The Return
Steppe Notes
A Bible Study on the Return of the LORD Jesus Christ
2 Peter 3:10-15 (NASB)
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!
13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
14 Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless,
15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation
All Christians believe that Jesus Christ will return one day to establish His Kingdom on the earth. The details surrounding this earth changing event are subject to much debate and controversy. Following the biblical command to "study to show thyself approved" I have spent many years attempting to sort through the various perspectives. Knowing that Godly men disagree as to their conclusions I humbly offer my following perspective. A study of the issues with prayerful attention given to the scriptures will definitely prove a profitable endeavor. Pray that the Holy Spirit will bless you with understanding as you seek truth. My intention in presenting these comments is not to persuade you to agree with my viewpoint, but rather that your relationship and fellowship with the Living God be deepened.
The Bible teaches that the return of the LORD is:
- Soon
- Sudden
- Surprising
Most likely it will be at least seven years until Jesus Christ stands on the Mount of Olives to physically take possession of this earth. The events that immediately proceed this dramatic and unprecedented event, grouped together by the LORD Himself into a period of time He called the Great Tribulation, the like of which the world has never seen. To live during this time will be horrific; the closest thing I can imagine to it would be the Holocaust. Jesus told us that during this time ¡°men hearts would be failing them with fear.¡±
But the good news, the reason I can rejoice is that I am not looking for the Tribulation, but rather for the rapture. I am not looking and waiting for the AntiChrist, but rather Jesus Christ. The next great event on God¡¯s prophetic calendar is not the Great Tribulation, but the rapture of the Church.
The second coming of the LORD should be seen as a series of events. The period of time begins with the Rapture and concludes with the whole world under the authority of the King of Kings. The fact that the second coming is in stages should not be surprising when one looks at the events surrounding His First Coming.
1. An angel announces the upcoming birth to Mary
2. An angel announces the birth of the Forerunner, John the Baptist to his father Zacharias
3. The mother of Jesus has some interesting relational interactions as she reveals the supernatural conception to her betrothed husband Joseph
4. The couple journey to Bethlehem
5. The events surrounding the Birth
6. The childhood of Jesus
7. The beginning of His ministry
8. His ministry
9. His crucifixion
10. His Resurrection
11. His personal appearance to His followers
12. His ascension
The First Coming consisted of a multitude of events that occurred over about 34 years.
Similarly the Second Coming should be seen as a series of events rather than a single event that occurs in a flash of time. It is a fact that certain elements of The Return occur in a twinkling of an eye, but the Second Coming involves a series of events that happen over a time period. The First coming involves a period of time. There is a period of time referred to by Jesus as the Great Tribulation. Why would we conclude that the Second Coming is anything other than a series of events?
This time period is referred to as ¡°The Day of The LORD¡±. In this specific case, the term ¡°day¡± refers to a specific period of time rather than a twenty four hour period. The following list includes a few of the events that occur during The Second Coming. I have included an estimate of the duration of each individual event when I have any evidence to back up my estimation. Many of the events will consist of some time frame, but an estimate is just a guess. For instance I do not know if the Judgment of the Nations will take minutes, weeks or months.
1. The Rapture of the Bride of Christ. (twinkling of an eye)
2. The Great Tribulation in all its phases. (seven years)
3. The physical return of Jesus Christ to this earth. (Instantaneous, followed by a series of conquering events)
4. The Harvest at which time the wheat and the tares(Godly and ungodly people) are separated (some short period of time)
5. The setting up of the earthly Throne of God (instantaneous, with eternal duration).
6. The temporary confinement of Satan (takes only minute and last 1000 years).
7. The judgment of the Nations. (a period of time)
8. The Millennium. (1000 years)
9. The release of Satan to again tempt the inhabitants of this earth. (short period of time)
10. The final and eternal judgment of Satan to the Lake of Fire. (short period of time)
11. The Great White Throne Judgment, where the rest of the dead are judged, with the result that most (all) are sent to their eternal final destiny. (short period of time)
12. The new Heaven and the new Earth ( a Eternal life of bliss for all followers of Christ).
Looking at the Second Coming from this perspective presents some interesting questions:
¤ Will people be saved during the Great Tribulation?
Absolutely they will. But they will pay a high price for their obedience to God. Most will pay with their lives.
¡¤ Will people who are alive and that heard and rejected The Gospel during their lifetimes have the opportunity to be saved? I certainly hope so! I am not absolutely sure, but I have a high confidence level that God will not turn away any who sincerely call upon Him for salvation. This includes people who wake up one day and discover, to their horror that they are in the Great Tribulation because they resisted the grace of the LORD. They heard and refused to obey. They may have even thought people who believed in these things were kooks. If you are reading this now and it is before the Rapture, do not delay, repent and turn to God at this very moment. If you are reading this and it is after the rapture, cry out to God and decide to follow Jesus Christ even unto death.
¡¤ Why would a loving God put people into great tribulation? It is actually an act of His Great Mercy. When God decided to end this earth as we currently know it, He has at least two options:
1. Stop it suddenly. Call it off at a specific second (like a buzzer in a sporting event, except no one knows how much time is left on the clock.)
2. Send a series of increasingly devastating events to warn people and encourage them to repent before it is too late (sorta like a two minute warning in a football game).
Think about it this way. Imagine a Godly, loving and Christian father who has a son that is separated from God and in danger of being lost for all eternity. Which of the following options would he choose?
1. Wait for his son to die suddenly and go to a Christless eternity in hell?
2. Bless his son to live a long, peaceful and relatively happy life before he dies and goes to hell?
3. Allow his son to experience a period of trials that gives the lost son an opportunity for repentance, faith and eternal life?
Which option would you choose for those people you love?
¡¤ Is there any evidence that we are living in the Last Days? Haven¡¯t people been saying that for centuries? The answer to both questions is ¡°yes¡±. There is evidence that we are living near the end of The Last Days. The evidence is the re-establishment of the nation Israel in May of 1948. The nation was totally conquered in 70 AD and dispersed throughout the world. Can a nation be born in a day? Yes, and it occurred after almost 1900 years of dispersion into all the nations. Show me another nation that could survive this long period of time without being absorbed into the various cultures of their land of residence. And add to this the demonically inspired hatred for the Jewish people manifested in awful persecution. How can you come to any other conclusion except their continued existence and their resurrection as a nation is attributable to anything or anyone other than God?
¡¤ How do we know that the Church has not replaced Israel in the economy of God? We know because God has told us so in numerous passages of Scripture that predict the dispersal and return of His Chosen People to His land. The first advent of The Messiah was predicted in numerous passages from The Old Testament. The existence of the nation during the Great Tribulation is clearly outlined in the Scriptures.
Washington D.C. is not the center of the earth from the perspective of God. Jerusalem is. We are to look to Jerusalem and the Promised Land in order to determine where we are in the prophetic timetable of God. A proper understanding of the nation Israel and how it relates to the Church and the Gentile nations is essential to a proper understanding of the Last Days. The Hebrew prophet Zechariah, writing about 500 years before the time of Christ, reads like today¡¯s newspaper. Read Zechariah 12:1-3 and 14:1-2. This prediction is being fulfilled 2500 years later before our very eyes. Can a rational person presume that this prediction could be made by any being other than God?
