Last Week’s Feature Article by Jack Kelley

I’ve received several emails lately asking for clarification of the term “Outer Darkness.” It’s mentioned a total of 4 times in the New Testament, three by name and one by implication, and always by Jesus. The term is not used any where else, Old Testament or New, by any other writer. Those who ask want to know if it’s another name for the place of eternal punishment, or if it’s some place different. And they want to know who’s going there.

The problem I’ve had in researching this is there’s no general agreement among scholars as to what it is, where it is, or for whom it’s intended either. There’s also no agreement as to whether it’s a physical location or a state of being. The phrase outer darkness literally means, “outside, where there’s no light”. The Greek word for darkness can be used metaphorically to mean obscurity, which is the condition of being unknown. And there’s also a sense in which spiritual ignorance or blindness can apply. An accompanying phrase describes it as a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth, which denotes extreme anguish and utter despair. No matter what else you think about it, the Outer Darkness is definitely not a nice place to be.

For many generations it was simply thought to be another name for Hell. But Hell, or more accurately Hades, is not a permanent destination. It’s a temporary one that will be thrown into the Lake of Fire at the end of the Millennium (Rev. 20:14). To me, the concept of utter despair denotes permanence.

So let’s take another look at its four appearances to see if we can answer some of the lingering questions about the Outer Darkness.

Matt. 8:12.

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.”

Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.”

The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matt. 8:5-12)

In His first reference to the Outer Darkness, Jesus was clearly speaking to and about Israel. He was criticizing the Jews for letting a Gentile Roman soldier demonstrate a stronger faith in Him than they had. He said that their lack of faith would result in people from all over the world (Gentiles) inheriting the Kingdom, while the Jews, who were the Kingdom’s subjects, would be thrown into the Outer Darkness, a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Israel was then (and will be again) God’s Kingdom on Earth. The Lord repeated His warning to them in Matt. 21:43 when He said, “Therefore I tell you that the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.” It’s obvious that the Lord believed they were the subjects of the Kingdom or else why would He threaten to take it away from them?

So in His first mention of the Outer Darkness the Lord warned the Jewish people that at the End of the Age Gentile believers, like the Centurion, would join their patriarchs at the Wedding Feast while they themselves sat outside in the darkness for failing to recognize their Messiah.

Matt 22:13

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

“Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

“But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.

“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

“For many are invited, but few are chosen.” (Matt. 22:1-14)

This is the parable of the Wedding Banquet, and there are three things to keep in mind here. First, the bride is never mentioned in this parable. Second, a bride is not considered a guest and could never be thrown out of her own wedding. And third, the banquet follows the wedding, so in the context of the parable the wedding has already taken place.

To accept the view that this parable is about the Church you have to start with the belief that some in the Church will become the Bride of Christ while others will not. But the Bible never even hints of that. It’s a man made conclusion without any Biblical support. If we’re saved, we’re in the church and are the Bride of Christ. If we’re not, we’re not.

In parables everything is symbolic of something else, and the Bible always explains what they stand for. Isaiah 61:10 explains that the wedding clothes represent righteousness;

I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Here’s how I see it. In Rev. 16:15, just after the 6th Bowl judgment and long after the church has departed, the Lord said, “Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed.”

He was alluding to the fact that the Doctrine of Eternal Security expires with the Rapture, a fact that Jesus taught in the Parable of the 10 Virgins. Tribulation believers will be saved by faith, just like everyone else, but will be responsible for keeping themselves saved, or as John said, keeping their clothes with them. Rev. 14:12 says they will do this by obeying God’s commandments and remaining faithful to Jesus.

The man ejected from the banquet was a last minute guest. He represents tribulation survivors who are not part of the Church. He was trying to receive the blessing of those invited to the wedding feast that occurs at the time of the 2nd Coming (Rev. 19:9). But He either hadn’t remained faithful and had lost his salvation, or never was saved at all. Remember the servants invited both the “good” and the “bad” and it isn’t clear whether this man had wedding clothes and lost them, or never had them in the first place. When he tried to gain entrance into the banquet, he was discovered and ejected.

So the 2nd reference applies to unbelieving survivors from the Great Tribulation who will be denied a place in the Kingdom for lack of the righteousness that comes by faith, and banished to the Outer Darkness instead.

Matt. 24:51

Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matt. 24:45-51)

The Parable of the Servants has only an implied reference to the Outer Darkness, calling it a place for hypocrites where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Since that phrase accompanies every other mention of the Outer Darkness, I think it’s safe to include it in our study. The timing of this parable was established as early as Matt. 24:29-30 which makes every thing that follows pertain to those on Earth at the time of the 2nd Coming. As a matter of fact, all the Olivet Discourse parables describe the destinies of Tribulation Survivors. You can easily confirm this by also looking at Matt. 24:36-37, Matt. 25:1, and Matt. 25:14.

This parable is about those who will have held positions of spiritual leadership during the Great Tribulation. In the Millennial Kingdom, the Lord will elevate to a place of authority leaders who have kept the word of God through the intense hardship and persecution of the times, and have taught sound doctrine to the flocks entrusted to them. (Remember, no Tribulation survivor will enter the New Jerusalem, but will dwell on Earth during the Lord’s Millennial reign.)

But having forsaken the truth, the wicked servants no will longer be watching for the Lord’s return, ignoring the obvious fulfillment of prophecy all around them and ridiculing those whose child-like faith sustains them. They are the worst of all enemies because they’ll look and sound like friends. They’re like the one John describes as appearing to have the authority of the Lamb but who speaks the words of the Dragon (Rev. 13:11). The Greek word translated hypocrite was often used to describe an actor or pretender, someone who appears to be something he’s not. So for the third time we see the Outer Darkness as a place for unbelievers. In this case it’s those who have betrayed the trust placed in them.

Matt. 25:30

The Lord’s final reference to the Outer Darkness appears at the end of the Parable of the Talents.

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

” ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (Matt. 25:14-30)

For a more complete treatment of the Parable of the Talents click here. The relevant points for this study are that like the other Olivet Discourse parables, the timing is after the 2nd coming, the judgment is on Earth, and the man who had his only talent confiscated demonstrated a complete lack of knowledge of and faith in his master. He thought of Him as a hard man who accepted credit He didn’t deserve and he was afraid the master would treat him unfairly. No believer feels that way about Jesus. His punishment was to be consigned to the outer darkness.

So in all four cases, the ones being judged are unbelievers and their punishment is to live in a state of total obscurity where they will experience extreme anguish and utter despair. The fact that there’s no expanded teaching on the outer darkness elsewhere in the Bible leads me to believe the Lord was speaking of a place we’re already familiar with, but describing it in a way that helps us understand how it will feel to be there.

Remember, the words obscurity, extreme anguish and utter despair are associated with the phrase Outer Darkness. To be there is to be cut off from the presence of the Lord and everyone else, existing in total obscurity. The dictionary defines anguish as excruciating or acute distress, suffering, or pain, and despair as a state of utter hopelessness.

That, my friends, is the consequence of unbelief. Whether you call it Hell, Hades, Gehenna, the Lake of Fire, or the Outer Darkness, it’s all the same and you wouldn’t want your worst enemy to spend even an hour there. 03-13-10

The Ottoman Empire existed from 1299 until 1922. It was in many respects the Islamic successor to the Eastern leg of the Roman Empire and like the Romans had its headquarters in Constantinople (Istanbul). At the peak of its power, the Ottoman Empire extended from the Adriatic Sea in the west to the Caspian Sea in the east and from Austro-Hungary in the north to the southern tip of the Red Sea. It was at the center of interactions between the Eastern and Western worlds for 6 centuries. The Ottoman Empire was defeated in World War 1 after aligning with Germany. Its dissolution at the end of the war led to the formation of 40 new nations in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Northern Africa, many of them on land once claimed by the Romans.

Suleiman The Magnificent

The Empire’s greatest days occurred under the rule of Suleiman the Magnificent who reigned from 1520-1566. Only 25 years old when he came to power, Suleiman began his reign by performing many acts of kindness and mercy toward his people. He freed hundreds of slaves, showered his officers with gifts, and built a school for slaves. To the Ottomans he was known as The Lawgiver, having re-written the non-Shariah portions of the law. This was the law by which the Empire was governed for all of the remaining years of its existence. Because of the humanitarian nature of his laws he was also called Suleiman the Just by his subjects.

Suleiman was a powerful conqueror for Islam. His armies pushed the boundaries of the Empire nearly to Vienna and his powerful navies controlled the Mediterranean. Because of the tribute he received Suleiman became one of the wealthiest men of all time. He never wore the same clothes twice, he ate from solid gold plates with jewel encrusted utensils and had a harem of over 300 women.

The Ottomans were tolerant toward the Jews and welcomed thousands of them into the Empire after King Ferdinand expelled them from Spain in 1492. Suleiman’s father had wrested control of what is now Israel from Egypt in 1517 and Suleiman fell in love with Jerusalem, ordering its walls rebuilt in 1535. It was the first successful rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls since the Romans destroyed the city in 70 AD and Suleiman’s walls can still be seen surrounding the Old City today.

(According to Nehemiah, the Persian King Artaxerxes Longimonus issued a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem in the spring of the 20th year of his reign (Nehemiah 2:1). On our calendar it would have been March of 445BC. On the 483rd anniversary of this decree Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey on what we know as the first Palm Sunday, fulfilling the prophecy from Daniel 9:25 of the Lord’s 1st Coming as Israel’s Messiah. Then in 68-70 AD the city was destroyed by the Romans.  After centuries of being rebuilt and then torn down by various conquering groups, the walls around Jerusalem were finally rebuilt for good by Suleiman beginning in 1535 AD, and during his reign the city enjoyed an exceptional period of peace and religious tolerance.

Based on my understanding of Matt. 24:34 and Psalm 90:10, Jesus should return in 2018, 70 years after the re-birth of Israel.  If so, it will also have been 483 years from the time Suleiman ordered Jerusalem’s walls rebuilt to the 2nd Coming. If this is merely a coincidence, it is truly a remarkable one.)

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

Turkey is the surviving remnant of the Ottoman Empire. Following their defeat in WW1 the Empire was divided up by the victorious Western powers. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk had been a high ranking Ottoman officer and led the effort to found the Republic of Turkey. He set about to make it a secular nation in the style of western democracies. While endorsing Islam, he limited it to the status of a religion instead of allowing it to be the political force it had been. He saw to the suspension of the Ottoman Caliphate and Sultanate, clearing the way for the newly formed National Parliament to assume ultimate power. Among the many changes he enforced were the institution of a new language and alphabet, the adoption of western style of dress and mandatory 2nd names for men, and the granting of full political rights to women.

From that day to this, Turkey has been viewed as a western nation. With membership in NATO and more than a dozen military and commercial treaties with Israel, Turkey has been an important western ally in the Middle East. In fact, many students of prophecy have seen Turkey’s alignment with the west as a major obstacle to an early fulfillment of Ezekiel 38-39. It appears from a study of the modern equivalents to the Biblical names mentioned there that Turkey has to be among the Islamic forces invading Israel.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Lately there’s been a major shift inTurkish politics in what could be a dramatic step toward the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38. After stalling for years, the EU has put Turkey’s application for membership on the back burner and as of now a majority of EU ministers oppose Turkey’s admission to the Union.

