The Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ

 

By Warren Paynter
(edited by Gavin Paynter)

 

 

For a PDF download of this ministry’s notes click NOTES: The Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ

 

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Edited by: Gavin Paynter

Editor’s note: Written in the mid-1980’s during the height of the Cold War, when the West feared the ambitions of the USSR for world domination, Warren Paynter looked at the Scriptural viewpoint regarding this. He shows how the prominent end-time empire is not Russian, but is comprised of countries belonging to a revived Roman Empire i.e. Europe. He also examines Ezekiel’s prophecies about Gog and Magog which speak of the future destruction of Russia - when she and her Islamic allies invade Israel.

Of course we have subsequently seen not only the dissolution of the USSR, but the rise of the European Union, not only with a common currency and increase in trade activity - but the easing of border restrictions. Ultimately the prophecies of Daniel allude to a powerful but sinister leader (the little horn) over a unified ‘United States of Europe’.

 

 

 

Introduction

 

In the Old Testament there are many Scriptures concerning the coming of the Lord, but in all of them, no distinction is made between the First Coming and the Second Coming. To take just one example let us look at Isaiah 61:1-2. In the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus quotes this passage up to the phrase “to proclaim the favourable year of the Lord”. He then closes the book, and says, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:18-21)

 

However, in Isaiah that is not where the passage ends. It ends like this, “and the day of vengeance of our God.” (Isa 61:2) Now this part of the prophecy of Isaiah is yet to be fulfilled at the Second Coming of Christ.

 

Paul in writing to the Thessalonians says concerning the Second Coming of Christ that he will be “revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” (2 Thess 1:7-8)

 

This merging of the two comings is found right throughout the OT Scriptures, and was the reason for the disciples’ perplexity, for at the Mount of Olives they asked the Lord “Is it at this time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6 & Luke 19:11) In their reading of the Scriptures, they had found no indication that there were two comings of the Messiah, separated from each other by some 2000 years.

 

When we come to the New Testament we find that the doctrine of the Second Coming is one of the most prominent themes in the writings of those who were given the task of recording the New Testament. Out of the 27 books of the New Testament only one major epistle, that of Galatians, and three minor epistles, Philemon and John’s second and third epistles, make no mention of the Second Coming.

 

In other words, 23 NT books record the fact that Jesus is coming again. Not only that, but in several the Second Coming of Christ is the major theme. Thus we find that both the Thessalonian epistles were written expressly to correct mistaken ideas concerning the coming of Jesus Christ. The Revelation is also concerned almost exclusively with the Second Coming.

 

Turning to the synoptic gospels, all the writers record the fact that the Lord spent much of his time during his last week before his death, speaking to his followers concerning the events connected with his Second Coming at the end of the age. Matthew takes two whole chapters (24 and 25) to record in great detail what the Lord Jesus said about his coming again. In Mark’s gospel we find the whole of chapter 13 is a record of the coming again of the Lord, as is the twenty first chapter of the gospel of Luke.

 

It has been said that 5 percent of the New Testament is concerned with the Second Coming, or one out of every 20 verses. In fact there are many more Scriptures which tell of his Second Coming than there are Scriptures which told of the First Coming of the Lord.

 

While there is general consensus amongst conservative Christians that the Second Coming of the Lord is in the future, liberal interpreters try to prove that the Second Coming is already past. Thus, they say, the coming of the Holy Spirit was the fulfillment of these prophecies. Others contend that when a person dies, Christ comes for them, and that this coming of the Lord for a person at death is the Second Coming. Neither of these two attempts to explain away the Second Coming has any basis in Scripture. Many others have contended that the Lord has already come, in fact, with some the fixing of dates for his coming has almost become a pastime.

 

In the main there are 3 major teachings concerning the Second Coming.

 

(1)        The Post-Millennial school

This teaching was very much propagated during the nineteenth century. The view held was that Christ could not come until the church had converted the whole world. This is in contradiction of the Scriptures which indicated that far from the church converting the world before Christ’s return, there will be widespread departure from the faith at the end time.

 

(2)        The Amillennial school

Amillennialism denies that there will ever be a literal Millennium, holding that Christ is now reigning in heaven, that Satan is already bound, and that all the Scriptures which speak of the restoration of Israel and their acceptance of Jesus Christ as their Messiah are now fulfilled in the relationship of the church to Christ. This teaching is clearly refuted by Acts 15:16-18 where James, quoting from Amos 9:11 speaks of the Lord restoring Israel, and by Paul in Romans 11:25-27 where we read of Israel’s hardness of heart enduring only “until the complete number of Gentiles comes to God.” (Good News Bible) When the church is completed we read “thus all Israel will be saved.”

 

(3)        The Premillennial school

That there is to be a Millennium can be clearly understood from the OT. Much is written there concerning the time when the Lord is “king of the earth”. (Zech 14:9)

 

In fact, such great detail is given concerning the Millennium that it is puzzling as to why God should have recorded it, were it not literally going to come to pass. Detractors are at pains to point out that there is only one passage where the Millennium is mentioned, namely Revelation 20:2-7. However we find the phrase “thousand years” occurs six times and we are told the following facts in connection with this thousand year period:-

 

a)                  Satan will be bound for 1000 years in the Abyss (v. 2).

b)                  The nations will not be deceived until the 1000 years are completed (v. 3).

c)                  The Tribulation martyrs live and reign with Christ for 1000 years (v. 4).

d)                 The wicked dead are not resurrected until after the 1000 years have passed (v. 5).

e)                  All who take part in the first resurrection will be priests of God and Christ and will reign with him for 1000 years (v. 6).

f)                   Satan will be let loose from his prison after the 1000 years have passed  (v. 7).

 

 

God gives a tremendous amount of detail concerning a period in the history of man that is, supposedly, never going to be.

 

There are 4 schools of thought as far as the Premillennial teaching is concerned:

 

A.        The Pre-Tribulation school, who believe that Christ will come for his church at the time of the Rapture, which occurs before the 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy, namely, the seven years of the Great Tribulation.

 

B.        The Mid-Tribulation school, who believe that the church will be raptured after three and a half years of the Tribulation have passed.

 

C.        The Post-Tribulation school, who believe that the church does not by any means escape the Tribulation but is present here upon the earth right up until the time of Armageddon.

 

D.        The Partial Rapture school which teaches that only spiritual Christians will be taken by the Lord at the Rapture. So some Christians will be left behind.

 

1.   The time of his return

 

That there would be an indefinite period of time between his going back to the presence of the father and his return, is indicated in a number of Scriptures. We find the record of the Lord’s last journey to Jerusalem to fulfill all that had been spoken of him by the prophets concerning his death, in Luke 19. In verses 11-12 we read, “He went on to tell a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. He says therefore, ‘a certain nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return.’”

 

Thus the Lord clearly teaches that the kingdom of God was not going to be established then, but that he would first go away for a period of time before he would return to establish his kingdom. Luke 19:15 is explicit, “and it came about when he returned, after receiving the kingdom …”

 

In the Gospel of John 14:2-3, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to myself.” In this passage we find the master departing, preparing a place for his own, and then returning.

 

The epistles of Paul to the Thessalonians were written to reassure them concerning the doctrine of the Second Coming. They had been unsettled and it would appear that there had been some who had endeavoured to deceive them concerning Christ’s coming. Paul then lists certain events which must first take place before the Lord can come. (2 Thess 2:1-12)

 

The one thing which was totally unknown to the Old Testament prophets and also the disciples was the purpose of God in forming a new company of saints, distinct from Israel. Reading in Acts 15 James says, “Brethren, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first concerned himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, after these things I will return …” (Acts 15:13-18)

 

We know that this new company was to be called the church, but we have hindsight. There was no indication as to how long it would take for God to complete this body. We know that the church has been something like 2000 years in its formation and it is still being built by the Lord who said, “I will build my church.” (Matt 16:18)

 

One thing is certain however, and that is the fact that the time is approaching when the last person to complete the church will be saved. The last “living stone” will be built into that “spiritual house” which is the church. (2 Pet 2:5)

 

God’s purpose concerning the church must first be brought to completion before his plan for this world after the church age can unfold further. The deliverer will only come out of Zion and redeem Israel after the last Gentile member of the church is saved according to Romans 11:25. We read in the KJV that blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.

 

*      Conybeare renders this “until the full body of the Gentiles shall have come in.”

*      Weymouth translates, “until the great mass of the Gentiles has come in.”

*      The RSV translates “until the full number of the Gentiles come in.”

*      The Good News Bible: “until the complete number of Gentiles comes to God.”

 

That the long period of time intervening between the First and Second Coming is drawing to a close cannot be doubted in today’s world.

 

There are those who have taught that the Lord offered the kingdom to Israel at his First Coming, but that they rejected it. He then took the way of the cross. This can never have been. Christ did not offer the kingdom to Israel. How could he have done so in view of the fact that the only way whereby God could reconcile sinners to himself depended upon the death of Christ as the sinners’ substitute upon the cross of Calvary?

 

But the time is fast approaching when Christ must return to fulfill the Scriptures concerning Israel and the kingdom of God upon the earth. Can the time of his coming be delayed? One might ask the question, “Has the kingdom of God and the return of Christ been delayed by the church’s failures and the disobedience of God’s people?” The answer to this I believe is ‘no’. There was an appointed time for the First Coming and so there is an appointed time for the Second Coming, and nothing that man can do will either hinder or speed up God’s program.

 

While we will be able to know the coming of the Lord is near, the exact time of his return cannot be pinpointed. In the gospels where the Lord gives certain information as to the signs which will precede his coming he states, “But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:28)

 

We are warned to be in constant readiness as we do not know when the Lord will come. So we read in Matthew 24:36, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the son, but the father alone.” The parable of the ten virgins was told by the Lord to warn us to be constantly on the alert for his coming. (Matt 25)

 

While the exact day and hour cannot be known beforehand, there are many indications pointing to the fact that Christ’s coming is very near. Perhaps the most important indication is the return of the Jews to the Holy Land. There was a partial return of Israel to the Holy Land after the Babylonian captivity. This was in preparation for the First Coming of Christ. So the return to Israel is a clear warning to the world that God’s time clock is nearing midnight. God, who has preserved the Jewish people throughout their dispersion, has allowed them to return in unbelief to the land which he gave to their father Abraham.

 

Now in past ages there have been many who believed that they were living in the last days because in each age certain signs of the last days and of the return of Christ seemed to be evident. But it is only now that the Lord has gathered Israel back into the land to restore them to full fellowship and communion with himself, after his purpose in calling out the church is completed.

 

With all the other signs of Christ’s return so evident today, we need never doubt that there is very little time left. Paul’s warning in 1 Thess 5:1-11 is clear. He says, “Now brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.”

 

A world that is unsuspecting will find that that day will bring upon them sudden destruction. But a watchful expectant church will be aware of what is transpiring in the world, and while we may not know the very hour of the Lord’s return, we will certainly know that it is at hand, even at the very doors.

 

2.   The promise of his return

 

We find that the Bible is not lacking in promises concerning the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is natural that this should be so, seeing the disappointment of those who were trusting that the kingdom of God was to be established immediately.

 

Jesus made it clear that, while the kingdom of God was not going to be established at that point in time, as he would be going back to the father’s presence, he would return personally at some later date, to usher in the rule of God upon earth.

 

a)      Jesus made it clear in John 14:1-7 that he was going away to prepare a place for those who belonged to him, but that he would return personally to receive his followers. Thus he said, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself.” Here we see that Jesus himself will come for those who are his own. He does not send any other persons or creatures but reserves for himself the right to come and fetch his church.

 

Many see in the Scriptures which speak of the Lord sending his angels to gather together his elect from the four corners of the earth, the gathering together of the dead in Christ as well as those believers who are alive at his coming. (Matt 24:31; Mark 13:27) As it is very clear that these Scriptures refer to an event which takes place after the Great Tribulation (see Matt 24:29; Mk 13:24), if the saints who are resurrected and raptured together with the living saints at Christ’s coming are the elect referred to here, then the teaching that the church will go through the Great Tribulation would indeed be correct.

 

That the elect of the above passages cannot be the church saints of all ages is evident when we take a closer look at other Scriptures.

 

b)      Writing to the Thessalonians the apostle Paul said, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (1 Thess 4:16-17)

 

Let us look at this passage in detail.

 

1    The Lord himself shall descend from heaven.

Here the word translated himself (autos) is emphatic. It means “he himself and none other.” Thus the Lord Jesus Christ comes personally to receive his bride, the church.

 

2        With the voice of the archangel.

This is better rendered “with a voice of an archangel.” In other words “with an archangel’s voice.” Thus this statement does not teach that Christ will be accompanied by an archangel but that the sound of his voice, as he summons the dead in Christ from their graves, and summons them together with the living saints to meet him in the air, is like the voice of an archangel.


 

3        And with the trump of God.

There are many trumpets referred to in the Bible. In the book of the Revelation we find mention of seven trumpets. It is wrong to confuse the seventh trumpet with the trumpet of God of 1 Thess 4:16. The Revelation is clear - the seventh trumpet is an angelic trumpet and it is sounded by an angel. So John writes, “I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.” (Rev 8:2)

 

These seven trumpets are sounded in heaven and they herald the wrath of God upon the earth. The trump of God is not a trumpet of wrath but rather of grace and it is sounded by God himself in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and not by an angel. Just as the trumpet was used to summon Israel to Mount Sinai (Ex 19:13), so the trumpet of God calls the church to the meeting in the air with her heavenly bridegroom.

 

4        To meet the Lord in the air.

We shall not be caught up in the clouds but rather we “shall be caught up in clouds (of believers) to a meeting of the Lord in air.” Thus the Lord himself and none other is the one who will “seize in clouds” those who have partaken in the first resurrection together with the saints who are alive at his coming.

 

It would be to our advantage, at this stage, to look at two objections to the Pretribulation Rapture.

 

It is said by some that the Pretribulation Rapture teaches a first ‘Second Coming’ and a second ‘Second Coming’. Let us look at the First Coming of Christ. We will find that there were two phases to the First Coming of Christ. Before his death and resurrection the Lord appeared to all men, ministering to them. He was seen by his enemies who opposed him and finally handed him over to the civil authority (the Romans) so that he might be put to death.

 

But after death and resurrection he appeared to and ministered to selected individuals who were disciples of his. On one occasion he appeared to “about five hundred brethren at once.” (1 Cor 15:6) There is nothing unscriptural with the teaching of two phases as far as the Second Coming is concerned, provided that we can substantiate it from the Scriptures, which we can, indeed, do.

 

The New Testament plainly teaches a gathering out of the righteous together with the righteous resurrected dead, and a leaving behind of the wicked to experience the wrath of God. This gathering out is accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. There is a subsequent gathering out of the living wicked and a leaving behind of the living righteous who will then inhabit the earth during the Millennium. This is performed by the angels. Thus the elect of Matt 24:31 and Mark 13:27 are the saved of Israel. All surviving Gentiles are gathered by the angels as well, the wicked ones are cast into everlasting fire, while the righteous will inherit the kingdom of their father. (Matt 13:41-43; 25:31-46)

 

Then the other objection is to the very concept of the Rapture. We are told that this is not a Biblical concept. Nowhere in the Bible will you find the word Rapture we are told. This might be true in the English Bible but certainly not true of the Scriptures in Latin. In 1 Thess 4:17 we read that we will be “caught up” in clouds to meet the Lord in the air. This word “caught up” is the Greek word “harpazo” which means to snatch or catch away. It occurs 13 times in the NT (Matt 11:12; 13:19; John 6:15; 10:12, 28, 29; Acts 8:39; 23:10; 2 Cor 12:2, 4: 1 Thess 4:17; Jude 23; Rev 12:5.)

 

It is used of the catching away of Philip from the Ethiopian eunuch, Paul being caught up to the third heaven, and the man-child being caught up to the throne of God. The Latin word used to translate “harpazo” is the word “rapto” which means to “carry away in haste” or “to hurry away” or “to rob, plunder, drag along”. In middle English rapere meant “to seize”.

 

It is hard in view of the above facts to understand how the teaching concerning the Rapture can be deemed to be unscriptural.

 

No need for angels at the Rapture

 

When the Lord returns for his bride at the beginning of the Great Tribulation, there is no need for the ministry of angels to carry believers up to meet him in the air. Paul makes it clear that the resurrection and the Rapture take place at one and the same time. He writes, “The dead will be raised imperishable and we shall be changed.” (1 Cor 15:52) Again, “the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them.” (1 Thess 4:16-17)

 

Now the Lord Jesus tells us something very important about this event in Luke 20:34-36, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage; for they can die no more, for they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.” The Greek word translated “like angels” is the word “isangelos”. The prefix comes from the Greek word “isos” which means “equal”. In English we speak of an isosceles triangle or a triangle with two sides which are equal. The first part of the word isosceles is the Greek word for equal. Thus Jesus said that, when the resurrection takes place, those who are resurrected, and, we know from the epistles of Paul, those who are alive at his coming, are so changed that they are now equal to angels being sons of the resurrection.

 

The mystery not revealed by Jesus but by the apostle Paul was the fact that believers living at the time of the resurrection would not die but would be transformed without ever having to die. This fact that at the sounding of the trump of God all the dead and living believers become the equals of angels is the reason why angels are not involved at the time of the Rapture. When that transformation takes place, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, we will be able to do what angels can do. We will be able to rise and to ascend into the heavens, thus defying the law of gravity, something which we were unable to do before. Thus there is no need for the Lord to send his angels out at the time of the Rapture. The moment we are changed we will ascend by virtue of the fact that we are no longer earth-bound mortals, but are now the equals of angels. Thus Christ comes alone to meet his church, who are now in possession of glorified bodies.

 

Paul writes, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of his glory, by the exertion of the power that he has even to subject all things to himself.” (Phil 3:20-21)

 

Why does the Lord send forth his angels to gather:-

 

1                    His elect

2                    Believing Gentiles

3                    Unbelieving Gentiles

 

It would appear that the reason for this ministry of angels is due to two important facts.

 

a)                  All who are gathered by the angels are not in glorified bodies but are still in mortal bodies.

 

b)                  The devastation of the earth has been so complete that there are no mechanical means of transportation. Every highway, railway, airport and harbour is a ruin. There is a prophecy relating to this end time in Isaiah 33:8, “look, their brave men cry aloud in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly. The highways are deserted, no travellers are on the roads. The treaty is broken, the witnesses are despised, no one is respected.” So we read, “The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace …” (Matt 13:41-42)

 

c)                  At the ascension we find the disciples gazing up into the heavens. Two men in white clothing stood beside them and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11) If we look at the description of the coming of the Lord with the armies of heaven as recorded in Rev 19, to do battle with the kings of the earth at Armageddon, the contrast with the departure of the Lord from the Mount of Olives is startling. They are as dissimilar as any two events can be.

 

The reason is that the event spoken of by the two men in white is a reference to Christ coming for his own, and not in wrath.