¡¤ Is God justified to choose one nation over the rest? Of course He is. As creator, He has authority over His Creation. God has chosen that the entire world will be judged based on their acceptance or rejection of Jesus Christ, His Son. You can argue with Him if you wish, but it will be to no avail. People determine their eternal destiny based on their acceptance or rejection of God¡¯s choice, Jesus the Messiah. God, as God, can utilize His sovereignty by choosing to choose whomever He wills and then judging individuals based on their acceptance or rejection of His choice.
In the same way that Jesus is God¡¯s choice, the nation Israel is God¡¯s choice from among the nations. Did God not tell Abraham in Genesis 3:3 that ¡°And I will bless those who bless you and the one that curses you will I curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.¡± See verse 2 for the context of the making of a great nation. Christians become partakers of the promises given to Abraham by the exercise of faith in Jesus Christ.
¡¤ Do our views on the last days really matter? Of course they do. Choices in this life have eternal consequences. Who we choose to follow, the way we choose to direct our life, and choices as to how we spend our time all affect, not just this life, but the one to come. The way we view the immediacy of the LORD¡¯s Coming affect our thought processes. I am concerned that most people spend an inordinate amount of time concerned with this life rather than the next one. A proper view of The Return will help us to place all things in their proper order and priority.
Critical Discussion
Litmus Test: a test in which a single factor (a criterion, plural of criteria) determines acceptance or rejection. For example, for some voters abortion is the litmus test for political candidates. It is based on the use of litmus paper to determine whether a substance is acidic or alkaline.
It is a fact that God uses a single criterion as the factor for His acceptance or rejection of a person. Jesus Christ is the only Way to the Father. To accept Jesus is to accept the Father and to reject Jesus is to reject the Father.
John 14:6 (NASB) Jesus said* to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
John 3:15-16 (NASB) 15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. 16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
John 8:44 (NASB) ¡°You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Luke 10:16 (NASB) "The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me."
-------The LORD applies the same standard with regard to those who go in His name. -------
While Jesus Christ is the only factor that determines God¡¯s acceptance or rejection in an eternal sense, God also uses other things or people that He has chosen to serve as a litmus test of sorts:
o The Holy Scriptures, the Bible
o Abraham
o King David
o Other Kings of Israel
o John the Baptist
o The Church
o Prophets of both the old and new testaments
Dispensationalists will add another crucial entity to that list:
o Israel
God accepts of rejects people based on their acceptance or rejection of His choice. There are blessings associated with agreement with God¡¯s choice, and consequences for the rejection of the one whom God has chosen.
Is God justified to judge people in this manner? Of course He is. The fact is that He is God and the Creator of all mankind and therefore has the right to do whatever He desires. And beyond that fundamental fact, He has purposes and plans in everything He does, some of which are beyond human understanding. But God¡¯s Word gives us insight into the mysteries of God.
1 Samuel 15:22-23 (NASB) 22 Samuel said, "Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. 23 "For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king."
The logic revealed in the bible could be something like this:
¨¹ The fundamental nature of sin is ¡°My right to myself, I will serve God in the manner that I choose¡±.
¨¹ Lucifer¡¯s (Satan) sin, the nature of which is found in Isaiah 14:12-17 was (and is), ¡°I will¡±.
¨¹ Rebellion is at the heart of sin.
¨¹ Rebellion is choosing your will over God¡¯s will.
¨¹ The nature of salvation is surrendering to God¡¯s will.
¨¹ The first, primary and essential choice is to choose His Son as the only Savior, Lord and King in your life.
¨¹ That involves your surrender to a King that is in authority over your personal kingdom of ¡°self¡± and results in eternal salvation as a gift from God.
¨¹ Refusal to do this is a fundamental and fatal failure and results in eternal separation from God.
¨¹ The Christian walk is a day to day learning to accept His will over your own.
Sometimes, this process involves the giving up what you want, or even what you think would be best. ¡°Obedience is better than sacrifice.¡±
An Important Scripture and Quote
Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica,
for they received the word with great eagerness,
examining the Scriptures daily
to see whether these things were so.
Acts 17:11 (NASB)
A quote by Oswald Chambers, the author of ¡°My Utmost for His Highest¡±, found in a book of his, ¡°The Love of God¡±, pg 27 seems very appropriate in the flow of the logic of this study. It gives an intellectual context to the discussions of God. Although He is beyond us, so utterly other than we are, He wants us to seek to understand His acts and His ways. Although seeking God is more than just an intellectual exercise, it does involve the intellect. God wants us to have a transformed mind, an enlivened mind as we draw upon The Creator, the Source of all creation as our source for our life.
And the good news, the very good news is that He will help us to begin to understand Him as we put forth the effort to seek His face. He has sent us His Holy Spirit to guide us and lead us into truth. Pray now and ask God to help you understand, not just the doctrines of the Bible, but The God of the Bible.
¡°At present He (God) is giving men opportunity to try every line they like in individual life as well as in the life of the nations at large. Some things have not been tried yet, and if God were to cut us off short we would say. ¡®If You* had left us a bit longer we could have realized our ideal of society and national life.¡¯ God is allowing us to prove to the hilt that it cannot be done in any other way than Jesus Christ said; that is by a personal relationship to God through Jesus Christ, who is God and man ¨C One. When sooner or later we come to the end of our tether, we hear Jesus Christ say: ¡®Blessed are the poor in spirit¡¯ (Matthew 5:3)¡±
He goes on to explain that at a future time, after all the schemes of man apart from God has run its course, ¡°The Love of God will become the great reality.¡±
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* Oswald Chambers capitalizes the letters when the pronoun refers to God, as I do.
Short Definitions of Key Terms
Amillennialism: Literally means no Millennium. {Gk, ¡°a¡± means no, ¡°Millennium¡± means 1000)
The Pocket Dictionary of theological terms defines as: ¡°The belief that the thousand years mentioned in revelation 20 do not represent a specific period of time between Christ¡¯s first and second comings. Many Amillennialists believe instead that the millennium refers to the heavenly reign of Christ and the departed saints during the Church Age. Amillennialists usually understand Revelation 20 to mean that the return of Christ will occur at the end of history and that the Church presently lives in the final era of history.
1. AntiChrist: In a general way the definition will large and inclusive of many things, for it means everything which is opposite to Christ. So in a sense everything that is opposed to Christ is antichrist.
2. The AntiChrist: used when referring to a future person who attempts to assume the place of ultimate authority over this earth.
Christian: A name given to the disciples, or followers of Christ.
Church: An assembly of saved people (Christians) who are called out of the world into a living union with Christ.
Day: Used four ways in scripture:
1. Daylight (Gen. 1:5, Gen. 8:22, Joshua 1:8)
2. A twenty-four hour period of time (Mt. 12:40, Gen. 1:3-31, Mt. 17:1)
3. A period of Time (2 Cor. 6:2, Jer. 17:17, Joel 2:1-2, Rev. 6:17)
4. Used figuratively as opportune time (John9:4, I Thess.5 :5-8)
Day of the LORD: A period of time that begins with the rapture of the Church, continues through the Millennium and concludes with the final rebellion and judgment of Satan. The new Heaven and new Earth immediately follow.
Dispensation: A specific divine economy, a commitment given by God to man as a responsibility to discharge that for which God has appointed him.
Economy: A system in place to administer the rights and responsibilities of an entity.
First Coming of Jesus Christ: Also referred to as the Advent. The first Coming of the Lord speaks of His birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection and ascension. The result of the First Advent is the availability of salvation to all who believe. Christians now anticipate a Second Advent when Christ will return to the earth in bodily form to receive the Church and judge the nations.