Perhaps as a result of this Turkey has begun to look to the East, and current Prime Minister Erdogan is fast becoming a regional Muslim leader by criticizing Israel—particularly after the Gaza war. His clout is spreading from the streets of Gaza to Beirut, Damascus, and Cairo—the traditional strongholds of Arab nationalism.

US President Obama understands Turkey’s strategic importance. Before his presidency was 100 days old, He selected Turkey to host his first visit to a majority Muslim nation in an effort to keep them in the western fold.

The Turkish military has also been a powerful force in maintaining the country’s western leaning secular nature. In the past it has unilaterally dissolved national governments for becoming too religious, and has outlawed several religiously oriented political parties. But according to the Associated Press, Turkish police arrested 52 current and former military commanders last week for their part in “allegedly planning to blow up mosques in order to trigger a military takeover and overthrow the Islamic-oriented government” in 2003. It appears the balance of power has shifted.

PM Erdogan is by far the country’s most popular political leader enjoying wide support among the Turkish people, due in part to his frequent criticism of Israel. Having played a major role in healing the rift between Saudi Arabia and Syria, and forming strategic alliances with Russia, Syria, and Iran, he’s gaining regional popularity as well. He single handedly brought Syria out of Arab isolation, helped facilitate the long delayed formation of the new Lebanese government, and has brokered trade agreements with Russia that exceeded $38 billion in 2008 and have a five year target of $100 billion annually. Recently Erdogan offered to come to Iran’s assistance should there be any attempt to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities.

He’s become convinced that instead of relying on outside powers to bring peace to the Middle East the Ottoman Empire should be re-born to take the lead. He’s recently been quoted as saying, “Turkey’s goal is to live in peace with all countries and restore the might of the Ottoman Empire.”

The Man With No Name (Yet)

If he can make that happen it would send students of prophecy scurrying back into their Bibles to see if the re-birth of the Ottoman Empire could become the fulfillment of the so-called revived Roman Empire. There are already some who believe the 7th Kingdom of Rev. 18:10 is the Ottoman Empire, and point out that Constantinople is also a city on seven hills. If so, its loyalty to Islam would confirm the identity of the one world End Times religion, and could also support the idea of an Islamic anti-Christ, the one some call al-Mahdi. As details of Islamic eschatology become more widely known, prophecy students are discovering a striking similarity between descriptions of al Mahdi and the anti-Christ. I’ve made mention of these in previous articles, how both come on the scene during a time of great turmoil on Earth, both come claiming a desire to restore peace, both have a seven year reign, both head a one world religion and one world government, both claim supernatural origins, and both reigns end in a battle between good and evil that brings Earth’s final judgment. Could they be one and the same? The legend surrounding al-Mahdi as being in occlusion (supernaturally hidden) since the 10th century could make him the 8th king who belongs to the seven, just like Rev. 18:11 says.

As you can see we might have an interesting circumstantial case here for a revived Ottoman Empire. It’s not something to build doctrine on, but it certainly bears watching. One nice thing about our times is we won’t have long to wait before we find out how these prophecies are fulfilled. You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah. 02-27-10

Table of contents for Rapture References

1. Rapture References
2. Rapture References, Part 2
3. Rapture References, Part 3 … Conclusion

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

This is the final installment of our three part series on rapture references in the Bible. We concluded part two with Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians. Written about 20 years after the cross, they were the first definitive teaching on the rapture given on Earth, and as we saw Paul placed it before the End Times judgments, saying the Church was not appointed to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thes. 5:9).

About three years after the Thessalonian letters Paul wrote 1 Corinthians and in chapter 15 added more detail to his rapture teaching. We’ll begin the final installment there.

What Will We Look Like?

In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul was teaching about the resurrection, responding to questions about how the dead will be raised and what we’ll look like. He used an example from agriculture to describe it. You can’t tell what a plant will look like by examining the seed. You have to plant it and wait till it grows. When it does the plant will look different from the seed, but the farmer will recognize it as having come from the seed he planted. He said that’s the way is is with us. We can’t enter Heaven in our earthly state, so we have to be changed into our heavenly state. When we are, the splendor of our heavenly body will be different from the splendor of our earthly one, but we’ll still be recognizable. Just as we can we can tell the sun from the moon and the stars from either and from each other, so it will be with us. We’ll all be unique, recognizable individuals.

Then in 1 Cor. 15:51-53 He wrote;

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.

The Greek word for mystery means secret. By saying he was going to tell them a mystery, Paul was saying he was about to reveal a secret. And here it is. When the Lord comes down to meet us in the air we’ll receive no advance notice. In one instant we’ll be going about our business here on Earth and in the next we’ll be standing in the Kingdom. It will happen so fast we won’t have time to blink our eyes. We’ll hear the Trumpet call of God and the voice of the archangel and we’ll step out of this world into the next one. As we look around we’ll realize that multitudes of believers from the Church Age have joined us. The dead will have been given new bodies and the living will have been transformed from mortal to immortal. Paul said we’ll know as we’re known (1 Cor. 13:12), so just as the Lord will recognize each of us, we’ll recognize each other. And John said that what we’ll be is not yet known, but we know that when He appears we’ll be like Him (1 John 3:2) To me that means we’ll have the same capabilities that He demonstrated after His resurrection.

Don’t confuse the trumpet we’ll hear with the 7th Trumpet of Rev. 11:15. In the first place what we’ll hear is the trumpet of God, mentioned elsewhere only in Exodus 19:13 & 19. The 7th Trumpet is blown by an angel in Heaven, announces the beginning of the Great Tribulation, and is never called the last trumpet.

As I said, the Trumpet of God is only mentioned  twice in the Bible. The first one is in Exodus 19 at Mt. Sinai and the last one is in 1 Thes. 4. There are some incredible parallels between the giving of the Law and the Rapture of the Church. And as you might expect there are also some big differences. We’ll look at the similarities first.

Both are accompanied by the audible voice of God and both create a Kingdom. At Mt. Sinai the Israelites were redeemed from slavery, at the Rapture we’re redeemed from sin. They were consecrated, we’re perfected. They washed their clothes, we’re given clean clothes. God came to the Mt. top, Jesus comes to the air. At Mt. Sinai Moses and Aaron went up, at the rapture we go up. At Mt. Sinai Israel was wed to God. At the Rapture the Church is wed to Jesus. At Mt. Sinai God dwelt with Israel and at the rapture the Church will dwell with Jesus.

Since many Biblical models are necessarily incomplete, there are also some obvious differences. Only Moses and Aaron could ascend the mountain. Anyone else going up passed from life to death. At the rapture we all go up and everyone passes from death to life. God promised to dwell with Israel if they obeyed. We will dwell with Jesus because He obeyed. They changed themselves temporarily, He changes us permanently. Theirs was an event accompanied by great fear, ours is an event anticipated with great joy. After all Mt. Sinai was the presentation of God’s Law, and the Rapture is the manifestation of His grace. God blew the First Trump in Exodus 19 in preparation for the giving of the Law, and will blow the the Last Trump in 1 Thes. 4:16 to initiate the Rapture.

Rescuing The Righteous

Abraham had reminded the Lord that His character wouldn’t allow Him to judge the righteous with the wicked. Even though the negotiated requirement of 10 righteous men to spare Sodom and Gomorrah hadn’t been met, God instructed the angels to remove Lot before destroying the cities. Speaking of this Peter wrote, “if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.” (2 Peter 2:9)

Peter wanted us to see from the example of Lot that it wasn’t an isolated incident but was meant to convey a general principle. The Greek word translated “from” in the NIV is more clearly rendered “out of” in the King James. It means away from the time and place of the event being referenced. We see a similar idea conveyed in Isaiah 57:1:

The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil.

Here the Hebrew word translated “taken away” means to gather in, receive, or remove. God’s character is such that He can’t allow the righteous to be punished with the wicked.

The 7 Churches Of Rev. 2-3

In a previous study I’ve demonstrated how the seven churches of Rev. 2-3 chronicle Church history. I showed how the first 3 churches (Ephesus, Smyrna and Pergamus) have all disappeared and the remaining 4 Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea) are all present today. Viewed in chronological order and compared to Church history these four represent the Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical and Apostate churches of today. (Go to the right hand menu and under CAtegories click on

In Rev. 2: 22-24 the Lord warned that some from the Church in Thyatira will face the tribulation while others will be rescued and share in rewards that are uniquely reserved for true believers, which includes the rapture. The distinction will be made on the basis of their beliefs. Those who’ve remained true to the Gospel will go while those who adhere to the Catholic church’s “Jesus plus Mary, grace plus works, and Scripture plus sacraments” doctrine will not.

In the letter to Sardis, which represents the main line denominations, Jesus warned of dead orthodoxy having only the appearance of life. “Remember what you have received and heard and obey it,” He said, “Or else you won’t know at what time I will come to you.” He was referring to the Gospel, and notice He said “to you”, not “for you”. Many in the main line denominations don’t know they need to be born again, haven’t got a clue that we’re in the end times and have never even heard of the rapture. As in Thyatira, he said there are a few in Sardis who have remained true. They’ll walk with Him for they are worthy. Once again some will be taken and some left based on what they believe.

Philadelphia is often called The Church of the Rapture because of the Lord’s promise to keep us from the hour of trial that’s going to come upon the whole world (Rev. 3:10). The Greek word translated “from” here is the same one Peter used in describing the Lord’s ability to rescue godly men from trials. Remember it means away from the time and place of the event being referenced, in this case the End Times judgments that are coming upon the whole world. Because we’ve kept His word and not denied His name, He has promised us a place in the New Jerusalem, where only those whose names have been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life can enter (Rev. 21:27). This is the Lord’s personal confirmation of a pre-trib rapture, which when John wrote this in about 95AD had been taught on Earth for nearly 50 years.

The “Church” at Laodicea is really an apostate movement, a spiritual rebellion. Although it has been around through out the Church Age, it’s current prominence is a sign that the End of the Age is approaching (2 Thes. 2:3) Thinking of itself as rich and self sufficient, it lacks the one thing money can’t buy, a Savior. He’s outside the door knocking, hoping someone will hear. There’s no promise to rescue the group, who will be spit out of his mouth, only to individuals who hear and respond.

Come Up Here!

At the beginning of Rev. 4, John was called forward to the End of the Age and up into Heaven to observe and report on events that were nearly 2000 years in his future. When he arrived at the throne of God he saw a group never before seen in any of the Bible’s pictures of God’s throne. Isaiah didn’t see them (Isaiah 6) Ezekiel didn’t see them (Ezekiel 1 & 10), and even Daniel, whose vision was oriented in the End Times only saw a vague hint in the form of plural thrones (Daniel 7:9). I’m speaking of the 24 elders sitting on thrones encircling the Throne of God (Rev. 4:4)

These 24 elders confuse some people, but they shouldn’t. Their appearance gives them away. They have thrones, so they’re rulers. They surround the Throne of God, so they’re assisting Him. They’re seated, so their work is done. They’re dressed in white, so they’re righteous. They’re wearing crowns, so they’re kings. It’s the Greek “stephanos” crown so they’re victors, over comers. They’re called Elders, a title associated with the Church. That’s a pretty strong case for them representing the Church, and no one has ever come up with a better one.

