Last Week’s Feature Article by Jack Kelley

A while back I posted a study showing why the phrase “No one Knows The Day or Hour” was meant for the 2nd Coming, not the Rapture. Even though it’s clear that the Great Tribulation is 1260 days long, and the 2nd Coming follows it, the Lord said people on Earth at the time will not know the day or hour of His coming. To emphasize this, He repeated it 4 times within the span of 28 verses (Matt. 24:36-37, 42-44, 50-51, 25:13)

A reader responded with the fascinating suggestion that this might help solve the mystery of the 1290 days and 1335 days of Daniel 12:11-12. Here’s what she wrote.

“I agree with you that Matt. 24:36-51 refers to the Lord’s return at the end of the Tribulation, also known as “the time of Jacob’s trouble.”  However, I can understand why so many Christians become confused and think those verses might refer to the rapture.  It used to seem strange to me that ”the evil servant” mentioned in Matt. 24:48-51 could mistakenly think that “his Lord delayeth his coming” when there are so many places where the exact length of time of the final 3 1/2 years is spelled out in Daniel 12:7 and Rev. 12:14(time, times, and half a time), Rev. 12:6 (1260 days), and Rev. 13:5 (forty two months).  Because of those verses, most Christians tend to think that Jesus is going to return on the very last day of the Great Tribulation, so how could He “delay His coming.”  But then there are those intriguing verses in Daniel 12:11-12:

“And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.  Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.”

I have always wondered if there is a little pause after the seven years of Tribulation ends and then the Lord returns, and Daniel 12:12 is speaking of that little pause.  Matt. 24:29-30 seems to confirm the short pause spoken of in Daniel.  Matt. 24:29-30:

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

If there is a bit of a pause between the end of the Tribulation and our Lord’s return to earth (with us following behind him on our white horses), that explains why some people on the earth who don’t maintain their faithfulness during that last little stretch of time after the Tribulation ends might be caught unfaithful, per Matt. 24:48-51:

“But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, my Lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

A pause like this could also explain why the 10 bridesmaids “fell asleep” waiting for the Lord.  I suppose that all this is a moot point for the Church, but it’s one of those things that I’ve pondered.  What do you think?”

Here’s what I think. I think putting Daniel 12 and Matt. 24 together makes a lot of sense. To explain why will require some speculation on my part because the Bible doesn’t go into much detail. But if you’ll permit me a little latitude, I’ll try not to stray away from the Bible’s intent in filling in some of the blanks concerning the time of the Lord’s coming.

Immediately after the end of the Great Tribulation, on the 1260th day after the Abomination of Desolation, the Sun and Moon will go dark, and the stars will fall from the sky. An indeterminate period of total worldwide darkness will follow, and then a great sign will appear in the dark sky. This sign has not been described to us, but people on Earth will know it’s the sign of the Lord. After that, on a day no one will have known in advance, the Lord will suddenly appear on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory (Matt. 24:29-30). Imagine if you can the contrast between the totally black sky and the brightness of His glory, especially after an extended period of total darkness. What a sight!

The armies of Heaven will be with Him (Rev. 19:14), as will the Church (Rev. 17:14). He’ll be coming from the Jordanian desert where He will have defeated the enemy forces trying to wipe out the Jewish remnant hidden there. (Isaiah 63: 1-6) As His foot touches the Mt. Of Olives a giant earthquake will open a deep ravine running from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea. Living water from the Temple north of Jerusalem will immediately fill the ravine, connecting the two bodies of water. (Zechariah 14:1-9, Ezekiel 47:1-12)

With nothing more than the word of His mouth He’ll destroy the forces arrayed against Him. The anti-Christ and the False Prophet will be captured and thrown into the Lake of fire. He’ll summon a lone angel who will seize the devil, bind him in chains, and cast him into the Abyss for 1000 years. (Rev. 19:11-20:3)

At the end of the day light will finally return to Earth (Zech. 14:6-7) brought by the New Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven. (Rev. 21:22-24) To say it’ll be a unique day is one of the greatest understatements of all time.

If His first official act is one of judgment, as Matt. 25:31-32 and Rev. 20:4 seem to say, then perhaps it will begin immediately after His arrival.