 

*      He ascended alone … he will return alone.

 

*      He departed from believers only … he will return for believers only.

 

*      The ungodly were unaware of his departure … they will be unaware of his return.

 

*      He was not wearing the accoutrements of war … neither will he at his return for his church.

 

By no stretch of our imagination can we reconcile the events foretold by the men in white with the record of John in Rev 19. Thus they clearly refer to two separate events. The promise made by these two men to the disciples is very clear. It is that as the Lord left his infant church so also he will return for it. No other purpose will come between this reunion of the Lord with his blood-bought children.

 

Let us remember that every one of the believers present that day at the Mount of Olives will rise in the resurrection to meet the Lord in the air when the Rapture takes place. Thus they will see the literal fulfillment of the promise made on that day.

 

d)                 In Hebrews chapter nine we read of three appearings of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

*      He appeared on earth to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Heb 9:26)

 

*      He now appears in heaven on our behalf as our great high priest and advocate. (Heb 9:24)

 

*      He is going to appear again and the manner of this appearing is thus described, “So Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time, not to bear sin, to those who eagerly wait for him, for salvation.” (Heb 9:28)

 

Note what the writer says about this appearing of the Lord.

 

It is to those who eagerly wait for him. That is, it is an appearing to and on behalf of his waiting saints. The NIV Bible reads thus, “He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”

 

We need to remember that the word ‘salvation’ is not always used in the limited sense of salvation from sin. It can and does have other meanings as well. This salvation is from the coming wrath of God upon all the ungodly. So we read in 1 Thess 1:10, “and to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead – Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.”

 

3.   The nations and his return

 

To begin this part of our study we will have to go back to the Old Testament prophecies of Daniel.

 

In the second chapter of Daniel, we read about the dream of the king of Babylon He dreams of an image with a head of gold, breast and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. (Dan 2:31-33)

 

Then in Dan 7:1-28 we read of a vision which was given to Daniel in the first year of Belshazzar the king. First he sees a lion with wings of an eagle, then he sees a bear, then a leopard with four wings of a bird, and finally, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong. It was different from all the preceding beasts and had ten horns upon its head with another little horn (an eleventh) coming up later.

 

The dream of Nebuchadnezzar and the vision of the prophet Daniel are the same, except that, whereas the king sees a splendid statue, the servant of the Lord sees rapacious wild animals. According to the interpretation given to Daniel, these metals and beasts are identified as four kingdoms which would dominate the earth from the time of the carrying away of the Jews into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar until the return of Christ who would destroy all Gentile power and establish the kingdom of God upon the earth.

 

Thus in the king’s dream we read, “and in the days of those kings (represented by the ten toes and the ten horns of Daniel 2 and 7), the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed and that kingdom will not be passed on to another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.” (Dan 2:44)

 

Let us look at these kingdoms:-

 

A.  Head of gold – the first beast … Babylon

B.  Breast of silver – second beast … Medes and the Persians

C.  Thighs of bronze – third beast … Greece

D.  Legs of iron – fourth beast … Rome

E.   Feet of iron and clay … ten horns of fourth beast … final form of these kingdoms at the coming of Christ

 

Each of these kingdoms was destroyed by its successor.

 

*      Thus Babylon was conquered by the Medo-Persians.

 

*      The Medo-Persians by the Greeks.

 

*      The Greeks by the Romans

 

When we come to the history of Rome we find a different course of events. Germanic tribes spilled over the borders of the Roman Empire and settled within its confines. Later, many of the legions were recruited from these tribes which had been settled in the empire. It has been postulated that, just as the gold represented the people of Babylon, the silver the Medo-Persians, the bronze the Greeks and the iron the Romans, so, to be consistent in our exegesis, the clay must represent a particular people. These people have been identified as the Germanic tribes who settled in the empire. In some parts the Germanic dominated and in some parts the Latin influence was the greater. Two examples are Germany and France

 

Thus the fourth kingdom was weakened and divided. However, the so-called Holy Roman Empire continued from the days of Charlemagne until the overthrow of the last emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the First World War. Our interest is in the final phase of this Roman Empire. This is represented by the ten toes of the image in the dream of king Nebuchadnezzar, and the ten horns of the fourth beast of Daniel's vision.



I)         The western European alliance

 

The European Union is seen by many as the power which is the heir to Rome It came into being as the result of the Treaty of Rome Thus the heartland of the old Roman Empire is contained in the European Union.

 

According to Jean Monnet, the father of the European Union (formerly called the European Common Market), the ultimate goal is complete political union. When this is finally achieved, a person, represented by the little horn of Dan 7:8 (the Antichrist), will assume power over this united states of Europe and, like Hitler, will endeavour once and for all to destroy the Jewish race.

 

Napoleon said, “What does it matter whether two nations are separated by rivers or mountains, or that they speak different idioms? Europe is but one province of the world: when we make war we make civil war. I should like to have made of these people’s one single and uniform national body.”

 

Napoleon tried hard enough, but was not able to succeed. Hitler tried to conquer and rule all Europe but he failed. But there is a man coming, and in his time, he will succeed where others have failed. We will look at the subject more particularly when we study the Antichrist, but it is this person who will make a covenant with the Jews He is the one who will erect the abomination of desolation in the Holy Place. (Matt 24:15)

 

He is the one who will lead the armies of the nations to the great battle of Armageddon: “And I saw the beast (Antichrist) and the kings of the earth and their armies, assembled to make war against him who sat upon the (white) horse, and against his army.” (Rev 19:19)

 

As we look at the European Union today, we see very little evidence of unity. True, there is a parliament of Europe, but it is virtually powerless. A new currency has come into being called the EURO. There are plans for a common police force and army, but the nationalistic spirit is still very strong.

 

What will happen if there are more than ten nations? We will have to await future events to be able to resolve these questions. However, in the final analysis, there will be ten nations which will give their power to the beast. (Rev 17:13)  A possibility is that certain member nations may yet combine with one another. Another possibility is that some may yet withdraw from the EU. Only time will tell what the future holds as far as the ten nations of the fourth world power are concerned.

 

What I believe to be true is the fact that, as long as there are two super powers such as the USA and the USSR, there is very little chance of Western Europe becoming the world power that it must become for the prophetic Scriptures to be fulfilled. Thus, something will have to happen with regard to the two super powers before the unification of Western Europe can take place. [1]

 

 

II)        The Russian confederation

 

If we look at the tenth chapter of the book of Genesis, we will find a record of the descendants of Noah We will be particularly concerned with Gen 10:2-5 where we find the family of Japheth, one of Noah’s three sons. However, we will return to this passage later.

 

Let us look at the book of Ezekiel the prophet. Much of the book deals with the restoration of the Jews to the land of Israel. This theme of restoration rises to a crescendo in Ezekiel 36-37, which we will study in connection with the present state of Israel. When we come to the thirty eighth and thirty ninth chapters we find the record of an invasion of Israel in the latter days by a large army led by Gog and Magog.

 

Gog and its allies

 

Gog of the land of Magog Ezek 38:2

We read, “Son of Man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.”

 

Let us look at Gog first. We read in Ezek 38:14-15, “Therefore, prophesy, Son of Man, and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “On that day when my people Israel are living securely, will you not know it? And you will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north …’”.

 

Thus the prophet pinpoints the locality from which Gog comes at the end-time as the remote parts of the north. It is of interest to note that Jerusalem’s latitude is about 35 degrees and that of Moscow about 37.5 degrees east of Greenwich, thus making Moscow almost due north of Jerusalem. Russia is also the northernmost land in relationship to Israel. Magog is the land of Gog. Magog is one of the seven sons of Japheth mentioned in the table of the nations. (Gen 10:2) Josephus, the Jewish historian, regarded Magog as the Scythians, who lived in the Crimea

 

Rosh. In some Bibles this word is translated ‘chief’. However, in the Septuagint it is translated ‘Rhos’, and in the Latin it is translated ‘Russ’. Gesenius, the historian, regards it as Russia. Byzantine writers of the 10th century referred to the Russians as the ‘Rhos’. Ibn Fosslan (also 10th century) also records a people known as the Rus who lived on the banks of the river Rha (Volga).

 

Meshesh and Tubal. Going back again to the table of the nations in Gen 10:2 we find that Meshesh was one of the sons of Japheth We read, “The sons of Japheth were Gomer and Magog and Madai and Javan and Tubal and Meshesh and Tiras.”  Not only were Magog and Meshesh sons of Japheth, but so was Tubal and, from Ezekiel 38-39, we see a very close association between Meshesh and Tubal who are always mentioned together by Ezekiel.

 

Who were these people? It is thought that the “Tibareni and Moschi” of the classical writers refer to the same people (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia). The same Encyclopedia continues, “Doubtless they appear in the annals of Assyria as enemies of that country under the names ‘Tabali and Mushki’”. Many see in Moscow and Tobolsk the latter day representation of these enemies of Israel.

 

Persia. Persia is the modern state of Iran. Iran and Russia have a common border of 2000 kilometres (about 1250 miles). That Iran will slip away from Western alignment to become an ally of Russia is clearly foretold in these Scriptures in Ezekiel

 

Ethiopia. The word here in the Hebrew is the word “Cush”. Now Cush was one of the sons of Ham, as was ‘Put’. We read in Gen 10:6, “And the sons of Ham were Cush and Mizraim and Put and Canaan

 

There is a bit of difficulty here as to who Cush was and is today. There was an African “Cush” identified with the Negroid people, and there was an Arabian “Cush” identified with certain people in the Arabian Peninsula. There is no doubt that the Russians have been doing all in their power to gain influence with the Arabs by supporting their case against Israel. Certain Arab lands such as South Yemen, Syria and Iraq rely heavily on the Russia for their armaments.

 

However, there has been just as great an effort on the part of the Russians to gain support in Africa. If Cush settled first in Arabia, and then others of his descendants crossed over into Africa, it may well turn out that both African and Arabian Cush may line up with the Russians. Israel has found the nations of the African continent increasingly hostile. They have been consistent in their support of the Palestinians in the United Nations.

 

Put or Phut. As we have seen from the table of the nations, here we have another of the sons of Ham. As Mizraim settled in Egypt, so Phut settled in those parts of North Africa west of Egypt. The original inhabitants of North Africa were the Berbers. Converted to Christianity, they were severely persecuted by the dominant Catholic Church as the churches of North Africa were predominantly Donatists. When invaded by the Arabs, they were converted to Islam Thus the present inhabitants of North Africa are Muslims of mixed Arab and Berber descent.

 

Gomer. As we have read in Gen 10:2, Gomer was one of Japheth's seven sons. Gomer had three sons. We read in Gen 10:3, “And the sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz and Riphath and Togarmah.” We know that Ashkenaz was the founder of the Teutonic or Germanic peoples.

 

Togarmah. As we see above, he was a son of Gomer. Gomer is identified by some as the Cimmerians, a people who lived in the Ukraine. However, if we identify Gog, Magog, Rosh, Meshesh and Tubal with the Slavic people, Gomer and Togarmah would be the Germanic people who are allied with the Russians. Of course, the whole of central Europe is a melting pot of Slavic and Germanic people with an admixture of other totally alien people as well, such as the Hungarians.

 

God draws Russia on to her doom

 

We read, “I will turn you about, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army …” (Ezek 38:4)

 

“After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations … they had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety.” (38:8 - NIV) God says of these invaders, “are you the one of whom I spoke in former days through my servants the prophets of Israel; who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them?” (38:17)

 

What will cause Russia and her allies to invade the land of Israel? We are all aware that the world is facing an energy crisis, and that the Arab nations with their seemingly inexhaustible oil wells are vital to western survival. Arab blackmail has been responsible for policy changes towards Israel by many western countries, notably France. A total end to the supply of this oil would cause havoc in the west.

 

Israel is in an extremely strategic position with regard to the whole Middle East. Verse 12 speaks of Russia coming against “the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the centre of the world.” The Hebrew word translated centre is, literally, the word for “navel”. A study of the map of the world will reveal that Israel is at the centre of the land mass of the world. It is also the bridge between three continents, namely, Europe, Africa and Asia.

 

Increasingly, the West is going to be alienated from the Arabs and Russia will be prepared to meet the demands of these Arab nations for the total destruction of the modern state of Israel.

 

There is a hardening in Israel with regard to the Palestinians and also those Arabs who reside in the confines of Israel as it existed prior to the Six Day War. East Jerusalem has been permanently incorporated into the State of Israel. Jewish settlements on the West Bank are still being started amidst increasing Arab opposition. In Israel itself, in the largely Arab areas of Galilee, strong points of Jewish settlement are being established. Arab hostility to these moves and a desire for the total destruction of Israel may give Russia a golden opportunity to win Arab support against the West. Russia has always been willing to fish in troubled waters, and the Arab-Jewish conflict is no exception.

 

Timed for the latter days

 

This will not be the event referred to in Rev 20:8, where Gog is used by the devil after he is released from his prison in the Abyss. For one thing, there will be no weapons after the Millennium. War will have been outlawed for the thousand years of Christ’s reign upon earth. (Micah 4:3-4)

 

Rather, it is at the end of this present age that the invasion of Israel takes place. It is also clear that Israel will only recently have been regathered to a land just recently “restored from the sword.” (Ezek 38:8)

 

The purposes of Gog

 

1.         Gog musters its might to destroy Israel. (38:8)

2.         Gog will come into the land restored from the sword. (38:8)

3.         Gog will come like a storm, and be like a cloud covering the land, and there will be many people with Gog

4.         Gog will devise “an evil plan” to invade the land of unwalled villages (something that was unknown at the time that the prophet wrote), where the people were at rest and living securely, with the purpose of capturing spoil and seizing plunder.

5.         Gog will lead a great army, consisting of many peoples, out of the remote parts of the north.

6.         Gog would come against those whom God calls “my people Israel”.


 

How God will respond to Gog's invasion of Israel

 

1.         God will “summon” Gog to the land of Israel for its destruction.

2.         “I shall bring you against my land” says God, “in order that the nations may know me when I shall be sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog” (Ezek 38:16) While we cannot pinpoint the time of Gog’s destruction, God says that through it the nations will “know me” and “I shall be sanctified through them”. This would seem to indicate that this event will come before the Rapture of the church and the beginning of the Great Tribulation. It is not possible for anyone to be dogmatic as to precisely when God will draw Gog into Israel to its destruction. It also appears as if the two major powers at the end of the Great Tribulation will be the European confederacy and the kings of the east, indicating possibly that the present two superpowers will be much reduced.

3.                  When Gog comes against the land of Israel, God says, “My fury will mount up in my anger”. (38:18)

4.                  A great earthquake will occur. “In my zeal and in my blazing anger I declare that on that day there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.” (Ezek 38:19)

5.                  God will cause confusion in the armies of Gog, so that they will kill one another. (38:21)

6.                  God’s judgements are:-

a.                   Pestilence (plague) and bloodshed

b.                  Torrential rains

c.                   Hailstorms

d.                  Fire

e.                   Brimstone (sulphur) (Ezekiel 38:21-22)

7.                  This destruction will take place “upon the mountains of Israel”. (Ezek 38:4) Notice that it is in the valley of Megiddo that the battle of Armageddon will take place. To confuse Gog with the Antichrist makes Russia and not Western Europe the final persecutor of the Jewish people. Russia was never a part of the Roman domain, and it is from there that the final onslaught upon Israel will come.

8.                  God will give the vast hordes of Gog’s dead to the predatory birds and beasts of the field as food. (Ezek 39:4, 17-20)

9.                  The land of Magog does not escape. God causes the prophet to write, “And I shall send fire upon Magog and those who inhabit the coastlands in safety; and they will know that I am the Lord.” (Ezek 39:6) We have seen that fire is part of the judgement which is poured out on the armies of Gog as they invade the Holy Land. But here we are told that the land of Magog is going to experience the same fire-judgement. Some see in this the evidence of a nuclear war. This is not impossible, of course, but it is more likely that the fire as well as the hailstones (meteorites?) and brimstone (sulphur) come from outer space. We need to remember that the period of earth-history we are moving into clearly experiences vast disturbances within our solar system, though exactly what is going to precipitate these disturbances is not clear, except that these disturbances will be brought about by God’s direct intervention in men’s affairs.

10.              The nations will know that I am the Lord.

It is not to be wondered at that, as the world heads for the greatest crisis it has ever known, that immediately before that crisis begins, God should reveal himself in such an unequivocal manner, so that all men might be without excuse when, failing to act upon this revelation of God’s power and might by accepting Christ as Saviour, they enter into the awful period of the Great Tribulation. That it is God who has brought to naught the armies of Gog will be evident to all who dwell upon the earth.

11.              God sees this as already accomplished.

“Behold, it is coming and it shall be done,” declares the Lord God. “That is the day of which I have spoken.” (Ezek 39:8)

 

Thus this event, described by the prophet so long ago, will come to pass in all its awful reality. Russia and her Islamic allies will know the full fury and wrath of God, as the day when their prophesied invasion of the land of Israel dawns.

 

What about the inhabitants of Israel?

 

As we read these passages of Scripture, it appears as if Israel, on her part, will not have to fight at all. The enemy is destroyed by supernatural intervention. It is apparent that the Jews will spend much time in clearing away the results of the Russian invasion. According to Ezek 39:9, the inhabitants of the cities of Israel will spend seven years in clearing up the debris of the Russian invaders. Verse 10 reads, “They will take spoil of those who despoiled them, and seize the plunder of those who plundered them.”

 

The burial place of Gog

 

All the vast host of Gog will be buried in the land. In the KJV we read that God will “leave but the sixth part of thee (Gog).” (Ezek 39:2) It would appear, however, that this is an addition, perhaps by some person who felt sorry for Gog in his utter annihilation. There is, indeed, no evidence that there are any survivors at all.

 

To bury such a vast multitude would require much land, even if the burial takes place in communal graves. Land is very valuable in Israel. Where then will this great multitude of the dead of Gog be buried? The rendering of Ezek 39:11 in the NEB [2] is very interesting. It reads, “In that day I will give to Gog, instead of a burial-ground in Israel, the valley of Abarim east of the (Dead) sea. There they shall bury Gog and all his horde, and all Abarim will be blocked; and they shall call it the valley of Gog's horde.”

 

How long will it take to bury Gog's horde?

 

It will take the Jews seven months to bury the host of Gog so as to cleanse the land. “All the people (of Israel) shall take their share in the burying.” (Ezek 39:13) As the land is searched markers will be set up where the bones of the dead are found, so that they can be removed and buried in Hamon-Gog. (Ezek 39:15)

 

The spiritual effect upon Israel

 

We will look at this in greater detail when we look at Israel in relation to the Second Coming of Christ. There is a realisation on the part of the Jews of the reality of the God of Israel. Ezek 39:21-29. Not that they come to a full acceptance of Christ as their Messiah at this stage, but a God-consciousness which is very lacking at present. Atheism is rampant amongst Jewry, very few indeed look for the Messiah to come and deliver them.