Some try to explain the 24 thrones by saying that they belong to an unidentified group of ruling angels. But four prophets saw the throne of God and recorded their experience. Of the four, only John saw them. And note that the Church won’t receive crowns until the Bema Seat judgment that takes place after the Rapture. Is this a symbolic view of the church in Heaven before the judgments begin? It looks that way to me.

The Song Of The Redeemed

And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men (us) for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them (us) to be a kingdom (kings) and priests to serve our God, and they (we) will reign on the earth.” (Rev. 5:8-10)

This is a controversial passage and taken by itself its difficult to understand.  But even though most of the modern translations read like the one above, both the King James Version and Young’s Literal Translation put the passage in the first person plural as I’ve indicated in parentheses.  The first person version helps support the view that the 24 Elders represent the Church.

Also the Greek word for King and Kingdom is the same, differing only by gender.  King is the masculine form and is the one that appears in Rev. 5:10.  (Kingdom is feminine.)  So the verse is more grammatically and theologically correct when it’s translated Kings and Priests, which define the Church, rather than a kingdom and priests.  And there’s no other group that fits the description of verse 9.  Finally, the song is more consistent with the context of the passage when it’s sung by the redeemed Church, not by a third party singing about the Church. Taken together Rev. 4-5 present a good circumstantial case for the Church being present in Heaven before the wrath of God begins in Rev. 6. As we’ve already seen, this is what the Bible has promised from the beginning.

Who’s That With The Lord?

Speaking of the anti-Christ and his 10 king confederacy Rev. 17:14 says, “They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”

This is an overview statement that describes the Great Tribulation, during which Satan, working through the anti-Christ, will attempt to assert his ownership claim to Planet Earth. Rev. 17:13 says these 10 kings will have only that one purpose during the time of their reign. In Rev. 3:10 Jesus called that time the hour of trial that’s coming upon the whole world. In Matt. 24:21 He called it the Great Tribulation. Rev. 17:17 says that the Lord will agree to their rule in order for them to accomplish His purpose, not theirs, and that’s to destroy the Great Prostitute. Once they’re finished with her He’ll appear to personally oversee their defeat. And guess who’ll be with Him when He returns? His called, chosen and faithful followers. That can only be the Church, in Heaven during the Great Tribulation, and returning with Him at its end.

From Genesis to Revelation, the overwhelming weight of evidence, some circumstantial and some testimonial shows that the Lord always intended to remove the Church from Earth before the End Times Judgments and to hide us in His Father’s house until His wrath has passed by. Even so, come Lord Jesus. 02-12-10

Table of contents for Rapture References

1. Rapture References
2. Rapture References, Part 2
3. Rapture References, Part 3 … Conclusion

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

In part one of this series we explored some of the clearest hints from the Old Testament that the Lord has always intended to rapture the Church before the End Times judgments begin. This time we’ll continue with a two part survey of the New Testament. Because Paul was the first to reveal the mystery of the Rapture, we won’t expect to find a clear explanation in the Gospels, but since we already know about it, we’ll be able to spot a couple of hints here and there. Shall we continue?

Obvious By Our Absence?

In His definitive teaching on the End Times, the Lord warned Israel they would be hated and persecuted by all nations because of Him (Matt. 24:9). He said many would fall away from the faith, and would betray and hate each other (Matt. 24:10). He said their Temple would be desecrated by another Abomination of Desolation, and when that happened those in Judea (the New Testament name for Israel) would have to flee into the mountains immediately (Matt. 24:15) He told them to pray that their flight wouldn’t take place in the winter (winters can be harsh in the Judean wilderness) or on the Sabbath (fleeing would violate Sabbath travel restrictions) because the Great Tribulation would be coming and it would be worse than anything man has ever known (Matt. 24:20-21). He said if He didn’t personally intervene not one of them would survive it, but for the sake of the believers among them He would put an end to it at the appointed time (Matt. 24:22). He said false Messiahs and false prophets would perform great signs and miracles to deceive them as the end approached (Matt. 24:24).  (Paul confirmed this in 2 Thes. 2:9-10 placing its fulfillment after the rapture.)

He said everyone on Earth will see Him when He comes back (Matt. 24:27) and it will be just like the Days of Noah. Unbelievers who survive the Great Tribulation will be taken away in the judgments that follow His return and believers will be welcomed into the Kingdom to build a new world. All this and more, He said to Israel. (Matt. 24:36-25:46)

But did He speak one word of comfort, or even warning, to His Bride? Did He say He’d protect us through this terrifying time? Did He even acknowledge our existence? No. Not once. Why? Because He was talking to Israel about a time after we’re gone. He left it to Paul to explain the details of our rescue after it was too late to stop what He was about to do for us.

Lot Had To Leave Sodom (Revisited)

“It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.” (Luke 17:28-29)

In Luke 17:26-27 Jesus had been saying how in the days of Noah unbelievers hadn’t heeded the warnings they were given, and didn’t avail themselves of the Lord’s provision for their rescue. They were caught by surprise when the flood came and it destroyed them all.

At first glance verses 28-29 seem like a similar example, but it’s really very different. Lot was taken away from the time and place of the judgment before it began. In fact the angels who were sent to remove him said they couldn’t bring the judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah until Lot was away and safe. (Genesis 19:21-22) As I demonstrated in part one of this series, Lot served as a model of the Church who also has to be rescued from the time and place of the coming judgment before it can begin.

The Resurrection And The Life

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” (John 11:25-26)

This is an amazing statement. The Lord had already said that whoever believes in Him would not perish but would have eternal life. (John 3:16) Here he provided more detail, saying that even though a believer experiences physical death, he will still have life. He was referring to the resurrection of those who die in faith. And then He said there would be some would never die, but would pass from this life directly into the next one. If we didn’t already know about the rapture, we wouldn’t see this, but since we do we can understand that He was talking about that one generation of believers who will be alive when He comes for the Church, and will receive eternal life without dying first. And once again the Lord confirmed that the single qualification for eternal life is to believe that His death paid the entire price for our sins.

What’s To Become Of Israel?

When they finished, James spoke up: “Brothers, listen to me. Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself. The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: ” ‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things that have been known for ages. (Acts 15:13-18)

It was not quite 20 years after the cross, and the Apostles were meeting together in Jerusalem. None of the New Testament had been written yet. 483 years of Daniel’s 490 year prophecy for Israel (Daniel 9:24-27) had been fulfilled on schedule but with the Messiah’s death everything had come to a stop. Before He died, the Lord had even told them that the Temple would soon be completely destroyed, and after His resurrection He had refused to confirm their hope that the Kingdom would now be restored to Israel. In effect He had said, “That’s not for you to know.” (Acts 1:6) And now Peter, Paul, and Barnabas had given eye witness accounts of the Holy Spirit coming directly upon Gentiles with much prophesying and speaking in tongues. If Gentiles could come straight to the Lord and receive the Holy Spirit without converting to Judaism first, did that mean God was finished with the Jews? If so what would become of Israel and all the Lord’s unfulfilled promises to His people?

James, the Lord’s half brother, helped them understand what was coming. What we now know as the Dispensation of Law had been interrupted while the Lord takes from among the Gentiles a people for Himself (the Church). In Greek the phrase “taking from” literally means to take out of, or carry away from. It denotes an exit, a separation of time, place, and cause.

After He has taken the Church, James said, the Lord will turn His attention once again to Israel. The Temple will be rebuilt and the remaining 7 years of the Dispensation of Law will run their course. This is the time we know as Daniels 70th week. He concluded by saying the Lord has known for ages that He was going to do this.

Paul’s Confirmation

Paul, who was there, explained it to the Church at Rome this way. I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is (or will be) my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” (Romans 11:25-27)

The Greek word translated “full number” was often used in a nautical sense to define the number of sailors, oarsmen, and soldiers required to man a ship. Once a ship had its full number it could set sail for it’s intended destination. When it arrived it was said to have “come in.” I believe Paul’s intention was to say that the Church has a “full number” and once that number is reached it will set sail for its intended destination, heaven. No one on Earth knows this number and that’s why no one will know the day or hour of the rapture in advance.

Some commentators believe the same thought was conveyed in Genesis 7 with the Ark. It had to contain 2 of every kind of animal, 7 of the “clean” animals, Noah, his 3 sons, and their 4 wives. That was its full number. Once they were all aboard, the door was shut and the Ark floated away.

When the Church’s “full number” has “come in” to its heavenly destination God will turn His attention once again to Israel and the final 7 years of Daniel’s 70 weeks prophecy will be fulfilled, culminating in the Lord’s return to establish His Kingdom. This is the Kingdom promised to Israel that Daniel said would never be destroyed, or left to another people, but will endure forever. (Daniel 2:44).

The Rapture Goes Public

They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. (1 Thes 1:10)

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thes. 4:16-17)

For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thes. 5:9)

These are the rapture verses, named for the Latin translation of the Greek word harpadzo, which means to be caught up or snatched away in English, and which appears in 1 Thes. 4:17. In part one of this series I showed how closely they resemble Isaiah 26:19-21. I believe Paul was using Isaiah’s words to support his claim that this wasn’t just his idea, but had been announced by the Lord nearly eight hundred years earlier.

With the first letter to the Thessalonians Paul gave the first clear promise of a pre-tribulation Rapture. When He called Jesus the one who will rescue us from the coming wrath in chapter 1, he meant that sometime before the seal judgments of Rev. 6, which signal the beginning of God’s wrath (Rev. 6:16-17) Jesus will separate the Church from the time and place of the End Times Judgments. (Look up the full meaning of the Greek word translated “from” in 1 Thes. 1: 10 to confirm this.) In Chapter 4 he said this separation would happen when the Lord comes to take us to be with Him in Heaven. First, believers who have died will be raised up. Then, we who are still alive will be snatched away with them to meet the Lord in the air. Then in chapter 5 he repeated the reason for our sudden rescue. It was never intended that the Church would suffer through the time of God’s wrath.

Say That Again, Paul

Between the two letters we call 1st and 2nd Thessalonians something happened that would have scared the recipients right out of their socks had they been wearing any. They received a letter that appeared to be from Paul but was in fact a forgery. According to 2 Thes 2:1-2 it said the Day of the Lord had already come. Confused and frightened, they dashed off a hurried request for clarification since this new letter contradicted what Paul had previously taught them.

Here we get an extraordinary insight into their understanding of the sequence of End Times events. Receiving word that the Day of the Lord had come would only have upset them so much if they’d been led to believe that the Rapture of the Church would precede it. Think about it. From any other view, this kind of news would have been scary for sure, but their fear would have been tempered by a certain amount of joyous anticipation. Sure the next few years would really be rough, but whether by martyrdom or survival they would soon be in the presence of the Lord forever.

But from the pre-trib perspective, hearing that the Day of the Lord had come would be horrifying, because it would mean that they had missed the rapture. And that would mean they weren’t saved. No wonder they wrote Paul for clarification!

It’s important to understand that they had asked Paul two questions. The first concerned the Day of the Lord and the second was about our being gathered to Him, the Rapture. Paul answered the 2 questions in that order using verses 3-5 to describe conditions that would bring about the Day of the Lord and verses 6-8 to explain when the rapture would occur in relation to them.

Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? (2 Thes. 2:3-5)

Confirming and amplifying Daniel’s 70 weeks prophecy (Daniel 9:27) and the Lord’s warning from the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24:15), Paul pegged the beginning of the Great Tribulation to the moment the antichrist stands in the Temple in Jerusalem proclaiming himself to be God.

And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. (2 Thes. 2:6-8)

Before the antichrist can be officially revealed, One who is currently limiting the power of lawlessness has to be taken out of the way. The phrase “out of the way” literally means out of the midst, or from amongst. Some force that restrains the power of evil within certain predetermined limits (for this power is already at work on Earth) has to be removed.

Scholars who read the passage literally identify this force as the Holy Spirit. And since the Holy Spirit is sealed within us, if He’s taken out from amongst the people of Earth, we have to go too. You can’t take the Restrainer without taking the container, as someone has said. This is the Rapture of the Church, and once we’re gone the power of evil will be free from restraint and all Hell will break loose on Earth until the Lord returns at the end of the Great Tribulation to put a stop to it.

Here then is the sequence. Before the Day of the Lord can come, the antichrist has to be revealed, and before he can be revealed the church has to be raptured. So according to Paul the next prophetic event involving believers will be our own disappearance. We’re not finished yet, so be sure to tune in again next time for the exciting conclusion of Rapture References. 02-06-10

Table of contents for Rapture References

1. Rapture References
2. Rapture References, Part 2
3. Rapture References, Part 3 … Conclusion

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

Recently I was challenged to make a list of all the passages in the Bible that hint of a pre-trib rapture. As you may know I believe Paul was the first person on Earth to present a clear pre-trib teaching, about 20 years after the cross. Before that time it was unknown because Jesus didn’t teach it to His other disciples during their time together. And since the Olivet Discourse is directed at Israel, there’s no mention of it there either, even though the end times is in view. Israel will not participate in the rapture.

Now I’ll be the first to admit that doing this requires that you already have a working knowledge of the pre-trib position, because without it you wouldn’t recognize some of these references as being pertinent to the subject. But ever since Paul revealed the rapture, scholars have been seeing hints of it here and there, even in the Old Testament.

Before we begin, in 1 Cor. 2:6-8 Paul explained why God’s plans for the church had been kept secret until after the crucifixion. He said that if the rulers of this age (Satan & Co.) had understood all that God intended for us they would not have crucified the Lord. Not that they could have stopped it, of course. But had they known God was going to use the murder of His Son to save us all, they wouldn’t have gone ahead with it, and in fact would have tried to prevent it. It wasn’t until He was on the cross that they discovered the Lord’s death was going to become payment in full for all our sins, so instead of it being cause for a great celebration it totally disarmed them and made them into a public spectacle (Colossians 2:13-15). Then, 20 years later, they learned about the rapture. These were both things that God had planned from the beginning, but a good general keeps his strategy a secret in order to take his enemy by surprise, so God didn’t let Satan (or anyone else) know about these things until it was too late for him to react. Even now, Satan doesn’t know when the rapture is coming. All he knows is what we know, that each new believer could be the last one, the one that takes us all out of here and beyond his reach forever.

I’m convinced that God’s plan requires the Church to disappear before Daniel’s 70th week begins. Remember, the Lord set aside 70 weeks (490 years) for Israel to accomplish 6 things. (Daniel 9:24) At the end of 69 weeks (483 years) Jesus was crucified, the clock suddenly stopped, and Israel disappeared along with its Temple and Old Covenant worship. Daniel’s prophecy was left incomplete and from that time on, God’s focus was on the church.

The reappearance of Israel in 1948, the promised rebuilding of a Temple, and resumption of Levitical sacrifice during the 70th week make it clear that the Church didn’t end the dispensation of Law but only interrupted it seven years short of its intended duration. We would all agree that if the introduction of a dam into a stream of water interrupts its flow, then it’s reasonable and logical to conclude that removal of the dam will be necessary for the flow to resume. Therefore if the introduction of the Church after the 69th week of Daniels prophecy caused the interruption in its fulfillment, it’s reasonable and logical to conclude that the Church will have to be removed before the final seven years of the dispensation of Law can run their course and Daniel’s prophecy can be fulfilled.

Of course there are other sound reasons why the church has to disappear before the End Times begin in earnest. Not having a destiny on Earth, our presence here would serve no purpose during the time of Earth’s liberation from bondage (Romans 8:19-21). Not being subject to judgment the Church has no unfinished business with God that could be concluded during the End Times. Unlike Israel we don’t need to be made righteous because we’re already as righteous as God is (2 cor. 5:21).

Jeremiah 30:11 says the End time judgments will serve a two fold purpose, to completely destroy all the nations among which Israel has been scattered and to discipline Israel. Since God does not consider the Church to belong to either group our presence on Earth during that time would be irrelevant.

But the most important reason, as we’ll see, is that God said we won’t be here. Those who teach the Church’s presence on Earth during any part of Daniel’s70th Week have to re-define grace, re-invent the church and re-interpret the Scriptures to support their position.

With that introduction, let’s look at some of the clearest hints God placed in the Scriptures to show He has always planned for a pre-tribulation rapture of the church. Naturally, we’ll begin in the Old Testament.

Enoch Disappeared

Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took Him away. (Genesis 5:24)

In Matt. 24:37, Jesus said that the time of His coming would be like the days of Noah. He went onto explain that just as all the unbelievers perished in the flood, all unbelievers would perish at the time of His 2nd coming as well. Those who survive the devastation of the Great Tribulation will immediately face judgment and be taken off the planet. The parables of the servant, the ten virgins, and the talents explain this, as does the account of the Sheep and Goat judgment. (Matt. 24:45-25:46)

But if you give the Lord’s statement its widest possible application, you can see that as the time of the Great Flood drew near there were 3 kinds of people on Earth. There were the unbelievers who perished in the flood, Noah and his family who were preserved through it, and Enoch, who was taken by the Lord well before it.

Just so, as the End of the Age draws near there will still be three kinds of people on Earth. They are the unbelievers of our time who will perish in the End Times judgments, modern Israel who will be preserved through them, and the Church who will be taken by God well before they begin.

There some interesting similarities between Enoch and the Church. For starters, the name Enoch comes from a root which means to train or teach. To the church Jesus said, “Go and make disciples (students) of all men.” (Matt. 28:19) And according to Hebrew tradition, Enoch was born on the day that would become Pentecost. It’s the same day the Church was born. I believe Enoch was an early type of the Church and his disappearance before the flood gave the first hint of a pre-tribulation rapture.

Lot Had To Leave Sodom

But flee there quickly, because I can not do anything until you reach it. (Genesis 19:23)

Abraham had struck a bargain with the Lord that if even 10 righteous people could be found in Sodom and Gomorrah He would spare the cities. The fact that the cities were destroyed indicates 10 righteous people could not be found there. But there was one, and though He wasn’t bound to do it, the Lord instructed the angels to get Lot out of town before commencing their judgment. Peter referred to Lot’s rescue from Sodom as evidence that the Lord does not judge the righteous with the wicked (2 peter 2:7-9) Lot therefore becomes a model of the Church, who with a righteousness imputed by faith, has to be removed from the time and place of judgment before it begins.

Where Was Daniel?

Daniel 3 contains one of the most popular children’s stories of the Old Testament. Many don’t realize that it’s also one of the clearest models of the End Times anywhere in the Bible. King Nebuchadnezzar represents the anti-Christ who decrees that anyone who refuses to bow down and worship the statue he has made will be put to death in the fiery furnace, which represents Great Tribulation. Daniel’s three friends, representing Israel, refuse to worship the image and are thrown into the furnace to die. While in there they encounter the Lord, are preserved through the judgment, and are elevated to positions of honor in Babylon.

But where was Daniel? He was a prominent figure both before and after chapter 3. But in this episode his name was not even mentioned. Did he worship the statue to escape judgment? If you think that, you don’t know Daniel. Did he refuse to bow down but was not accused? If you think that, you don’t know his enemies. After all they rounded up his three closest friends. For the purposes of this story it’s as if he has disappeared altogether. In chapter 3, Daniel was a model of the Church, who during the End times judgments will have disappeared altogether, while Israel will be preserved through them, meet the Lord in the midst of them, and be elevated to positions of honor in the Kingdom Age.

Isaiah Said It Best

But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead.

Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by.

See, the LORD is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will disclose the blood shed upon her; she will conceal her slain no longer. (Isaiah 26:19-21)

Without a doubt this is the clearest statement of the Lord’s intentions for the Church anywhere in the Old Testament. It can’t be tied to any event in history, but clearly awaits a future fulfillment. And it can’t be intended for Israel, whose resurrection will come after the time of God’s wrath, not before it. (Daniel 12:1-2)

Some day soon a group of people will suddenly rise from the dead. Another group, still living, will be whisked away to rooms prepared for them to be hidden from the time of God’s wrath. Then the Lord will punish the people of the Earth for their sins. The fact that the groups being resurrected and hidden are not objects of his wrath is indicated by the switch from second person (resurrected and hidden) to third person (punished). Notice how similar the wording is to 1 Thes 4:16-17 & 5:9, Paul’s teaching on the rapture.

But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. (The dead in Christ will rise first).

Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; (After that we who are alive and left will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air)

It’s appropriate to insert John 14:2-3 here as well to see what rooms Isaiah was talking about.

In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

This promise does not point to the 2nd Coming when the Lord will come to Earth to be with Israel here, where they are. This is a promise to the Church that He has gone to His father’s house to prepare our rooms for us. Then He will come for us to take us there, where He is.

See, the LORD is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. (For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.)

I’m convinced this is the passage Paul had in mind when he said “According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.“ (1 Thes. 4:15). I say this because with the exception of 1 Thes 4:16-17 there is no passage in all the Bible that so clearly describes the pre-trib rapture of the Church.

This is not the sum of Old Testament verses that point to a pre-tribulation rapture. But it’s a good sample of the clearest ones, to help you see that God always intended to take us to be with him before He unleashes the End Times judgments upon the unbelieving Earth. Next time we’ll take a similar survey of the New Testament. See you then. 01-30-10

(note: I originally published this article in 2000, but with the Obama administration’s renewed emphasis on achieving an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, I’ve updated it and offer it for your consideration.)

Right from the beginning, most informed commentators have predicted that the only logical conclusion to the so-called Middle East Peace process would be war.  Contrary to what our leaders have told us, the Palestinian goal has never been to accept a two state solution.  They’ve already turned that deal down at least twice.  No, the goal has been to eliminate the Jewish state altogether.  As long as they could win concessions at the bargaining table war could be avoided, but the day would obviously come when no more concessions could be given, and the only option would be to go to war for the rest.  That day may have come, and of course the stumbling block is  Jerusalem.

I Am Going To Make Jerusalem A Cup That Sends All The Surrounding Peoples Reeling … Zech. 12:2

How have we come to this? Let’s review the real issues. The Koran teaches that any land conquered in the name of Islam will never be lost. The very existence of the nation Israel is a violation of that teaching because the land of Israel, including and especially Jerusalem, was once conquered for Islam. Since 1948 the utter destruction of Israel has been the stated Moslem goal, but half a dozen wars have taught them that Israel was too strong to be destroyed militarily. The brilliance of the “Peace Process” is that it enables the Palestinians to win back much of the land through inexpensive negotiations. This has the effect of simultaneously weakening Israel and giving the Moslem forces time to gain the necessary strength to take the rest.

