In Daniel 2 Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon had a dream that the Prophet Daniel interpreted for him describing all the Gentile governments that would rule over Jerusalem until the Messiah established His kingdom. The vision in Nebuchadnezzar's dream was of a statue made up of different materials each representing a different Gentile government. The last government before the Messiah will come is described as being "iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay" (Daniel 2:43). The iron represents the modern-day vestiges of the Roman Empire which is Western Civilization today, and the clay represents the progeny of the Ottoman Empire which are the Muslims seeking a revival of the Islamic caliphate.
There are Westerners living in their own enclaves within Islamic countries to help them with technology, security, and to develop their oil. There have also been Muslims migrating to Western nations mostly as refugees. The Muslim communities do not assimilate into the culture of the Western nations where they live and the Westerners in their enclaves in Islamic nations do assimilate either. This is just as the Daniel 2:43 prophecy indicates, the "iron does not mix with clay."
It doesn't take a political scientist to see that Syria is a powder keg; it is just a matter of time before it explodes which means there will soon be another Mid-East war involving Israel. What better way to unite the competing Shiite-Sunni Islamic interests than to direct it against their common enemy Israel. It is likely this next war probably described in Psalm 83 will resolve the Palestinian claims on Israel once and for all. This means that Israel will be able to be at peace enough to build a temple in Jerusalem as prophesied in Daniel 9:27. This false peace is also the key condition necessary to precipitate the Ezekiel 38 war which is already being staged.
End time developments will happen faster than all of us think possible. As the Prophet Daniel indicated in Daniel 9:26, "the end of it shall be with a flood." That means we don't have long to persevere in this fallen world. The Rapture of the Church will occur prior to the Tribulation which will begin with Israel entering into a seven-year peace confirmed by the emerging world ruler (Daniel 9:27). This peace will turn out to be a false, temporary peace. With all the stage setting going on, the Tribulation period can't be far off. As Jesus told us in Revelation four times, "behold, I am coming quickly!"
Indications are that the Blessed Hope of Christians will occur soon. That is why I am moved to post an article directed to those who are left behind. My hope is that people who did not accept Jesus as their Savior during the Church Age will read this and accept Him now despite all the deception seeking to explain away the Rapture.
The term "Rapture" is derived from the Latin word "rapturo" which is translated "caught up" in English where it is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air" (NKJV). God revealed this amazing supernatural event to First Century Christians: "Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed" (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).
The idea that the Creator-God would resurrect His Church when it is complete translating living mortal people into immortal bodies is pretty fantastic. But that is what He told us He would do and if you have heard that millions of people have instantly disappeared worldwide, the Rapture is what has happened. No-doubt, this has those who are left behind scrambling to explain what has happened. Given the incredible nature of this event, the explanations will be pretty incredible as well. The question is, will you believe what you are being told by your trusted media and government officials, or will you believe what the Holy Bible has said for centuries?
Among the things the Lord Jesus Christ revealed to us when He walked the earth is that the time preceding His return would be characterized by great deception (Matthew 24:4, 11, 24). Scripture says that God Himself will provide for a "strong delusion" to help unbelievers "believe the lie" that explains away the Rapture (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12). God will do this for the same reason that Jesus spoke in parables when He was on earth, so that unbelievers determined to remain so will be able to justify their unbelief (Matthew 13:10-17).
Since this article was written prior to the Rapture, I can only speculate what the deception will be that seeks to explain away this supernatural event. But I have observed the set-up for some of the deception that will take place in the eager expectation that has been built up for contact with extraterrestrials. People who do not want to accept the Bible's explanation of human origins will be quick to embrace the news that extraterrestrials have taken an interest in the affairs of earth. If evolution happened on earth, then it could have happened anywhere in the universe and discovering that there is extraterrestrial life only corroborates the theory of evolution.
But don't fall for the lie that extraterrestrials caused the Rapture using their technology. The beings representing themselves as extraterrestrials are indeed not from this world but the Bible refers to them as fallen angels or demons. They are beings from the spiritual realm that God has allowed to have access to our physical universe to serve His purpose in deceiving those who have rejected Him.
Another possible lie that may be used to explain away the Rapture not necessarily involving aliens is that the Large Hadron Collider at CERN opened a portal which resulted in some people being thrust into another dimension or some such nonsense. Whatever explanation is used to represent the sudden disappearance of millions of people as being anything other than a supernatural act of God, know that you are being prepared for even more deception during a terrible time which Jesus called the Tribulation in Matthew 24.