This will be a judgment of Tribulation survivors. Those who pass will have shown themselves to be believers and will be received unto the Lord and welcomed into the Kingdom Age to help re-populate Earth. Those who fail will be put away, removed from the planet. This is summarized in Matt. 24:40 where the Greek word translated taken means to receive unto oneself, and the one for left means to be put away.

The Lord described this judgment in greater detail in the form of four parables.  The first one describes how He’ll deal with the false teachers, those who led people astray during the Great Tribulation. This is the Parable of the Servants (Matt. 24:45-51)

Then come those who lost heart and failed to maintain their own salvation, as will be required of Tribulation believers (Rev. 14:12 & 16:15). This is the Parable of the 10 Virgins. (Matt. 25:1-13)

Next we see those who placed no value on His word. They didn’t study it or share it, but in effect buried it in the ground and in the process lost even what little comprehension they originally had. This is the Parable of the Talents. (Matt. 25:14-30)

And finally comes the judgment of people who stood by and watched the Lord’s people be nearly driven to extinction with out lifting a finger to help them. This is the story of the Sheep and Goats. (Matt. 25:31-46)

The next task on the Lord’s agenda will involve cleansing the defiled Temple, making it fit for use again. (I’m convinced that the same Temple used during Daniel’s 70th week will be used in the Millennium. For more detail read my study called “The Coming Temple”.) By the time the Temple is re-dedicated, 1290 days will have passed since the Abomination of Desolation. This is consistent with the view held by some that the 1290 day period from Daniel 12:11 pertains to the duration of the Temple’s desolation, not the Lord’s return.

But there will still be 45 more days before reaching the 1335 days given to Daniel as the duration of time from the Abomination of Desolation to the beginning of blessing, which I see as being the official start of the Millennium. I suggest that this time may be necessary to set up the Kingdom. There’s a lot that needs to be done, like crowning the Prince of Israel and installing his government, organizing the priesthood behind the family of Zadok (Ezek. 44:15-16) and teaching them their new duties, especially concerning the new cycle of sacrifices and Holy Days (Ezek. 44-46), positioning the New Jerusalem in its orbit above Earth (Rev. 21:2-3), reassigning the Tribal land allotments in Israel (Ezek, 45 & 48) and installing the governments of the Nations. If these things unfold as I’ve described them, then 1335 days from the Abomination, the Millennial Kingdom will be officially inaugurated.

Those who have both waited for and actually reached that day will be truly blessed, because they will have been eyewitnesses to the most amazing events in human history, and at its conclusion will have found themselves among the victors, poised to experience the fulfillment of all their dreams. It will be a celebration such as has never before been seen on Earth. If you close your eyes and listen carefully, you can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah. 11-07-09

A. This interpretation is incorrect in almost every way. First, the prophecy of Daniel 8:14 is about the first Abomination of Desolation under Syrian King Antiochus Epiphanes in 168 BC long after the Persians were defeated.  Second the figure 2300 is described as the number of evenings and mornings.  Since it takes 1 of each to make a day what we’re talking about here is 1150 days, or 3 years and 70 days, not 2300 years.  This was the duration of time the Temple lay desolate, being reconsecrated by the Maccabees in 165 BC.  And finally, the Temple was not reconsecrated in 1967. It didn’t even exist.

When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted. May all the kings of the earth praise you, O LORD, when they hear the words of your mouth. May they sing of the ways of the LORD, for the glory of the LORD is great. Though the LORD is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me. The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever— do not abandon the works of your hands.

There are two things the Lord honors above all else, His name and His word. When He promised to restore Israel in the last days, He said, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.” (Ezekiel 36:22-23) It’s not because they’ve proven themselves worthy, but because His name was at stake. They besmirched it, and He had to restore it because He’s made big promises to us as well.

And where His word is concerned He said, “For this is what the LORD says—he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited— he says: “I am the LORD, and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, the LORD, speak the truth; I declare what is right.” (Isaiah 45:18-19) And “Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels. Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. (Isaiah 46:8-10)

For those of you who were taught that the New Testament canceled or superceded the Old, Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” (Matt. 5:17-18) In the idiom of the day, the phrase “the Law and the Prophets” referred to the Old Testament. God’s word is final, infallible, forever.