Gentiles: All mankind who are not either Jews or Christians. All mankind can be separated into one of only three groups: Jews, Gentiles and the Church.
Grace: It is typically defined as unmerited favor. It is that, but it is also more than that. The NT concept builds on the one presented in the OT, where grace is portrayed as the compassionate response of one who is able to help another person who is in need. The NT word Charis also means to show kindness or favor. The good news of the gospel is that God stoops to help undeserving and helpless sinner and provide for him what he could not provide for himself. Every human being is helpless, trapped in sin and unable to please God or winning His favor. God gives His grace to such undeserving creatures.
Great Tribulation: A period of global suffering which will occur just prior to the LORD¡¯S Return.
Harvest: This was a familiar term to the Israelites whose economy was based on agriculture. The word is used in both a literal and figurative sense. It is used figuratively as a picture of the final judgment, which can be either positive or negative, depending upon the spiritual condition of the one being judged.
Israel: The history of the nation Israel begins in Genesis chapter 12 with the call of Abraham.
Jesus Christ: Jesus is the human name of the Son of God. Christ is His title which means ¡°the Anointed One¡± and refers to the long awaited Jewish Messiah who was to come and deliver the nation Israel from their bondage.
Kingdom: The area where the jurisdiction of the King is recognized and enforced.
King of Kings: The King above all other Kings. Its usage is similar to Holy of Holies, Lord of Lords, Song of Songs, and vanity of vanities.
Last Days: This phase was understood by the Jews to means ¡°The Days of the Messiah¡± or ¡°In Messianic times¡±.
¡¤ King
¡¤ Priest
¡¤ Prophet
Millennium: Comes from the Latin word for ¡°thousand¡± and refers to the 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ on this earth.
Parousia: A Greek word (Strong¡¯s # 3952), which means presence, arrival, coming to a place.
Premillennial: The Coming of the Lord is prior to (pre)the 100 yr. reign of Christ on this earth.
Rapture: The catching up of the Church to meet the Lord in the air.
Return: The Second Coming of the Lord to this earth.
Salvation: The deliverance of humans from the effects of sin and the fall. It is made available to mankind based on the life, death, resurrection and ascension of the LORD Jesus Christ.
Expanded Definitions, Scriptures and Discussions For Deeper Study
AntiChrist / The AntiChrist
1 John 2:18 (KJV) (Many antichrists before The AntiChrist)
Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
1 John 4:3 (KJV) (The spirit of AntiChrist)
And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
Revelation 13:1-10 (KJV) (A Beast with seven heads and ten horns)
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. 3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. 4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. 7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 9 If any man have an ear, let him hear. 10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
Ezekiel 28:1-10 (KJV) (The one who declares himself to be God ¨C the original sin of Lucifer)
1 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God: 3 Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee: 4 With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures: 5 By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:
6 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;
7 Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.
8 They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas. 9 Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee. 10 Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-10 (KJV) (The Man of Sin)
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
Daniel 7:19-28 (KJV) (The horn of the Beast)
19 Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; 20 And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. 21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; 22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. 23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. 24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. 25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. 26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. 27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. 28 Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.
Daniel 9:24-27 (KJV) (The Wicked Prince)
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
John 5:43 (KJV) (The one who comes in his own name and the Jews will receive)
43 I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.
Do not be discouraged if this seems a little confusing to you. That is one reason the Bible instructs us to ¡°study to show thyself approved¡±. Do not try to understand it all until the big picture begins to take shape. Read the scriptures, get the gist of it and move on to the next piece of the puzzle.
Do you like to put together a puzzle? Remember how you would see the picture on the box and then begin to put the pieces together? The final picture on this puzzle is the face of Jesus. The main point of this study is to see Jesus more clearly.
Jesus tells us clearly in Matthew 13:10-17 why He speaks in parables. He speaks in terms that can only be understood by those to whom the Father has chosen to give the supernatural revelation.
Christians
The Greek word Christianos (Strong¡¯s # 5546) is derived from the root word Christos or Christ, the anointed one. The word appears only three times in the NT:
Acts 11:26 And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
Acts 26:28: Then Agrippa said unto Paul, ¡°Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.¡±
I Pet. 4:16 If any man suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed.
Church
The Greek word ¡°ekklesia¡± means a called out assembly and is used describing a mob in Ephesus (Acts 19:32 and 41) and the congregation of Israel in the wilderness, but it is most pointedly used with reference to the assembly of saved people called out of the world into the body of Christ.
It is distinguished from the ¡°synagogue¡±, which refers to Israel, rather than the Church.
The issue is complicated by the fact that there is a visible church, which is made up of both true believers and pretenders. Jesus taught that this visible church would consist of wheat (true believers) and tares (make-believe believers) and that they would grow up together until the harvest.
The work ekklesia is used 118 times in the NT. You can go to a concordance and run the references to see the various ways the word is used. The following three scriptures will give you an idea of its meaning.
Matthew 16:18 (KJV): And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
1 Corinthians 10:31-32 (KJV): Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:
Hebrews 12:23 (KJV): To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Day of the LORD
2 Peter 3:8 (KJV) 8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
A period of time that begins with the rapture of the Church, continues through the Millennium and concludes with the final rebellion and judgment of Satan. The new Heaven and new Earth immediately follow. This phase was used by both Old and New Testament (Covenant) prophets to point to a future event or era (not necessarily a 24 hour day) where God would judge the whole earth. This judgment will determine acceptance and eternal salvation for the righteous and condemnation and eternal damnation for the wicked.
Hebrews 10:25 (KJV) 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
1 Corinthians 3:13 (KJV) 13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
Isaiah 34:8 (KJV) 8 For it is the day of the LORD'S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.
Isaiah 61:2 (KJV) 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
Amos 5:18 (KJV) 18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
Malachi 3:2 (KJV) 2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
Dispensation
It is unfortunate that in some Christian circles this word and concept has become controversial and divisive. It is true that some Godly and sincere teachers have gone to the extreme in their understanding of this biblical truth. And is often the case, people have responded to their extreme position by having an extreme reaction in the opposite direction. Let¡¯s try to look at this in a balanced way that is accurate and profitable.
Webster¡¯s dictionary definition: An administrative system; management. In a religious sense, it refers to the ordering of events under divine authority.
The Greek work is oikonomia (strong¡¯s #3633). Like many Greek words oikonomia is a compound word that combines oikas (house)+ nomos (managing. Thus the concept is that of a management of a household. Dispensation refers to a specific divine economy, the method by which God manages His household. From man¡¯s perspective it is a responsibility that God given to him to discharge. From God¡¯s perspective, it is a commitment on His part to man. He will hold man accountable for his responsible for the fulfillment of that duty. A related word is stewardship.
Luke 12:42 (KJV) And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?
Luke 16:1-8 (KJV)
1 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.
2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.
3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.
4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.
5 So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord?
6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.
7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.
8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.
Romans 16:23 Gaius mine host, and of the whole church, saluteth you. Erastus the chamberlain of the city salutes you, and Quartus a brother.
1 Corinthians 4:1-2 (KJV)
1 Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.
2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.