The Tribulation is addressed in various places among the Old Testament prophets but is most completely described in the book of Revelation. It is a seven-year period if time when God pours out His wrath on the earth in judgment of those who have opposed Him. But even though you find yourself in this terrible period of history, you don't have to suffer the eternal consequences of rejecting God. You can accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior right now and be assured of spending eternity with Him after you die; "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31). Death is not the worst thing that can happen to a person; everyone will exist into eternity but only those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior during this mortal life will see heaven (John 14:6); all who have rejected Jesus will be separated from Him in hell (John 5:28-30).
There may be some time between the Rapture of the Church and the Tribulation though the Bible is silent as to how much time there will be if any. The seven-year Tribulation officially begins when a world leader who emerges from a coalition of ten world rulers confirms a peace treaty with Israel (Daniel 9:27). This "covenant" enables Israel to build a temple in Jerusalem which the world ruler will enter at the midpoint of the Tribulation to declare himself god (Matthew 24:15, Daniel 8:11, 9:27, 11:31, 2 Thessalonians 2:4).
Don't allow yourself to be deceived by the man who is emerging as the world ruler. This ruler is referred to as the man of sin, son of perdition and lawless one in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-8; he is called the Beast throughout Revelation and the Antichrist in 1 John 2:18, 4:3. He will be charismatic and eloquent speaker (Daniel 7:8). But he will blaspheme our Creator-God and persecute the followers of Christ (Daniel 7:25). He will be the smoothest, most invincible political operative to ever come on the world scene (Daniel 11:21, Revelation 13:4). Most people in the world will love and follow him (Revelation 13:3). But this man is bad news; he is represented by the first horse of the Apocalypse (Revelation 6:1-2) and will preside over the destruction of many people (Daniel 8:25).
At some point during the Tribulation, the world ruler institutes an economic system that will require all users to swear allegiance to the state so that they may receive some kind of identification on their right hand or forehead. This is called the "mark of the beast" in the Bible, see Revelation 13:16-18. Taking the mark of the beast will guarantee that you will spend eternity separated from our Creator-God (Revelation 14:11). Sure, not taking the mark of the beast will force you underground and make you an enemy of the state but condemning your soul to hell for eternity will be far worse.
I will not sugar-coat your situation... most people who accept Jesus Christ as their Savior after the Rapture of the Church will be hunted down and killed as enemies of the state (Revelation 7:9-17). Remember, physical death is not the worst that can happen to you and you have a great opportunity to help others escape separation from God in hell by helping them to also see the need to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior before they succumb to taking the mark of the beast.
There will be some followers of Christ from all nations who will survive the seven years of the Tribulation. Jesus will come back at the end of the Tribulation to establish His Kingdom on earth. If you survive the Tribulation, you will be blessed to be part of the Lord's glorious Millennial Kingdom. But you shouldn't make surviving the Tribulation your goal, "for whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it" (Matthew 16:25). Instead, work to "lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven" (Matthew 6:20) by helping other yield their life to Jesus before it is too late.
If you haven't yet yielded your life to Jesus yourself, you can and should take care of that right now. Pray that God would open your Heart to Him and help you to trust in Him for your salvation. Ask God to forgive you for your sin and for help to believe that Jesus paid your sin debt when He died on the cross. Acknowledge that you believe Jesus is the only Son of God and that He rose from the dead as the Bible testifies. Ask the Lord to give you strength, courage and wisdom to survive the days ahead along with His help in being a powerful witness for Him.
I recommend studying your Bible as you have time starting first with the Gospel of John, then Revelation, and the rest of the New Testament. Following that, you should read the books of the prophets and then the rest of the Old Testament. Trust in the Holy Spirit to help you understand what you need to know to help others believe God's Word. I look forward to seeing you in heaven and hearing about your grand adventure representing Jesus Christ during the most amazing time in history.
This post constitutes the notes I used for the sermon delivered at Alpine's First Baptist Church on September 6, 2015.
I have been a born-again follower of Jesus for 25 years. As many of you know, God used His prophetic Word to open my heart to Him. Consequently, I have a special interest in Bible prophecy because I know from first-hand experience that God uses Bible prophecy to help people know Him. And that is becoming even more important today as the signs of the Lord's soon return are becoming more obvious.