Why is this so important to us? Well, in the first place it’s because God uses prophecy to validate Himself.

“I foretold the former things long ago,” He said, “My mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. For I knew how stubborn you were; the sinews of your neck were iron, your forehead was bronze. Therefore I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say, ‘My idols did them; my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’ You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not admit them?” (Isaiah 48:3-6)

Of all the world’s so-called Holy Books, only the Bible does this. In fact, God uses prophecy as the standard for evaluating anyone’s claim to be God.

“This is what the LORD says— Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come—yes, let him foretell what will come.” (Isaiah 44:6-7)

All anyone has to do to prove that he’s God is to answer two questions. First, tell us everything that has happened. And second, tell us everything that will happen. God has been doing this very thing for nearly 6000 years now and He’s never been wrong. No one else can make that claim.

So, His word is so important because it’s His proof that He is Who He claims to be. You don’t have to wonder if there’s really a God. Just study His word. You’ll find more proof that He’s who He claims to be than you can muster up to prove that you’re who you claim to be. It doesn’t take any faith to believe there’s a God. It just takes the application of your God-given intellect in a search for Him. That’s why in the New Testament, one of the Greek words translated unbelief also means disobedient. There’s simply too much evidence to deny the existence of God, so the people who do so have to remain consciously ignorant the facts. They have to refuse to know Him.

The second reason this is so important is that we’ve been asked to stake our eternal destiny on the fact that God is reliable. It’s good to know that someone who has asked you to take His word for something so critical values His word so highly, because by the time we find out if He was telling the truth, it’ll be too late. But when Paul wrote “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” in Romans 10:13 the One standing behind his promise had a 4000 year track record of honesty and integrity, and nothing has happened in the 2000 years following to diminish that record. If anything we have more supporting evidence now than then.

So where your salvation is concerned, God has placed the two things He values most highly on the line, His name and His word. You have every right to feel secure in His hands.

A. In order for the breaking of the 7 seals to have begun, Daniel’s 70th week would have to have begun.  That means Israel would be back in covenant with God, and a peace treaty would have been negotiated allowing Israel to build its temple.  The Battle of Ezekiel 38 would have been fought and won, and the Church would have been raptured.

“Many of us have read the famous quote of our Messiah in the four gospels when he declared that his second coming would come at a time “that no man knows.” But how many of us knew that he was actually making a reference to the Feast of Trumpets? The Feast of Trumpets is known by Jews as “The Day That No Man Knows.” And why is it called this? Because it is the feast that can only be determined by the sighting of the new moon, and so “no man” can calculate the exact day or hour of when this feast day will begin.”

A. I have always believed the Feast of Trumpets would be fulfilled in the 2nd Coming.  But for a long time the Lord’s repeated claim that no one would know the day or hour threw me.   How could no one know the day or hour when it’s a Jewish Feast and the first day of their New Year?  I first heard about this Holy Day’s other name (The Day That No Man Knows) some years ago and that helped, but it still didn’t resolve the issue for me, because the Jews would always be looking for the day, and at most they would only be off by  a couple of days.   Then I put together two other pieces of information that settled it for me.

The first one is from Daniel 7:25.  It says the anti Christ will try to change the set times and the laws. To me that means he’ll abolish all reference to the Holy Days and their observance so except for the Jewish remnant hiding in Petra, the world won’t know anything about the nearness of Rosh Hashanah as the time for the 2nd Coming approaches.

And the second in from Matt. 24:29 which says that immediately after the Great Tribulation the sun will be darkened and the Moon will not give its light.  That means even those few Jews who are still observing the Holy Days won’t be able to tell when Rosh Hashanah arrives because the moon will be completely dark.  That means no one on Earth will know the day and hour of His return.

Can you clear this up?  Are the beasts of Daniel 7 the same governments as the parts of the Daniel 2 statue?  And/or could this refer to governments in the world today, i.e. Great Britain, Russia, America, Germany, etc.?