 

III)      The United States of America

 

We need to look at the USA insomuch as they are one of the two world superpowers. Where do they figure in the prophecies of the end-time? There are those who see in Ezek 38:13 a mention of the English speaking countries of the world.

 

We read, “Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof shall say unto thee (Gog), art thou come to take a spoil? Hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? To carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?”

 

Sheba and Dedan.

The two sons of Raamah son of Cush. (Gen 10:7) Also Keturah, whom Abraham married after the death of Sarah, had six sons by Abraham. One, Jokshan, had two sons named Sheba and Dedan. Sheba and Dedan were merchants according to Ezek 27:15, 20, 22.

 

By speaking of the merchants of Tarshish and the young lions thereof, the prophet, according to many is referring to the trading nations of the world. It is rather too obscure a Scripture to be applied to Britain and America. Sheba and Dedan are identified with the ancient Sabeans who are most likely the Yemenites of today.

 

America is, without doubt, the best friend that Israel has. She has supported her to the extent that, with the threat of expelling Israel from the United Nations, the United States has threatened to withdraw as well, should this take place. There is a feeling amongst a number of people interested in prophecy that both superpowers will be effectively destroyed. Some see God calling for a sword against Gog as a summons to the USA to fight against Russia (Ezek 38:21). We can only speculate as to the role played by the USA and dare not be dogmatic with so little information in the Bible.


 

IV)      The kings of the east

 

It is a statement made by many people that “the Bible says that the yellow races will rule the world.” A careful reading of the Bible will reveal no such statement at all. But what the Bible does say is that, when the Battle of Armageddon is about to take place, the river Euphrates will dry up to make way for the kings of the east. (Rev 16:12) This relates to the last battle of men against the son of God with the armies of heaven.

 

China is certainly taking more and more prominence in the world arena, but Scripture gives no other information about her role today.

 

4.   The signs of his return

 

The Lord made it very clear that there would be nobody who would know the day and hour of his return. “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my father only.” (Matt 24:36; Mark 13:32)

 

Again, Jesus reminds his disciples, “watch therefore: for you know not what hour your Lord cometh … therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh.” (Matt 24:42-44)

 

While the Lord made it clear that the precise day of his return could not be known, he did answer his disciples when they asked him, “Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming?” (Matt 24:3) Jesus answered the disciples’ questions and gave them many signs that the end of the age could be recognised by those who were living at the time.

 

His warning

Before going into details about the end-time signs, the Lord sounds a warning to his servants to beware of those who would seek to deceive them. “And Jesus answered and said unto them, take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” (Matt 24:4-5; Mark 13:5-6; Luke 21:8)

 

When we look at these deceivers, one thing keeps on drawing our attention and that is how many of these false christs have set dates for the return of the Lord. There can be no doubt that they would not contradict the Lord if their calling was genuine. Not all have gone to the extreme of claiming to be Christ himself but I can remember a man who claimed that he was Christ, and continued to make the claim, until one of his followers killed him with a bomb. No doubt there will be others who will come and make such claims, before the Lord comes back.

 

Turmoil, strife and war

“You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen but the end is yet to come. Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.” (Matt 24:6-7)

 

In the Revelation we see Christ command a red horse to come forth. “And power was given to him that sat thereupon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given to him a great sword.” (Rev 6:4) Many place this red horse and its rider in the time of the Great Tribulation, yet that which comes upon the earth when it is called to come forth speaks of warfare which Christ said would come before the final end drama. In fact, as we shall see in a later study, it is only under the sixth seal that we see the resurrected and raptured saints in heaven.

 

In the 20th century we have seen wars as never before. Two world wars have been fought in which vast numbers have perished. The Second World War ended with the use of atomic bombs against Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. Since the end of that war there has never been a day of peace upon this earth. In every country in the free world that we know of, revolutionaries are endeavouring to overthrow established government. The world today is in a virtual state of anarchy. As the earth in Noah's day was “filled with violence” (Gen 6:11, 13) so our present world is also filled with violence, a sure sign of the end-time.

 

Famine

The spectre of famine is hanging over the world today. It has been said that the optimum human population for this world is about one thousand million people. After that, the ecology begins to suffer. Animal species begin to experience pressure from humans and resources are used faster than they can be replenished.

 

Today we have more than four thousand million people on this small planet of ours. Deserts are encroaching upon farmland. Water supplies are being stretched to the limit. Only the United States, Canada, Australia and Argentina are major grain exporters. A harvest failure in America will bring widespread starvation to millions throughout the world who depend upon these lands each year for their daily bread. Africa is experiencing one drought after another. One day the food supplies of this world will dry up and then – disaster.

 

We read in Rev 6:5, “when the lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, ‘come’. I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, a litre of wheat for a day’s wages, and three litres of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine.”

 

Pestilence

Wherever we find war and famine we will find pestilence. More people died as the result of the Spanish flu after the First World War, than were killed on the battlefields. Thus pestilences will sweep the world before the end comes. Many, weakened as a result of famine, will succumb to pestilence. When the fourth horseman comes forth, he is the harbinger of evil for “they were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and pestilence, and by the wild beasts of the earth.” (Rev 6:8)

 

Earthquakes

The Bible says that there will be “earthquakes in many places.” (Matt 24:7)

 

It has been noted that earthquakes are on the increase worldwide. Some will say, “But there have always been earthquakes.” This is true, yet they are going to become much more numerous and, as we read in the Revelation, they will continue to occur right through the time of the Great Tribulation, and the intensity will increase until, finally, “there came … a great earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. The great city (Jerusalem) split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed.” (Rev 16:18-19)

 

We will pause here to see what Matthew has to say about all that Christ said thus far. He wrote, “All these (false christs, wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes) are the beginning of birth pains.” (Matt 24:8)

 

There is much more to come before the end is at hand, many other signs which the Lord will give to indicate that it is the end-time but these are the beginning of sorrows. Some of these signs have already begun to be fulfilled, others await fulfilment. They can, however, burst upon the earth with a startling suddenness as heralds of his coming.

 

Persecution

That the church has been appointed to suffer is very evident from the Scriptures. Jesus said, “Blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 5:10 & Matt 5:11-12)

 

On his return from his first missionary journey, Paul confirmed the souls of the disciples and “exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:22)

 

We need to distinguish the sources of Tribulation:-

 

1.   We have the Tribulation which is the result of the wrath of man, and it is directed against those who follow the Lord Jesus Christ. This kind of Tribulation is the lot of all believers. Thus when Peter and John were beaten for preaching Jesus, “they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.” (Acts 5:41)

2.   There is also the Tribulation which is the result of the wrath of God. This is the lot of the wicked and the church will not experience this kind of Tribulation. Paul writes, “for after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” (2 Thess 1:6-7) The Greek word translated affliction above is translated ‘tribulation’ in the KJV.

 

Thus, we see that the saints must endure tribulation or affliction for the Lord’s sake in this gospel age, but the ungodly will be recompensed with tribulation after the resurrection and Rapture.

 

This present time will end with the persecution of those who are trusting in the Lord. We are aware of the fact that the church is experiencing much Tribulation in many lands. It is not impossible that we will yet have to experience the same hatred of the ungodly before the Lord comes back. Indeed, this is what the gospel writers say about this time. Matthew speaks of hatred and betrayal. (Matt 24:9-10)

 

False prophets

Matthew warns that one of the signs of the Lord’s return is that there will be false prophets who will arise and who will “deceive many”. (Matt 24:11) We are always inclined to regard these false prophets as the cults that have arisen in these last days. But we also need to be aware of wolves who come in sheep’s clothing. (Matt 7:15)

 

Thus there will be those who will bring in error into the very midst of the true church. We have had to contend with many who seek to direct our attention away from the cross to doctrines which “tickle the ears” of men. In 1 Tim 4:1 we read, “Now the spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.” Again in 2 Tim 1-5, we read, “In the last days difficult times will come … men will be … lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” Continuing in the same epistle, Paul writes, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine …” (2 Tim 4:3-4)

 

Love of many waxes cold

The result of the abounding error will be that iniquity shall abound. (Matt 24:12) Here we see an increase of lawlessness, for that is what the Greek word means. This is precisely what the apostle Paul tells the Thessalonians. He writes, “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. And then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of his mouth and will bring to an end by the appearance of his coming.” (2 Thess 2:7-8)

 

It is only to be expected that the coming of the lawless one (the Antichrist) should be preceded by an increase of lawlessness. There is still a restraint, but there is no doubt that lawlessness is on the increase, and it will continue to increase until the one who restrains is taken out of the way. There can be little doubt that God, in the person of the Holy Spirit, is the one who restrains the vileness of men. God says of Abimelech, who had taken Sarah “I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.” (Gen 20:6) Matthew says, “And because lawlessness is increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, it is he who shall be saved.” (Matt 24:12-13)

 

Gospel preached

One of the signs of the end time is the way in which the gospel has been preached all over the world. There has never been a time when so many have had the opportunity of hearing the glad tidings. The Bible is still the most read book. Scriptures are produced in whole or in portions in almost all the languages and dialects of the world. Where there are still people who do not have the Scriptures, there are those Christians who are labouring ceaselessly to provide them with the word of God in their own languages.

 

Radio and television have played a part in the spread of the word of God. Many radio stations broadcast day and night to the world the news that Jesus saves. With the use of satellites, the time may be at hand when the gospel will be available all over the world through this medium. One thing is certain, man has never had such an opportunity to hear the gospel as he has had today.

 

Particularly in the third world the masses are hearing and believing. Christianity is growing rapidly in these nations but is suffering an eclipse in the godless and materialistic west which was once the bastion of the Christian faith.

 

Increased knowledge and travel

Daniel writes, “Conceal these words and seal up the book until the end time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.” (Dan 12:4)

 

Many see in this Scripture the tremendous explosion of knowledge which has taken place over the last hundred years. The globe has shrunk with the advent of travel by means of the giant airliners of our present day. It was not so long ago that men were travelling by horse drawn vehicles. In fact, it was still in the 19th century when men said that people would die of suffocation if they travelled too fast. Only a generation ago it was held that the atom was the smallest particle of matter in the universe. All that has changed. What man has done in effect has been to make the judgement of God at the time of the tower of Babel, null and void. This is the end to which Satan has been directing man in his so-called progress and what it will eventuate in will be a confrontation between man and God, as there was at Babel.

 

The return of Israel to the land

Many of the signs we have already mentioned have been seen in part in earlier ages, thus the true church has always cherished the hope that, in that particular time of history, the Lord would return.

 

The one great sign which has never been seen before has been the return of the Jews to the Holy Land. Jesus said, “now learn a parable of the fig tree; when his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: so likewise ye, when ye shall see these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.” (Matt 24:33; Mark 13:28; Luke 21:29) Luke says in recording this passage, “Behold the fig tree and all the trees; when they now shoot forth …”

 

The fig tree is the symbol of the Jewish people and we are living in the days when, like the fig tree, Israel is beginning to blossom forth. But not only Israel, but as Luke records, “all the trees.” Thus we have witnessed the end of colonialism in this century, and the gaining of independence of the meanest little islands of the sea.

 

It is because Israel must be back in the land in preparation for the return of their Messiah. Also, all the nations of the world are going to have to choose what course they are going to follow as the end draws near. No other nation will make the choice for them, but each will have to decide for themselves. We will look at Israel in relation to the return of the nation to the Holy Land in detail later but we do need to make certain things clear here. We need to understand that Israel was dispersed because of their disobedience. (Deut 28:64)

 

Jerusalem would be trodden down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled. (Luke 21:24) In this regard, we have seen the establishment of the first Jewish state which was not subjected to the overlordship of another state, since Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC.

 

The modern state of Israel was established on 15th may 1948. But east Jerusalem remained in Arab hands until the six day war. It was in 1967 that the entire city of Jerusalem was, for the first time, united under Jewish rule. Thus Jerusalem ceased to be trodden down by the Gentiles as from that time, that is, 1967. Thus, for thirteen years the city has been in Jewish hands.

 

About the budding of the fig tree Jesus said, “This generation shall not pass until all these things be fulfilled.” (Matt 24:34) Of the Greek word “genea” which is translated generation here, Vine says it is used of “the whole multitude of men living at the same time.”

 

Thus what the Lord Jesus says is that the generation which is alive when the signs which have been mentioned begin, will not pass away until all things are fulfilled. Our datum point need not thus be the unification of Jerusalem under Jewish rule but, in fact, begins earlier than 1967. We are also not too sure that we can determine what period of time constitutes a generation. There are those who would make it to be forty years, but why should it not be three score years and ten? (Psalm 90:10)

 

But of one thing we can be sure, and that is that what the Lord has said, not one thing will remain unfulfilled for he said, “heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” (Matt 24:35) When the Russian confederacy attacks Israel the Jews will not flee but God will defend them. At a later stage they will be disposed temporarily when they flee into the wilderness for 1260 days.

 

Signs in the heavens

Here we come to signs which have not yet been seen, but, according to the Scriptures, they must yet come before the Lord returns. Let it be said here that the Bible makes it clear that cosmic disturbances are not only signs of the near return of the Lord, but that these astral calamities continue right through the Great Tribulation and terminate it.

 

Let us look at what Luke has to say in his gospel about these astral signs. He writes, “… and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven … and there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon earth dismay among nations, inperplexity at the roaring of the sea and waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.” (Luke 21:11, 25-26)

 

The Living Bible renders the last part of the above as follows, “the courage of many people will falter because of the fearful fate they see coming upon the earth, for the stability of the very heavens will be broken up.” Also the Good News Bible, “… for the powers in space will be driven from their courses.”

 

Very soon there will be a major upheaval in our solar system. The earth itself will be threatened by some astral body which will cause devastation upon the earth. This threat is not going to come and go in a short period of time. Rather it is going to continue for a number of years before, finally, at the coming of the Lord, it will cease.

 

Speaking of this present gospel era, and quoting from the book of the prophet Joel, the apostle Peter had this to say on the day of Pentecost, “I will perform miracles in the sky above and wonders on the earth below. There will be blood, fire, and thick smoke; the sun will be darkened, and the moon will turn red as blood, before the great and glorious Day of the Lord comes.” (Acts 2:19-20)

 

There is only one other place in the Bible where we read of the moon turning red as blood and that is in Rev 6:12, “And I saw the lamb break open the sixth seal. There was a violent earthquake, and the sun became black like coarse black cloth, and the moon turned completely red like blood. The stars fell down to the earth, like unripe figs falling from the tree when a strong wind shakes it. The sky disappeared like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place.”

 

What will happen is something like this. Some wandering star or comet is going to interact with one or some of the planets in our solar system. This is going to cause either the wandering star or the disturbed planet (perhaps mars) to begin to threaten the earth, and this threat is going to continue over a long period of time. It will, however, begin before the Great Tribulation.

 

Initially, the earth will be plagued by earthquakes caused by the wandering star. There will also be tidal waves (Luke 21:25-26) which will cause panic upon the earth. The earth will be under constant threat from this astral visitor. Probably it will intersect from time to time with the earth’s orbit. Meteorites will fall upon the earth. Mountains and islands will be moved from their place. The Old Testament also speaks of these astral upheavals at the time of the Day of the Lord. In Isaiah 13:13 we read, “I will bring disaster upon the earth and punish all wicked people for their sins. I will humble everyone who is proud and punish everyone who is arrogant and cruel. Those who survive will be scarcer than gold. I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place on that day when I, the Lord, show my anger.”

 

An even more detailed description of what is to happen to the earth when these signs in the heavens begin, is given in Isa 24:1-23. We read in the Good News Bible, “the Lord is going to devastate the earth and leave it desolate. He will twist the earth’s surface and scatter its people.” (Verse 1) Then it continues in verses 18-23, “when the windows of heaven above are opened and earth’s foundations shake, the earth is utterly shattered, it is convulsed and reels wildly. The earth reels to and fro like a drunken man and sways like a watchman’s shelter …” (NEB)

 

It has been seen that, at the beginning of the Day of the Lord, the sun becomes black and the full moon becomes blood-red. This is only the beginning of such phenomena. When the fourth angel sounds his trumpet in Rev 8:12 we read, “And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.”

 

Perhaps the worst comes towards the end of the Great Tribulation. We read in Rev 16:8, “the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire. They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God …” this is what Isaiah says in Isaiah 24:6, “… therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left.” If God shakes the earth out of its place (Isa 13:13), this could mean that the earth would move closer to the sun, which would then scorch men as we have read in Rev 16. Isaiah also speaks of the Lord shaking the earth in Isa 2:19.

 

Joel is one of the most interesting writers of the Old Testament when it comes to these astral phenomena. He writes in Joel 2:10, “the earth shall quake before them; and the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.” Joel then speaks of the sun being turned into darkness and the moon into blood (Joel 2:31), a Scripture quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost, and a Scripture which we have already looked at. Then, right at the end, with the multitudes in the valley of decision (Armageddon?), he writes, “The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.” (Joel 3:15)

 

Jesus himself told the disciples in his final discourse about the end, “immediately after the Tribulation of those days, shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars (meteorites?) Shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven …” (Matt 24:29-30; Mark 13:24-26)

 

It is just after this that Christ sends forth his angels to gather his elect. This gathering is not the gathering of the resurrected dead in Christ and transformed believers who are alive at his coming. That took place before the sun turned into darkness and the full-moon became blood-red, a very different event. What is apparent then is this: that shortly before the Rapture there will be disturbances in the solar system. These disturbances will be caused by some as yet unknown factor, but probably a comet or a wandering star. These disturbances, once they have commenced, will continue for a long time. At times men will be very aware of these phenomena as they will result in very unpleasant consequences for the inhabitants of the earth. They will only cease after the Great Tribulation, showing that they are not mere chance happenings, rather that they are due to very definite intervention in the order of things by God himself. Sinners know that and this is why they will curse God.

 

5.   Two stages to his return

 

Amongst the Premillennialists there are four differing schools of interpretation.

 

1                    The Pretribulation teaching

2                    The Mid-Tribulation teaching

3                    The Post-Tribulation teaching

4                    The partial-Rapture teaching

 

The partial-Rapture teaching is not relevant to this study so we will not discuss it, but will look at the other three.

 

*      Pretribulationists believe that the resurrection of the dead and the transformation of those believers who are alive at that time, will take place before the Great Tribulation which will last for seven years.

 

*      Mid-Tribulationists believe that the Lord will come for his people after three and a half years of the Tribulation has elapsed.

 

*      Post-Tribulationists believe that the above are deluded in looking for two Second Comings. The Lord comes once right at the end of the Great Tribulation. The Lord preserves his own down here throughout whatever happens in the future.

 

There can be no doubt whatsoever that only one of the above teachings can be correct. We must be careful not to be dogmatic, but to examine the Scriptures to see that our faith rests on a firm foundation. Being a firm believer in the first of these teachings, it will be necessary to state the grounds for such faith.