So I'm pleased to have an opportunity to share a message with you today. Probably the most important passage of Scripture that helps us understand Bible prophecy is known as the Olivet Discourse. This is where the disciples of Jesus asked Him when He would establish the promised kingdom of the Messiah on earth.
This is such an important passage of Scripture that the Olivet Discourse is included in all three of the Synoptic Gospels. But we will focus on Matthew 24. Note: I will use the title of Messiah a lot... "Messiah" in Hebrew and "Christ" in Greek both mean the same thing: "God's Anointed." I'll use the title Messiah to remind us that Jesus spoke in Matthew 24 to Jews for a Jewish audience. That historical perspective will help us better understand what Jesus is saying to us today.
"Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (NKJV)
Aren't these great questions? Don't we too want to know the answers to these questions? The disciples wanted to know when the temple would be destroyed, and they assumed that it would happen as part of the Lord establishing His kingdom on earth at the end of the Age. For them, the end of the Age they were in would mean the beginning of the promised Messianic Era when, "the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed" (Daniel 2:44). They understood this kingdom to be not just a spiritual one but a literal, physical one where the Messiah Himself would rule the earth from Jerusalem; as Isaiah 9:6 says, "the government will be upon His shoulder."
What the disciples didn't realize was that there would be another Age between the Covenant of the Law and the Messianic Age. In between there would be the New Covenant also known as the Age of Grace or the Church Age. The Apostle Paul called the Church a "great mystery" in Ephesians 5:32 because it wasn't revealed to the Old Testament prophets.
"Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows."
Here Jesus lists a number of things that have characterized the human condition throughout history; so how are they signs? What makes them signs is that they will increase in frequency and intensity: “All these are the beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:8). The Greek word translated into “sorrows” is “odin” which means birth pains. So are we living during a time when we are seeing the signs Jesus gave us increase in frequency and intensity?
False Christs: We have always had cult leaders claiming Messianic authority but the number and impact of these religious deceivers are increasing. The fastest growing religion is Islam... while the Sunni and Shiites have their disagreements, they are both expecting the Messiah called al Mahdi to unite the world under Islam. Some Muslims are saying that al Mahdi is already here, waiting in the desert until a great war between the nations where he can emerge... it is interesting that Jesus specifically warned us about those who claimed the Messiah was hiding in the desert per Matthew 24:26.
Wars: There have been more people killed in the wars of the 20th Century than all of human history up until then. So far the 21st Century has not been as deadly, but the Century is still young. Among the types of wars Jesus mentioned as signs are "nation rising against nation." The Greek word translated “nation” in this passage is “ethnos” which refers to different ethnic people groups. I used to think we were beyond racial conflicts in this country but it looks like we have regressed in recent years and worse: the stage is being set for more racial conflict.
Famine: We don't notice famines so much in our global economy but our recessions result in the same loss of wealth as famines did in the agrarian society of the 1st Century. Our recessions are getting worse and we can expect the next one that is looming to be very bad.
Pestilence: It is certainly obvious that pestilences are increasing. There are many viral infections we thought we had eradicated in this country that are making a come-back like tuberculosis, scarlet fever, measles, and whooping cough. And we have new ones like Ebola and bacterial infections that are resistant to antibiotics.
Earthquakes: Have you noticed that earthquakes are on the increase? The U.S. Geological Survey which archives earthquake data does document an increase in earthquakes but they blame the increase on Hydraulic Fracturing. However, their own map showing where the earthquakes occurred reveal they have been in diverse places including locations where no fracking is going on. I saw a report from April that the number of volcanoes erupting at that time was greater than the 20th Century’s yearly average.
Jesus said we should not be troubled as we see these things... Why? Because God is in control and the end is not yet. The end will come, but for those who know the Lord, we don't have to fear the end. Indeed, the end includes our redemption to Him so we should actually look forward to the end. It will be an escape from a fallen world that sorely needs Jesus to make it right.
The Apostle Paul called our escape from this sin-sick world our "blessed hope" in Titus 2:13. It is not escapist to look forward to when we will be resurrected at the Rapture. Colossians 3:2 says, "set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." We would all be better off making our decisions with an eternal perspective. For more on the Rapture, see 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18.
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And 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."
Jesus speaks of tribulation here which is a time of persecution. In context, He is not just speaking of general tribulation which has occurred since He was first here but "The Tribulation", a specific period of time that immediately precedes His return to establish His kingdom on earth. The Tribulation is also called "the time of Jacob's Trouble" in Jeremiah 30:7 and it is also known as the 70th week of Daniel since details about it are given in Daniel 9:27. The Tribulation is a terrible 7-year period on earth when God pours out his wrath on the nations that have rejected Him and His people.