A. The beasts of Daniel 7 are God’s view of Gentile Dominion, earlier symbolized from man’s point of view by the poly metallic statue of Daniel 2.  Each of the animals has characteristics that clearly point to the four kingdoms represented in the statue.  Babylon’s symbol was a lion with Eagle’s wings. The bear with one side raised up above the other signifies Media-Persia where Persia became the more dominant partner.  The four headed leopard is Greece under the rule of the four generals who succeeded Alexander.  The terrifying beast with 10 horns that Daniel couldn’t describe is Rome in both its 1st and 2nd appearances. Daniel 7 shows the anti-Christ arising from this beast.  Additionally, both Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 describe the Lord’s everlasting kingdom following the fourth one.

Seeing the four beasts of Daniel 7 as anything different that another view of the 4 nations of gentile dominion requires a substantial re-interpretation of the chapter, and is inconsistent with what we know of history.

A. Church age believers who die before the rapture and living believers who are taken in the rapture will all live together in the New Jerusalem during the Millennium. Tribulation believers who survive will live on Earth and help repopulate the planet during the Millennium.

The Beast Of Rev. 13

Then another sign appeared in heaven, an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. (Rev 12:3)

And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. (Rev 12:7-9)

And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name … The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. (Rev 13:1-3)

At first glance all this looks pretty confusing, but the heads, horns, numbers, and crowns are all symbolic. When used this way head means knowledge/wisdom, while horn means authority. Seven is the number of perfection, and 10 denotes completion, meaning nothing is lacking. Seven is also more often used in the spiritual sense, and ten usually refers to earthly things. The seven heads and ten horns symbolize perfect wisdom and complete authority.

The facts that both Satan and the beast have seven heads and ten horns show us that when Satan is cast to Earth, he will immediately in-dwell the beast, who we call the anti-Christ. This is the point at which the Great Tribulation begins on Earth. Some people see the beast as a system or government, but the use of so many personal pronouns in Rev 13 indicates the beast is a person, with all of Satan’s power at his command. Then there’s the fact that a second beast, known as the false prophet, will build a statue of the anti-Christ, and cause it to breathe so it can speak. (Rev 13:15) How do you build a talking statue of a system, or a government?

The crowns denote rulership. Notice that Satan has seven crowns and they’re on his heads, while the anti-Christ will have ten crowns on his horns. Also, in the description of Satan the heads come first, but with the anti-Christ the horns are first. The Lord tends to list things in descending order of importance. This means that Satan will rule out of his super natural wisdom, his predominant power (Ezek 28:12,17), and the anti-Christ will rule because Satan will give him the authority to do so.

The Beast Of Rev. 17

Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns.(Rev 17:3)

Here we see a beast ridden by a woman. This beast also has seven heads and ten horns, but no crowns, and is covered with blasphemous names. This beast can not be the anti-Christ but has to be another view of Satan. We can see this because the seven heads are listed first, as they were with the dragon in Rev 12:3.

Furthermore Rev 17:8 tells us this beast once was (before John’s time), now is not (in John’s time), will come up out of the abyss (after John’s time). The anti-Christ was not around before John’s time, but Satan was, and from Rev 13 we know he’ll come back. But what caused him to go into hiding?

Condemned And Defeated

On the night before His death Jesus promised the Holy Spirit and said that the Prince of this world (Satan) would now stand condemned. (John 16:11) Paul said that at the cross, Jesus made a public spectacle of the (spiritual) powers and authorities, triumphing over them by the cross. (Col 2:15)

In his first letter to the Church John wrote about the spirit of the anti-Christ and said it was already in the world (1 John 2:18). Paul agreed, calling it the secret power of lawlessness that was already at work in the world (2 Thes 2:7). In the past, Satan had enjoyed an unrestricted presence in the world. But from John’s time on that would not be the case. He would be limited to working in secret through disobedient men until sometime in the future when he’ll appear again to the great astonishment of the unbelieving world. What force has restrained him from John’s day until ours to the point where the vast majority of people in the world today, believer or not, deny his very existence? Will the world be astonished when he appears again because they didn’t think he was real?

