Posted on 12/01/2013 12:49:25 PM PST by CynicalBear
The combination of the Rapture and the Battle of Ezekiel 38 will fill the world with anguish and uncertainty as Daniel’s 70th Week begins. Where did all those people go? How did Israel so utterly destroy that massive invasion force all by itself? How did all these things happen so suddenly? Why didn’t somebody see this coming and do something to prevent it?
The Seal Judgments
In the midst of all the chaos and confusion one leader will stand out (Rev. 6:2). He’ll demonstrate an incredible ability to restore the world’s hope for the future, and promise to bring them peace. The frightened populace will easily be persuaded to follow his lead. He’ll agree to Israel’s demand for a Temple in which to resume their long abandoned worship of the One who had secured their victory. He’ll do this, not because He wants to help them honor God, but because he has plans of his own for the Temple (Daniel 9:27, 2 Thes. 2:4). Using their own Scriptures (Ezekiel 48:1-10) he’ll show Israel why their new Temple shouldn’t be built where the old ones had stood. Instead it should be located a few miles north, in ancient Shiloh, where the Tabernacle had once stood. This will leave the Muslim facilities on the current Temple mount intact, at least for a time. After the disappearance of the Church, Islam will fast become the dominant religion of the world and their third holiest place is on that mount. With this bold stroke he’ll bring a semblance of peace to the region, demonstrating that Jew and Muslim can live in peace as neighbors in his brave new world (Dan 8:25). The people of Earth will breathe a collective sigh of relief.
But all too soon wars will start to break out in various places (Rev. 6:3) because this leader’s ultimate goal is world domination and some nations will resist. He’ll convince people that war is a temporary but necessary inconvenience and assure them that everything will soon be all right again. But the combination of wars, food shortages, and runaway inflation will begin taking their toll (Rev. 6:6). The deadly effects of this combination will be felt across one fourth of the Earth (Rev. 6:8).
Though it’s often called a religion of peace, Islam offers the world only two options, submission or death, as the martyrs among believers of other faiths will soon learn. For the multitude of new Christians who witnessed the disappearance of friends and family in the rapture and know from first hand experience the truth of the gospel, conversion to Islam will be impossible and the number of those who will die for their faith will mount rapidly and steadily. (Rev. 6:9) They’ll cry out to the Lord for vengeance but He’ll caution them to be patient for a little while longer because many more will die just as they have (Rev. 6:10-11).
Without warning, a great earthquake that will be felt world wide will trigger volcanic action spewing millions of tons of ash into the air, blotting out the Sun and making the Moon turn blood red (Rev. 6:12-14). The world’s leaders will run for cover, some intuitively knowing that the Wrath of God they were warned about by the Christians who’ve all disappeared has already begun and they’ll be shown no quarter. (Rev. 6:16-17)
The Trumpet Judgments
As if to confirm the worst fears of these leaders, a storm of hail, fire, and blood will rain down upon the Earth burning up a third of it. A third of the trees and all the green grass will go up in smoke. (Rev. 8:7) A meteor-like object the size of a huge mountain will crash into the sea. The resulting contamination will turn a third of the world’s oceans to blood killing all the marine life in the affected areas. The tsunami this meteor causes will capsize and destroy a third of the ships in the world. Over 50,000 commercial ships will disappear in a single day. (Rev. 8:8-9)
Then another star will fall to Earth and when it does a third of the fresh water will be contaminated. It will be toxic and foul tasting and many people will die from drinking it. (Rev. 8:10-11)
Both the day and the night will lose a third of their light due to the smoke and ash from the fires and volcanoes. Through the choking haze an angelic messenger will bring a warning from the Lord, “The worst is yet to come.” (Rev. 8:12-13)
A fallen angel will open the shaft of the Abyss and smoke will billow forth, further contaminating the already toxic air. Creatures resembling locusts will fly out from the smoke and for 5 months will inflict scorpion like stings on the people. These stings will be so painful people will wish they could die, but there will be no escape (Rev. 9:1-11). The only people on Earth who will be immune to their venom will be the 144,000 evangelists the Lord will have previously commissioned from among the tribes of Israel (Rev. 7:1-8).