 

We have covered some of this ground already in our study which we will recapitulate later. Let us start with the fact that the coming of the Lord for the church cannot be determined insofar as its time is concerned.

 

We can never determine the day of the Rapture. It is an event which will come upon man unexpectedly. Matt 24:36 says, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the son, but only the father.” Jesus then uses the example of the flood saying, “they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away.” (Matt 24:39) See Luke 17:26 where the Lord uses Sodom as an example of his sudden and unexpected return. Jesus then says in Matt 24:42, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.”

 

Again, after speaking of a house being broken into he says, “So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” (Matt 24:44) Jesus then tells his disciples about the ten virgins. (Matt 25:1-13) It is a parable which enjoins watchfulness for the Lord ends by saying, “therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”

 

In both Luke and Matthew we find the Lord saying, “For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.” (Luke 17:24; Matt 24:27) As unexpected as that first flash of lightning is, so unexpected is the day when the Lord returns. Believers will know that his coming is nigh, even at the very doors (Matt 24:33) when they see the signs of his return but the very day of that return must ever be unexpected.

 

Writing to the Thessalonians, Paul says, “Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” (1 Thess 5:1-2) Paul then makes it clear that the wicked will be taken by surprise, but not those who believe. Why? Because we know the day? No. It is because the believer is in a constant state of watchfulness for the coming of the Lord. When we read the book of Revelation we find a warning concerning the unexpectedness of the Lord’s return. We read in Rev 16:15, “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.”

 

A)        One day the very day of Armageddon will be known

 

While no one will ever know when the resurrection and Rapture will take place until it has taken place, we find that the nations will know, after it has taken place, the very day when Christ will come with the armies of heaven to destroy sinners from the earth.

 

Let us assume that the resurrection and Rapture takes place on March 31st 1993. According to the Pretribulation teaching the Antichrist will receive absolute authority 1260 days or 42 months after the Rapture, and Armageddon will take place exactly 1260 or 42 months after he receives absolute authority. This makes for Armageddon to take place 2 520 days or 84 months or seven years (of 360 days each), after the Rapture.

 

Now, the 1260th day from March 1st 1993 is 12th August 1996.

(made up of 1993 … 306 days;

1994 … 365 days;

1995 … 365 days;

1996 … 224 days.

Total … 1260 days.)

 

The 1260th day from the 12th August 1996 is January 23rd 2000 A.D.

(made up of 1996 … 142 days;

1997 … 365 days;

1998 … 365 days;

1999 … 365 days;

2000 … 23 days.

Total … 1260 days.)


 

So, according to our example we see:-

 

*      Rapture                1st March 1993 A.D.

*      Midweek              12th August 1996 A.D.

*      Armageddon         23rd January 2000 A.D.

 

Now, does the Scripture indicate that such a determination of the date of Armageddon takes place once the Rapture is past?

 

Let us look at some Scriptures which confirm that it does. During the first half of this seven year period (Daniel’s seventieth week see Dan 9:24-27) the two witnesses will minister and they will prophesy for 1260 days (Rev 11:3).

 

Until they have finished their testimony the beast or Antichrist cannot harm them. However, when they have finished their testimony the beast will kill them. (Rev 11:7) He does this as soon as he receives his power and his throne and great authority from the dragon or Satan. (Rev 13:2)

 

Thus we see that the following is true of that seven year period:-

 

*      First 1260 days (42 months) … two witnesses have absolute power.

 

*      Second 1260 days (42 months) … Antichrist has absolute power.

 

Using the day that he receives this absolute power and kills the two witnesses as a starting point, the Antichrist knows that he has exactly 1260 days. Thus he will be able to calculate the very day of Armageddon. When his time has expired to the very day, the Lord Jesus Christ will come with the armies of heaven. So exactly 1260 days later the heavens open and Christ comes riding upon a white horse. (Rev 19:11)

 

Now the Bible tells us that John “saw the beast and the kings of the earth assembled to make war against him who sat upon the horse, and against his army.” (Rev 19:19) It is clear from this that the Antichrist (beast) knows the very day on which the Lord will come to wage war against him and the kings of the earth, for they are assembled from all over the world for that very day.

 

This is also made very clear in Rev 16:12-16 where we see the three unclean spirits like frogs “go out to the kings of the whole world, (Greek … ‘oikoumene’ … inhabited earth) to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty … and they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.”

 


What do we see here? We see these unclean spirits gathering men together to a specific place and for a specific day to war against the Lamb.

 

*      They know the place         Har-Magedon

*      They know the day …      2 520 day exactly after the resurrection

 

And the Rapture? Using our example then of the Rapture taking place on the 1st March 1993, as the 23rd January 2000 A.D. draws near, the summons will go out by means of these spirits so that they will be in the great valley in Israel where the battle of Armageddon is to take place. They will all be there for the very day which has been determined, in our example, the 23rd January 2000 A.D. God even causes the river Euphrates to dry up so as to make a way for the kings from the sun-rising. (Rev 16:12)

 

(A reminder that it is not our intention to set dates, the above dates are just an arbitrary example to illustrate our point.)

 

So while the day on which the Lord comes into the air to receive those dead who have been resurrected, and those living believers who are transformed at his coming, is unknown and totally unexpected being likened to the coming of a thief in the night, we can see that, at Armageddon, the whole assembled armies of the nations are waiting for the very day on which they know he will come to wage war on them.

 

B)        The two gatherings

 

Jesus spoke of his coming after the Great Tribulation when he said that “immediately after the Tribulation of those days” the sun would be darkened, the sign of the Son of Man would be seen in the sky, men would see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory and then he would send his angels forth.” (Matt 24:29-31)

 

According to the Lord, his angels would remove the wicked who would be cast into the furnace of fire, while the righteous would inherit the kingdom of God here upon earth. (Matt 13:41-43)

 

Paul the apostle was given the Revelation that, previous to this the Lord would have come to resurrect the righteous dead and to transform the living saints. Both would be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, but the wicked would be left behind to go through the Great Tribulation. What Paul taught was not what Jesus had taught or else Paul would never have said, “I show you a mystery.” (1 Cor 15:51) A mystery is a truth which has not been taught or revealed previously.

 

Let us tabulate this:- Paul said that the Lord Jesus would return and he would remove all who belonged to him, both from the grave and from the everyday walk of life. Those who were removed in this manner would receive glorified bodies at this time and would be equal to angels. (Luke 20:36) There would be seven years of Great Tribulation during which time there would be those who would turn to the Lord and become believers. This is why God sends the two witnesses and also the 144 000 as servants of God. See Rev 7 and Rev 11.

 

Then what Jesus taught would come to pass. He would return and, at Armageddon, would destroy the armies of the Antichrist then his angels would remove all the wicked leaving only the righteous behind to multiply and replenish the earth.

 

The promises of Jesus Christ

 

The Lord Jesus made it very clear that we were not to have an easy time while we were here on earth. In John 16:33 he tells his disciples, “in the world ye shall have Tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

 

Paul remarks to the believers in Asia “that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:22) These early followers of the Lord were “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name” after they had been beaten for preaching in the name of Jesus.” (Acts 5:41)

 

It is contended by the Post-Tribulationists that those who advocate a Pretribulation Rapture may not be of the same mind as these first century Christians. What they fail to observe is that there is a difference between the tribulation which is inflicted upon the believer by the world because he is a Christian, and the tribulation which God is going to inflict upon the ungodly at the end of this age.

 

In writing to the Thessalonians Paul says in 1 Thess 3:4, “For verily when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know.”

 

Then in 2 Thess 1:4-10 Paul speaks of their patience and faith in all their persecutions and Tribulations which they endured saying “It is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven … taking vengeance …”

 

In the Greek the words ‘trouble’ and ‘troubled’ are the verb form of the noun translated ‘tribulation’. Thus the apostle is saying that the tribulation which is coming upon the church which is his body, in this present time, is going to be repaid with interest upon an ungodly world in the end.

 

It is the strangest of reasoning on the part of some to expect God’s saints not only to endure tribulation at the hands of a wicked world but also to remain here and endure God’s wrath which is pored out as recompense to the ungodly for what they have done to his own called-out church.

 

It is asserted by some that God will preserve them through the Great Tribulation down here. Seeing that this time of trouble is coming upon the “whole inhabited earth” one is rather at a loss to establish just exactly where God is going to preserve them. Israel will be preserved from the wrath of the Antichrist in the wilderness (Rev 12:6 …the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God.) One searches the Bible in vain to find such a place for the faithful Gentiles who have been born again and made members of Christ’s body. Surely if they were required to remain here and to endure the wrath of God which surely must come upon every living soul on earth at that time, God would have said that there was a place down here prepared for them by God where they would enjoy a measure of safety? Israel is given such an assurance, then, why not the church if indeed she is down here? The reason, of course, why such assurances are not given are simply that they are not necessary, as the church is not present in heaven with Christ, having been raptured at the commencement of the Great Tribulation. If the Lord has made provision for the remnant of Israel to be safe, we can rest assured that he has made provision for the safety of his bride, the church.

 

Now the apostle Paul is very specific in 1 Thess 5:1-9. He is telling the Thessalonians about the Day of the Lord. We will look at this Day of the Lord under a separate heading later on, but it is sufficient to say here that it is a day of God’s wrath because, when it comes, sudden destruction is going to engulf the wicked. But, says Paul, “God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thess 5:9) Now the word salvation does not only always refer to spiritual salvation. It can and does also refer to salvation from circumstances.

 

Thus Paul has already written earlier in the epistle, telling his readers that they are to “wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead – Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.” (1 Thess 1:10) Luke records what the Lord has to say about this deliverance from the coming wrath. We read in Luke 21:34-36 the words of Jesus, “be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” In the Greek interlinear it is so much clearer “… begging that ye may be able to escape all these things being about to happen …”

 

Note what the Lord Jesus says:-

 

1.   It is going to affect all those who live on the face of all the earth.

 

2.   Some will escape these things (pertaining to God’s wrath) and we are to watch and pray that we may be amongst them.

 

3.   Those who escape, will escape when they are on the point of happening. Here the New Berkeley version is very clear. It reads, “Pray unceasingly so that you may have strength to escape all these impending events and to stand before the Son of Man.” In the numeric New Testament we read, “that ye may prevail to escape all these (things) that shall come to pass.”

 

4.   Those who prevail to escape the impending events will do so to stand before the Son of Man.

 

It may be helpful here to look at the word ‘escape’. In the Greek it is the word ‘ekphugo’ and it is found seven times in the New Testament.

 

Luke 21:36      The escape of those who watch and pray from the events which will take place during the Great Tribulation.

Acts 16:27       The jailer at Philippi supposed that Paul and Silas had escaped.

Acts 19:16       The seven sons of Sceva escaped the demon-possessed man by fleeing naked from the house.

Rom 2:3          Paul asks the Romans if they suppose that they can escape the judgment of God.

2 Cor 11:33     Paul escaped from Damascus by being lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through Aretas the governor’s hands.

1 Thess 5:3      When the Day of the Lord comes the wicked shall not escape.

Heb 2:3           How shall we escape if we ignore or neglect such a great salvation.

 

Vine says of this Greek word … to flee out of a place.

(ek … out of;  phugo … flee.)

 

Before the flood we see:-

 

*      Enoch caught up … a type of the church.

*      Noah in the ark … a type of Israel.

 

The one escapes all wrath by being removed, the other preserved through the wrath in a place of safety.

 

The blessed hope

 

Paul writes to Titus and speaks of us “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:13)

 

It would be strange of the apostle to refer to the coming of Jesus as our blessed hope, if we were to have to go through the Great Tribulation. Surely, were that the case, the blessed hope of the believer would be to die before the Lord came or before the Great Tribulation began?

 

His coming can only be a blessed hope if he comes before the Great Tribulation begins. It would also be strange for the Lord to allow his people to remain on the earth while his wrath is made manifest. It is because many people do not realise just how awful that time is going to be, that they can glibly say that the church will have to go through the Great Tribulation.

 

The departure of the church

 

In recent years there has been a re-examination of the passage to be found in 2 Thess 2:1-5. Paul says, “… for (the Day of the Lord) shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition …”

The popular teaching of this passage presumes that the falling away is to be seen in the turning away of men from the truth in the last days, and an embracing of error.

 

We all acknowledge that the Scriptures do teach that this is so, but, is that what this passage teaches, or is the apostle trying to make another point? The whole question hinges on our understanding of the Greek word ‘apostasia’ which is translated “falling away” here.

 

Dr E. Schuyler English and Kenneth Wuest present another view which cannot just be lightly brushed aside. Dr English, in his booklet “Re-thinking the Rapture”, points out that some of the earliest translators of the Bible rendered the passage differently.

 

William Tyndale’s version of the NT translated and published at Worms c. 1526 AD renders “hee apostasia” as “a departynge”. Coverdale (AD 1535), Cranmer (AD 1539), and the Geneva Bible (AD 1557) render it the same way. Beza (AD 1565) translates apostasia ‘departing’ (page 69 footnote).

 

The word apostasia has come over into the English language, and the word apostasy has one meaning only and that is “a departure from the faith”. That is not so in the Greek. The neuter form is to be found in three places in the NT:-

 

*      Matt 5:31  give her a writing of divorcement

*      Matt 19:7  to give a writing of divorcement

*      Mark 10:4  to write a bill of divorcement

 

Here ‘apostasion’ is rendered divorcement. To divorce someone is to send them away or to cause them to depart. The feminine ‘apostasia’ is found in two places in the NT, here in 2 Thess 2:3 and in Acts 21:21, “… thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses …” Paul is accused of encouraging the Jews to depart from the teachings of Moses. In Acts 21:21 Luke explains what is being departed from. It is the teaching of Moses.

 

But in 2 Thessalonians there is no explanation as to what men will depart from. Is it the truth? The passage does not say so. In fact the real apostasy (using the English usage), which is the manifestation of the man of lawlessness, only comes after the ‘apostasia’.

 

On page 68 of his booklet Dr English says of apostasia, “apostasia generally carries the meaning of defection, revolt, or rebellion against God. These are the primary meanings of the word, as found in most lexicons. There is a secondary connotation in Liddell and Scott’s Greek-English lexicon, namely: disappearance, or departure.” In the passage under consideration Paul says “the departure” must come before the Day of the Lord, and only then can the man of lawlessness be revealed.

 

The contention of these brethren is that, seeing that the writer does not specify what departure he is referring to in verse 3, we must look at the whole passage, so, going back to verse one, we read, “now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto him …” Thus, it is contended, the departure which comes before the Day of the Lord and the manifestation of the man of sin, is not a spiritual departure from the truth, rather, it is a physical departure when we will be gathered together unto him (Christ).

 

*      Thus the Day of the Lord cannot come:

 

*      The man of lawlessness cannot be revealed:

 

until the church has departed at the time of the Rapture.

 

The Revelation proves it

 

It is unfortunate that most Pretribulationists insist on placing the Rapture between chapters three and four of the book of Revelation. Then they interpret the twenty four elders as being the glorified church, whereas, in many Scriptures, it can be clearly seen that these elders are individuals. (Rev 4:4, 10; Rev 5:5, 6, 8, 11, 14; Rev 7:11, 13; Rev 11:16; Rev 14:3; Rev 19:4 … note “one of the elders” in both Rev 5:5 and Rev 7:13.)

 

It is quite clear that the breaking of the sixth seal by the Lord Jesus brings this present age to an end, and the Day of the Lord begins. All that happens under the first five seals can be explained in the light of the preliminaries which precede the Great Tribulation. As has already been mentioned, both Peter and John make it clear that immediately before the great and terrible Day of the Lord, the sun will be turned into darkness and the full moon into blood. (Acts 2:20; Rev 6:12) In the passage Rev 6:12-7:17, we see four things which will happen when the sixth seal is broken. There is a sequence in the recording of these things, but they will take place at the same time.

 

1        Great astral (cosmic) signs.

These include the dark sun, the blood-like moon, meteorites falling upon the earth, and every island and mountain is moved out of its place. (Rev 6:12-14)

 

2        All men recognise that the great day of God’s wrath has finally come and they cry to the rocks and mountains to fall upon them to hide them from him who sits upon the throne. (Rev 6:15-17)

 

3        God tells his angels not to harm the earth, the sea and the trees until his 144 000 servants (Jews) are sealed. Note well that these Jewish servants are on the earth. (Rev 7:1-8)

 

4        An innumerable host is seen in heaven for the first time. These are the resurrected, transformed and raptured saints. The dead in Christ and the transformed living saints. (Rev 7:9-1).

 

 

Contrast between his coming for the church and at Armageddon

 

Rapture & resurrection

Armageddon (Revelation)

1

He returns for his disciples in the same manner as he left his disciples when he ascended from the Mount of Olives. (Acts 1:11)

He returns riding upon a white horse, with eyes as a flame of fire, his head crowned with many crowns, and clothed with garments dipped in blood. (Rev 19:11)

2

He comes to receive those who are his own, so that we may be with him in the place that he has gone to prepare for us. (John 14:3)

His object at Armageddon is to execute judgement upon all the ungodly. He makes war upon the nations who have assembled to resist him. (Rev 19:11; Ps 2)

3

He comes alone. He left alone from the Mount of Olives. Paul says that the Lord himself will descend from heaven at the Rapture. There is no indication whatsoever that he is accompanied by his angels or anyone else. (1 Thess 4:16)

He said, “I will receive you unto myself.” (John 14:3)

He is accompanied by the armies of heaven all riding upon white horses, clothed in white linen white and clean. (Rev 19:14)

Jude says, “the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints to execute judgement upon all …” (Jude 14-15)

The Lord Jesus “shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance upon those who know not God …” (2 Thess 1:7-8)

4

The Lord comes with a word of command, an archangel’s voice, and a trump of God. (1 Thess 4:16)

It is needful to emphasise that the judgement trumpets of the Revelation signal (each one of them), a new manifestation of the wrath of God and of the lamb, whereas the trump of God signals the resurrection of the dead and the gathering of all Christ’s own to a meeting with him in the air.

Trumpets were sounded to summon and to warn the people of God.

(1 Sam 13:3, Ezek 33:1-6)

Here the Lord comes, not with the trump of God, but with a sharp sword in his mouth, that with it he might smite the nations. These are the nations who have been gathered to the battle of Armageddon by the unclean spirits (which are demons) sent out by Satan, the beast, and the false prophet. (Rev 19:15; Rev 16:14)

Here is no coming in grace for the redeemed but a coming in wrath to destroy all the ungodly from off the face of the earth.

5

All the dead in Christ are to be resurrected at this time.

First it was the firstfruits as we see recorded in Matt 27:50-53, now it is the harvest which has been sown in the earth throughout the ages.
(1 Thess 4:16)

In the Revelation we see that, after the battle of Armageddon, it is only those who “were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” (Rev 20:4-5)

These are the gleanings of the harvest.