1 Corinthians 9:17 (KJV)
17 For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.
Galatians 4:2 (KJV)
2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
Ephesians 1:10 (KJV)
10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Ephesians 3:2 (KJV)
2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
Colossians 1:25 (KJV)
25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
Titus 1:7 (KJV) For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;
1 Peter 4:10 (KJV) 10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
This is a very important concept with regard to the individual. The question naturally arises as to your personal performance of the assigned duties. How are you doing with stewardship? Unfortunately, many church leaders have made stewardship almost entirely about money. While money is an important element of the discharging of our duties, it is only one of several. If a household manager balanced the books perfectly to the penny but did not manage the children of the household well, how would the steward¡¯s performance appraisal read? It has to do with the management of all the gifts, talents and resources that the LORD has made available to us.
One of the areas that most people fall short in is that of time management. How are you doing managing your allotment of this limited resource? As I write this I have just turned 60. This means that if I live to be 70, I will have about 500 Saturdays left. Am I doing a good job of maximizing the positive impact that my life has on others? And even more importantly, how am I doing in the discharge of the responsibilities that God has gifted me to accomplish? As I have worked on this minor epistle, I feel like 1 Peter 4:10 (above) is a new verse for me to apply to my life. If I am privileged to hear ¡°Well done, My good and faithful servant¡± at the judgment, I certainly hope that I discharge my duties well in spite of my human flaws and frailties. My prayer for you is that you will strive for the same result.
But we need to progress further into the exploration of this concept because it has a tremendous impact on how we view the events of the end-times. Most people do not need to be a theologian to fulfill their divinely appointed duties, but if a person wants to act like a theologian there are certain doctrinal concepts which they must understand. The Household of God is managed based on Biblical principles. Many people want to rush into doctrinal positions based on warm fuzzy feelings. Being a good theologian does not mean that you will agree with other theologians, even if you both are Godly, sincere and well-studied believers. But it does mean that you have invested the time and effort to ¡°study to show thyself approved¡±.
Let¡¯s look at that verse together as it is important to the idea of dispensations. 2 Timothy 2:15 states ¡° Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (KJV) Here is a place where the King James is more literal than some other newer translations who accurately project the idea, but miss the picture that is painted in the original text. They translate rightly diving as accurately handling. This is correct, but it seems that the Greek verbiage of rightly dividing is most instructive.
The question concerns the original Greek text. What does it say? It is not a matter of which is right or wrong ¨C they are both correct. Rightly dividing and correctly handling are similar enough as to mean the same. The Greek word is:
Greek Strong's Number: 3718 Greek Word: ὀ¦Ñ¦È¦Ï¦Ó¦Ï¦Ìέ¦Ø Transliteration: orthotome¨
Root: from a compound of <G3717> and the base of <G5114> Part of Speech: v
Vine's Words: Divide, Divider, Dividing, Handle
Usage Notes: English Words used in KJV: rightly divide 1 [Total Count: 1]
from a compound of <G3717> (orthos) and the base of <G5114> (tomoteros); to make a straight cut, i.e. (figurative) to dissect (expound) correctly (the divine message) :- rightly divide.
Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary.
This indicates that there are parts of the scripture which must be separated in order to be a workman that needs not be ashamed. For instance the combination of grace and law has created much misunderstanding in the Christian world. That is another discussion, but we are instructed to divide where God has divided while being careful not to divide what He hasn¡¯t. We are called to be separate from the world and joined with other Christians. How does that seem to be working for us?
It is at this point of rightly dividing that the doctrinal approach based on dispensations gets very controversial. Generally people with a dispensational view of scripture see God working in distinct ways (dispensations) throughout history. That theological template (all of us have one) views a progression in the method that God uses to reveal Himself to mankind, or a portion of mankind. His revelation deals with man¡¯s responsibility in light of His revelation concerning some aspect of His dealing with man.
God enters into a covenant with man. by which there are fresh (or hereunto unrevealed) promises made to man and fresh responsibilities required of man. There are mild disagreements among those of a dispensational perspective on the exact number of dispensations and often passionate, almost violent disagreements with those who do not see dispensations as correct biblical interpretation. I respect many who see it differently from me, but I am committed to the dispensational viewpoint as being a reasonable way to interpret the totality of scriptures.
We all have a template which we apply to scriptures. All of them are wrong to some degree or other, but we are held responsible to ¡°study to show thyself approved¡±. It is a distinct possibility (almost sure probability) that all our templates will be utterly destroyed as we stand in the presence of the Living God. But it is a fact that a dispensational template is either somewhat accurate or it is totally inaccurate. Thankfully, our eternal salvation is not based on our being right, but our having (exhibiting) faith and trust in our Savior. But the template we use is definitely important because it will influence our worldview; and it will definitely determine our eschatological (last days) position.
One of the extremely successful tactics of the enemy is to get people frustrated over the real fact of sincere differences of viewpoints over methods of biblical interpretations, and I fear that many people have decided that if studied men disagree they should just shrug their shoulders and give up. Others decide to follow some man¡¯s teaching and let that stand as their justification before the throne. Both those approaches are exactly what the enemy intends. It is good to know that the enemy has a wicked purpose in and for your life. Once you identify it ¨C resist it. It is your responsibility to resist the devil and his schemes.
As you resist what the devil wants for your life then it is also your responsibility to find out what God is attempting to accomplish in and through your life. ¡°All things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to His purpose¡± (Romans 8:28). The question becomes Are doctrinal disputes included in ¡°all things¡±? Of course they are. God is wanting you to dig in, not give up. You may not need to become a scholar, but keep these issues in mind as you seek God¡¯s face in the study of His letter to you. The Bible is God¡¯s instruction manual and in it are numerous love letters to His Bride.
When you get down to it, I would definitely prefer to stand before My King at the Judgment Seat and give account of my mistakes in Biblical interpretation than to have to admit that I didn¡¯t care enough to even read and study His Word to me. Honest mistakes will probably be more easily overlooked than laziness or doubt and disbelief. One of our current responsibilities is to seek the face of God and develop our relationship with Him, as He initiates and leads. Just like any human relationship, this relationship can be nurtured and developed, or neglected and atrophied.
The study of end times has been a recurring interest that God has used to help me seek Him. It may be different for each one of you. Some may want to primarily study God¡¯s plan for marriage, or childbearing, or ministry, or healing. But all of us must not get so centered in one aspect of God¡¯s revelation as to ignore all others. I could have made that mistake with respect to this subject, but fortunately God restrained me.
Now, let¡¯s go back to the subject of dispensations. St. Augustine is quoted as saying ¡°Distinguish the ages and the scriptures harmonize.¡± Ages is a word that is another way of speaking of dispensations. Ephesians 2:7 (NASB) states ¡°so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus¡±. Matthew 24:3 (NASB) As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"
Distinguishing the ages is to rightly divide time from creation to the new Heaven and new Earth into a number of unequal time periods, which can be called dispensations. Most see seven distinct time periods and are summarized as follows:
|
Dispensation |
From |
To |
Responsibility (test) |
|
|
|
Notice that each ends in the failure of man |
|
|
Man innocent |
Creation |
Expulsion from Eden |
Do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil |
|
Man under conscience |
Expulsion from Eden |
The Flood |
Do good and do not do evil ¨C according to conscience |
|
Man in authority over the earth |
Noah |
Tower of Babel |
Human Government |
|
Man under promise |
Abram (Abraham) |
Bondage in Egypt |
Live according to Promise (s) |
|
Man under Law |
Giving of the Law at Mount Sinai |
Crucifixion |
Obedience to the Law |
|
Man under grace |
Resurrection |
2nd Coming |
Believe in the LORD Jesus Christ |
|
Man under the personal reign of Christ |
Return and the Setting up of the Millennial Kingdom |
Release of Satan from the pit and the rebellion of a portion of mankind |
Submit to the King |
Does God address different people in different ways?