Four angels who’ve been bound at the gateway to the East (the Euphrates River) will be released to kill one third of the Earth’s remaining population with plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur. (Rev. 9:13-19) The East is far different from the West and the animosity between Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and other religions the Far East is well established and deadly. Since 40% of the world’s population is crowded into the nations east of the Euphrates the number of casualties will be enormous as they fight each other for supremacy. Between the Rapture, the martyrdom, the wars, and the judgments well over 2 billion people will no longer be found among the living on planet Earth as Daniel’s 70th Week approaches the mid point. And yet the Bible gives no indication that the unbelievers who remain will see the error of their ways and change their minds. This is the hardest core of the unsaved, the ones who refused to believe the truth of the Lord and accepted the lie of the anti-Christ instead (2 Thes. 2:10). In their deluded state they’ll think they’re on the side of light not darkness, and right not wrong. They’ll see God as the invading enemy and Satan as their leader, working to protect them. Spiritually, everything will be upside down.
But at the blowing of the 7th Trumpet in Heaven, the Lord’s reign will begin (Rev. 11:15). Having used every device at His command in an effort to persuade the people of Earth to change their minds and accept His offer of pardon, He will now take action to unseat the usurper from the throne that’s rightfully His and claim for Himself that which He’s purchased with His own blood, Planet Earth. Those who’ve sided with Satan will now face the worst time of judgment in the history of mankind. Were it not for a remnant of the Lord’s people among them, not a single soul would be left standing when this is over (Matt. 24:21-22).
The Bowl Judgments
The Bowl judgments make up the 3 1/2 year period of time we know as the Great Tribulation. The Seal and Trumpet cycles of judgments were partly for the purpose of demonstrating evidence of God’s existence to the undecided among the people of Earth. But that will have come to an end with the Bowl judgments. They’re strictly for the purpose of bringing judgment upon those who’ve rejected Him. In the process the Lord is going to completely destroy all the nations to which His people have been scattered (Jeremiah 30:11). Today there are nearly as many Jews in America as there are in Israel, and more than there are in any other nation, so you know that what’s left of this country after the rapture will not escape.
By now Satan will have been expelled from Heaven (Rev. 12:9) and and confined to Earth (Rev. 12:13). He will unleash his full fury upon God’s people. But those who heed His warning (Matt. 24:15-21) will be escorted to a place of refuge out of Satan’s reach (Rev. 12:13-16). Enraged, he will turn his fury against the Gentiles who’ve come to believe Jesus is their Savior since the rapture (Rev. 12:17).
He will take up residence in the body of the anti-Christ (Rev. 13:4) and with the help of a false prophet he will convince the unbelieving world to follow him and take a mark on their right hand or forehead to prove their loyalty to him (Rev. 13:16-17).
Three angels will deliver God’s final messages to mankind. The first one will offer one last chance to accept the Gospel, the second will announce the coming destruction of Babylon and all the city represents, and the third will warn mankind against taking the mark of the beast. (Rev. 14:6-11)
People who will have disregarded the warning against taking the mark will be treated to a dose of ugly and painful sores (Rev. 16:2). All the water on Earth will turn to blood, whether in the sea (Rev. 16:3) or in springs and rivers (Rev. 16:4). All sources of water will now be contaminated. The angel in charge of the waters reminds us that God is just in doing this because those He’s judging have shed the blood of God’s saints and prophets. Now He’s giving them blood to drink. (Rev. 16:5-7)
The Sun will go super nova at this point becoming so hot people will be scorched just by going outside. Again they will curse God but refuse to repent. (Rev. 16:8-9)
Then the Sun will go totally dark turning day into night, and still the people of Earth will curse God but refuse to repent (Rev. 16:10-11).