Note well: the rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years were finished. (Rev 20:5)

6

The living saints are transformed just after the dead saints are resurrected. The dead in Christ shall rise first. (1 Thess 4:16)

Thus all who partake in this great event are glorified and have resurrection bodies. They are now equal unto the angels, they neither marry nor can they die. (Luke 20:35-36) Who will populate the earth if the church remains until the end of the Tribulation?

Many who turn to Christ during the Great Tribulation will be slain. (Beheading seems to be the method that will be used to kill them.) Those who remain will not be glorified, Jesus said of these, “come, ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (Matt 25:34) “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father.” (Matt 13:43)

7

The Lord Jesus removes his people after he has given to each one of them a resurrection body. This body is a spiritual body as opposed to a natural body which they had before. (1 Cor 15:44)

The place where the Lord meets these saints is in the air. They are caught up in clouds to meet the Lord in the air. (1 Thess 4:17)

The wicked are left behind. Some will turn to the Lord and be saved, others will be hardened in their opposition to the Lord and will throw off all restraint. Saints are immortal here, and they go to the place which Jesus said he was preparing for them. This is most probably the new Jerusalem

After the Great Tribulation the angels remove the wicked. “The Son of Man shall send forth his angels and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and them that do iniquity.” (Matt 13:41)

As king of the earth (Zech 14:9) Jesus will determine who of all men who have survived the holocaust of the Great Tribulation, will enter into his millennial kingdom. All who go up to Armageddon will perish there, but the wicked who do not go up will be dealt with at the throne of his glory where they judge those who survive the Great Tribulation as to their worthiness to enter his kingdom. (Matt 25)

Saints are mortal and remain on earth as citizens of the Millennial kingdom.

8

Once the saints are resurrected and transformed they are equal to the angels. Thus they do not need or require the ministry of angels to convey them to meet the Lord in the air. Thus they, having the power that angels have, will be able to do what angels do. Thus they will rise of their own accord to meet the Lord in the air.

The saints here (as well as the wicked) will all be in natural and not in glorified bodies. They will be unable to do what the saints at the Rapture can do. The earth is devastated beyond measure, its surface is twisted as the result of the terrible earthquakes which have rocked it.

Thus the Lord will use angels to convey all who are alive on the earth after Armageddon to the place where he will judge them. “The angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire.” (Matt 13:49)

So also the elect. (Matt 24:31)

9

This day on which the Rapture takes place will come unexpectedly upon the ungodly. It will come as a snare upon them. (Luke 21:35)

“When they (the ungodly) shall say, peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” (1 Thess 5:3)

Believers are waiting and watching. (Luke 21:36)

Here the ungodly are aware of the very day on which Armageddon will take place. As the beast is given power for 42 months (Rev 13:5), and as his power is terminated by the return of the Lord at Armageddon the very day of Armageddon can be calculated. Thus the armies of the nations gather for a specific day on which they know the Lord will appear from heaven to destroy the Antichrist and to cast Satan into the Abyss.

Ungodly are waiting and watching as they know the day of his appearing.

10

Thus the day and hour of the coming of the Lord for his own at the resurrection and the Rapture is unknown. We can only know that it is near. (Matt 24:36. Mk 13:32)

There is a time coming when Satan, and his servant the beast, will know the very day the Lord will descend with the armies of heaven. A vast army of men will be waiting to fight against the army which Christ will lead.

11

Thus this day will come as a thief in the night. (1 Thess 5:2)

In one moment the whole world will realise that the saints have disappeared and will exclaim that the great day of the wrath of God has come. (Rev 6:17)

This day does not come as a thief in the night. It is known that the Lord will come 1260 days after the beast has received his power and authority, and they will be ready to fight him. Remember that Armageddon is not a war of men against men but of men against God. (Rev 19:19)

12

The judgement of the saints who take part in the first resurrection takes place. Thus we read, “thy wrath came, and the time of the dead to be judged, and the time to give their reward to thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear thy name, the small and the great: and to destroy them that destroy the earth. (Rev 11:18)

Here we need to see what happens as the Lord comes after the Great Tribulation. First a vast army is assembled at a specific location in anticipation of the Lord’s coming. Those who assemble thus do so, not to welcome the Lord, but to make war on him. This entire army is destroyed at his appearing. However, there are those who do not go up to battle who are evil. All these wicked survivors of the Great Tribulation are gathered to face the Lord as king of the earth. At the throne of his glory the king will judge the wicked and cause them to be cast into everlasting punishment. No wicked survivor will be permitted to enter into the millennial reign of the Lord Jesus Christ.

13

Thus the Lord resurrects and transforms his saints, judges them with regard to rewarding them, and they then remain with him forever as glorified beings equal to angels.

The Lord utterly destroys the ungodly. There are no survivors at Armageddon Those who do not go up to war on the Lord but are ungodly will not prevail to enter the Millennium as no enemy of Christ will be permitted to survive the judgement of the nations. (Matt 25)

14

The saints escape and stand before the Son of Man. We read, “but you be vigilant and pray unceasingly so that you may have strength to escape all those impending events and to stand in the presence of the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:36)

Paul makes it clear that God has not appointed us unto wrath. We read, “for God has not destined us for his anger, but for the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thess 5:9)

This salvation is from the wrath poured out upon the earth during the Day of the Lord. In 1 Thess 1:10 Paul refers to the Lord Jesus as the one who delivers us from the coming wrath.”

As far as the wicked are concerned we read, “when they (the ungodly) say ‘peace and safety’ then sudden destruction will come upon them like the birthpangs of a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape.” (1 Thess 5:3)

Paul says in 1 Thess 5:2 that the Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. But we see that Armageddon does not come as a thief in the night. All who dwell on the earth know just when it will come.

The saints who come to believe during the Great Tribulation will also not escape.

We read that the beast will make war on the saints and to conquer them. (Rev 13:7)

15

We read concerning the Rapture that the Lord will be appearing “unto them that look for him.” (Heb 9:28)

Thus this is a very selective appearing. He does not appear to those who are not looking for him.

When he comes all who dwell on the earth shall see him. Thus we read “every eye shall see him.” (Rev 1:7) Also, “and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.” (Matt 24:30)

16

There are celestial signs which will begin before the Great Tribulation, will continue right through it, and will be the sign also that it has ended.

There are three Scriptures which indicate that the sun will turn black and the full moon will become blood-red before the great and terrible Day of the Lord begins. The first is in Joel 2:31. “The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible Day of the Lord come.” Peter quotes this in Acts 2:20. So also when the lamb breaks the sixth seal in the Revelation “the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood.” (Rev 6:12)

In the Revelation the ungodly recognise this as the advent of the wrath of God and of the lamb.

There are times during the Great Tribulation when the sun, moon and stars will be affected. This is part of the terror which will be the lot of men during that terrible time.

These terrors will include death and destruction raining down from the sky in the form of meteors and other such things. But we read in Matt 24:29, “immediately after the Tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.”

The powers of heaven are seen by some as being the various planetary bodies in our solar system. Note here that the moon does not turn red but, rather, it does not shine at all. This will be the end of the shaking of the earth and of our solar system, all part of the manifestation of the end-time wrath of God.

17

When the Rapture takes place the time of Jacob's trouble begins. Thus when the church age ends, a time of great wrath upon the people of Israel begins. This is because Satan will endeavour for the last time, to exterminate the Jew. We read, “Alas! For that day is great so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.”
(Jer 30:7)

Here we see that at Armageddon the final deliverance of Israel takes place. The elect are gathered. (Matt 24:31)

Certain Old Testament Scriptures indicate that the elect here are the Jews who are gathered back to the land of Israel.

These Jews recognise their Messiah and mourn. (Zech 12:10)

Those who have ill-treated the Lord’s brethren will be dealt with. See Matt 25:31-46.

18

The appearing of the Lord for the church is called “the blessed hope”. (Titus 2:13) The appearing of the Lord, should it come after the Great Tribulation, as far as the church is concerned, would be no blessed hope, rather, the blessed hope of church saints would be to die before the coming of the Lord should they have to go through the Great Tribulation.

It is hard to see how, if there was only one appearing, and that after the Great Tribulation, why that coming should be the blessed hope for the church but a time of terrible trouble for the Jew Surely the Jew who sees the abomination of desolation in the holy place and flees is also a believer? Rev 12:17 says that they keep the commandments of Moses and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

19

Another amazing thing is that according to those who believe that the church goes through the Tribulation, the Lord will preserve them here, yet there is no place in the Scripture where this is indicated. Surely if the beast is going to make war on the saints it will include the church saints if they are on the earth? They will not be glorified if the Rapture has not taken place, how then, and where will God protect and preserve the church saints? In fact the Bible tells us that all the saints of God will incur the wrath of the Antichrist but Israel has a place of safety prepared for her.

Why not the church?

When we come to the faithful Jews who “understand” (Matt 24:15; Dan 12:10) and accept Christ as their Messiah, we find that they are told to “flee to the mountains”. (Matt 24:16)

We read in Rev 12:6 that Israel has a place in the wilderness “prepared of God”. Also in Rev 12:14 we read that Israel has “her place” in the wilderness. Both these Scriptures tell us that God will feed or nourish Israel there. This will no doubt be by means of manna from heaven again. The fact that no place on earth is mentioned for the church is because the church will already be in a place much safer than any place here on earth. We will “prevail to escape and to stand before the Son of Man.

20

Fulness of the Gentiles takes place. What does this mean?

We read in Rom 11:25 (Berk.) “so that you may not be self-opinionated brothers, I want you not to be ignorant of this secret: partial insensibility has come over Israel until the full number of the Gentiles come in, and thus all Israel will be saved …” (The GNB)

The Living Bible says, “until all of you Gentiles come to Christ – those of you who will.”

Thus, at the Rapture the church, which is almost exclusively a Gentile body, will be completed with the last Gentile added to the body of Christ. Thus when the last living stone is placed in the church, the Rapture will take place.

At the time of the Revelation of Jesus Christ at the time of Armageddon we find that there is no mention of the church, rather, it is the salvation of Israel as a nation which is stressed.

So we read, “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of compassion and supplication, so that, when they have looked on him who they have pierced, they shall mourn for him …” (Zech 12:10)

This fulfils Rom 11:26, “and this is how all Israel will be saved. As the Scripture says, ‘the Saviour will come from Zion and remove all wickedness from the descendants of Jacob …’”

Thus Israel is the focal point of God’s purpose. They will have come to the Lord when the covenant with Israel is broken by the Antichrist Thus, when they flee into the wilderness they are said to “keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” (Rev 12:17)

21

The earth experiences great devastation after the Rapture. There are many Scriptures which show that God is going to cause the earth to experience tidal waves and earthquakes which will change the whole topography of the earth. Isaiah says, “The Lord is going to devastate the earth and leave it desolate. He will twist the earth’s surface and scatter its people.”
(Isa 24:1)

Again, “… and earth’s foundations will shake. The earth will crack and shatter and split open. The earth itself will stagger like a drunken man and sway like a hut in a storm.” (Isa 24:18-20)

Jesus said, “for those days will be a time of Tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created, until now, and never shall.” (Mark 13:19)

That the Rapture will be followed by disastrous times is made clear also by Paul the apostle. He writes, “while they are saying, ‘peace and safety’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like the birthpangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” (1 Thess 5:3)

After the Rapture, a blessed event, a time of unparalleled wrath is unleashed upon the earth.

After the Revelation of Jesus Christ in flaming fire taking vengeance upon man at Armageddon, an event which reveals God’s wrath and anger against sinners, there will come a time of blessing and reconstruction. The earth will be made a fit abode for men.

There are many Old Testament Scriptures which speak of the great blessings which will follow after the great battle of God the Almighty.

The earth will experience the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ and the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. (Isa 11:9; Heb 2:14)

One of the first things that the Lord will enforce as king of the earth is an absolute ban on all warfare. “Nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it.” (Micah 4:3-4)

There could be no greater contrast than that between the events following the Rapture and those following the Revelation. How can the Rapture then only take place after the time of the Great Tribulation? They must be separated by a certain lapse of time or else Scripture contradicts itself.

22

Paul says “he who hinders will hinder until he be taken out of the way, and then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of his mouth and bring to an end with the appearing of his coming.”
(2 Thess 2:8)

This passage makes it clear that the church must first depart and only after the church has departed will the lawless one be revealed.

The doom of the Antichrist comes with the Revelation of Jesus Christ at Armageddon The coming of the Lord Jesus at the head of the armies of heaven have this express purpose, to terminate the time of the misrule of the Antichrist.

John tells us that when Jesus comes in this manner, that the beast will be seized, and with him the false prophet, and these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.” (Rev 19:20)

 

7.   The Day of the Lord

 

This is a term used of a period of time which is much longer than a literal day. That the word ‘day’ can be used in this manner is clear for elsewhere we read of the “day of salvation”. (2 Cor 6:2)

 

We will look at the Old Testament first, to discover what the prophets had to say about the Day of the Lord and then we will look at the passages where it occurs in the New Testament.

 

Old Testament

 

The first passage is to be found in Isaiah 2:12, where the prophet details what is going to take place when the Day of the Lord comes. The passage gives great detail about the wrath of God being poured out upon men, and their fleeing in terror in an endeavour to hide from his presence.

 

There is a striking parallel between Isa 2:10-22 and Rev 6:15-17. Verse 19 in Isaiah is a key verse. Here we read “and men will go into caves of the rocks, and into holes of the ground before the terror of the Lord and the splendour of his majesty when he arises to make the earth tremble.”

 

Isaiah continues in the same vein in chapter 13:6-13. He speaks of the Day of the Lord coming as a destruction from the Almighty. He writes, “Therefore all hands will fall limp, and everyman’s heart will melt, and they will be terrified.” The same language is used than as Paul used in 1 Thessalonians 5:3. Isaiah says “men will writhe as a woman in labour.”

 

Describing the Day of the Lord Isaiah says, “Behold, the Day of the Lord is coming, cruel, with fury and burning anger.” The shaking of the earth is a feature of the Day of the Lord which is repeated here. “Therefore I shall make the heavens tremble, and the earth shall be shaken from its place at the fury of the Lord of hosts in the day of his burning anger.” Thus it is the day of his burning anger and this fact is made clear by all the prophets who refer to this great day.

 

In chapter thirty four of Isaiah we are told that the Day of the Lord will entail the destruction of the armies of all nations. Isaiah writes, “The Lord’s indignation is against all the nations, and his wrath against all their armies.” (Verse 2) The prophet then proceeds to tell of the overthrow of the armies of the nations. Verse 4 is very similar to the description of the signs which will take place when the sixth seal is broken in Rev 6:12-14. “All the host of heaven will wear away, and the sky will be rolled up like a scroll.”

 

Isaiah says, “The sword of the Lord is filled with blood … for the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion” (Vv 6-8) Jesus made it clear when he read the passage from Isaiah in the synagogue in Nazareth that he was proclaiming the favourable year of the Lord, leaving unquoted the last part of Isa 61:2, “the day of vengeance of our God.”

 

Over and over again, the Bible makes it clear that the Day of the Lord is a day of vengeance of our God (see Isa 63:1-4 as well). Jeremiah the prophet speaks of the Day of the Lord in chapter 30. He writes, “Alas! For that day is great so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” (v 7) The 30th chapter speaks of this time as a time of God’s wrath. “We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? Wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness.” (Vv 5-6) The language here is much like that of Paul’s in his letter to the Thessalonians, where in 1 Thess 5:1-3 he describes the Day of the Lord using the same illustration of a woman in labour to describe the events which will engulf men at that time.

 

In Jeremiah 25:27-33 the prophet describes the time as a time when the Lord will have a controversy with the nations. He says, “And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.” (v 33)

 

Joel is a very short book but the prophet has much to say about that day. We read in Joel 1:15, “Alas for the day! For the Day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.” Then we read in Joel 2:1-2, “… let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the Day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand; a day of darkness, and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness.”

 

Then, “The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: and the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the Day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” (Joel 2:10-11)

 

The signs in the heavens occur during the Day of the Lord when the Great Tribulation comes to an end. But the next passage of Scripture tells us what signs will precede the Day of the Lord. This is the passage which Peter quotes on the day of Pentecost We read, “… and I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible Day of the Lord shall come …” (Joel 2:28-32)

 

As we have seen, these signs are the dividing point of this present age and the Day of the Lord. In Joel 3:9-17 we have a detailed description of that time. It will be a time of war for plowshares will be turned into swords and pruning hooks into spears. The heathen will be summoned to the valley of Jehoshaphat and there will be “multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the Day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.” (v 14) There is no actual valley of Jehoshaphat in the Holy Land. This is a synonym for the great valley where the Battle of Armageddon will be fought for the name Jehoshaphat means “Jehovah is judge”.

 

Associated with all this, we are told about the signs which will be seen in the heavenly bodies. Joel says “The Lord shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.” That being ended, Joel writes, “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord and shall water the valley of Shittim.” All this describes the condition of the land when the Millennium comes. Shittim is the desert area north of the Dead Sea encompassing the plains of Moab.

 

Ezekiel tells us that water is going to flow out from the threshold of the Millennial temple and there will be a very great river flowing down into the dead sea. The water will no doubt transform that desert area even as the Dead Sea itself will be transformed. All this is to take place in the Millennium thus the Day of the Lord will begin with the Great Tribulation but it will also include the 1000 years of Christ’s reign here upon the earth.

 

Amos tells of the restoration of Israel as taking place in that day. “It will be a time of great fruitfulness when Israel will possess the land of their enemies. They will be planted forever in their land.” (Amos 9:11-15)

 

The prophet Obadiah speaks of the Day of the Lord as a time when “the Gentiles will reap what they have sown but there will be great blessing in the land and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.” (Obad 15-21)

 

Zephaniah describes the awfulness of the Day of the Lord in his short book. We read, “The great Day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the Day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, and they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the Day of the Lord’s wrath …” (Zeph 1:14-18)

 

Thus, this is the terrible day of God’s wrath, and, when it comes, men will recognise it as such. Chapter 3:8-20 of Zephaniah speaks again of this time of the wrath of God and then continues to describe what conditions will be like upon earth after God’s wrath has been completed. Perhaps the greatest promise in this section is to be found in verse 15, “the king of Israel, the Lord, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more.”

 

The prophet Zechariah tells us that “the Day of the Lord cometh … for I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle … then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.” (Zech 14:1-21)

 

Some of the startling events of that period of human history are:-

 

1.   The Lord will alight upon the Mount of Olives and the mountain will divide in two with a valley running through it from east to west. (v 4)

 

2.   Israel will flee to a place of safety. (v 5) This flight will be from the Antichrist and will take place when the Jews see the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place. (Matt 24:15-21) John in the Revelation tells us that the woman (Israel) will flee into the wilderness where God has prepared a place for her, and there she will be safe from her persecutors. (Rev 12.)