There are several valid questions to ask during the study of the bible. Among them:
¨¹ Who is doing the speaking?
¨¹ To who are the words addressed?
¨¹ What is the time period of the conversation?
The Bible is The Word of God. As such it is always accurate in what it reports. But note carefully, all the statements contained in the bible are not truthful ones. Some are outright lies. The devil speaks and while his words are accurately related, they are not truthful. Always take notice of who is doing the talking.
When God is speaking, it is always truthful. God is consistent, always the same and always true to Himself. This fact does not negate the fact that He addresses different people in different ways at differing times. The instructions given to Moses under the administration of The Law may be different to instructions given to an N.T. apostle. To misapply these type of instructions can lead to confusion.
God¡¯s Word addresses different people and even different people groups. He also addresses the same people in different way according to the time frame of the discussion.
Matthew 17:9 (NASB) As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, "Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead."
Matthew 21:43 (NASB) "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it.
Matthew 10:5-6 (NASB) These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: "Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Matthew 15:24 (NASB) But He answered and said, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
Matthew 19:21 (NASB) Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
Matthew 21:43 (NASB) "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it.
Matthew 4:19 (NASB)
19 And He said* to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."
Matthew 28:19 (NASB) "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Matthew 22:8-9 (NASB) "Then he said* to his slaves, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 'Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.'
Matthew 23:37-39 (NASB) "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. "Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! "For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!' "
Romans 11:30 (NASB) For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience,
A failure to properly distinguish between dispensations leads to:
¡ì A mingling of Law and Grace, which puts sincere followers in the untenable position of attempting to live simultaneously in accordance under two different systems.
¡ì A misunderstanding of the relationship between Israel and the Church. As people chosen by God for Himself, the two are similar in many ways, but different in some very important ones.
¡ì A lack of clarity and peace as to the day to day conduct of a life committed to the pleasing of God. For example, some sincere and devoted followers of Jesus attempt to please God by insisting on a sixth day Sabbath worship.
¡ì An embracing of Theological templates which either teach that The Church has replaced Israel in the plans and purposes of God (Replacement Theology) or that the Church is the same as Israel (extreme factions of the Jewish roots movement). Both of these errors (from my perspective they are serious, but not necessarily Eternal Life-threatening errors). Both errors stem from a blurring of the distinctions between the nation Israel and the Church.
¡ì The rejection of a pre-tribulational rapture. One¡¯s view on this controversial issue is important, but not essential to eternal life. But if a person is consistent with their template, the failure to see the scriptures in from a dispensational viewpoint will render the pre-tribulational rapture merely a confusing and illogical theory. I have spent much time passionately debating the rapture with sincere Godly people who see it very different than I do. It seems highly unlikely that one can overcome opposing viewpoints by a scripture by scripture discussion. The reason for this is that the template determines the way the details (individual scriptures) are interpreted.
¡ì Potentially, a lack of living in the clear expectation of the return of the Lord for His Church at any moment. Of the various pre-millennial viewpoints (pre, mid, post tribulational rapture) only the pre expects the coming of the Lord to be imminent, or possible at any second. The others are awaiting something to be fulfilled before the Lord can return. The amillennialist template allows for the any second return, but since it sees the whole millennial concept to be fatally flawed, it generally passes off the pre-tribulational rapture as bad doctrine from the get-go. The subject of immanency requires further discussion as it becomes one of the strong points in favor of a pre-tribulational rapture.
Please consider the fact that a person¡¯s view on the subject of Biblical Dispensations is not essential to salvation; however it will determine how you view most of the prophetic scriptures. Since a large portion of the written Word was predictive prophecy at the time it was written, the way one views predictive prophecy is important. It has been said that close to one quarter of scriptures were predictive at the time they were written. Some of those prophecies have already been fulfilled, some are being fulfilled and some await a future fulfillment. We can study the ones that have already been fulfilled to get instruction on how to anticipate those to be fulfilled in the future. To dig into this is not easy, but much of life that is extremely profitable is not easy. It is definitely a profitable study to those who are led by the Holy Spirit to do so.
Gentile Nations
God’s Word reveals four categories of rational, created beings in the universe. They may be more, but the revelation of God definitely sheds light on:
1. Jews
2. Gentiles
3. The Church
4. Angels
Each of the four classes differs with respect to their:
Ø Origin
Ø Purposes
Ø Responsibilities
Ø Current estate
Ø Future destiny
The Gentile nations have a destiny in the plans and purposes of God.
Acts 15:13-19 (KJV)
13 And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me:
14 Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.
15 And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written,
16 After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:
17 That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.
18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.
19 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:
the residue Greek Strong's Number: 2645 Greek Word: κατάλοιπος Transliteration: kataloipos
English Words used in KJV: residue 1 [Total Count: 1]
from <G2596> (kata) and <G3062> (loipoy); left down (behind) i.e. remaining (plural the rest) :- residue. Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary.
Verse 17. That the residue of men. This verse is quoted literally from the Septuagint, and differs in some respects from the Hebrew. The phrase, "the residue of men," here is evidently understood, both by the Seventy and by James, as referring to others than the Jews—to the Gentiles, the rest of the world—implying that many of them would be admitted to the friendship and favour of God. From: Notes on the New Testament Explanatory and Practical.
Verse 15. to this agree the words of the prophets -- generally; but those of Amos (Am 9:11) are specified (nearly as in the Septuagint version). The point of the passage lies in the predicted purpose of God, under the new economy, that "the heathen" or "Gentiles" should be "called by His name," or have "His name called upon them." By the "building again of the fallen tabernacle of David," or restoring its decayed splendor, is meant that only and glorious recovery which it was to experience under David's "son and Lord."
From: A Commentary: Critical, Experimental, and Practical on the Old and New Testaments.
Isaiah 9:6-7 (KJV) 6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Ge 22:18 — "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."
Ge 49:10 — "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
Ps 22:27 — All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, And all the families of the nations will worship before You.
Ps 67:1-3 — God be gracious to us and bless us, And cause His face to shine upon us—Selah. 2 That Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations. 3 Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You.
Isa 2:2 — Now it will come about that In the last days The mountain of the house of the Lord Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it.
Isa 2:3 — And many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths." For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
Isa 11:10 — Then in that day the nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Who will stand as a signal for the peoples; And His resting place will be glorious.
Isa 19:23-25 — In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. 24 In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, "Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance."
Isa 24:15 — Therefore glorify the Lord in the east, The name of the Lord, the God of Israel, In the coastlands of the sea.
Isa 49:6 — He says, "It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth."
Isa 49:7 — Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One, To the despised One, To the One abhorred by the nation, To the Servant of rulers, "Kings will see and arise, Princes will also bow down, Because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You."
Isa 66:18-21 — "For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory. 19 "I will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have neither heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations. 20 "Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the Lord, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem," says the Lord, "just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. 21 "I will also take some of them for priests and for Levites," says the Lord.
Jer 16:19 — O Lord, my strength and my stronghold, And my refuge in the day of distress, To You the nations will come From the ends of the earth and say, "Our fathers have inherited nothing but falsehood, Futility and things of no profit."
Hos 2:23 — "I will sow her for Myself in the land. I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion, And I will say to those who were not My people, 'You are My people!' And they will say, 'You are my God!' "
Joel 2:32 — "And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord Will be delivered; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape, As the Lord has said, Even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.