Land For Peace?

What most people don’t realize is that with the speed of modern aircraft and missiles, conventional warfare requires more geography rather than less to give defenders sufficient time to react to an attack. Taking land from central Israel (the West Bank) means that attack aircraft could traverse the country in about 8 minutes. This is not enough time to react with effective counter measures.   Giving up the West Bank would make Israel less secure rather than more.

Also, Israel’s enemies have used the time spent in negotiations to create long-range ballistic missile and biological warfare capabilities in an effort to neutralize Israel’s nuclear threat. A nasty situation all around. Most informed observers believe that as soon as the Moslems have gained everything possible from negotiating and believe they’re strong enough to destroy Israel, they’ll attack. And unless major changes in the Jewish position concerning the sovereignty of Jerusalem are forth coming, the negotiations are effectively over.  Whether Israel’s enemies are strong enough yet for a military victory may soon be revealed.  Combatants on both Israel’s Northern and Southern borders seem ready to find out.

I Make Known The End From The Beginning … Isaiah 46:10

Over 2500 years ago the Lord informed Ezekiel of a great battle involving a coalition of nations who would align themselves against Israel (Ezek. 38-39). He said this battle would take place in the latter days, after the Jewish people had been gathered in the land from many nations following a great war, and would be a surprise attack on the mountains of Israel (West Bank). But he also said the people would think they were living in safety when the attack came (Ezek. 38:8), a peaceful and unsuspecting nation (Ezek. 38:11).   But that doesn’t seem to define their current state.

Recently a little known prophecy from Psalm 83 that might be a bridge between here and Ezekiel 38 has come to the surface.  Psalm 83 is a prayer that God would defeat a coalition of nations that could represent Israel’s current next door neighbors, who the Psalmist accuses of conspiring against God’s people, threatening to destroy them as a nation.  There is no evidence in the historical record that such a coalition ever rose up against Israel, so Psalm 83 may very well be speaking of an attack that a growing number of strategists expect to come in 2010.  If so then it’s obvious Israel will emerge victorious and will fall into the state of complacency suggested by Ezekiel 38:8-11.  This would also explain why none of the nations named in Psalm 83 are included among the attackers of Ezekiel 38. (Read about Psalm 83 here)

Who Started This?

The so called Arab-Israeli conflict has actually been brewing for over 4000 years. It began with Isaac and Ishmael, the sons of Abraham, escalated in the time of Jacob and Esau, the sons of Isaac, and continued through out the Old Testament.  It became a Moslem-Jewish conflict with the advent of Islam in the 6th century AD.   But behind the scenes the real battle has always been a spiritual one, because ever since God chose the Jews as His people, Israel as His land, and Jerusalem as His city, Satan has been working overtime in an effort to take the land away from Him by destroying His people.  After all, he thinks Planet Earth is his.  So this is not just a political matter or even a religious one.  It’s a spiritual matter and will not be resolved until Satan is defeated and the Lord Himself causes every knee to bow and every tongue to confess that He (alone) is Lord (Phil 2:10-11).

Why Pray For The Peace Of Jerusalem?

On several occasions I’ve been asked something like, “If this is a great cosmic problem that won’t ever be solved until the 2nd coming, how can our prayers help?”  Here are some good reasons why we should pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

1st, speaking of the Jewish people the Lord said, “Whoever touches you touches the apple of my eye” (Zech. 2:9) and to tribulation survivors He’ll say, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matt 25:40).  I know it breaks His heart to see the way His city has been defiled by hate and bloodshed. As Bob Pierce, founder of World Vision has said, “Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.” It’s good for us to be on the Lord’s side.

2nd, He has commanded it and rewards us for obedience. All of Psalm 122 speaks of the special nature of Jerusalem, the one place on Earth God specifically chose for His dwelling, and  promises prosperity to those who pray for its peace. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. (Psalm 122:6 KJV)

And 3rd, when you pray for the peace of Jerusalem, you’re praying for the Messiah to come and establish His Kingdom. Maybe that’s the best reason of all.

You can almost hear the Footsteps of the Messiah.

The following is not intended as prophecy. The only thing I can safely say I got from the Lord is the idea to write it. But with things happening so quickly these days I think it’s good to get some perspective on Biblical events that may affect our lives in the coming 12 months. It’ll be a good follow-up to our recap of 2009.

The Battle of Psalm 83 … Likely.

Something big seems to be brewing on both Israel’s northern and southern borders. In the south, Egypt and the US are said to be teaming up with Israel. Their plan is to drive Hamas from power in Gaza. Egypt is already building an iron wall along its border to prevent Palestinian entry into the Sinai desert. There are 2 motivating factors at play. One is that the US seems determined to broker a peace agreement this year. To accomplish this, Hamas has to be taken out of the way so Mahmoud Abbas can be the undisputed leader of the Palestinians. The second is the fact that al Qaida is building a strong presence in Gaza. Egypt sees this as a national threat. Some are already calling Gaza the new Yemen.

Israeli experts at Jerusalem and Tel Aviv Universities strongly believe that in the north, Iran is preparing to preempt a military attack against its nuclear program by going to war against Israel, using Hezbollah and several other Palestinian militias from Lebanon as proxies. These experts say that such a move by Iran will give Israel the needed justification to wage a destructive war of unprecedented proportions against both Hezbollah and Lebanon, totally crippling their capabilities for many years to come. They predict that with the resolve of Israel’s current leadership it will only take them 5-6 weeks to liquidate Hezbollah and dismantle the Lebanese Army.

They also believe the Netanyahu government will use the opportunity to widen this war to include Damascus and Northern Syria, wiping out Syria’s chemical and nuclear programs in the process. In the wake of all these dramatic events, Syria and Lebanon will have no other option but to sign a peace treaty on Israel’s terms. (Source: Hamid Ghoriafi, journalist and Middle East analyst in a report to the Lebanese Canadian Coordinating Council.)

If this happens it will explain why none of these entities was named in Ezekiel’s roster of enemy combatants.

The Battle of Ezekiel 38 … Not Likely

Reading Magog’s (Russia’s) mind God said, “You will say, ‘I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people—all of them living without walls and without gates and bars. I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the center of the land.’ ”

“Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all her villages will say to you, ‘Have you come to plunder? Have you gathered your hordes to loot, to carry off silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods and to seize much plunder?’ “ (Ezekiel 38:11-13)

Three factors argue against Ezekiel’s Battle coming this year. First, Turkey hasn’t yet completed its change of allegiance from Europe to the camp of Islam, although this could be completed very soon.

Second, Israel hasn’t acquired the wealth necessary to make it a tempting target to Russia, as required by Ezekiel 38:13. The multi-billion dollar gas strike off the Mediterranean coast, and the recent discovery of oil near Tel Aviv could soon provide sufficient motivation to meet this requirement as well.

But third and most importantly, Israel is not living carelessly in a state of perceived peace, and has neither dismantled the security wall that divides it from the Palestinians, nor relaxed its guard in any other way. On the contrary, the military has just concluded successful tests of its “Iron Dome” missile shield in preparation for installation. While Israel sincerely desires peace, the country is not unsuspecting of attack, and is in fact preparing to either receive one from Hizbollah, or launch one against Iran or both.

Current news out of the State Department indicates that the US may have abandoned its effort to impose stronger economic sanctions on Iran, for all practical purposes leaving only the military option. I really think that unless Iran’s nuclear ambitions are curtailed in some other fashion, the Israelis will be looking for an opportunity to take care of the matter themselves and therefore will not be taken by surprise this year.

The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse … Not Likely

For several years people have been asking if we’re in the Seal Judgments of Rev. 6. They ask these questions because some teachers say the first seals are already open. But the opening of the seal judgments requires the 70th Week of Daniel to have begun, and that can’t happen until Israel is officially back in a covenant relationship with God. That means God will have revealed Himself to them by defeating their attackers in the Battle of Ezekiel 38 (Ezek. 39:21-22) It’s helpful to remember that from chapter 6 thru chapter 19, the Book of Revelation is a commentary on Daniel’s 70th Week, a period of time during which the Church is not present on Earth.

Further Decline Of The US … Likely

Since the US is not mentioned in End Times prophecy, although it’s been a dominant world power for nearly all of our life times, its further decline in 2010 is likely. Here’s why I think the US will be increasingly irrelevant as the End Times approach.

More and more “experts” are saying that the recession is not only not over but in 2010 will take an even larger bite out of our economy. Continuing to create money out of thin air to cover our soaring deficit will eventually catch up with us and when it does prices will begin to increase rapidly as the dollar loses what little value it still has. Some say we’ll begin to see the effects of this in 2010. Massive irregularities in the distribution of “bail-out” money are coming to the surface and are likely to further erode our confidence in what our government is telling us.

Most unnerving of all is the lack of trustworthy information from any source. Liberals say the worst is over and things are getting better. Conservatives say we haven’t seen the end yet and things will get worse. With the liberal media pretty much in the government’s pocket and the whackos on the right telling us to buy some guns and find a cave to hide in, where’s the voice of reason to give us the straight story? Or doesn’t any body know?

Experts are beginning to admit that neither political party has the will to do what’s required to save the US from economic ruin. The only question is how long it will take for us to self destruct. Some are saying that by the end of 2010 our situation may well be far worse than it is today.

The Rapture Of The Church … Likely

These days, any talk of coming events has to include the Rapture of the Church. To say that it’s unlikely to happen in 2010 would be misleading, because with each passing day it becomes more and more likely. Even though the timing of the rapture is based upon the number of Church members (Romans 11:25) and not a date, there are other dates that offer clues as to how close we’re coming.

In Matt. 24:34 Jesus said in effect that the generation being born at the time of the first End Times signs would still be alive at the 2nd Coming. The first sign is almost universally recognized as the re-birth of Israel in 1948. “For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land.” (Ezekiel 36:24). From Psalm 90:10 we learn that although some may live longer, an average lifespan is about 70 years. 70 years from 1948 would be 2018. Both Romans 11:25 and Acts 15:13-18 indicate that the 70 Weeks of Daniel, interrupted 7 years short of its promised 490 year duration, would resume after the Lord has taken His Church from among the gentiles. Subtracting 7 years from 2018 puts the latest time for the rapture sometime in 2011. Since it could happen at any time, and will happen before Daniel’s 70th week begins, we can realistically look for the rapture any time now.

Every Jewish person dreams of one day celebrating Passover in Jerusalem and so at the end of the Passover Seder, a final toast is traditionally offered. Everyone raises their glass and drinks to the fulfillment of that dream, saying, “Next year in Jerusalem!” Maybe in Church gatherings during 2010 Christians will begin raising their glasses to the toast, “Next year in the New Jerusalem!” It could happen. You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah. 01-09-10

9th Annual Update January 2010

There are seven major prophetic signs of the Second Coming, and currently all of them are in some stage of fulfillment.  As in years past, I’ll list the seven with their primary biblical references and offer commentary from current events.

1. Israel Will Be In The Land… Ezekiel 36:24, 37:21

For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land .

This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land.