 

  1. The Lord will come and all his holy ones with him. It will be on a day when there will be no light. This we have seen to be the case in Joel 3:15; Matt 24:29.

 

  1. A river will flow out from the city of Jerusalem See Psalm 46:4. The river will flow into the Mediterranean sea (The Western sea) and into the Dead Sea (the Eastern sea). Thus the river will split into two streams. (v 8) This is the river which will flow out from under the eastern threshold of the temple. (Ezek 47:1-12)

 

  1. The Lord will be king over all the earth. (v 9)

 

  1. Israel’s enemies will be smitten. Their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth.
    (v 12)

 

  1. Jerusalem will be holy unto the Lord. (Vv 16-21)

 

The last reference in the Old Testament to the Day of the Lord is to be found in the book of the prophet Malachi It is of very great importance, for here we are told that the prophet Elijah is to come back before the Day of the Lord. We read in Mal 4:1-6, “surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire, says the Lord Almighty.”

 

Following this statement concerning that coming Day of the Lord, we are told that the sun of righteousness will arise with healing in its wings. There is a call to remember the Law of Moses, the servant of God, and then we read, “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful Day of the Lord comes.” (Mal 4:5)

 

Some regard this as having been fulfilled by John the baptizer. We read in Matt 11:14, “And if you are willing to accept it, he (John) is the Elijah who was to come.” Now it is not possible for John to have been Elijah himself. The story of how the angel Gabriel told Zechariah, the father of John, that his wife Elizabeth would conceive, is clearly recorded in Luke 1:5-25.

 

John himself denied that he was Elijah. In John 1:21 he was asked, “are you Elijah?” And he answered, “I am not.” The coming of John was a partial fulfillment of the prophecy but it remains yet to be fulfilled by Elijah himself.

 

It is of interest to note the mention of Moses in Mal 4:4. We see that Moses and Elijah appeared with the Lord Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, to discuss the Lord’s death. (Luke 9:28)

 

There is much discussion as to the identity of the two witnesses of the book of Revelation. Some contend that they will be Enoch and Elijah, others Moses and Elijah. The contention that it could not be Moses as none die twice is not valid as there are examples in the Bible of those who were raised from the dead and then they died a second time.

 

What is of interest in Malachi is the fact that Elijah will come before the Day of the Lord and the question immediately arises, “How long before?” This cannot be answered. It could be only a matter of days, and I believe that it is only a matter of days, or possibly even, only hours. The fact is that the church could be aware of the presence of the two witnesses before the Rapture takes place.

 

The Day of the Lord in the New Testament

 

The phrase Day of the Lord only occurs in Acts 2:20 and in 1 Thess 5:2; 2 Thess 2:2. The passage in Acts is quoted by Peter from Joel. It is clear from this portion of Scripture that the Day of the Lord will be preceded by some unique signs.

 

Peter says, “I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious Day of the Lord.” There will therefore be ample evidence in the heavens as well as on the earth, that the coming of the Lord Jesus is at the very doors. Of course, it is only evident to those who are Christians, and not to the ungodly.

 

Paul writes to the Thessalonians saying, “you know very well that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labour pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.”

 

Those in darkness will be taken by surprise. Those who are of the light will not be surprised.

 

In 2 Thess 2:2 it would appear that the believers were perturbed by the fact that someone was saying that they were already in the Tribulation. The Day of the Lord has come already was the cry of these false teachers. Not so, says Paul the apostle. That day will not come until the ‘apostasia’ takes place.

 

Most translations read “rebellion” or “falling away” or “apostasy” or some other such rendering. Dr E. Scuyler English in his book “Re-thinking the Rapture” shows how early translators such as Tyndale, Coverdale and Beza rendered the word ‘apostasia’ by the English word “departure”. That the Greek word ‘apostasia’ can be rendered departure is made clear by Liddell & Scott.

 

Quoting concerning ‘apostasia’ from page 68 of Dr English's book, we read, “There is a secondary connotation in Liddell and Scott’s Greek-English lexicon, namely: disappearance, or departure.” That certain Greek words can have more than one meaning is clear. The word translated angel (a supernatural being) is also translated messenger where a human is indicated. That a departure is referred to in the context is clear for Paul speaks of “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him” in 2 Thess 2:1. Furthermore, the rebellion comes after the Holy Spirit ceases to restrain and not before the Day of the Lord. The Holy Spirit will cease restraining once the Day of the Lord begins.

 

8.   The Great Tribulation … how long does it last?

 

Here is where we need to go to the prophecy of Daniel concerning the seventy sevens determined upon the people of Israel.

 

“Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.” (Dan 9:24)

 

Seventy sevens give us 490 and the context reveals that this period of time is 490 years.

 

Dan 9:25-26 tells us that, “from the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the anointed one, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens’, and sixty-two ‘sevens’.”

 

After this period of sixty-nine ‘sevens’ “the anointed one will be cut off.” This refers to the death of the Lord Jesus upon the cross. Since then the last ‘seven’ has been held in suspense as God does not count time when Israel is out of relationship with him.

 

Israel is not dealt with as a nation favoured by God, since the death of the Lord. Rather, God is now dealing with all men, Jew and Gentile alike, with the purpose of making believers from both these peoples, members of the church. God will only begin to count time for Israel once the church has been completed and has been caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

 

Thus from the Rapture to the Revelation, Daniel's 70th week must be fulfilled. Once the seventieth week is completed, Christ will return to establish his kingdom here on earth. This seventieth week is the time of Jacob's trouble. (Jer 30:7) John, the writer of the Revelation, tells of there being war in heaven between the archangel Michael and Satan and his hosts. (Rev 12:7) This is what Daniel says, “and at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” (Dan 12:1. See also Matt 24:21; Mark 13:19.)

 

9.   The Great Tribulation … the first half

 

The Great Tribulation is divided into two halves. This division is marked by the fact that, in the middle of the 70th week, the Antichrist will break the covenant that he made with Israel, just after the Rapture of the church has taken place.

 

Isaiah writes, “Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, O scoffers, who rule this people who are in Jerusalem, because you have said, ‘We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol (Hades) we have made a pact. The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by …” (Isa 28:15)

 

But God says, “your covenant with death will be cancelled, and your pact with Sheol (Hades) shall not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through, then you will become its trampling place.” (Isa 28:18)

 

So Daniel says, “And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering.” (Dan 9:27)

 

Then the abomination of desolation will be set up in the Holy Place as the Lord Jesus quoted Dan 9:27. Thus, the first half of the Great Tribulation will see a covenant or treaty in force between the Antichrist and the Jews. As the seven years begin, there will be no believers upon the earth. All will have been caught up to meet the Lord in the air. This is clearly seen in the Revelation when the sixth seal is broken. All prior to the sixth seal precedes the Great Tribulation.

 

When the sixth seal is broken we see:-

 

1.   A great earthquake, the sun turns black, and the full moon turns blood-red. Meteorites fall to the earth, the sky is split apart (Isa 34:4), and every island and every mountain will be moved out of their places. (Rev 6:12-14). The sun turning black and the full moon turning blood-red are the signs which immediately precede the Day of the Lord.

 

2.   All who dwell upon the earth recognise that the time of God’s wrath has come. They cry out to the rocks and the mountains, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come; and who is able to stand?” (Rev 6:15-17) Here unsaved men finally recognise that the great day of God’s wrath is at hand.

 

  1. Angels are sent to seal 144 000 Israelites who are to be the servants of God here upon earth now that the church is no longer. It is futile to argue that the Jews do not know which tribe they belong to any more. God knows and has preserved for himself 12 000 out of each of the tribes mentioned here. We do not know all that will be required of these sealed servants. Are they to witness to the Gentiles? Will they be led and organised by the two witnesses? We do not know and can only speculate. Enough for us to know that as God’s servants they will do his will on earth, just as the church is now, his faithful servant. (Rev 7:1-8)

 

  1. We now see a great multitude out of all nations, who stand before the throne of God. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. This can be no other body but the saints who have been resurrected together with those who are alive at the coming of the Lord. (Rev 7:9-17) How these can be described as Tribulation saints is a puzzle. They appear in heaven at the moment that sinners on earth cry out that the wrath of God has come.

 

We must remember that while these events are described in a certain order they actually all take place simultaneously. So the heavenly signs, the recognition of the wrath of God by sinners, the sealing of God’s 144 000 servants and the arrival of the great multitude in heaven, all take place at the same instant of time, that is, when the Lord Jesus Christ breaks the sixth seal.

 

During the first half of the Great Tribulation, a period of 3½ years, 42 months or 1260 days, there will be an opportunity for people to believe and so to be saved. Those who are saved will not, however, be part of the church. It will be seen that those who do not turn to the Lord during this period, will certainly not do so during the second half of the Great Tribulation. This will be due to the fact that all will be required to receive the mark of the beast. (Rev 13:16-18) All who will not will find that the Antichrist will make war on them. (Rev 13:7) Some of these Tribulation saints will go into captivity, some of them will be martyred. (Rev 13:10)

 

The whole of the first period of forty two months will find the two witnesses dominating the whole world scene. Until they finish their testimony (Rev 11:7) they will be indestructible.

 

“If any one desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies; and if any one would desire to harm them, in this manner he must be killed. These have power to shut up the sky, in order that rain may not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.” (Rev 11:5-6)

 

These signs are the same as those wrought by Moses and Elijah As we have seen already, Elijah must return before the great and notable Day of the Lord. His association with Moses makes Moses the most likely person to fulfill the role of the second witness. Some would make this man Enoch. It is not really material as to who these men are. The important fact is that they are God’s representatives here on earth for the first half of the Great Tribulation.

 

When they are killed by the Antichrist, he breaks his covenant with Israel, and demands the worship of men. When this happens the darkest hour of man’s history has arrived. When God’s wrath is poured out after the Rapture, the intensity is not as severe in the first half as in the second half.

 

Let us see some of the manifestations of this wrath in the first half.

 

A.        The first trumpet

Fire and hail mixed with blood falls upon the earth resulting in a third of the earth being burned up, a third of the trees, and all the green grass being burned up. (Rev 8:7)

 

B.        The second trumpet

A great mountain burning with fire falls into the sea and destroys a third of the creatures and a third of the ships. The sea becomes like blood. (Rev 8:8-9)

 

What brings about these catastrophes? God will cause the solar system to become unstable. The earthquakes, falling mountains, shifting islands, burning mountain and all other such happening are literal. They come about as the result of some planet or comet going out of orbit and interacting with the planet earth. This will cause havoc on the earth.

 

C.        The third trumpet

Fallout from the heavens will cause the waters of the earth, particularly the drinking water, to become poisonous. (Rev 8:10-11)

 

D.        The fourth trumpet

The solar system and the stars will not be seen from the earth for a time. This is again part of the havoc caused by the planet or comet which will plague the earth at this time. Of course, God will be using his creation to fulfill his will, and to punish mankind for their wickedness. This will not be the culmination of the first week’s woes, but there are others that are worse which will bring the world up to the middle of the week.


 

E.         The fifth trumpetthe first woe

We find that the wrath of God continues, but with a difference. The source of man’s misery under the first woe is not the heavens. God now allows the shaft of the Abyss to be opened, and out of the Abyss there issues forth vast hosts of evil beings who have been confined there. They are led by a fallen angel named Apollyon or Abaddon, a name meaning destroyer. (Rev 9:11)

 

The Abyss is located in the centre of the earth. The demons who possessed legion asked the Lord Jesus not to send them into the Abyss. Luke 8:31. We read that the Lord himself went there. “do not say in your heart, ‘who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘who will descend into the Abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.)” (Rom 10:6-7) When Christ died, we see from this verse, he went down into the Abyss. But we also read in Matt 12:40, “For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

 

As he could not have been in two places at the same time, we can see that the Lord went to the Abyss which is in the heart of the earth. That these beings have been confined in the Abyss has been a blessing to mankind for, when they come forth, they bring great troubles to all who dwell on the earth. Such is their torment, they do not kill but they torment men, that men will seek death and will not find it; and they will long to die and death flees from them. (Rev 9:6)

 

F.         The sixth trumpetthe second woe

Here we see, again, a supernatural visitation upon men. A vast angelic army proceeds to wreak havoc upon men. This is not Armageddon, nor is this a human host. The description of the beings who will be used by God to punish men makes it clear that they too, like the creatures who come from the Abyss, are fallen angels or some such similar beings.

 

The host mentioned here number two hundred million. Unlike the first woe, where men were only tormented but were not killed, we find that when this vast host of beings begin to war on sinful men, they will kill a vast number of them. The Scripture tells us that they killed one third of mankind. (Rev 9:15)

 

This woe brings us to the end of the first half of the Great Tribulation. The ministry of the two witnesses has now come to an end. The Antichrist receives his power and authority from Satan, and he kills these two servants of God. At the same time he will break the covenant with Israel and will invade the Holy Land.

 

In the temple, which is yet to be rebuilt by the Jews, he will sit, demanding that men, and particularly the Jews, worship him as God. Paul writes to the Thessalonians, “… the man of lawlessness … who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called God or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.” (2 Thess 2:4)

 

This is when the Jews who will turn to the Lord Jesus Christ as their Messiah, are to flee into the wilderness where God has a place which he has prepared for them.

 

Mark 13:14 says, “but when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee into the mountains …” for then shall be the time of Great Tribulation … the second half of the week. (Mark 13:15-20)

 

10. The Great Tribulation … the second half

 

This is going to be the most terrible time in the history of mankind. Every voice speaking the truth will be stilled, at least as far as men are concerned. It is my sincere understanding that, when the Antichrist receives his power, it will come after he has imitated the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

We will not look at this truth here but will study it separately under the heading of the Antichrist. What is very clear from the Bible is that he will brook no opposition from anyone.

 

All men will have to receive his mark. (Rev 13:16-18) Without it, it will be impossible for men to live on the earth. Those who refuse will be faced with two alternatives.

 

*      Death for those who actively oppose him.

*      Slavery for those who refuse to receive his mark, but resign themselves to being enslaved by him.

 

This is made very clear in Rev 13:10.

 

Scripture has made it very clear that God will permit Satan to give this evil man absolute power for the period of 1260 days, and any opposition will be crushed mercilessly.

 

“And it was given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them; and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him.”

 

So severe is the oppression that God now does something that he has never done before. Instead of using humans as the means of warning the wicked not to receive the mark of the beast, God now sends angels, flying through the heavens, and visible to all men, warning them of the fearful consequences of submitting to this requirement of the man of lawlessness. (Rev 14:6-12)

 

Absolute spiritual darkness settles over the entire earth. Even the heathen will have to submit and abandon their forms of worship. The Antichrist will demand all the worship and adoration of men – and he will get it too.


 

G.        The seventh trumpetthe third woe

This will cover the whole of the three and a half years when the anti-Christ exercises his power. During this time we find the bowls of God’s final wrath poured out by his angels on the earth.

 

(1) The first bowl

Loathsome and malignant sores break out upon all who have received the mark of the beast. Rev 16:2. This is similar to the sixth plague in Egypt (Ex 9:9-11)

 

(2) The second bowl

The sea becomes like the blood of a dead man and every living thing in the sea dies. (Rev 16:3) This is much more severe than what happened when the second trumpet was sounded. (Rev 8:8) See how similar this is to the first plague of Egypt (Ex 7:19-21)

 

(3) The third bowl

All the rivers and springs become as blood. Now men’s drinking water is polluted. (Rev 16:4)

 

(4) The fourth bowl

Here the sun begins to scorch men with a fierce heat. It is possible that this is because the sun’s heat is intensified, or otherwise it is because the earth moves closer to the sun. Scripture speaks of God shaking the earth out of its place as we have already seen in our studies.

 

(5)  The fifth bowl

The entire kingdom of the Antichrist becomes darkened as this angel pours out his bowl upon the throne of this evil ruler. Men will gnaw their tongues because of the pain caused by their sores. It will be remembered that it was under the first bowl that loathsome and malignant sores broke out on those who had the mark of the beast.

 

(6)  The sixth bowl

On the pouring out of this bowl, the river Euphrates dries up to make way for the kings from the sun-rising. At the same time three demon spirits go out from the evil trinity to summon all the rulers of the earth to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.

 

We read, “They (the three unclean spirits like frogs) gathered them (the rulers of the whole inhabited earth and their armies) together to the place which in the Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.” (Rev 16:16) It is not easy to pinpoint the location where the last battle will take place. It will have to accommodate a vast host of men. Psalm 2 expresses the sentiments of those who will be gathered there for that battle. Verses 1-3 speak of their determination to throw off all his restraint. Then in verses 4-6 we read of the Lord’s derision. “He will speak to them in his anger and terrify them in his fury.” Then his king (Jesus) will be installed upon Zion”. It cannot be stressed enough that this last battle is not a conflict between opposing nations, but rather, it is a conflict between men and God as we shall see.

 

(7) The seventh bowl

When this bowl is poured out, the whole earth is subjected to a final cataclysm which will result in utter ruin all over the earth. Apart from huge stones, weighing about 100 lbs each, raining down upon the earth from outer space, the greatest earthquake ever to have shaken the earth will destroy all the cities of the nations. No continent will be excluded. There will be vast topographical changes on the earth. We read, “And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.” (Rev 16:20)

 

Imagine the Himalayas, the Alps, the Rockies, the Andes and all the other mountain ranges disappearing. Yet this is what God says will come to pass. This is why angels gather all who survive the Great Tribulation, to bring them before the throne of the Son of Man. It is because every road, every railway, every airport will be in ruins. All men’s cities, dams, power stations will be lying in ruins.

 

“The highways are desolate, the traveller has ceased. He (Antichrist) has broken the covenant, he has despised the witnesses, he has no regard for man.” (Isa 33:8)

 

Armageddon … the last battle

 

It will be remembered that the Antichrist knows that he has exactly 1260 days – no more, no less. So he will know the exact day on which the Lord will return to establish his kingdom. As the time draws near, Satan, Antichrist and the false prophet will send out the three unclean spirits like frogs, to summon all the host of men to the very place where the battle of Armageddon will take place.

 

Thus when the Lord Jesus Christ returns together with all the armies of heaven, he will find a great multitude of wicked men waiting for him. They will be gathered there to resist the Lord, to endeavour to prevent him from ousting the Antichrist, and set up the kingdom of God on earth. Thus, Armageddon will occur when exactly 1260 days have been fulfilled, to the very hour I believe.

 

A very detailed account of this battle is recorded for us by the Lord in the nineteenth chapter of the Revelation. We see heaven opened and the Lord leading the armies of heaven all of them clothed in fine linen and riding on white horses. The wild beasts and the birds of prey are summoned to feast upon the vast host of the dead for, at Armageddon, there will be no survivors. The Antichrist and the false prophet are taken and they are cast into the lake of fire and brimstone.