Mic 4:1 — And it will come about in the last days That the mountain of the house of the Lord Will be established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, And the peoples will stream to it.
Mic 4:2 — Many nations will come and say, "Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord And to the house of the God of Jacob, That He may teach us about His ways And that we may walk in His paths." For from Zion will go forth the law, even the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
Mic 5:7 — Then the remnant of Jacob Will be among many peoples Like dew from the Lord, Like showers on vegetation Which do not wait for man Or delay for the sons of men.
Zec 2:11 — "Many nations will join themselves to the Lord in that day and will become My people. Then I will dwell in your midst, and you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you.
Zec 8:20-23 — "Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'It will yet be that peoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities. 21 'The inhabitants of one will go to another, saying, "Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts; I will also go." 22 'So many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord.' 23 "Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.""'
Mal 1:11 — "For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name will be great among the nations," says the Lord of hosts.
Ge 48:16 — The angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; And may my name live on in them, And the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth."
Nu 6:27 — "So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them."
Isa 43:7 — Everyone who is called by My name, And whom I have created for My glory, Whom I have formed, even whom I have made."
Isa 65:1 — "I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me; I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me. I said, 'Here am I, here am I,' To a nation which did not call on My name.
Amos 9:11-12 (KJV)
11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:
12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.
Hebrew Strong's Number: 1471 Hebrew Word: גּוֹי Transliteration: gôy
Phonetic Pronunciation:
English Words used in KJV: nation 374 , heathen 143, Gentiles 30, people 11
[Total Count: 558] rarely (shortened)
-a foreign nation; hence a Gentile; also (figurative) a troop of animals, or a flight of locusts :- Gentile, heathen, nation, people. From: Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary.
Israel
The history of the nation Israel begins with the call of Abraham in Genesis chapter 12. It is an elect nation chosen by God from among the other nations that came into being through a miraculous birth as the seed of Abraham. Abraham’s son, Isaac then became the father of Jacob, whose name was changed by God to Israel. The story is found in Genesis 32:24-32. Israel means “he who strives with God or God strives”.
Their descendents are the object of covenants and promises from God on their behalf. Israel stands alone among the nations. All the other nations are Gentile nations. In the plans and purposes of God these Gentiles were to be reached by the nation Israel or the expansion of His Kingdom on this earth. This is fulfilled by Jesus Christ, who came first to the nation Israel. It is now being fulfilled (partially and unsuccessfully) by the Church. It will be finally, completely and perfectly accomplished during the Day of the LORD. The 144,000 Jewish evangelists begin the work during the tribulation (Rev. 7:4-8) and it will be completed during the Millennial reign of Christ (See Zechariah 14:16). The time period known as the great Tribulation is Jewish in nature, as is the Millennium.
God is not through with the nation Israel. The promise to Abraham’s natural seed, found in genesis 12:3 remains valid today. Though the nation Israel remains in a state of rebellion to their God and out of alignment with His will, they remain the nation of His choosing.
Listed below are some of the scriptural promises made to the nation Israel concerning the land. Note especially the first one where the Lord God through the mouth of Joel the Prophet calls the Promised Land His land. This is important because the world today is attempting to force the nation Israel to divide up that very land. The way a person understands prophetic scriptures goes a long way in determining his politics concerning their view of the nation Israel. Note also that the LORD is bringing the nations of the world into a conflict with Israel in order that He might judge them on behalf of His people Israel.
-------The LORD GOD declares the Promised Land to be His Land-------
-------God will bring the Jews back into their land. -------
-------He will bring the nations into the valley of Jehoshaphat to judge them. -------
Joel 3:1-2 (NASB) 1 "For behold, in those days and at that time, When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather all the nations And bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; And they have divided up My land.
Ezekiel 36:24 (NASB) "For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land.
Ezekiel 28:25 (NASB) 'Thus says the Lord God, "When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and will manifest My holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they will live in their land which I gave to My servant Jacob.
Ezekiel 34:11-15 (NASB) For thus says the Lord God, "Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. 12 "As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day. 13 "I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land. 14 "I will feed them in a good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 "I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest," declares the Lord God.
Zechariah 8:2-8 (NASB) 2 "Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'I am exceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her.' 3 "Thus says the Lord, 'I will return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.' 4 "Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'Old men and old women will again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of age. 5 'And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.'
6 "Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'If it is too difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be too difficult in My sight?' declares the Lord of hosts. 7 "Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west; 8 and I will bring them back and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth and righteousness.'
-------The Nation of Israel will be like a banner to the nations. -------
Isaiah 11:10-12 (NASB) 10 Then in that day The nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Who will stand as a signal for the peoples; And His resting place will be glorious. 11 Then it will happen on that day that the Lord Will again recover the second time with His hand The remnant of His people, who will remain, From Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, And from the islands of the sea. 12 And He will lift up a standard for the nations And assemble the banished ones of Israel, And will gather the dispersed of Judah From the four corners of the earth.
Isaiah 43:4-7 (NASB) 4 "Since you are precious in My sight, Since you are honored and I love you, I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.
5 "Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, And gather you from the west. 6 "I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' And to the south, 'Do not hold them back.' Bring My sons from afar And My daughters from the ends of the earth, 7 Everyone who is called by My name, And whom I have created for My glory, Whom I have formed, even whom I have made."
-------The LORD will send fishermen and hunters to gather His people to the Land that He has given them. -------
Jeremiah 16:14-16 (NASB) 14 "Therefore behold, days are coming," declares the Lord, "when it will no longer be said, 'As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' 15 but, 'As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries where He had banished them.' For I will restore them to their own land which I gave to their fathers. 16 "Behold, I am going to send for many fishermen," declares the Lord, "and they will fish for them; and afterwards I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain and every hill and from the clefts of the rocks.
Jeremiah 23:7-8 (NASB) 7 "Therefore behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord, "when they will no longer say, 'As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt,' 8 but, 'As the Lord lives, who brought up and led back the descendants of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them.' Then they will live on their own soil."
Jeremiah 30:1-3 (NASB) 1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
2 "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book. 3 'For behold, days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah.' The Lord says, 'I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers and they shall possess it.' "
Jeremiah 46:27 (NASB) 27 "But as for you, O Jacob My servant, do not fear, Nor be dismayed, O Israel! For, see, I am going to save you from afar, And your descendants from the land of their captivity; And Jacob will return and be undisturbed And secure, with no one making him tremble.
Ezekiel 11:16-17 (NASB)
16 "Therefore say, 'Thus says the Lord God, "Though I had removed them far away among the nations and though I had scattered them among the countries, yet I was a sanctuary for them a little while in the countries where they had gone."' 17 "Therefore say, 'Thus says the Lord God, "I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel."'
-------Note this powerful prophecy. -------
Ezekiel 37:1-12 (NASB) 1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones.
2 He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry. 3 He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord God, You know." 4 Again He said to me, "Prophesy over these bones and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.' 5 "Thus says the Lord God to these bones, 'Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. 6 'I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.' " 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9 Then He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord God, "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life.""' 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. 11 Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.'
12 "Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God, "Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.
Amos 9:14-15 (NASB) 14 "Also I will restore the captivity of My people Israel, And they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them; They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine, And make gardens and eat their fruit. 15 "I will also plant them on their land, And they will not again be rooted out from their land Which I have given them," Says the Lord your God.