In 1948, when Israel took its place among the nations of the world again for the first time in nearly 2000 years, students of prophecy recognized the fulfillment of the primary sign that the end of the age was upon us.   Isaiah 11:11-12,  Ezekiel 36:8-12 and Amos 9:14-15 had also clearly foretold this.  Jesus said that some from the generation being born when this happened would still be alive when He returned (Matt. 24:34).

The fulfillment of this prophecy caused another reaction as well. Satan reads prophecy too, and began exerting even more influence on world leaders in his continuing effort to thwart the plan of God. As a result, Israel has fought six major wars in the last 62 years, each of them an attempt to erase the Jewish Homeland from the face of the Earth. And it’s clear that this effort will continue, with the biggest battle of all looming on the horizon, foretold by Ezekiel in chapters 38-39. Israel’s enemies, both physical and spiritual, won’t let up until they’ve either succeeded (their view) or been destroyed (God’s view).

This past year we’ve seen unparalleled efforts by friend and foe alike to diminish both Israel’s influence and its size.  Much of the attack has been focused on the capital city, Jerusalem.  The new leadership in the USA, traditionally one of Israel’s most loyal allies, has caused many to doubt its willingness to stand with Israel by calling East Jerusalem occupied territory and demanding that no more Jewish homes be built there.  At year’s end the European Union called for an official declaration dividing Jerusalem to make way for a future Palestinian State to have part of the city as its capital.  And several Middle Eastern countries are said to be working with the Palestinians to introduce a UN resolution that will unilaterally declare a Palestinian state on Israeli land, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

But try as these nations might to destroy Israel, God has a different outcome in mind for Israel.

In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea. He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth. (Isaiah 11:11-12)

“You, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon come home.  I am concerned for you and will look on you with favor; you will be plowed and sown,  and I will multiply the number of people upon you, even the whole house of Israel. The towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.  I will increase the number of men and animals upon you, and they will be fruitful and become numerous. I will settle people on you as in the past and will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the LORD. I will cause people, my people Israel, to walk upon you. They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance; you will never again deprive them of their children. (Ezekiel 36:8-12)

“I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says the LORD your God. (Amos 9:14-15)

And the nations who tried to divide Israel?

I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land. (Joel 3:2)

2. Jerusalem Will Be In Jewish Hands… Luke 21:24

They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

The Lord prophesied that the reunification of Jerusalem as a Jewish City would be a sign that foreign (gentile) influence over His land, and indeed the world, was about to end (Luke 21:24). Fulfillment of this prophecy began in 1967, and scholars saw it as another major sign that the End of the Age had begun.  The almost world wide effort to take the city apart again is in essence a battle of wills.  Nearly every Israeli leader has stood firmly on a pledge to keep Jerusalem united forever as Israel’s capital, but the unbelieving leaders of the world are just as resolutely determined to divide it.  Behind all this of course is a spiritual battle of massive proportions.  While there’s no doubt as to the out come, the battle will be a fierce one.

I’ve come to believe that Jerusalem won’t really be free of Gentile “trampling” until the Lord returns.  Daniel’s prophecy that Gentile Dominion would not end until the Lord establishes His kingdom (Daniel 2:36-45), Zechariah’s prophecy of the city being captured and divided just before the Lord’s return (Zech. 14:2), and John’s observations in Rev. 11:1-2 of the gentiles trampling the outer court of the Temple during the Great Tribulation all confirm this.

The ongoing fulfillment of these major prophecies concerning Israel has caused confusion in the minds of some commentators. It centers around an incorrect interpretation of Matt. 24:34, that all end times prophecies would be fulfilled within a generation, nominally 40 years, of Israel’s re-gathering in 1948. That error made 1988 seem like the likely time for the End. But when 1988 came and went scholars focused on the Jerusalem date, 1967, and began adding 40 years to that, advancing their predictions to 2007. The rationale for this is that the timing of the First Coming prophecies in Daniel 9:24-27 keyed off the rebuilt city, not off the return to the Land.  But that date proved wrong as well.

The problem is, the Lord didn’t promise that all end times prophecies would be fulfilled within a generation of their beginning, only that the generation being born at the time of the first of the signs would still be alive to see their completion. According to Psalm 90:10 an average Biblical life span is 70 years, so predicting the approximate time of the End requires the addition of 70 years to 1948, not 40.

As it draws nearer, the approximate timing of the 2nd Coming will become more and more obvious. Those people around when a treaty is enforced permitting the Jews to build their Temple in Israel will know that it’s about seven years away. (Daniel 9:27) Those who witness the anti Christ standing in that Temple proclaiming himself to be God will know there are only 1260 days left until the end of the Great Tribulation, and the 2nd Coming happens shortly after that. (Matt. 24:15,21 & 2 Thes. 2:4)  But even so, the Lord did state quite clearly that those alive on Earth at the end of the Great Tribulation would not know the exact day or hour of His coming until He actually appeared.  (Matt. 24:42 & 44, 25:13)

3. A Moslem Coalition Armed And Led By Russia Will Attack The Holy Land… Ezek. 38:2-6

“Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; prophesy against him. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army–your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords. Persia, Cush and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops–the many nations with you.”

Over 130 historical references make it plain that Magog stands for modern Russia, and the other countries named here form a coalition based on their common religion, Islam. (Today Russia is 30% Moslem and growing.)  Among them are Iran, several North African countries, Eastern European countries along the Danube, and the Turkic nations of Asia Minor.  A quick look at a world map will reveal that these areas are home to some of the most radical Islamic groups.  (For a detailed explanation of the modern nations to which these Biblical names refer, read “An In Depth Look At The Modern Equivalent To Biblical Names in Ezek.38)

The Russians are already a major supplier of arms for the Moslem coalition, just as Ezekiel prophesied, and will be drawn into joining in this battle by God Himself. Russia’s barely disguised policy of becoming the major outside force in the Middle East is playing right into the Lord’s hands. Iran and Russia are well into the implementation of a $50 billion deal to provide Iran with nuclear power. The 10 reactors called for in the deal are supposedly for electrical power generation, but most western leaders suspect they’ll be used to build bombs, too. Some experts claim that Iran will become a nuclear power this coming year, but others think a bomb is still a year or two off.  Israel has again vowed to prevent that ever happening, but don’t be surprised if the US continues to back away from its similar promise, even though at year end the language coming out of Washington seems to be getting tougher again.  I read recently that Pres. Obama and PM Netanyahu have agreed on delaying talk of military action until the spring of 2010 to give the next round of sanctions a chance.  Netanyahu had previously announced a Dec. 2009 deadline for evidence of diplomatic progress.

Russia has also formed commercial and military alliances with Turkey and Syria, and has become Turkey’s 2nd largest trading partner after Germany.  They’ve sold Damascus a state of the art anti-air defense system along with their latest generation missiles and anti-tank rockets and are building a major military seaport in northern Syria, in preparation for moving components of their Black Sea fleet there.  In Lebanon, Russian Military Intelligence has just about taken over the town of Sidon, spying on Israel for Iran and Syria.   Iran has taken delivery of a Russian air defense system too, to protect its Bushier reactor site, first in the series Russia has promised to build.

The major obstacle to an early fulfillment of this prophecy is the reference to its occurrence at a time when Israel is “a peaceful and unsuspecting people” (Ezekiel 38:11).  This certainly is not the case today, but in Psalm 83 there’s a yet-to-be-fulfilled prophecy that appears to involve all of Israel’s next door neighbors in another unsuccessful attempt to wipe the Jewish nation off the map. The psalmist pleads with the Lord to intervene and defeat Israel’s attackers. If this happens, it will help explain why none of them are named in Ezekiel’s list of antagonists, and how Israel could be living in a perceived state of safety as Ezekiel 38:11 requires.  Two of Israel’s neighbors, Hamas and Hizbollah are making frantic preparations for war and are on record as saying they expect one soon.  Not surprisingly, these preparations are being bought and paid for by Iran.

But two other pre-requisites for Ezekiel’s battle are clearly being met.  The Gaza war strained Israel’s relationship with Turkey to the breaking point, and as I’ve shown Turkey will be on the Moslem side in Ezekiel’s battle.  Public support in Turkey for membership in the EU is also declining, another sign that attitudes toward the West are changing.  Turkey’s Prime minister Erdogan believes Turkey’s destiny is to rebuild the Ottoman Empire into the new Middle Eastern powerhouse. He’s getting cozy with Iran and Syria to accomplish this.  It won’t be long before Turkey lands solidly in the camp of the Moslem coalition.  Israel’s recent offshore natural gas discovery, said to be of  “historic” proportions, could create the wealth necessary to make Israel an attractive target, fulfilling the prophecy of  Ezekiel 38:13 that Russia will be looking for plunder.  Till now Israel really hasn’t had any wealth to speak of, but the natural gas discovery is worth billions, and in the past few weeks oil has been found near Tel Aviv as well. There’s no specific information yet on how big the strike might be, but it could be significant and it already has people excited.

I believe that the removal of the US as Israel’s powerful ally is also necessary to pave the way for Ezekiel’s battle, because I don’t think the Moslem coalition will attack until they’re sure the US won’t retaliate.  Any one of several scenarios currently being played out could accomplish this, especially since our national policy toward Israel is already changing.  A deepening recession could turn the nation inward again and cause us to lose interest in defending Israel.  Further decline of the dollar on world markets could even render us financially unable to do so.  The funds would have to be borrowed, and our ability to repay current debt is already being questioned.  The threat or actual occurrence of a major terrorist attack could cause us to stand down.   And finally, the Rapture of the Church could deprive the US of both the leadership and manpower to respond.  Any one of these would mean serious trouble for the US and all of them have a better than average probability of coming to pass in the coming years.  In summary, it’s a whole lot easier to see the US abandoning its commitment to Israel than it was just a short time ago.

When the time is right, having recently taken His church to Heaven, the Lord will use this battle to orchestrate His reconciliation with Israel, and on its heels the anti Christ will emerge with a peace plan that includes a Jewish Temple. So once this battle takes place, end times prophecy will go on fast forward.

4. The Ancient Roman Empire Will Re-Emerge As A Political Force… Rev 17:9-10

“This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while.” (This one is a little obscure if you don’t know your history. When John was writing this, about 95AD, there had been five great world powers; Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Greece. All were conquered and absorbed. The current power was Rome, which was never really conquered and will re-emerge at the end of the age, according to Daniel 9:26.)

Daniel 2:36-45 describes Gentile Dominion from Daniel’s time forward (Egypt and Assyria had already fallen) in the form of a giant statue representing the four remaining Kingdoms.  Babylon was the head of gold. Persia was the chest and arms of silver.  Greece was the belly and thighs of bronze, followed by the two appearances of Rome, two legs of iron (Biblical Rome) and two feet of iron mixed with clay (the revived Roman Empire).  Read it carefully and you’ll find some interesting things in the description of the two feet upon which the statue stands.  In the first place iron and clay don’t mix. We can imagine sticky clay serving as glue sticking pieces of iron together, but the language describes a clay that’s made of dust and already baked … hard and brittle like shards of pottery. You can’t make random pieces of iron and pottery adhere.