The anti-Christ will gather the armies of the world to Armageddon in a final effort to repel the Earth’s “invaders”. From Heaven a loud voice will shout, “It is done!” and the full fury of God’s wrath will be loosed on Earth. Lightning, thunder, and the worst earthquake man has ever experienced will be followed by a torrent of 100 pound hail stones. (Rev. 16:17-21) The punishment for blasphemy is stoning, and the blaspheming people of Earth will suffer the most extreme form of this punishment for their behavior.
Babylon The Great
Then God will turn to Babylon, headquarters of the forces who’ve defied Him since the time after the flood. There are three components to mankind’s world wide system and they will all be headquartered there. They are governmental, commercial, and religious, and among them they have enslaved the people of Earth for thousands of years.
First God will use the governmental component to destroy the religious one. “The beast (anti-Christ) and the ten horns (ten kings who assist him) you saw will hate the prostitute (religious Babylon). They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until God’s words are fulfilled.” (Rev. 17:16-17)
Then He’ll turn to the commercial component. It will be so totally destroyed that Earth’s leaders will stand aghast, scarcely believing what their own eyes are telling them.
They will weep and mourn and cry out, “Woe! Woe, O great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls! In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!” (Rev. 18:16-17)
Finally the governmental component.
The beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh. (Rev. 19:20-21)
For six thousand years God has worked tirelessly to reconcile man to Himself, even giving His own life in exchange for ours. But His efforts have all ended in failure due to mankind’s unfaithfulness. Covenant after covenant was instituted and broken. The only one that has endured is the one the Father made with His Son to save us. But even then the majority of mankind, given the choice to participate as a beneficiary in this everlasting covenant, refused. Soon, His patience exhausted, God will remove the remnant that chose the pardon He offers, and judge the rest. Can you blame Him?
You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah.
“I’ve never believed in the end times. We are mankind. Our footprints are on the moon. When the last trumpet sounds and the beast rises from the pit — we will kill it.”
There’s a pretty good story about what would happen if the End Times began today, minus the Rapture, starting here:
In a nutshell: We didn’t expect the Apocalypse, and the Apocalypse didn’t expect the USMC.
Hmmm, what man says will happen or what God says will happen. Rely on what God says or some story from man. God’s prophets haven’t ever been wrong. Man? well…………………………..
I'm listening... almost holding my breath. Come soon, Lord Jesus!
I skimmed this article because I’ve read (and believed it) all before. However, this article is so wrong on so many levels when it comes to interpreting the Bible, that it’s quite sad, really.
So pick one “level” and show us where it is in error. Not much credibility in a statement like that if you can’t defend or substantiate.
Amen! There is a glorious time coming for those of us who have been washed in the blood of Jesus.
“So pick one “level” and show us where it is in error.”
OK, let’s start with the very first sentence:
“The combination of the Rapture...”
The “rapture” is nowhere to be found in the Bible and, in fact, the verses predominantly used to support it, pulled out of context in Luke, demonstrate that “the taken” are the ones that are killed!
“And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it shall be also in the days of the Son of Man: they* were eating, they* were drinking, they* were marrying, they* were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them* all.”
It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they* were eating, they* were drinking, they* were buying, they* were selling, they* were planting, they* were building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them* all.
“It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.
“On that day, let not the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house go down to take them away; and likewise let not the one who is in the field turn back. “ Remember Lot’s wife. “ Whoever seeks to keep his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life shall preserve it.
“I tell you, on that night there will be two men in one bed; one will be taken*, and the other will be left. “ There will be two women grinding at the same place; one will be taken*, and the other will be left. [”Two men will be in the field; one will be taken* and the other will be left.”]
And answering they •said to Him, “Where, Lord?” And He said to them, “Where the body is, there also will the vultures be gathered.” Luke 17:26-37
*They refers to those who were doomed to die in the judgments that befell humanity. Those who are “taken” are those who are killed and “taken” to where the corpses are thrown; the place where the vultures gather to feed on them.
When you begin a long post with a basic misunderstanding of hermeneutics, you can’t help but end up with a whole bunch of bad conclusions as a result.
That was hilarious.
But we both know it ain’t gonna happen that way.