Isaiah 52:8-10 (NASB) 8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices, They shout joyfully together; For they will see with their own eyes When the Lord restores Zion. 9 Break forth, shout joyfully together, You waste places of Jerusalem; For the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The Lord has bared His holy arm In the sight of all the nations, That all the ends of the earth may see The salvation of our God.
-------The nation born in one day – declared to be a nation in May of 1948.-------
Isaiah 66:7-9 (NASB) 7 "Before she travailed, she brought forth; Before her pain came, she gave birth to a boy. 8 "Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? (KJV – one day) As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons. 9 "Shall I bring to the point of birth and not give delivery?" says the Lord. "Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?" says your God.
--------Straight from today’s headlines, written over 2500 years ago.-------
Zechariah 12:1-3 (NASB) The burden of the word of the Lord concerning Israel. Thus declares the Lord who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him, 2 "Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. 3 "It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.
Zechariah 12:6 (NASB) 6 "In that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot among pieces of wood and a flaming torch among sheaves, so they will consume on the right hand and on the left all the surrounding peoples, while the inhabitants of Jerusalem again dwell on their own sites in Jerusalem.
There is a template which does not see things in this manner. Basically, any person who is knowingly or unknowingly an advocate of replacement theology will apply all these references in a symbolic way to the Church. These folks do not see modern day Israel as any different from any other nation and thus do not apply the blessings and curses of Genesis chapter 12 to modern Israel. That is why some bible believing Christians refuse to support modern day Israel on Biblical grounds. From the dispensational viewpoint, support for the nation Israel is not based on their merit, but on God’s choosing.
See discussion on “Litmus Test” found on page 5.
All Things are Mortal but the Jew (by Mark Twain)
“If statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one percent of the human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of stardust lost in the blaze of the Milky Way. Properly, the Jew ought hardly to be heard of, but he is heard of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on the planet as any other people, and his commercial importance is extravagantly out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk.
His contributions to the world’s list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and abstruse learning are also away out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers. He has made a marvelous fight in this world, in all the ages; and had done it with his hands tied behind him.
He could be vain of himself, and be excused for it.The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed; and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other people have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished.
The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind.
All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?”
Millennium
Isaiah 11:6-9 (NASB)
6 And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them.
7 Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper's den.
9 They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea.
Isaiah 60:18-22 (NASB)
18 "Violence will not be heard again in your land, Nor devastation or destruction within your borders; But you will call your walls salvation, and your gates praise.
19 "No longer will you have the sun for light by day, Nor for brightness will the moon give you light; But you will have the Lord for an everlasting light, And your God for your glory.
20 "Your sun will no longer set, Nor will your moon wane; For you will have the Lord for an everlasting light, And the days of your mourning will be over.
21 "Then all your people will be righteous; They will possess the land forever, The branch of My planting, The work of My hands, That I may be glorified.
22 "The smallest one will become a clan, And the least one a mighty nation. I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time."
Isaiah 65:17-25 (NASB)
17 "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.
18 "But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing And her people for gladness.
19 "I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; And there will no longer be heard in her The voice of weeping and the sound of crying.
20 "No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, Or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred Will be thought accursed.
21 "They will build houses and inhabit them; They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 "They will not build and another inhabit, They will not plant and another eat; For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands.
23 "They will not labor in vain, Or bear children for calamity; For they are the offspring of those blessed by the Lord, And their descendants with them.
24 "It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.
25 "The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent's food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain," says the Lord.
Ezekiel 36:22-38 (NASB)
22 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord God, "It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.
23 "I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord," declares the Lord God, "when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight.
24 "For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land.
25 "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.
26 "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
27 "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.
28 "You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.
29 "Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you.
30 "I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations.
31 "Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations.
32 "I am not doing this for your sake," declares the Lord God, "let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel!"
33 'Thus says the Lord God, "On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places will be rebuilt.
34 "The desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passes by.
35 "They will say, 'This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.'
36 "Then the nations that are left round about you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate; I, the Lord, have spoken and will do it."
37 'Thus says the Lord God, "This also I will let the house of Israel ask Me to do for them: I will increase their men like a flock.
38 "Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so will the waste cities be filled with flocks of men. Then they will know that I am the Lord.""'
Zechariah 8:2-8 (NASB)
2 "Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'I am exceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her.'
3 "Thus says the Lord, 'I will return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.'
4 "Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'Old men and old women will again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of age.
5 'And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.'
6 "Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'If it is too difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be too difficult in My sight?' declares the Lord of hosts.
7 "Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west;
8 and I will bring them back and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth and righteousness.'
Zechariah 9:10 (NASB)
10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim And the horse from Jerusalem; And the bow of war will be cut off. And He will speak peace to the nations; And His dominion will be from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.
Read the whole chapter of Revelation 20.
The Purpose of the Millennium
1. To fulfill important O.T. Covenants.
2. To redeem creation
3. To answer the oft. Prayed prayer “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.
4. To reward the saints of God.
5. To complete His works on this earth – fill up what is yet to be accomplished in the working out of His will.
6. To test mankind prior to the end of the 1000 yr. literal reign of Christ on this earth,
7. To allow mankind the opportunity to work out their plan (utopia, salvation, redemption, whatever) apart from Him.
The Purpose of the Millennium (detail)
I. To fulfill important O.T. Covenants.
a. Abrahamic: God promised Abraham two basic things:
i. That his seed would become a mighty nation. (Genesis 12:1-3, 13:15-16, 17:7,22:17-18)
ii. That his seed would sometime own the Promised Land forever. (Genesis 12:7, 13:14-15, 15:7, 18-21, 17:1-12)
b. Davidic: (2 Chronicles 13:5, 2 Sam 7:12-16, 23:5)
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Q} Did the disobedience of Israel (The rejection of Jesus by His people) annual the promises made to Abraham? I. Were the promises conditional or unconditional? II. Did the Church replace Israel as God’s chosen people? |
c. The New Covenant: (Isa 42:6, Jer 31:31-34, Heb 8:6-13)
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1. That He would forgive their iniquity and forget their sin 2. That He would give them new hearts 3. That He would use Israel to reach and teach the Gentiles |
II. To redeem creation (Ro. 8:19-22)
III. To answer the oft. Prayed prayer “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. (Matthew 6:10)
IV. To reward the saints of God. (Ps 58:11, Prov. 11:18, Mt 16:27, Mt 25:34)
V. To complete the works on this earth – to accomplish those things which are not yet complete. (I Pe. 1.11, Ro. 8:18, 2 Cor. 1:7, 2 Tim 2:12, I Pe. 4:12-13, I Pe. 5:1)
VI. To test mankind prior to the end of the 1000 yr. literal reign of Christ on this earth,
VII. To allow mankind the opportunity to work out their plan (utopia, salvation, redemption, whatever) apart from Him.
Some Things that characterize the Millennium
ü Jesus Christ physically occupying the Throne of the earth in Jerusalem
ü He rules with authority.
ü Cessation of war for 1000 years (until Satan is released at the end of the Millennium to again test mankind – Rev. 20:7-9)
ü Holiness will predominate
ü Worship will be unified and directed to the One True God
ü Righteousness will be enforced throughout the Kingdom
ü Justice
ü The Church will reign with Christ as His Bride
ü Christians will have a glorified body
ü Other mortals will exist on earth during this time
ü Humans will be born
ü Crops will be raised
ü Israel will occupy a special place during this period.