 

Let us always remember that these two persons are human beings who lend themselves to the devil to fulfil all his will. The rest of the army were killed by the sword which proceeded out of the mouth of the Lord. (Rev 19:11-21) Isaiah refers to this great day when he writes, “he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.” (Isa 11:4)

Again, “For, behold the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like whirlwinds, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many.” (Isa 66:15-16.

There are many other such passages such as Jer 25:33; 1 Thess 1:7-8)

 

Not all the wicked will have gone up to fight the Lord at Armageddon They will all be gathered before the throne of his glory to determine who amongst those who survive this time of Great Tribulation will be found worthy to enter the millennial reign of our Lord and Saviour.

 

11. The Antichrist … the man of lawlessness

 

There are many names by which this awful personage is designated in the Scriptures.

Perhaps we should begin by looking at his names beginning with:-

 

1.   The Antichrist

The word Antichrist is to be found only in the epistles of John. They occur in 1 John 2:18 (twice), 22. 1 John 4:3. 2 John 7. This makes five occurrences in the Bible in all.

 

Let us quote from Vincent's word studies, vol 2, page 337. He says, “peculiar to John in the NT the absence of the article shows its currency as a proper name … while the false Christ (pseudochristos) is merely a pretender to the messianic office, the Antichrist ‘assails Christ by proposing to do or to preserve what he did, while denying him.’ Antichrist, then, is one who opposes Christ in the guise of Christ.” This means that he tries to supplant Christ. He is a usurper.

 

Let us look at the passages in John’s epistles which refer to Antichrist. “Children, it is the last hour; and just as you have heard that Antichrist is coming, even now many Antichrists have arisen; from this we know that it is the last hour.” (1 John 2:18) What the apostle tells us here is that Antichrist is coming but that there are already Antichrists in the world.

 

With regard to this, let us look at 2 Thess 2:7, “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work (there are many Antichrists arisen); only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. And then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay …”

 

Both Paul and John tell us that the Antichrist will have precursors. 1 John 4:3 tells us much the same as the earlier passage, as does 2 John 7. It is evident that Satan is constantly bringing evil men on to the world scene, always endeavouring to bring about his absolute control of man. But there is a constant restraint. He cannot bring the Antichrist into the world until he is permitted to do so by God. God is always in control and only what he permits can come to pass. When he permits Satan to unveil the Antichrist, and only then, can this man come into the human race.

 

2.   The beast

This second name by which the Antichrist is called is to be found only in the Revelation. The word beast is the translation of the Greek word therion, a word which means “wild beast”. It is found 37 times in the Revelation. Thirty five times it refers to the person we know as the Antichrist Once it refers to the man who will promote the worship of the Antichrist. In all other places in the Revelation the second beast is referred to as the false prophet. It is in the references to the first beast in the Revelation that we find the greatest amount of information about this person.

 

Let us look at what is told us about him.

 

A)    The first fact revealed to us in the Revelation concerning the beast, is that he will overcome and kill the two witnesses. It is also recorded that he “comes up out of the Abyss.” (Rev 11:7) Now the Abyss is revealed to us by other Scriptures as the place to which Jesus went after his death. (Rom 10:7) As the Lord is said in Matt 12:40 to have been “three days and three nights in the heart of the earth”, it is clear that the Abyss is in the heart of the earth. Prior to the resurrection of the Lord, all who died went down into the heart of the earth for that is the region where Hades is to be found. From Luke 16:23 we can see that Abraham and Lazarus were in Hades as well as the rich man. It is also clear from this part of the Bible that Hades was divided into two parts. Abraham said that “between us and you there is a great chasm fixed.” (v 26) Coming back to the beast, what is implied in Rev 11:7 when we read that he “comes up out of the Abyss?” Rev 13:3 provides an answer. We read, “And I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal would was healed.” It would appear as if this evil man will die, probably by being assassinated and then he will rise from the dead. Jesus said “Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hades” (Acts 2:27) So, after being dead, the soul of the Antichrist will rise up out of Hades, and be united again with his body. Thus he will come to life again. Unlike Jesus, who had a resurrection body and who only appeared to his disciples, this man will rise with his natural body, but will show himself alive to the entire world. This is why he is referred to as “the beast that … was and is not, and is about to come up out of the Abyss and to go to destruction.” (Rev 17:8)

 

B)    This return from the dead is going to cause mankind to accept his claims and they will worship him. This worship will be encouraged by the second beast who is known as the false prophet. John records that men “worship the dragon (Satan) … and they worshipped the beast, saying, ‘who is like the beast and who is able to wage war with him.’” (Rev 13:4) This is an obvious reference to the fact that he was fatally wounded by someone who was “waging war” on him, but that he came to life again. This resurrection will establish his credentials as someone worthy of worship as far as those whose name is not in the book of life of the Lamb.

 

C)    The false prophet makes the earth and those who dwell in it to “worship the first beast whose fatal wound was healed.” (Rev 13:12) This aspect of a religion centred around the Antichrist is mentioned in other Scriptures. Thus Paul speaks of him and says, “Who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called God (or, ‘all that is called God’) or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God displaying himself as God.” (2 Thess 2:4) This is what Jesus warned about when he said, “when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains … for in those days will be a time of Tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created, until now, and never shall …” (Mark 13:14-20) An image is made of the beast and it will be the most remarkable idol that has ever been fashioned, being miraculously empowered by the false prophet. (Rev 13:14-15) Men are warned by an angel about the consequences of worshipping the beast. Thus, all who do so will find no mercy whatsoever. (Rev 14:9-11) There is clear evidence that, initially, the harlot church which was left behind at the Rapture, will co-operate with the beast. Possibly he will be accorded a place of great honour by it. (Rev 17:1-18) However, when he no longer has any use for the harlot church, he will destroy her, so that he alone might be worshipped. We read, “And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire.” (Rev 17:16)

 

D)    The Antichrist or beast is a man. There are many theories as to who will be the beast, derived from the number 666. John says, “Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man, and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.” (Rev 13:18) Through the ages men have used the number 666 to a great number of men.
What does 666 really mean? Bullinger writes in his “critical lexicon” page 391, about 666, saying, “666 is therefore the triple number of imperfection, the perfection of imperfection – “the number of a man” – the number of things specially hateful to God, and which culminate in the perfection of wickedness, and which seems to peculiarly describe the ‘man of sin.’” Never will a more evil man have ever lived, never after him will there ever be a man as wicked as he will be. He will be the personification of evil.

 

E)     The time allotted to the Antichrist is clearly told us in the Revelation. He will be given authority for 42 weeks or 1260 days or 3½ years. (Rev 13:5) He will begin by killing the two witnesses and he will end by gathering a vast army to war against the Lord Jesus Christ, when he returns to establish his kingdom here on earth. (Rev 16:3) During this time he will have absolute authority and all who oppose him will be killed. As no one will be allowed to buy or sell without his mark, believers will have to face trying times. For many it will be death. For others it will mean slavery. There will be no possibility of remaining neutral at this time. It is either absolute devotion to the beast or else absolute committal to God even though it results in martyrdom. At this time there will be a concerted effort to utterly destroy the Jews from off the face of the earth. Israel will, however, be miraculously preserved by God in the wilderness as we shall see.

 

F)     The end of the beast is revealed to us in Rev 19. He gathers the armies of the nations, so as to war against Christ as he leads the armies of heaven. We read, “The beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image; the two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.” (Rev 19:20) Thus will end the worst dictatorship that this world has ever known.

 

3.   The man of lawlessness

In the KJV this is rendered the “man of sin”. (2 Thess 2:3) There is no doubt that there is a spirit at work in the world today called “the mystery of lawlessness”. (2 Thess 2:7) There is a restraint which we believe is a work of the Holy Spirit, which is preventing the mystery of lawlessness from accomplishing its purpose, until God permits.

 

Notice that it is only after the restraint is removed that the Bible says, “Then that lawless one will be revealed.” (v 8)

 

He cannot be revealed before his time. (v 6)

 

The name given to the Antichrist here is very revealing. He is called the man of lawlessness. When he comes he will throw off all restraint. Evil will take the place of good. It is hard to imagine what the world will be like when someone who is completely immoral takes control Hitler caused a whole world to be shocked at his policy of exterminating the Jews The Antichrist will do all that Hitler did, and more so.

 

4.         The son of destruction (perdition)

 

This is another of the names used in 2 Thess 2:3 to describe the Antichrist. This is the same name which the Lord used when he spoke to Judas in John 17:12. Some see in this use of the name “son of perdition” with regard to Judas and the Antichrist, reason to believe that Judas will be the Antichrist. This is very far fetched. Judas yielded to Satan and became his tool, just as the Antichrist will, and that is why they are both called “the son of perdition”. We would have to believe in the heathen notion of re-incarnation to be able to accept that they could be one and the same persons.

 


Other names by which the Antichrist is known

 

1                    He is the little horn in the beast of Daniel 7:7-8

2                    He is the desolator (the one who makes desolate) of Dan 9:27

3                    He is the wilful king who magnifies himself. (Dan 11:36)

4                    He is the abomination of desolation of Matt 24:15

5                    He is the rider of the white horse of Rev 6:2

 

 

 

The contrast between Christ and Antichrist

 

A

Christ comes from above. (John 6:8)

Antichrist ascends from out of the Abyss. (Rev 11:7)

B

Christ comes in his father’s name. (John 5:43)

Antichrist comes in his own name. (John 5:43)

C

Christ humbled himself even though he was God. (Phil 2:8)

Antichrist exalts himself. (Dan 11:36; 2 Thess 2:4)

D

The Lord Jesus Christ was despised and rejected of men. (Isa 53:3; Luke 23:18)

The Antichrist will be admired and accepted as world ruler. (Rev 13:3-4)

E

Christ will always be exalted because he humbled himself. (Phil 2:9)

The Antichrist will be cast into the lake of fire. (Rev 19:20)

F

Christ did the will of his father. (John 6:38)

The Antichrist will do as he pleases. (Dan 11:36)

G

Christ came to save mankind. (Luke 19:10)

Antichrist came to destroy mankind. (Dan 8:24)

H

Christ is the good shepherd.

The Antichrist is the idol (useless or foolish) shepherd. (Zech 11:15)

I

Christ is the way, truth and the life. (John 14:6)

The Antichrist is “the lie”. (2 Thess 2:11)

J

Christ is the “holy one of God”. (Mark 1:24)

The Antichrist is the lawless one, the man of sin. (2 Thess 2:8)

K

Christ is the son of God. (Luke 1:35)

The Antichrist is the son of perdition. (2 Thess 2:3)

L

Christ is the mystery of Godliness. (1 Tim 3:16)

The Antichrist is the mystery of iniquity (lawlessness) (2 Thess 2:7)

M

Christ is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)

The Antichrist is a wild beast bent on destroying men. (Rev 13:2)

 

Doubtless there are other points of comparison between the Lord Jesus Christ and the Antichrist, but these should be sufficient to show that the Antichrist is a caricature of the Lord. It has been well said that Satan is the ape of God. So the Antichrist is the ape of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

The origin of the Antichrist

As we have seen from the Scriptures, the Antichrist is a man, just as the Lord Jesus became incarnate as a man. All ideas as to how he comes into this world are supposition as there is no place in the Bible which throws light upon his ancestry. The book of the prophet Daniel tells us that he is connected with the beast of Daniel's vision. (Dan 7:7-8; 7:19-28) The final form of the fourth beast of Daniel's vision is a ten-nation confederacy, symbolised by the ten horns of the beast. (Also by the ten toes of the image of Nebuchadnezzar dream - Dan 2.)

 

Daniel sees a little horn spring up in the midst of the ten horns. This little horn plucks up three of the first horns by the roots. This would indicate that, in the last days, a ten nation confederacy, which will come into being in the region of the old Roman Empire, will be the seat of power of the Antichrist. This would seem to indicate that the European Union will be the place to look for the coming Antichrist.

 

That here he will gain control of three countries, and that the other seven will follow him as well as we read in Rev 17:13, “these (ten kings) have one common policy and they deliver their power and authority to the beast.” It would seem then, that the Antichrist will arise in Western Europe and, from there, will exercise his influence over the whole world.

 

There are those who do not believe that the power of the Antichrist will be world-wide. However, it is not illogical to reason that, after another world war involving Soviet Russia and the western world, there will be an insistence upon a world government and, with it, finally, a world ruler or dictator.

 

Daniel does point out that, while he will enter the glorious land (the Holy Land), “these shall be delivered out of his hand: Edom, and Moab, and the kernel of the people of Ammon.” (Dan 11:41) That the whole earth will rise up against God and will support the Antichrist to a greater or lesser degree is evident for, when Armageddon is at hand, the evil trinity of Satan, Antichrist and false prophet summon “the kings of the whole inhabited earth, to gather them together unto the war of the great day of God, the almighty.” (Rev 16:14) Later it is “the kings of the earth” who, together with their armies, gather to make war on the Lord Jesus and his armies. (Rev 19:19)

 

Psalm 2 reveals all the nations expressing the desire to revolt against God and his authority. Thus, it would seem, the Antichrist will, from his power base in Western Europe, exercise control over most of the earth, with few exceptions.

 


The character of the Antichrist

 

He will be the sum of all that is hateful to God.

 

Daniel has something to say about him in chapter 11 of his prophecy.

 

1.   He will do as he pleases. (v 36) He will be utterly self-centred. His whole purpose in life will revolve around his selfish will.

 

2.   He will exalt and magnify himself above every God, and will speak monstrous things against the God of Gods. (v 36) Like his master, Satan, who sought to wrest God’s throne from him, this man will demand worship as God. He will speak blasphemies against God. There will be the most terrible representation of God that this world has ever known. Verse 37 continues this theme, “nor will he regard any other God, for he will magnify himself above them all.”

 

3.   “He will show no regard for the Gods of his fathers or the desire of women.” Many see in this a possible indication of some kind of perversion as far as women are concerned.

 

4.   He will be utterly ruthless in his treatment of all who do not follow and obey him implicitly. All who refuse to recognise him as God will be dealt with severely.

 

The power of the Antichrist

When God allows Satan to reveal the Antichrist he will have great power for 1260 days.

Initially, he will go forth “conquering and to conquer.” (Rev 6:2) For the first three and a half years after the Rapture, he will extend and consolidate his power in Western Europe. This is when he will make a covenant with Israel. The fact that the two witnesses can continue unmolested during this period indicates that there are still restrictions on his authority.

 

However, when the second three and a half years begin, his power will be absolute. God will allow him to have unrestricted power over the whole earth, the only exception being that part where Israel will find refuge. The Bible states clearly, “and it was given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them; and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him.” (Rev 13:7)

 

No one can argue with the plain facts stated here. Ultimately, his power will be world-wide, and not just confined to the ten nations who initially are his power-base.

 


The end of the Antichrist

His time to exercise authority is limited by God. Of these times Jesus said, “Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days shall be cut short.” (Matt 24:22)

 

His end is brought about by the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, who will come with the armies of heaven. Jude says Enoch, the seventh from Adam prophesied and said, “behold, the Lord came with many thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgement upon all …” (Jude 14-15) We see in 2 Thess 2:8 the words of Paul, “and then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of his mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of his coming.” So John tells us, “The beast was seized, and with him the false prophet … these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.” (Rev 19:20)


 

12. The false prophet

 

There have always been false prophets who have sought to wean men away from the worship of the Lord. Thus, a lying spirit said to the Lord, “I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his (Ahab's) prophets.” (1 Kings 22:22) We are warned explicitly in the New Testament of false prophets by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. (Matt 7:15; 24:11; 24:24) John warns us, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1)

 

These false prophets all point to the last false prophet who is to come. We know that the final apostasy will be the world-wide worship of the Antichrist. Now just as the Holy Spirit has pointed men to the Lord Jesus as the Saviour, so the false prophet will point men to the Antichrist

 

Let us look at the Revelation to see, in broad outline, what he will do.

 

1.   He will exercise the authority of the Antichrist on the earth. (Rev 13:12)

This is what the Holy Spirit does on behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ. I will send you the comforter who will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own initiative. (John 16:13)

 

2.   He makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast whose fatal wound was healed. (Rev 13:12) Thus he orchestrates the worship of the Antichrist Thus it is by the Holy Spirit that the believer worships the Lord.

 

  1. He works great signs and wonders in the sight of men. (Rev 13:13)

This is what was constantly demanded of the Lord Jesus. They wanted spectacular signs and the Lord would not comply with their demands. But this man will make fire come down from heaven in the sight of men and will deceive those who are not written in the book of life.

 

  1. He gets mankind to make an image of the Antichrist. John says, “There was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast might even speak.” (Rev 13:14-15)

 

  1. He will cause the image to kill those who will not worship before it. (Rev 13:15)

How different from the image that king Nebuchadnezzar had erected on the plain of Dura. There the three Hebrews had to be taken and thrown into a fiery furnace. Here the image will destroy all who will not worship it. It is hard to conceive just how all this will come to pass but we need to believe it because the Bible says it will.

 

  1. He has a part to play in summoning the nations to the battle of Armageddon .(Rev 16:13-14)

 

  1. Finally, he is at the battle himself together with the Antichrist as they lead the hosts of the wicked in man’s final attempt to cast off the rule and authority of God. (Rev 19:19) As we have seen, the Lord himself will cast both these evil men into the lake of fire.

 

The question that many ask is where does the false prophet come from? In Daniel 8 we see a king arise who many believe will be the false prophet. The horn of Daniel’s vision in chapter seven as we have seen, will arise in Europe and will be the Antichrist. The horn of Dan 8:9 will arise out of the old Grecian empire, rather than out of the old Roman Empire. This horn is seen by many as arising out of Syria, and, it is believed, represents the false prophet.

 

If this is so, it is possible that Islam may play a large part in the events which will bring the Antichrist to power. The description of this second little horn seems to indicate power which belongs to the Antichrist rather than to the false prophet however. However, the second beast of the Revelation does exercise all the authority of the first beast. The thought most frequently expressed then is that the false prophet arises in the Middle East, and may have connections with Islam.

 

13. The dragon

 

Behind all the happenings of the end-time, we find the arch-enemy of God at work. Satan, created by God, is seen in the Revelation coming to the end of his liberty to do as he pleases. Tracing his career, we find him rebelling in heaven itself. Thus sin was first conceived in heaven, and it was manifested there.

 

Isaiah 14:12-16 goes far beyond the king of Babylon and sees the one who provoked him to do evil. We see here the five “I will’s” of Satan, ending in his desire to take the place of God. From his position of eminence, Satan coveted the glory that belonged to God.

 

According to Ezek 28:12-19 he was the “covering cherub”. The function of the cherubim seems to be that of guardians of the throne of God. The reason for Satan's fall is recorded by Ezekiel, who writes, “your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendour.”