The two iron legs of the statue describe the two divisions of the Roman Empire of Biblical times, Western and Eastern. Today the territory of the Western division is occupied by Europe, while the Eastern territory holds the Islamic countries of the Middle East.  They’re the two feet of iron mixed with clay.  Both divisions are steadily becoming more and more powerful.   Some experts insist that the combined defeats spoken of in Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38-39 will render the Eastern (Islamic) leg incapable of becoming part of the World Empire of the End Times.  But rough estimates indicate that as little as 15% of the Islamic world will be represented by the forces aligned against Israel, and remember it’s only their soldiers who die in battle, not their total populations.  And besides, Daniel had both the statue’s feet in view in chapter 2 so both divisions of the Roman Empire have to be present at the End of the Age.  The next step will be an uneasy alliance between these two divisions.  Daniel’s use of iron and pottery in their makeup speaks to the difficulty the Western and Eastern cultures will have in remaining united.  But the fact that Daniel only identified four empires means the last one can only be some form of ancient Rome.  (I find it interesting that with the inroads Islam has already made in western Europe, some commentators have begun calling it “Eurabia”.)

5. The World Will Embrace A Single Religion… Rev 13:8

All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast–all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.

Make no mistake about it. Islam is the major religious force in the world today and their goal is nothing less than world domination, by any means necessary. It’s the world’s fastest growing religion and is second only to Christianity in number of adherents. Already nearly one out of every four inhabitants of the world is Moslem, and like most Christians and Jews they don’t really know what they believe or why.  I’m no prophet, but as I look into the future, it’s much easier for me to see Islam riding its current wave of momentum to fill the void left by the departure of the Church than it is to imagine some watered  down mix of apostate Christianity and New Age Mysticism doing so.

Much has been written recently about al Mahdi, a figure out of Moslem prophecies that are strikingly similar to Christian prophecies of the anti-Christ. Both show a leader coming on the scene during a time of great turmoil on Earth.  Both depict him as man of peace who will have a seven year reign, head up a one world religion and one world government, and claim supernatural origins.  Both prophecies culminate in a battle between good and evil that brings about Earth’s final judgment.  It’s as they’re pointing to the same person. The difference is that in Islam he’s a good guy, while the Bible calls him evil.

Take this charismatic political and religious leader with his supernatural power, add the widely held but incorrect belief that God and Allah are the same, and that Islam is a religion of peace, and then subtract the spirit of discernment that will disappear with the Church and you can see how he could be the straw that a world on the brink of disaster grasps for survival.

6. The World Will Accept A Single Government… Rev 13:3

The whole world was astonished and followed the beast.

The last US presidential election showed how quickly a fearful and disillusioned people will get behind someone who promises to change things.  When you look at the shape of the world it doesn’t take much to imagine circumstances getting to a point where the whole world will agree to follow a leader who will promise to bring order out of chaos.   Whether it’s Global Warming (now called Climate Change) or the decline of the US dollar,  the one solution everyone is talking about is some form of one world government. With the things that already threaten world stability getting worse by the day, how much more frantic will people be after millions of their neighbors suddenly disappear without warning or explanation, and there’s been a nuclear exchange that brings destruction from Europe through the Middle East and into Russia? All it will take is a leader who can persuade people he can fix things to bring this prophecy to fulfillment.

7. Babylon Will Re-Emerge As A Prominent City In World Affairs… Rev 18:2-3

With a mighty voice he shouted: “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.”

You may not know it, but Babylon is being made ready to accept its destiny as a city of power in the end times.  It’s just a ceremonial city right now, but 20 years ago nobody even knew it existed at all. One of the shocks of Gulf War 1 was the discovery of Babylon standing there on the banks of the Euphrates again.  Now there’s a concerted effort underway to complete what Saddam Hussein began and  return Babylon to world prominence.  The government of Iraq has decided that making Babylon an international tourist destination is in the country’s best interest, and the US has agreed to underwrite a feasibility study to see how this could be accomplished.

You may think that being little more than a tourist attraction  is a far cry from being a center of world power, but not too long ago some of Iraq’s new political leaders were calling for their nation’s capital to be moved to Babylon, too. The logic behind this is that Baghdad was Saddam’s capital, and the new Iraq needs a new capital, more consistent with its heritage. Babylon fills the bill, and becoming the capital of Iraq would be a giant step toward achieving its transformation into a center of power.

Because of Babylon’s current lack of importance in the world, some students of prophecy search for an allegorical fulfillment of its destruction in Rev. 18, and of course many see the USA or some city therein as a logical candidate.  But remember, even though in Revelation 17:9 John describes “mystery Babylon” as seated on seven hills (meaning Rome), a prophecy in Zechariah 5:5-11 shows it being moved “to the plains of Shinar” a reference to ancient Mesopotamia called Iraq today. We can’t switch from literal to allegorical interpretations of Scripture without clear direction, and where Babylon is concerned no such direction exists. In fact the opposite is true.

Birth Pains

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. (Matt. 24:6-8)

Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven. (Luke 21:10-11)

“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:25-28)

WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS … According to intelligence reports that include all our current wars as well as conflicts where a cease fire exists but are still unresolved, 47 wars are currently being fought around the world.  But some reports say there may be as many as 200 additional disputes threatening to erupt into armed conflict.

THE INCREASE OF NATURAL DISASTERS … More frequent and more severe hurricanes, more frequent and more intense earthquakes continue to dot the news.  According to the USGS there were 73 “significant” earthquakes around the world in 2009.   This compares with 58 in 2008 and 55 in 2007. (Source: www.earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews)

SIGNS IN THE SUN, MOON, AND STARS … The Magnetic Polar Reversal, predicted by computer model for 2012 is gaining more attention since its likelihood was first announced.  While the effects of a Magnetic Polar Reversal have never been observed by mankind, it has apparently happened in the distant past.  What’s unique this time is that the Sun is due for a polar reversal at the same time. What this means is that while the Sun will be experiencing its most intense radioactive storms, Earth’s magnetic field (that protects us from these Sun storms) will be at its weakest and may even be non-existent in some parts of the world.  No one knows the extent of the damage this could cause, but based on expert opinion I’ve speculated that the combined effects of the 2 polar reversals could fulfill the 6th Seal judgment of Revelation 6 and if the projected time of 2012 is correct, it fits into the early stages of Daniel’s 70th Week that I believe will begin sometime in 2011.

PESTILENCE… Not only new diseases like HIV and SARS, but also the return of old ones like Whooping cough. The big news this year was the swine flu which has so far failed to materialize into the pandemic experts were predicting.

THE LOVE OF MOST WILL GROW COLD … 3500 people die every day in defense of the Christian faith. Run away crime, children being abused and murdered by their parents, children killing children. Murder trials as public entertainment soon to be followed by televised executions. Ethnic cleansing, rape and forced pregnancy, pedophilia, random shootings, the incidence of disrespect is enough to make you sick.

THIS GOSPEL WILL BE PREACHED IN ALL NATIONS … Looking at the state of the world, it’s hard to be encouraged. But as world news gets worse and worse, more people are turning to the Lord for solace. According to some reports as many as 175,000 new believers are born again every day, mostly in Africa, China, and India. Reports of these conversions are accompanied by accounts of miracles, people receiving supernatural healings and even being raised from the dead. It appears that Just as He did at the beginning of the church Age the Holy Spirit is moving mightily at its End. I believe the Lord is issuing a giant “last call” before He suddenly takes the church out of here to begin the End Times judgments.

As you know these signs from the Olivet Discourse (Matt 24, Mark 13, Luke 21) are progressive and all are described as beginning well before the end. Their main interest to us is found in the phrase “beginning of birth pangs.” Natural disasters, the tendency toward war as a tool of diplomacy, famine amidst plenty (35,000 children die each day of starvation and related diseases) and pestilence are described as being common to the era but increasing in frequency and intensity as the end approaches.

It’s true that for over 100 years folks have been saying, “how much worse can it get?” Sadly, the answer now as it was then is, “Much!” It seems man’s depravity knows no limits. But take heart. Though we are in the world, we are not of the world. We don’t belong here, being citizens of heaven. And one day soon our long awaited King will return to take us there. Maranatha!

Table of contents for Joel Speaks Again

1. Joel Speaks Again
2. Joel Speaks Again, Part 2
3. Joel Speaks Again, Part 3 … Conclusion

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

Having experienced an actual plague of locusts in Israel, which he described in chapter one, Joel understood that the Lord was causing him to see it as a vision of the End Times leading up to the Day of the Lord. He began recording His description of this vision in chapter 2 bringing it to its conclusion in chapter 3, which is the topic of this study.

“In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land. They cast lots for my people and traded boys for prostitutes; they sold girls for wine that they might drink.” (Joel 3:1-3)

This is an overview statement that speaks of crimes that have been committed against the Jews during the Times of the Gentiles and culminates in the judgments during the Great Tribulation and following the 2nd Coming. In Jeremiah 30:11 the Lord promised to destroy all the nations into which Israel had been scattered in the Diaspora and here He added a penalty for dividing up His land among them, another crime for which the Gentile nations bear responsibility. The destruction of their nations is part of the punishment. The survivors’ consignment to the place prepared for the devil and his angels after the Lord’s return completes it. How do we know this? The Hebrew word for nations here is Goy which commonly refers to non-Jewish people. Jehoshaphat means Jehovah judges and its location is that part of the Kidron Valley lying between the Temple Mount and the Mount of Olives. The time of judgment is right after the 2nd Coming when the Lord judges the nations. (Matt. 25:31-46).

“Now what have you against me, O Tyre and Sidon and all you regions of Philistia? Are you repaying me for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done. For you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasures to your temples. You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, that you might send them far from their homeland.

“See, I am going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them, and I will return on your own heads what you have done. I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far away.” The LORD has spoken. (Joel 3:4-8)

It’s noteworthy that the first names mentioned are the ones representing Hizbollah (Tyre and Sidon are cities in Lebanon) and Hamas (Gaza was a major Philistine city). In the next verses we’ll see that these two get theirs before the nations are even called to prepare for war. Is this a hint that the destruction of Israel’s antagonistic next door neighbors could precede the better known end time judgments? If so it’s further evidence that the Battle of Psalm 83 will take place before Ezekiel 38-39.

And what’s this reference to the Greeks? They didn’t show up until 400 years after Joel wrote these words. A look at the original language here brings one of those “aha” moments. The Hebrew word translated Greek literally means miry clay. It’s a form of the same word used in Daniel 2:41 to describe one of the materials of which the feet of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue was composed. The statue represented Gentile Dominion, four kingdoms that would rule the world from Daniel’s time to the 2nd Coming.

The Biblical Roman Empire was responsible for dispersing the Jews through out the world. It was represented in the statue by two legs of iron. The feet are its end times version, which we call the revived Roman Empire. At the End of the Age a Rock cut without hands (the Messiah) will smash all that the statue represents so thoroughly they will become like chaff in the summer wind, never to be seen again. (Daniel 2:44-45) Given the context of Joel’s message, I think it’s appropriate to see the word Greek as a reference to the End Times version of Gentile dominion. As we can already see, there’s a concerted effort underway again to divide the Promised Land and there’s even even talk of sending them far away from their homeland.

The Sabeans occupied the southern part of the Arabian peninsula in what’s called Yemen today. The actual timing of the fulfillment of this prophecy has not been made known to us. Perhaps the current war between Yemen and Saudi Arabia will offer some clues. Iran and the US are already taking (opposite) sides, and Jordanian special forces are involved in the fighting.

Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for war! Rouse the warriors! Let all the fighting men draw near and attack. Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say, “I am strong!” Come quickly, all you nations from every side, and assemble there. Bring down your warriors, O LORD! “Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side.” (Joel 3:9-12)

Turning plowshares into swords and pruning hooks into spears is the exact opposite of Isaiah 2:4 where swords are turned into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks at the outset of the Lord’s reign of peace. This means the worst fighting leading up to the End of the Age is still ahead of us in Joel’s narrative. Remember, the Valley of Jehoshaphat is that part of the Kidron Valley between the Temple Mount and the Mt. Of Olives. It’s just East of Jerusalem, so the nations must be positioning themselves to battle for control of Jerusalem, and the entire planet.

Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full and the vats overflow— so great is their wickedness!” (Joel 3:13)

This thought was carried directly into Revelation 14:14-20 where it’s called the Harvest of the Earth. Outside Jerusalem, the blood flowed like a stream that rose as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 175 miles, the distance from Har Megiddo, staging area for Armageddon, to Petra, where Israel’s believing remnant will be sheltered.

Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine. The LORD will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel. (Joel 3:14-16)

More language from the End of the Age. This time from Matt. 24:29 (the sun and moon darkened) and Zechariah 14: 2-3. which says;

I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city. Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle.

The obvious point of calling It “The Valley of Decision” is that by showing up for this battle, the nations will have decided to take up arms against the Almighty in fulfillment of Psalm 2:1-3. But I believe there’s a sense in which the phrase “valley of decision” also refers to Matt. 24:22 where the Lord said in effect that if He didn’t decide to put an end to the destruction of those days, not a single soul would survive the Great Tribulation. But for the sake of the elect He will put an end to it. John explained how this will happen in Rev. 19.

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:

KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great.”

Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh. (Rev. 19:11-21)

That should do it.

Blessings for God’s People

“Then you will know that I, the LORD your God, dwell in Zion, my holy hill. Jerusalem will be holy; never again will foreigners invade her.

“In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water. A fountain will flow out of the LORD’s house and will water the valley of acacias. (Joel 3:17-18)

In our study on the End Times According To Isaiah we saw how beautiful the Land will become after the Lord returns. Joel offered only the briefest summary of this miraculous re-creation.

But Egypt will be desolate, Edom a desert waste, because of violence done to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood.

Judah will be inhabited forever and Jerusalem through all generations. Their bloodguilt, which I have not pardoned, I will pardon.” The LORD dwells in Zion (Joel 3:19-21).

After His beating, when Jesus stood bloody but unbowed before Pilate, the people responded to Pilate’s offer to set Him free. “Crucify Him,” they shouted. Pilate took water and symbolically washed his hands of the matter.

“I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility”.

All the people answered, “Let His blood be on us and our children!” (Matt. 27:22-25)

And so it’s been. Who knows how many Jews have died because of the blood guilt they called down upon themselves that day.

But one day soon all that will be behind them. Toward the end of the Great Tribulation, they’ll officially petition His return, as prophesied in Hosea 6:1-2. Zechariah 12:10 says that in response God will pour out on them the Spirit of grace and supplication, and they’ll look upon Him, the one they have pierced, in a long overdue recognition of their Messiah. Some say their public confession, written by Isaiah so long ago, will follow.

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:2-6)

Then, finally, they’ll mourn for Him, like one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a first born son. On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be great, and all through the land, the people will mourn. (Zech 12:11-14) Their blood guilt, which God has not pardoned, He will pardon, and the Lord will once again dwell in Zion (Ezekiel 43:6-7) Hallelujah! 12-19-09

Table of contents for Joel Speaks Again

1. Joel Speaks Again
2. Joel Speaks Again, Part 2
3. Joel Speaks Again, Part 3 … Conclusion

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

This week we’re continuing our series on Joel with a survey of Chapter 2, the heart of Joel’s prophecy.

Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand- a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was of old nor ever will be in ages to come. (Joel 2:1-2)

The End of the Age is finally arriving. The phrase “Blow the Trumpet in Zion” indicates there’s an Old Covenant keeping remnant of Jews in the promised land. The sound of a trumpet can mean either great news or terrible news in Israel. In this case, the phrase “the Day of the Lord is coming” means it’s the most terrible news imaginable. Any more references to locusts are now symbolic of the judgment that’s coming upon the whole world, to test those who who live on the Earth. The Lord has promised to keep the Church out of both the time and place of this event (1 Thes. 1:10 & Rev. 3:10) but no such promise has been made to Israel, and certainly not to the unbelieving world, which is about to be totally destroyed.

Before them fire devours, behind them a flame blazes. Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, behind them, a desert waste— nothing escapes them. They have the appearance of horses; they gallop along like cavalry. With a noise like that of chariots they leap over the mountaintops, like a crackling fire consuming stubble, like a mighty army drawn up for battle. At the sight of them, nations are in anguish; every face turns pale. (Joel 2:3-6)

In Rev. 8-9 we read of the Trumpet judgments and encounter wording so similar it might have been lifted from the pages of Joel 2. All the grass of the land is burned up (Rev. 8:7) The locusts have the appearance of horses (Rev. 9:7) and make a noise like that of chariots (Rev. 9:9) as they leap over the mountain tops. Men are in anguish and every face turns pale (Rev. 9:6).

They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. They all march in line, not swerving from their course. They do not jostle each other; each marches straight ahead. They plunge through defenses without breaking ranks. They rush upon the city; they run along the wall. They climb into the houses; like thieves they enter through the windows. Before them the earth shakes, the sky trembles, the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars no longer shine. The LORD thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty are those who obey his command. The day of the LORD is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it? (Joel 2:7-11)

In his book “The Late Great Planet Earth” Hal Lindsey saw Rev. 9 as John’s attempt to describe fleets of attack helicopters filling the skies above the battle ground. Our exposure to war movies makes this easy to imagine, and we can almost hear their unique ground thumping sound as they swoop in to release another barrage of rockets. Their number is so great that just the sound of them makes the Earth tremble, and they blot out the sun and moon (Rev. 9:2). John gave the number of mounted troops they support as 200 million (Rev. 9:16) an incredible force. Before they’re finished 1/3 of mankind will die (Rev. 9:18). And this is just the beginning. The full fury of God’s wrath will be released in His final effort, the Bowl Judgments.

Some incorrectly interpret the Bowl judgments as the only time of God’s wrath, but that’s not how John described it. He said that the wrath will begin with the Seal Judgments (Rev. 6:17) and will be completed with the Bowl Judgments (Rev. 15:1), not begun there. By the time He’s finished the nations to which His people have been dispersed will have been completely destroyed (Jere.30:11) all the cities of the world will have been reduced to rubble (Rev. 16:19) and every island and mountain will have disappeared (Rev. 16:20)

I believe that one purpose of the Tribulation judgments will be to return Earth to the condition it was in when God created it, in preparation for the Millennium. The elimination of the mountains and islands may point to the reversal of changes brought about in the Great Flood. Psalm 104:8 says the flood waters flowed over the mountains and down into the valleys God prepared for them. Some scholars interpret this to mean that at the time of the Great Flood, the mountains were raised up and the valley floors depressed to make room for all the water generated in the flood. Those deep valleys are now the floors of the sea.

Perhaps this act will be reversed, eliminating the high mountains and raising up valley floors. And if the continents are brought back together into one land mass, as some scholars speculate they once were, there will be no islands, either. Looking at a map of the continents, you can see how they’re shaped in such a way as to hint that they may have all been joined together in the distant past. Scholars have named this single land mass Pangea, which means All-Earth, or One World. Some believe that Genesis 1:9 describes Pangea and that Genesis 10:25 says it was divided into the seven continents we know after the flood.

Isaiah 65:20 hints at the return of long life spans, such as was the case in the earliest days. This was made possible by a water vapor canopy that surrounded the Earth until the Flood. (Genesis 1:6-8) Since Rev. 21:1 says there’ll be no more sea, this water could likely be used to restore the canopy.

If all this is true, then passages like this one from Habakkuk are not just poetic license but are describing very scary times ahead.

He stood, and shook the earth; he looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal. (Habakkuk 3:6)

Rend Your Heart

“Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.”

Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing— grain offerings and drink offerings for the LORD your God. (Joel 2:12-14)

Even in wrath God remembers mercy (Habakkuk 3:2). In the midst of judgment, all we have to do is admit our sin and seek His forgiveness. Some form of the phrase “slow to anger and abounding in love” appears eight times in the Old Testament. Eight is the number of new beginnings, meaning the Lord is always ready to start over with us. His mercies are new every morning. (Lament. 3:22-23)

Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber. Let the priests, who minister before the LORD, weep between the temple porch and the altar. Let them say, “Spare your people, O LORD. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ “ (Joel 2:15-17)

This will be a time for every man, woman, and child to petition the Lord for mercy. From the elders to the nursing babies, and every one in between. Not even the bride and bridegroom sequestered in their bridal chamber will be exempt. The priests ministering in the Temple will stop what they’re doing and beg the Lord to spare them.

“Come, let us return to the LORD,” they’ll say. “He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.” (Hosea 6:1-3)

The LORD’s Answer

Then the LORD will be jealous for his land and take pity on his people. The LORD will reply to them: “I am sending you grain, new wine and oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations. I will drive the northern army far from you, pushing it into a parched and barren land, with its front columns going into the eastern (Dead) sea and those in the rear into the western (Mediterranean) sea. And its stench will go up; its smell will rise.”

Surely he has done great things. (Joel 2:18-20)

If this judgment were left to run to its logical concllusion, not a single soul would survive, but for the sake of His elect, the Lord will bring it to an end (Matt. 24:22) Locust plagues move in the direction and at the speed of the wind. They typically end when the swarms are blown into the desert or out to sea. It’s an act of God, and that’s how Joel characterizes the end of the Great Tribulation.

Be not afraid, O land; be glad and rejoice. Surely the LORD has done great things. Be not afraid, O wild animals, for the open pastures are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches. Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given you the autumn rains in righteousness. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. (Joel 2:18-24)

In the Kingdom Age the land will once again be plentiful. And though He has shaken the mountains and removed the hills, the Lord’s unfailing love for them will never be shaken, nor His peace removed. (Isaiah 54:10)

“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten— the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm — my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed. Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the LORD your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed. (Joel 2:25-27)

The Lord will restore Israel to its former glory as the pre-imminent nation on Earth. Instead of disgrace His people will rejoice in their inheritance. They will inherit a double portion in their land and everlasting joy will be theirs. (Isaiah 61:7)

The Day Of The LORD

“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, 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 dreadful day of the LORD. And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the survivors whom the LORD calls. (Joel 2:28-32)

This prophecy achieved only a partial fulfillment on the day of Pentecost when the Church was born (Acts 2:17-21) and the Holy Spirit was given. Its ultimate fulfillment awaits the time when the Sun turns to darkness again and the Moon becomes blood red before the coming of the great and dreadful Day of the Lord (Rev. 6:12). Once more the Lord will pour out His Spirit and everyone who calls upon the His name will be saved.

We’ll conclude this study next week. See you then. 12-12-09