I know it's not popular to talk about God's wrath these days but that in itself is a sign of our times per 2 Peter 3:3-7. Most of the book of Revelation describes the Tribulation in detail. The good news for the Church is that we will not have to suffer through the Tribulation as we shall see later in this message... In some places of the world today, Christians are certainly already in tribulation. But this is not "The Tribulation" which will be worldwide and is identified by certain specific prophetic events some of which I'll point out. The persecution of Christian is however a sign of the Lord's soon return and these instances will increase in frequency and intensity as we approach the Tribulation.
Jesus tells us that we can expect deception to grow as we get closer to His return. As 2 Timothy 3:13 says, "evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." You'd think the public would be wise to the mass media by now but people don't want to believe their trusted institutions are manipulating them to embrace harmful ideological narratives.
Jesus said that lawlessness will abound... I don't know if you've noticed, but the United States Constitution is being seen more and more as a "living document" that needs to be interpreted and updated for our times. The result is that rule of man is eclipsing the rule of law in this country and the consequences of that will not be pretty. The rule of law is derived from God's Law and departing from it is what oligarchies and dictatorships do.
Jesus also said, the love of many will grow cold... The more people turn away from God, the less true sacrificial love of God we're going to see.
And Jesus said the end will come after the gospel of the kingdom is preached to all the nations. We are talking a lot about the end here, what end is Jesus referring to? In context, he is talking about the end of the Age which includes the Tribulation and culminates in Jesus coming back to establish His kingdom on earth.
The gospel of the kingdom refers to God's kingdom on earth. "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). This is yet future and will happen prior to the Eternal State as we shall see...
Now the idea that Jesus is coming back to establish a kingdom on earth is a strange doctrine to many people in our day. But this was not strange to the disciples to whom Jesus was speaking. Right before Jesus ascended back to heaven in His resurrected body, the disciples asked Him, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). They were anticipating a real physical kingdom on earth as promised throughout the Old Testament. Jesus didn't correct their expectation but said the future kingdom would happen in God's timing; "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority" (Acts 1:7). This brings to mind God's response to Daniel when he asked the meaning of the prophecies God gave him: "the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end" (Daniel 12:9). The season of the Messianic Kingdom would not be known until the generation that will see Him return. We know now that God has delayed His kingdom on earth in order to, "take out of [the Gentiles] a people for His name" per Acts 15:14.
Jesus did indeed establish a spiritual kingdom when He established the Church but this was in addition to and preceding His kingdom on earth that was promised to Israel. The Church has not replaced Israel in the promises of God as many people falsely believe... yes, we are spiritual descendants of Abraham per Galatians 3:29 but the time will come when God will again bless people through Israel: "I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in" (Romans 11:25). God is working through the Church today, but the Church Age will come to an end and then God will resume working through Israel again. God is not done with the Jews; why else has He preserved them as a distinct race of people despite their being dispersed among the nations for over 18 centuries? God preserving the Jews is clearly a fulfillment of Malachi 3:6... "for I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob."
Another point of confusion about the coming Kingdom of God on earth is that it will be fulfilled by the Eternal State which is after all people will be resurrected. This future kingdom of God is called the Millennial Kingdom because it says in Revelation 20 that Christ will rule on earth for 1,000 years prior to the Eternal State. My favorite passage of the future Millennial Kingdom of Christ which proves it will not be fulfilled by the Eternal State is Isaiah 65:17-25. A careful reading of this passage reveals that there will be mortal people being born and dying during this future Age. So the new heavens and new earth of Isaiah 65 can not be the Eternal State when there will be no death per Revelation 21:4.
Now some people are OK with conflicts in Scripture like this; but I'm not. If you think the Bible is just the story of man's search for God, you would expect to find unresolved conflicts in it. But I know that "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" per 2 Timothy 3:16. God is Almighty enough to have accurately given us and preserved His Word even using his flawed subjects. So if there appears to be a conflict in Scripture, it indicates that we are understanding something wrong and need to dig a little deeper to resolve the conflict. "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15). God gave us His Word so that we may know Him; you have to wonder of anyone who is content with the superficial milk of God's Word and not wanting to go deeper into the meat of it really wants to know God (1 Corinthians 3:2).