 

It is clear from other Scriptures that, while he was cast out from his position in heaven, Satan still had access to the presence of God. This is made clear in job where Satan is shown as presenting himself before the Lord. (Job 1:6) It is here that he gains permission to test and try Job. (1:12; 2:6.) The question that arises is this: did this right of access cease after the triumph of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross? Jesus said, “Now judgement is upon this world; now the ruler of this world shall be cast out.” (John 12:31)

 

While the defeat of Satan at the cross was very real, this defeat does not entail the denial of access to Satan to God’s presence. There was a very real limiting of the power and authority of Satan, without the withdrawal of permission to appear before God’s throne. This only happens once the Great Tribulation is taking place. While the earth sees the rise of the Antichrist, Michael, the arch-angel makes war on Satan and his angels in the heavenlies. (Rev 12:7)

 

It is good to remind ourselves at this stage that, throughout the church age, the heavenlies are specifically mentioned as the abode of Satan and his hosts. Satan is called, “the prince of the power of the air” in Ephesians 2:2. Paul warns, “For our fight is not against human foes, but against cosmic powers, against the authorities and potentates of this dark world, against the superhuman forces of evil in the heavens.” (Eph 6:12)

 

With the expulsion of Satan from the heavenlies, and his confinement to the earth, there is much jubilation in heaven. Perhaps Rev 12:10 is one of the most pertinent Scriptures with regard to the present activity of Satan, revealing the reason for his visits to God’s presence. We read, “And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, ‘now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God night and day.’” From this defeat there is no going back. Scripture records the devil as having “great wrath” knowing he has only a short time.

 

After the defeat of the nations at Armageddon, Satan is thrown into the Abyss which is shut and sealed so that he is confined there for 1000 years. This fulfils Isa 14:15, “nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit.” Being loosed for a season, Satan again deceives the nations. He is defeated and is thrown into the lake of fire. (Rev 20:7-10) This is his final defeat. Nevermore will he escape this confinement.

 

14. The apostate church … the harlot

 

With the true church having departed at the Rapture, the harlot church is left behind to go through the Great Tribulation. There will be a unification of this harlot church into a great superchurch. It is not easy to define the way those who come to believe on the Lord Jesus in these trying times, will organise themselves or how they will worship. They will certainly not join themselves to the organisational church which has been left behind. It is clear that the harlot church will co-operate with the Antichrist. It is very likely that it will extend recognition to him, according him an honoured place. In Rev 17:1-18, we see this world church by the woman sitting on the scarlet coloured beast.

 

We are told that the woman is drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. (Rev 17:6) She is referred to as “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth.”

 

Babylon has had a threefold outworking in human history:-

 

1.   Political. It was the seat of the first world government. That government was hostile to God. This unanimity amongst men in their rebellion against God, culminated in the destruction of the tower of Babel and the scattering of mankind. (Gen 11:1-9) With the multiplicity of tongues, men remained divided until the 20th century. However, we have seen a reversal of this judgement, brought about by the tremendous scientific advances of this age. Today we are faced again with the situation as at the tower of Babel. In the United Nations we see the purpose of men to unite again in a one world government as at Babel.

 

2.   Economic. This aspect is dealt with in Rev 18:1-24.

We are all aware of the enormous economic empires which have marked the 20th century. The multinational companies of this world exert tremendous power, in fact, with the exception of a few countries, they are more powerful than many of the nations. It is very evident that the wealth of this world is being used to prepare mankind for a one-world government which will be presided over by the Antichrist.

  1. Religious. Babylon was the place where idolatry began.

When we read that Nimrod was a mighty hunter before the Lord (Gen 10:9), let us not think that this refers to his prowess as a hunter of animals. It refers to his sustained efforts to wean men away from the worship of the true God. Thus he was a mighty hunter of souls. The whole idolatrous system, which from the earliest taught a pantheon presided over by a father God, a mother God and a son God, is to be found in all the ancient nations of the world. Many who profess Christianity are ensnared in this idolatrous system.


In its final form, this harlot religion will support the Antichrist as long as it suits him. When the time comes for him to exert absolute power we see that he will destroy this apostate church. In the giving of the kingdom to the beast, the scarlet clothed woman must be destroyed. If we look at the last verse of chapter 17, there does not seem to be any doubt that, ultimately, after the departure of the true church, apostate Protestantism will unite with apostate Catholicism under the leadership of Rome With the passing of the harlot, beast-worship will be the religion of the world until Armageddon

 

15. The nation of Israel

 

As an introduction to the nation of Israel, we need to look at its history and calling.

 

A.  The call

The call of God came to Abram in the ancient city of Ur of the Chaldees. (Gen 11:31) When the call of God came to him he “went out, not knowing whither he went.” (Heb 11:8)

 

When he was a hundred years old and his wife Sarah ninety nine years, they had a son, Isaac With regard to this impossibility, God had said, “Is any thing too hard for the Lord?” (Gen 18:14) It was Isaac's son Jacob, who had twelve sons, whose name was changed to Israel, who gave his new name to the chosen people. The twelve tribes, for this is what they became, of Israel could not inherit the land promised to Abraham, but were to endure bondage in the land of Egypt for four hundred years. (Gen 15:13; Acts 7:6) There was a reason for this delay. It was because “the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.” (Gen 15:16)

 

B.  The Exodus and wilderness

The word of the Lord was fulfilled in that the children of Israel spent 400 years in Egypt. Initially their stay was pleasant, but, with the passage of time “there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph” (Ex 1:8) Moses was called to deliver these people from their affliction, and the Book of Exodus is the record of their deliverance. It should have been an easy task for them to conquer the land of Canaan, but, because of their unbelief, they were destined to wander in the wilderness of Sinai for forty years.

 

C.  The land possessed

In his farewell address to Israel, which is recorded in Deut 28-30, Moses made it clear that, to possess the land in perpetuity, they would have to obey the Lord and serve him. Failure to do so would bring swift punishment upon them.

 

*      They would be blessed if they were obedient.

*      They would be cursed if they were disobedient.

 

The historical books of the Old Testament are a record of the longsuffering of God in his dealings with Israel. Moses had said, “The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.” (Deut 28:21) As they began their conquest of Canaan in about 1450 BC and the final carrying away took place in about 600 BC (actually 586 BC they possessed the land for about 850 years in all. After the seventy years of the Babylonian captivity, about 40 000 Jews returned to the Holy Land. The great majority of Israel did not return. In fact, in the days of the apostles, Babylon alone had a Jewish population of about 100 000 people. The return was partial, and the purpose was to rebuild the temple and the city of Jerusalem, with a view to the coming of the Messiah.

 

D.        The rejection of the Messiah

We are aware of the fact that the Jews rejected the Lord Jesus Christ as their Messiah, even as he had said they would. They said, “His blood be on us, and on our children.” (Matt 27:25) This awful imprecation which they called down upon themselves, has been fulfilled in the two millennia since the death of Christ.

 

Their temporary respite was over. Israel was again scattered all over the earth. Jesus said, “They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” (Luke 21:24)

 

E.     The return of Israel

With the destruction of Jerusalem and the scattering of Israel, the land soon began to resemble a wilderness, thus fulfilling Deut 29:24, “Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land? What meaneth the heat of this great anger? Then shall men say, because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers …”

 

But there was a promise in the words of Moses If there was a turning back to God “then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion on thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee.” (Deut 30:1-3)

 

Israel has been returning to the Holy Land, but in unbelief. What does the Bible teach about this return? Is it merely a human endeavour to regain the land? Doomed to failure because of the opposition of the Arabs and, in fact, all Muslims? Doomed because it was never the intention of God to restore Israel? Are all the promises made to Israel now fulfilled in the church as some say?

 

It is hard to argue against divine providence playing a part in the return of the Jews. For an insignificant people, despised and persecuted wherever they had fled to, in the face of Arab and Muslim hostility, and in the face of Britain, who had the mandate after Palestine had been wrested from the Turks, and who certainly favoured the Arabs in spite of the Balfour declaration recognising Palestine as a homeland for the Jews, and who obstructed the Jewish return in no uncertain manner, to be able to increase Jewish citizens from about 50,000 in 1850 AD to between two and three million people at the present time, would need the help and provision of God. When the mandate was surrendered by Britain in 1948, Israel had almost no means to defend herself against massive Arab armies. Yet she not only survived, but was able to gain and control more territory than had been allocated to her by the United Nations.

 

Let us look at what Scripture has to say in the New Testament as to the purpose of God concerning Israel in these last days.

 

F.         The promise of restoration

We will not look at Old Testament Scriptures as some will argue that they are fulfilled in the church. Does the New Testament bear this out?

 

*      We have seen that Jerusalem would be trodden down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles were fulfilled. (Luke 21:24) Thus the oppression of the city of God and of his people, Israel, was only to last for a certain time, that is, for the duration of the times of the Gentiles.

 

*      That God has a special purpose with the Gentiles at the present time is clear from Acts 15:14-18. We read, “Simeon has related how God first concerned himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for his name … after these things I will return, and I will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen, and I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, in order that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord …”

 

*      The apostle Paul asks “hath God cast away his people? God forbid.” (Rom 11:1) He continues, “I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles is come in; and thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “The deliverer will come from Zion, he will remove ungodliness from Jacob And this is my covenant with them, when I shall take away their sins.” (Rom 11:25-27)

 

In the book of Hebrews the writer, speaking of the restoration of the nation Israel, has this to say, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws upon their heart, and upon their mind will I write them.” He then says, “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” (Heb 10:16-17) Also in Heb 8:8-12, a passage which is too long to quote, the Lord says, “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will effect a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah …” Thus, Israel is yet to come into the full blessing of the new covenant.

 

G.  The time of Jacob’s trouble

There have been many attempts to exterminate the Jewish race. The pharaoh of the oppression tried it when he ordered all males to be destroyed at birth. (Ex 1:16) Then during the captivity, Haman, filled with hatred towards the Jews, caused a law to be passed “to destroy, kill and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to seize their possessions as plunder.” (Esther 3:13)

 

Hitler was of the same mind as Haman His desire was to make the world “judenrein”, or free of Jews Thus, as many can still recall, during the holocaust in Europe, six million Jews were systematically done to death by the third Reich We do not list the vast number of persecutions which the Jew has had to endure, nor the fact that, for centuries, they were locked up in the ghettos of Europe.

 

However, the tale is not yet done, for Satan, in one last attempt to utterly destroy the Jew, will provoke the Antichrist, to utterly exterminate them from off the face of the earth. One may ask, why this satanic endeavour to exterminate the Jews? The answer is simple, of course. It is that, by so doing, the Scriptures would not come to pass, and Satan would have thwarted God’s Revelation and purposes. Let us look at the prophecy of Jeremiah 30:7, “Alas! For that day is great, there is none like it; and it is the time of Jacob's distress, but he will be saved from it.” God then promises, at that time, to break the yoke from off his neck.

 

The covenant of death

After the resurrection and Rapture, the Antichrist is going to make a covenant with Israel. (Dan 9:27) As the ruler of the western European state, he will have immense power, and will guarantee the safety and continuity of Israel. But it will only be made to give the Jews a false sense of security. He will have no intention of keeping it. The two witnesses will be proclaiming the truth at this time, to the Jews, and warning them, and no doubt, there will be those who will be listening to what they are saying.

 

At the time when the Antichrist kills the two witnesses, he will break his covenant with the Jews, and he will place the “abomination of desolation” in the holy place. (Matt 24:15) It is at this time that the Jews who are spiritually prepared, will know what to do. Daniel says, “Many will be purged, purified and refined; but the wicked will act wickedly, and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand.” (Dan 12:10)

 

The very next verse, Dan 12:11, makes it clear that those who are purified, are Jews, as the abolition of the daily sacrifice and the setting up of the abomination of desolation, is spoken of in this verse. That all the Jews will not be saved, is clear. Quoting from Isaiah, Paul says to the Romans, “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved.” (Isa 10:22; Rom 9:27) Zechariah speaks of two parts of Israel being cut off. The third part will be refined as silver and as gold is refined. We read, “They will call on my name, and I will answer them; I will say, ‘they are my people’, and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’” (Zech 13:7-9)

 

Of those who flee from the land of Israel into the wilderness when they see the abomination of desolation set up, we read in Rev 12:17, “and the dragon was enraged with the woman (Israel), and went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God, and hold to the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

 

The abomination of desolation set up

Those Jews who are saved at this time, will read the Scriptures and understand. (Dan 12:10; Matt 24:15; Mark 13:14) This is the signal for them to flee to the place appointed to them. Rev 12:6 tells us that the woman will flee to the wilderness where she has a place prepared by God. There she will be nourished by God for 1260 days. This is repeated in Rev 12:14.

 

What will happen is this: the Antichrist will invade the beautiful land (Dan 11:41). His armies will invest the city of Jerusalem. Zechariah says, “I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished, and half the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.” (Zech 14:2) Those who remain will be those who do not believe on the Lord, those fleeing will be those who understand what is transpiring.

 

Where is the wilderness to which they will flee? Daniel says that Edom, Moab, and the foremost of the sons of Ammon will escape from being overrun by the armies of the Antichrist. A look at the map will reveal that this area lies on the east bank of the Jordan River, much of it the desolation east of the Dead Sea. It is in this area that the rock city of Petra is to be found. Many believe that it is here that Israel will be centred. How will they be nourished by God at this time? Here we will see a repetition of what happened in the wilderness during the Exodus under the leadership of Moses. There will be a supernatural supply of manna and water to those who escape of Israel.

 

Everywhere else, the Antichrist will make a concerted effort to eliminate all those Jews who believe, but were not able to escape in time. Thus Israel will be in the wilderness for 3½ years. At the end of this time, as we have seen, the Lord Jesus will come back with the armies of heaven and the nations will be defeated at Armageddon. He will now alight upon the Mount of Olives and “The Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.” (Zech 14:4)

 

“The Lord will then send forth his angels to gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.” (Matt 24:31) All Israel will now be brought back into the land and their dispersion will forever be at an end

 

16. The earth after the Lord comes back

 

We will not look at the Millennium in detail, reserving it for a more detailed study later. We need to look at certain things briefly, however, and will start by looking at what happens to the survivors of the Great Tribulation.

 

The survivors of the Great Tribulation

While there will be vast numbers of men who will go up to Armageddon, and all who go up will perish, there will be many others who will remain. Not everybody who survives the Great Tribulation will enter into the Millennium. In fact, the first thing that the Lord will do will be to send his angels to gather all men to the judgement of the throne of his glory. (Matt 25)

 

The story of the tares and the wheat applies to this time in history. The Lord will send forth the angels and they will remove from his kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity. (Matt 13:41) This gathering out is totally different from the Rapture. At the Rapture, the Lord removes the righteous, both dead and living, and the wicked are left behind upon the earth. Now, the angels remove the wicked from off the earth, and the righteous are left behind. This is what Daniel means when he writes, “blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1335 days.” (Dan 12:12) If we subtract 1260 days from 1335 days, we will have the number of days, 75 in all, that it takes for the separation of the sheep from the goats (Matt 25:31), the tares from the wheat (Matt 13:30), and the good fish from the bad fish (Matt 13:47-50.)

 

Only those who have not received the mark of the beast, who have not served the Antichrist, will be allowed to enter into the Millennium. As we have already remarked, the earth will be ravaged. All that man has built will lie in ruins. The vast earthquakes, together with all the other judgements of God, will have reduced the earth to rubble. Furthermore, there will be very few people left to begin the reconstruction of the earth.

 

There will only be a residue of men who will be left. After the flood there were only eight people; they multiplied over 4500 years until, at the present time, they reached over four billion souls. How many will be left is hard to estimate, perhaps they will only number hundreds of thousands, perhaps not even that many, for, we must remember, the Antichrist will martyr many of those who turn to the Lord after the church has been raptured.

 

The earth’s topography

The appearance of the earth will be greatly changed in the Millennium. We have seen that the Mount of Olives will be divided in half. A great river will flow from under the threshold of the temple. Its waters will flow down into the Dead Sea, and the water of the Dead Sea will become fresh. (Ezek 47:8)

 

Fish will swarm in its waters, and fishermen will catch fish from En Gedi to En Eglaim. Mountains will have disappeared, as well as many of the islands. All the cities will be destroyed, and, it would seem, the way of life after the Great Tribulation, will be very different.

 

Universal peace

Men will be compelled to beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. (Micah 4:3)

 

It would seem that the basis of society will become rural in nature. “They shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it.” (Micah 4:4)

 

Jerusalem glorious

The prophet Zephaniah says, “Sing, o daughter of Zion; shout aloud, o Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, o daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The Lord, the king of Israel, is with you, never again will you fear any harm.” (Zeph 3:14)

 

Speaking of Jerusalem, Isaiah says, “… but thou shalt call thy walls salvation, and thy gates praise. The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light to thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory …” (Isa 60:1-22)

 

The shekinak glory of the Lord will be upon the city. “Then the Lord will create over all mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over all the glory will be a canopy.” (Isa 4:5)

 

The glory of the Lord

The entire earth will be aware of the glory of the Lord. “The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (Isa 11:9)

 

“For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (Hab 2:14)

 

There will be a universal knowledge of the Lord.


 

Creation reconciled

The apostle Paul speaks of the whole of the creation waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. (Rom 8:19) At that time the creation will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (Rom 8:21) In Isaiah chapter eleven we read of this new relationship in the creation. The ultimate is the lion eating straw like the ox.


 

The position of the Jew

When God called Israel he said, “And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.” (Ex 19:6)

 

They failed dismally, but, in the Millennium, this will come to pass. Isaiah says of Israel, “But ye shall be named the priests of the Lord: men shall call you the ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.” (Isa 61:6)

 

God says of Israel in the Millennium, “Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen.” (Isa 43:10)

 

Zechariah writes, “In those days ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the edge of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.” (Zech 8:23)

 

The Lord will be present

Zechariah writes, “Shout and be glad, O daughter of Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,”declares the Lord. “Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.” (Zech 2:10)

 

All nations will have to go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord, the king, and to keep the feast of tabernacle. (Zech 14:16)

 

Failure to do so will result in the Lord withholding rain. Thus the Lord will be king of the earth. (Zech 14:9)

 

 

About the author:

 

Warren Paynter was a well-renowned Bible teacher with a specific interest in Biblical prophecy; his favourite of all being eschatology – end time prophecies. He was married to Maureen Warren and they had seven children, thirteen grandchildren and three great grandchildren (as at 2010).

 

In 1953 Warren studied at the South African Bible institute in Brakpan. He served in several churches in the Assembly of God (Group, Independent and Coastal assemblies) both in Zimbabwe and South Africa from 1959 until his death in 2005. All who knew him will always remember him for his love of the Scriptures and his extensive knowledge and recall of the same.

 

Online ministry by Warren Paynter is available at: Warren Paynter Ministry.

 

 



[1] Obviously we know that subsequent to this writing, the USSR has been dissolved and the Eastern European countries have been freed to join the European Union.

[2] New English Bible