Fun reading, nonetheless. Thanks for the link!
>> “On that day, let not the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house go down to take them away;<<
That verse from Mark 13 is concerning the time during the tribulation after the anti Christ takes over the Temple. See the previous verse.
Mark 13:14 But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains: 15 And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein, to take any thing out of his house:
It’s the same in Matthew 24. Surely you don’t believe that those who are true believers are will be subject to going through the tribulation do you?
>> And answering they •said to Him, “Where, Lord?” And He said to them, “Where the body is, there also will the vultures be gathered.” Luke 17:26-37<<
The imagery is taken from Job 39:27 Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high? 28 She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place. 29 From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off. 30 Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she.
The “body” is NOT the body of Christ and the eagle is not either the saints or Christ. The army that will be coming together against the Israelites at that time will be the revived Roman Empire as prophecy has told us. The ensign of the Roman army was the eagle.
The timing is during the tribulation and the body are those Israelites who have not been marked by God and the “vultures” or “eagles” are the enemies of Israel.
The rapture has happened at least 3 ½ years prior to that time.
“Both Noah and Lot were taken out of the destruction zone prior to the destruction were they not?”
But the passage isn’t about Noah and Lot: it’s about those that are killed.
“Surely you don’t believe that those who are true believers are will be subject to going through the tribulation do you?”
Which tribulation? The one of Matthew 24:9 or the one of Matthew 24:15? Read Matthew 24 closely: there are two tribulations mentioned, a tribulation of and for believers caused by men (v.9) and the Great Tribulation that befell Jerusalem because of it (v.15).
Jesus said some His followers would be killed in the first, but that those who could should flee the second. They did. You can read how they did in the writings of the early church father Eusebius.
The whole body, however, of the church at Jerusalem, having been commanded by a divine revelation, given to men of approved piety there before the war, removed from the city, and dwelt at a certain town beyond the Jordan, called Pella. Here, those that believed in Christ, having removed from Jerusalem, as if holy men had entirely abandoned the royal city itself, and the whole land of Judea; the divine justice, for their crimes against Christ and his apostles, finally overtook them, totally destroying the whole generation of these evildoers from the earth.
But the number of calamities which then overwhelmed the whole nation; the extreme misery to which particularly the inhabitants of Judea were reduced, the vast numbers of men, with women and children that fell by the sword and famine, and innumerable other forms of death; the numerous and great cities of Judea that were besieged, as also the great and incredible distresses that those experienced who took refuge at Jerusalem, as to a place of perfect security; these facts, as well as the whole tenor of the war, and each particular of its progress, when finally, the abomination of desolation, according to the prophetic declaration, stood in the very temple of God, so celebrated of old, but which now was approaching its total down-fall and final destruction by fire; all this, I say, any one that wishes may see accurately stated in the history written by Josephus.
The Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius Pamphilus.
What happened to the believers by Roman hands and what has happened to the Jewish people is never referred to as “The” tribulation or perhaps more succinctly the “wrath of God”.
Now you make an interesting comment. “the great tribulation that befell Jerusalem. I have to ask to determine if we are even talking about the same thing. Do you believe the “tribulation” i.e. the “wrath of God” as described in Revelation has already passed? If so, that would be a complete and utter failure to understand prophesy. Another error that usually accompanies that error is that the “church” has taken the place of the nation of Israel in prophesy which is also in error.
The Tribulation hasn't happened yet...
From the creation to the rest is six days...A day=a thousand years...There has to be six days or six thousand years before the Tribulation can show up...We are right at that mark...The bible is full of wonderful information...
Mat 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
The WWII concentration camps were worse than the destruction of Jerusalem...
The bombing of the city of Dresden was far worse than the destruction of Jerusalem... Hiroshima was worse...
If Jesus had showed up for the 2nd time 2000 years ago, Israel would have looked like the garden of Eden for the past two thousand years and Jerusalem would have been a continuous city of Jews while Jesus Christ reigned upon the throne...
The apostles certainly would have written something about it...
