A. Like many students of prophecy, I consider the Book of Revelation to be chronological.  Therefore I hold the position that the Seal judgments of Rev. 6 follow the events of Rev. 4-5 where the rapture of the Church takes place.

I think when you depart from a chronological treatment of the book, you can easily get hopelessly confused.  There is no theological reason to take the chapters out of order and it’s inconsistent with the literal interpretation to do so.   As for knowing the Seal Judgments are of God, Rev 6:16-17 says they are the opening events of the time we call the Wrath of God.  Notice, it doesn’t say His wrath is coming, but that it has come.

A. They believed the dead person’s spirit lingered for 3 days and after that the body began decaying.  That’s why Martha objected to rolling away the stone from the tomb of Lazarus due to the smell.  He had been dead four days. (John 11:39) The Lord’s four day delay prevented anyone from claiming Lazarus hadn’t really died.

Psalm 16:8-10 says,  “I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.  Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.” Peter quoted this to the Jews in reference to Lord’s resurrection (Acts 2:22-32).  He was showing them that this passage was prophetic of a 3 day resurrection, confirming the Lord’s own claim that He would be killed and would rise again after 3 days. (Mark 8:31)

A. In my commentary on Luke 17:20-37, I said that Noah was a type of Israel being preserved through the end times judgments while Lot was a type of the Church being removed from the time and place of judgment before it begins.   You’ve raised an interesting point that I hadn’t seen before.  In both the days of Noah and the days of Lot, only one family was protected.  Jesus compared both to the End Times, so the same will be true then.  No one can predict the actual number of either, but Israel is one family, all being descendants of Jacob, and will be preserved through the End Times judgment.  And the Church is one family, all being children of God (John 1:12), and will  be removed from its time and place before it begins.

A. Taken in the order of their appearance, the seven letters of Rev. 2-3 symbolize Church history. Ephesus represents the Apostolic 1st Century church and Smyrna stands for the Church persecuted by the Romans in the 2nd and 3rd Centuries.  Pergamus was wed to the Roman state religion in the 4th Century and gave birth to 4 children, all of whom are present on Earth today.  Thyatira, the eldest, represents the Catholic Church.  Sardis comes next and is the Church of the Protestant Reformation, the main line denominations.  Philadelphia is the evangelical Church born in the 2nd Great Awakening of the 19th Century, and Laodicea is the modern day apostate Church that will be left behind to face the End Times judgments.   You can read the story of my visit to the Seven Churches by going here.

A. I can’t prove this from the Bible, but it’s my belief that the End Times judgments, beginning in a small way with the so-called birth pangs, will serve a dual purpose.   In addition to being the means of punishment for the unbelieving world they will also be preparing Earth for its restoration to the way it was when Adam was created.  I believe that’s why the return of the Lord is sometimes called the renewal (regeneration, restoration, restitution)) of all things, as in Matt. 19:28 and Acts 3:21.

A. The Abomination of Desolation occurred in 168 BC, not 70 AD, and the Seleucid (Greek) Emperor Antiochus Epiphanes was in charge.   It is a model of what will happen again, but that doesn’t mean life on Earth will be like it was in 168 BC.  It simply means that the event itself will be recognized because of its similarity to its first occurrence. That’s the purpose of dual fulfillment.  The first fulfillment is always incomplete and confirms the fact that another fulfillment is coming.  The first fulfillment is  called a partial fulfillment for that reason. There are a dozen or more prophecies that either have already had dual fulfillments or will have.

A. The fig tree is often used to represent Israel in the Bible.  But I don’t think that’s the case in Matt 24:32, Mark 13:28, and Luke 21:29.  In these cases the Lord was using the symbolism of a budding tree which indicates that summer is coming soon to explain that the appearance of the signs he had described would mean His return was very close.  This is especially clear when you see that in Luke 21:29, he included all trees, not just the fig.

As for Israel being the pre-imminent sign of the End Times, Joel, Amos, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah and others all confirm this.  And in Matt. 24 we see the mention of a Temple (Matt. 24:15), a reference to Judea, the Biblical name for Israel (Matt. 24:16), and the presence of a people there who are forbidden by law from fleeing on the Sabbath (Matt. 24:20)  These are all indicators of an end times Jewish nation in the Promised Land.  So we don’t need the fig tree to represent Israel in order to understand that the re-birth of the nation is the foremost sign that the End Times are upon us.

A. There two little horns in Daniel. The one in Daniel 7:8 springs up within the 4th Kingdom, the Roman Empire, and is clearly a prophecy of the anti Christ. In Daniel 8 a little horn comes out of one of the four surviving components of the Greek Empire following Alexander’s death. This is commonly thought to be the Selucid Kingdom in today’s Syria. This prophecy was fulfilled in the life of Antiochus Epiphanes, the Selucid King responsible for the desecration of the Temple and subsequent Maccabbean revolt in 168-165 BC.

But beginning in Daniel 8:23 the Angel Gabriel’s interpretation of Daniel’s vision also seems to include an end times reference to the anti Christ, called a stern faced king, who will come to power by means of peace. This reference has helped scholars see Antiochus as a type of the anti Christ since much of what he did in prompting the Maccabbean revolt will be repeated at the beginning of the Great Tribulation.

Like the antiChrist, Antiochus called himself a god, and set about to destroy Israel. He erected a statue in his own likeness in the Holy Place, and required worship on pain of death. This too was called the Abomination of Desolation and sparked a 3 1/2 year revolt.

This may be where your teacher draws his Syrian conclusion. I am currently intrigued with the notion of al Mahdi, the so-called Moslem Messiah as a likely candidate for the anti Christ, although I don’t believe the church will be around to see him emerge.

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

A. It sounds to me like you don’t know why you should believe the Bible and so you’re looking for indicators that it might not be true. But think about it.  How could Hinduism predate Judaism?  Judaism had its beginnings in the Garden of Eden when there were only 2 people on Earth. If you want to be certain that the Bible is true, study the thousands of fulfilled prophecies it contains.  That’s the method of proof the Lord provided (Isaiah 46:8-10, 48:3-5, etc.).

It’s easy to prove these things weren’t added later if you just do a little homework.  For example, take the prophecies of the first coming.  They’re all in the Old Testament and were part of the public record hundreds of years before the Lord was born.  No other “holy” book can authenticate itself like the Bible does.