So what is the gospel of the kingdom? It is the good news that Jesus, the Prince of Peace is coming to fix this sin-sick world. This is good news for any time but especially for His followers during the Tribulation. You could say that with the Internet and satellite communications, the good news of Jesus has already been declared to all nations. But the ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy will be during the Tribulation: "Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth; to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people" (Revelation 14:6).
"Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened."
This is a very important passage because it ties the signs the Lord gave us to watch for with the timeline that the Prophet Daniel gave us. So what is this "abomination of desolation"?
Daniel 9:20-27 describes 70 weeks of years for Israel that will culminate in the rule of Messiah on earth... The first 69 weeks of years, or 483 years extends, "From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler comes" (Daniel 9:25). This 483 years has happened in history. In Nehemiah 2:1-8 we learn that Artaxerxes, the king of Persia issued a decree allowing the Jews to restore Jerusalem in the 20th year of his reign, or in 444 BC. If you do the math here as I have, adding 483 years to 444 BC, you'll find that "the Anointed One will be put to death" on the cross in about 33 AD. You have to allow for the fact there is no "year-zero" and that scholars say our current Gregorian Calendar has a 4-6 year error in when it originally placed the birth of Christ.
Isn't amazing that God told us the exact timing that Jesus would come the first time? No wonder Jesus chastised the Jewish religious leaders for not recognizing Him as Messiah since they did not "discern the signs of the times" in Matthew 16:3.
The Prophet Daniel separates out the 70th week of years from the 69 and prophesied that the Temple would be destroyed by "the people of the ruler who will come" in Daniel 9:26. That happened in 70 AD when the Romans sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the temple. This "ruler who will come" should not be confused with the ruler called the "Anointed One" who is put to death. The "ruler who is to come" will emerge with the 70th week of Daniel: "He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him" (Daniel 9:27, NIV).
This "ruler who is to come" will confirm a covenant that enables a temple to be rebuilt in Jerusalem at the beginning of the 70th week of Daniel and he is also the one who sets up the abomination of desolation at the mid-point of Daniel's 70th week. If you haven't figured it out yet, this "ruler who is to come" is the Antichrist who will rule the earth during the 7-years of the Tribulation.
Some have said the 70th week of Daniel has already happened in history with the abomination of desolation being fulfilled by the Romans when they set up their standard of Caesar in the temple prior to tearing it down. But that would mean Daniel 9:24 has been fulfilled which lists all God will accomplish in the 70 weeks of Daniel including: "bringing in everlasting righteousness, sealing up vision and prophecy, and anointing the Most Holy" (NKJV). I don't see how anyone with the wildest stretch of the imagination could think that everlasting righteousness has been brought into this world, and Jesus, the "Most Holy" certainly has not returned yet to be anointed the King of kings over the nations.
Correctly understanding the Abomination of Desolation is important, the Prophet Daniel mentions it four times. And from 2 Thessalonians 2:4, we learn that the Antichrist will enter the temple and declare himself to be God. This is what Jesus warned His future Jewish followers about... when they see the ruler of the world commit the abomination of desolation, it is time to get out of Jerusalem.
Jesus said that following the abomination of desolation, "there will be great tribulation." The whole 70th week of Daniel is called the Tribulation, but Jesus calls the second half of it, great tribulation that would result in the end of all life on earth if allowed to continue. But Jesus ends the Tribulation when He returns. His return will not be in secret or just seen by a few; everyone on earth at the time will see His return: "all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Matthew 24:30). People will morn Christ's coming because most of them will realize they bet on the wrong ruler who will be summarily defeated when Jesus comes back. But the beleaguered followers of Christ will rejoice because it means they have survived the Tribulation and will be entering the Millennial Kingdom ruled by Jesus Himself from Jerusalem.
"Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! 34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place."
We know that the fig tree is a symbol of Israel per Hosea 9:10 and Joel 2:21-25. The generation that sees Israel preparing to bear fruit as a nation will be the generation that sees the return of Jesus. The fig tree of Israel started sprouting leaves when it became a nation on May 14, 1948.
There is no question that the presence of Israel in the Land God gave them is a miraculous fulfillment of prophecy. One of the most prolific prophecies in the Old Testament is that the nation of Israel will be re-established back in their land prior to the Messiah's return. It is unprecedented in history that a race of people who has been dispersed from their homeland for multiple centuries would retain their cultural identity and come back together as a nation again.