I imagine you are just repeating the propaganda put out by your religion but you can't build a story like that by picking out a couple of scriptures and then running with it...
There is far, far too much scripture to show that your religion is not out in right field, it's in the parking lot...
“The Tribulation hasn’t happened yet...”
Actually, it has. Jesus said it would happen while some of His disciples still lived. Don’t start reading Matthew 24 in Matthew 24. Start reading it in Matthew 21, when He entered Jerusalem for His last earthly Passover. Then you’ll understand what the “Great Tribulation” is.
“I imagine you are just repeating the propaganda put out by your religion but you can’t build a story like that by picking out a couple of scriptures and then running with it...”
LOL! OK. Whatever you say!
“Do you believe the “tribulation” i.e. the “wrath of God” as described in Revelation has already passed?”
Clearly, it has. If you read Revelation, it generally breaks down into three sections: the tribulation (persecution) of believers and the apostles (chapters 1-7); the wrath of God (Great Tribulation) that befell Jerusalem (chapters 8-20), and the new heaven and new earth (Christ’s heavenly kingdom, His church) fully implemented on earth (chapters 21-22).
Revelation details in 22 chapters what the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25) deals with in 2. Get two Bibles, open one to Matthew 24-25 and the other to Revelation, and seek truth, not doctrine.
“If Jesus had showed up for the 2nd time 2000 years ago, Israel would have looked like the garden of Eden for the past two thousand years and Jerusalem would have been a continuous city of Jews while Jesus Christ reigned upon the throne...”
That’s a complete misunderstanding of what Christ’s judgment was all about. But I don’t blame you. The church has gotten it wrong since Francesco Ribera. Look it up.
Ah ha! A Preterist! Maybe you could then tell me. I have a few questions.
When was the Gospel preached to all the nations prior to 70AD?
What date was it when the Euphrates River dried up?
Why did we have the rebirth of Israel?
When did all the Jews shout, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord," as Jesus said they would?
If Jerusalem was forever removed from being the burdensome stone, why has it now returned to that status?
You bring up some great points. Preterists have to discard much of prophecy to come to their views.
So it wasn’t to punish the unbelievers and put an end to Satan’s influence in this world?
I can't tell you the exact date (only God knows), but, according to the apostle Paul, it happened at least as early as his writing of Romans and Colossians.
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. Romans 1:8
Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; Romans 16:25-26
...the gospel which has come to you, just as in all the world also Colossians 1:5-6
...the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister. Colossians 1:23
Thus, then, under a celestial influence and co-operation, the doctrine of the Saviour, like the rays of the sun, quickly irradiated the whole world. Presently, in accordance with divine prophecy, the sound of his inspired evangelists and apostles had gone throughout all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. Throughout every city and village, like a replenished barn floor, churches were rapidly found abounding, and filled with members from every people.
The Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius Pamphilus.
And what did Jesus say the last sign would be before His parousia???
"This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24:14
Now, either this prophecy was fulfilled as Paul and Eusebius wrote, and, therefore, the end came as Christ prophesied before that generation had passed, or it was not. If so, you need to rethink your definition of "the end times." If not, then Christ and the writers of the NT are all liars and we shouldn't believe anything written in it.
"What date was it when the Euphrates River dried up?"
If Christ, Paul, and Eusebius are right about the above, the date of the "drying up" of the Euphrates is irrelevant.
"Why did we have the rebirth of Israel?"
Balfour Declaration. Seems simple enough to me.
"When did all the Jews shout, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord," as Jesus said they would?"
On His triumphal entry into Jerusalem for His last earthly Passover. Read it:
Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!" When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, "Who is this?" And the crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee." Matthew 21:8-11
Less than a week later, these same people were shouting "Crucify him" and "His blood be upon our heads and our children!"
"If Jerusalem was forever removed from being the burdensome stone, why has it now returned to that status?"
Who says it has? Do you feel burdened to comply with the ordinances of the Temple???
Either the end came almost 2,000 years ago or it has not. But if it has, you need to rethink your understanding of what "the end" means. Conform your mind to the word of Christ.
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