According to Paul, this restraining power is the promised Holy Spirit, resident in the Church. He’ll continue to restrain the secret power of lawlessness until He’s taken out of the way (literally out of the midst) of the world. And then at the proper time, the beast will once again be revealed to do his worst before finally being destroyed (2 Thes 2:7-8). Rev 13:4 says the unbelieving world’s reaction to Satan’s reappearance will be to bow down and worship him.

Mystery Babylon

The subject of Rev. 17 is mystery Babylon, the false religion. I believe this second vision of the beast was given to John at such a late point in the Book of Revelation to provide some background on the Satanic nature of religious Babylon and show why it has to be completely destroyed.

The seven heads represent seven hills on which the woman sits. The woman signifies the pagan religion that originated in Babylon. Later it was moved to Rome where in the 4rd century it was merged with the church and hidden behind the veil of Christianity. The fact that no crowns are mentioned and the woman is the rider (and therefore in control) indicate that one of Satan’s strategies is to work through this false religion to deceive the world.

This is confirmed by the fact that the seven heads also represent seven Kingdoms. (Rev 17:9) Five of them had fallen by John’s time, one was currently in power, and the remaining one would come later. The five previous kingdoms were Egypt, Assyria, neo-Babylon, Persia and Greece. The current one was Rome, and the one to come is the one we call the revived Roman Empire. Each one had a version of the pagan Babylonian religion that influenced the decisions of the kingdom.

The ten horns are ten Kings who in John’s time had not yet received a kingdom but for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. (Rev 17:12) This hour is the hour of trial that’s going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the Earth, out of which the Lord has sworn to keep us (Rev 3:10). The Greek word translated “from” in Rev 3:10 means out of the place, time, or cause of the event referred to, in this case the hour of trial. The Greek word for hour also has a figurative meaning and that’s the way it’s being used here. Figuratively it means a certain definite time or season. The time or season being referenced is the Great Tribulation.

After the Church is gone and the restraint against Satan is lifted he’ll come out from hiding and inhabit an earthly king to rule openly again. We first saw this in Rev 13 and in Rev 17 we can see it confirmed.

The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.(Rev. 17:11)

Together Satan and these kings will take up arms against the Lord, but he’ll overcome them because He’s Lord of lords and King of kings. And when He does, we’ll be with Him.

“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.” (Rev 17:14)

In this comparison of Rev. 13 and Rev. 17 we’ve seen that Satan has been working on several levels to thwart the plan of God. One of his most successful strategies has been to use religion as a tool. And we’ve also seen more evidence that the Church has to be gone before his end game can begin. You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah. 10-24-09

I cannot reconcile how it is possible for a saved Christian to be comfortable distorting large portions of Scripture and how they as teachers ultimately sit with God . I have deep concern for them , but more so for their congregations . Where I live in Scotland , this unfortunately is the norm . I have tried gently to encourage a serious study in this area , but have met with solid resistance . It troubles me greatly as I can no longer continue Bible study with them where replacement theology is taught . Some direction  would be much appreciated .

A. There is only one qualification for salvation, and that’s the belief that Jesus died for all our sins.  Holding a non-literal view of the End Times will likely be a cause of great shame on the day of judgment and may cost some to forfeit crowns they might have otherwise won, but if they’re born again it won’t threaten their salvation (1 Cor. 3:14-15).  I think this is what James meant by teachers being judged more strictly (James 3:1).

If you’re not comfortable with this kind of teaching (and you shouldn’t be) and can’t change their direction, your options are to go some place where you are comfortable, and pray for the teachers whose doctrine you’ve rejected.  Remember, they’re just repeating what they’ve been taught.

Warnings about Iran’s potential nuclear capabilities are constantly in the news.  Damascus, on the other hand, seems to be under the radar. Is there any reason
it would be attacked in light of current events? Could an attack by Israel against Iran somehow lead to involvement by Syria? Does the Bible say anything about Iran and Syria in this context?

A. Since Syria is such a vocal enemy of Israel’s and since Syria is not mentioned in the Ezekiel 38 line-up although you’d expect them to be, a number of scholars have concluded (and I agree) that the destruction of Damascus will likely precede the Battle of Ezekiel 38.  That means it could come about as a result of an earlier flare-up, such as might be the case if Israel attacks Iran.