The Hebrew language was among the world's lost languages like Latin. But when the Jews needed a common language to be a nation again, they updated Hebrew with new words for our modern world. They could have chosen any number of languages that were already in use for their common language such as English which is effectively the international language of commerce. But instead, they did what is also unprecedented in history, resurrecting a dead language to the point where the average Jew on the streets of Israel can read the Old Testament scrolls in the original Hebrew in which it was written. Anyone who denies that God is fulfilling prophecy in Israel today doesn't know the Lord as well as they think they do.
Alright, Jesus told us that the generation of people who sees Israel put forth leaves in preparation for bearing fruit will be the generation that sees Him return. Church, we are that generation! We are well into the season of Israel's leaf bearing and thus about to enter the season of fruit bearing when God will resume working through Israel as his representatives on earth. This means that the Church Age is about to end.
When I discuss Bible prophecy with people, I often hear them try to justify ignoring the signs of the Lord's returning since Jesus said "of that day and hour no one knows" in Matthew 24:36. But Jesus gave us signs to watch for so that we may know the season of His return as the Apostle Paul said we should know in 1 Thessalonians 5:1.
"As the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming."
I could preach an entire message on the "days of Noah" but this morning I want to focus on the people being taken... I've heard various explanations of this passage trying to avoid the obvious one that Jesus is talking about the Rapture of the Church here. I'll just make three critical points that have convinced me Jesus is speaking of the Rapture here:
The Rapture of the Church will be a sign to the Jews; it will be such a spectacular supernatural display of the intervention of God that it will be hard for Israel to ignore (see Psalm 12:1). In 2 Thessalonians 2:11, God said he would send a strong delusion as an alternate explanation of the Rapture to facilitate people holding on to their unbelief. But God will open the hearts of the Jews to Him and they will recognize the Rapture for what it is.
The taking of people Jesus spoke of will occur in the midst of life going on routinely pretty much as we know it now. That will not be the case during the Tribulation, even during the first half. The book of Revelation describes the terrible things that will happen as part of God pouring out His wrath on the earth during the Tribulation... life can hardly be considered routine during that time.
Also, this passage is in the context of Jesus saying that no one knows the day or hour of His coming in Matthew 24:36. Thus this has to be referring to the Rapture because the Bridegroom coming for His Bride, the Church can happen at any time without warning. That is not the case when Jesus returns at least 7 years later to establish His Kingdom on earth. There are specific events that happen during the Tribulation where time-frames are given to the day for them to happen. For example, Revelation 12:6 says Israel will be supernaturally protected by God in the wilderness following the abomination of desolation for 1,260 days... this is exactly 3.5 years using the 360-day Hebrew lunar calendar.
Finally, Jesus said that we should, "watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming." Notice He did not say we should wait for His coming but that we should watch for Him. Waiting is passive, watching is active. Jesus gave us signs to know the season of his return; in order to watch, we need to be familiar with what to watch for and looking for the signs He gave us.
Why do you think Jesus commanded us to watch for His return? He wants us to live ready for Him to return. It is all too easy to put off growing in our relationship with Him, but as we see signs of His soon return, this should give us a sense of urgency to learn all we can about Him...
Studying Bible Prophecy facilitates learning about Jesus, "for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (Revelation 19:10). Bible prophecy does not lend itself well to just a superficial treatment; As you go deep in God's Word, you find yourself going deeper into a relationship with the Lord. The more we know about God and His ways, the better decisions we'll make in the here and now.
We should also have a sense of urgency to get on with whatever God is calling us to do. We have a window of opportunity to lay up treasure in heaven that will soon close. As Jesus said in John 9:4, "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work."
And finally, I have found Bible prophecy to be a powerful evangelistic tool. It proves that the Bible really is from God since only He can declare the end from the beginning per Isaiah 46:10. There is nothing more relevant to our world today than Bible prophecy. The more we are watching for Jesus, the more we can help ourselves and others see how the Bible helps us make sense of the crazy trajectory this world is on.
I hope everyone here will be joining us in the Rapture of the Church. If you're not secure in your relationship with Jesus, I'd urge you to take care of that before it is too late. You will have an opportunity to come to Christ after the Rapture but the Tribulation will be an especially challenging time to be a follower of Jesus. As the Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 6:2, "behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."
I'm going to conclude with a prayer then we will have a song of invitation. This will be your opportunity to come forward if you need to make a public profession of faith or would like to join our fellowship here at First Baptist.