Remember that the Millennium is not Heaven, neither is it the new Heaven and the New Earth which will be brought into being after the Millennium. There will be a slight amount of evil still existent on the earth, due to the presence of unredeemed mortals on earth during this time. The evil will be extremely limited because any evil will be swiftly and perfectly judged and dealt with. After the Millennium and the final judgment, evil will be forever destroyed. Come quickly Lord Jesus.
The Great Tribulation
You will avoid confusion by distinguishing between the tribulation that is the lot of all men and the period of time called “The Great Tribulation”. This period is also referred to as Daniel’s seventieth week and the Time of Jacob’s Trouble.
A description is found in Revelation chapters 6-19
Daniel 12:1 (NASB) "Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued.
Jeremiah 30:4-7 (NASB) 4 Now these are the words which the Lord spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah: 5 "For thus says the Lord, 'I have heard a sound of terror, Of dread, and there is no peace. 6 'Ask now, and see If a male can give birth. Why do I see every man With his hands on his loins, as a woman in childbirth? And why have all faces turned pale? 7 'Alas! for that day is great, There is none like it; And it is the time of Jacob's distress, But he will be saved from it.
Daniel 9:24-27 (NASB) 24 "Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.
25 "So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 26 "Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. 27 "And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate."
Matthew 24:9-26 (NASB) 9 "Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. 10 "At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. 11 "Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. 12 "Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. 13 "But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. 14 "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. 15 "Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 17 "Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. 18 "Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. 19 "But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 "But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. 21 "For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. 22 "Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 "Then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or 'There He is,' do not believe him. 24 "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. 25 "Behold, I have told you in advance. 26 "So if they say to you, 'Behold, He is in the wilderness,' do not go out, or, 'Behold, He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe them.
2 Thessalonians 2:2-12 (NASB) 2 that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. 5 Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? 6 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; 9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. 11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.
Revelation 3:10 (NASB) 10 'Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
Psalm 2:5 (NASB) 5 Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury,
Isaiah 2:10-22 (NASB) 10 Enter the rock and hide in the dust From the terror of the Lord and from the splendor of His majesty. 11 The proud look of man will be abased And the loftiness of man will be humbled, And the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. 12 For the Lord of hosts will have a day of reckoning Against everyone who is proud and lofty And against everyone who is lifted up, That he may be abased. 13 And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are lofty and lifted up, Against all the oaks of Bashan, 14 Against all the lofty mountains, Against all the hills that are lifted up, 15 Against every high tower, Against every fortified wall, 16 Against all the ships of Tarshish And against all the beautiful craft. 17 The pride of man will be humbled And the loftiness of men will be abased; And the Lord alone will be exalted in that day, 18 But the idols will completely vanish. 19 Men will go into caves of the rocks And into holes of the ground Before the terror of the Lord And the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to make the earth tremble. 20 In that day men will cast away to the moles and the bats Their idols of silver and their idols of gold, Which they made for themselves to worship, 21 In order to go into the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs Before the terror of the Lord and the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to make the earth tremble. 22 Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils; For why should he be esteemed?
Isaiah 13:9-16 (NASB) 9 Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it. 10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises And the moon will not shed its light. 11 Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless. 12 I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold And mankind than the gold of Ophir. 13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, And the earth will be shaken from its place At the fury of the Lord of hosts In the day of His burning anger. 14 And it will be that like a hunted gazelle, Or like sheep with none to gather them, They will each turn to his own people, And each one flee to his own land. 15 Anyone who is found will be thrust through, And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword. 16 Their little ones also will be dashed to pieces Before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered And their wives ravished.
Isaiah 24:21-23 (NASB) 21 So it will happen in that day, That the Lord will punish the host of heaven on high, And the kings of the earth on earth. 22 They will be gathered together Like prisoners in the dungeon, And will be confined in prison; And after many days they will be punished. 23 Then the moon will be abashed and the sun ashamed, For the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, And His glory will be before His elders.
Isaiah 26:20-21 (NASB) 20 Come, my people, enter into your rooms And close your doors behind you; Hide for a little while Until indignation runs its course. 21 For behold, the Lord is about to come out from His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; And the earth will reveal her bloodshed And will no longer cover her slain.
Isaiah 34:1-17 (NASB) 1 Draw near, O nations, to hear; and listen, O peoples! Let the earth and all it contains hear, and the world and all that springs from it. 2 For the Lord's indignation is against all the nations, And His wrath against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to slaughter. 3 So their slain will be thrown out, And their corpses will give off their stench, And the mountains will be drenched with their blood. 4 And all the host of heaven will wear away, And the sky will be rolled up like a scroll; All their hosts will also wither away As a leaf withers from the vine, Or as one withers from the fig tree. 5 For My sword is satiated in heaven, Behold it shall descend for judgment upon Edom And upon the people whom I have devoted to destruction. 6 The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, It is sated with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, With the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah And a great slaughter in the land of Edom. 7 Wild oxen will also fall with them And young bulls with strong ones; Thus their land will be soaked with blood, And their dust become greasy with fat. 8 For the Lord has a day of vengeance, A year of recompense for the cause of Zion. 9 Its streams will be turned into pitch, And its loose earth into brimstone, And its land will become burning pitch. 10 It will not be quenched night or day; Its smoke will go up forever. From generation to generation it will be desolate; None will pass through it forever and ever. 11 But pelican and hedgehog will possess it, And owl and raven will dwell in it; And He will stretch over it the line of desolation And the plumb line of emptiness.
12 Its nobles—there is no one there Whom they may proclaim king— And all its princes will be nothing. 13 Thorns will come up in its fortified towers, Nettles and thistles in its fortified cities; It will also be a haunt of jackals And an abode of ostriches. 14 The desert creatures will meet with the wolves, The hairy goat also will cry to its kind; Yes, the night monster will settle there And will find herself a resting place. 15 The tree snake will make its nest and lay eggs there, And it will hatch and gather them under its protection. Yes, the hawks will be gathered there, Every one with its kind. 16 Seek from the book of the Lord, and read: Not one of these will be missing; None will lack its mate. For His mouth has commanded, And His Spirit has gathered them.
17 He has cast the lot for them, And His hand has divided it to them by line. They shall possess it forever; From generation to generation they will dwell in it.
Isaiah 43:1-6 (NASB) 1 But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!
2 "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you. 3 "For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place. 4 "Since you are precious in My sight, Since you are honored and I love you, I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life. 5 "Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, And gather you from the west. 6 "I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' And to the south, 'Do not hold them back.' Bring My sons from afar And My daughters from the ends of the earth,
Isaiah 49:15-24 (NASB) 15 "Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. 16 "Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me. 17 "Your builders hurry; Your destroyers and devastators Will depart from you. 18 "Lift up your eyes and look around; All of them gather together, they come to you. As I live," declares the Lord, "You will surely put on all of them as jewels and bind them on as a bride. 19 "For your waste and desolate places and your destroyed land— Surely now you will be too cramped for the inhabitants, And those who swallowed you will be far away. 20 "The children of whom you were bereaved will yet say in your ears, 'The place is too cramped for me; Make room for me that I may live here.'
21 "Then you will say in your heart, 'Who has begotten these for me, Since I have been bereaved of my children And am barren, an exile and a wanderer? And who has reared these? Behold, I was left alone; From where did these come?' " 22 Thus says the Lord God, "Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations And set up My standard to the peoples; And they will bring your sons in their bosom, And your daughters will be carried on their shoulders. 23 "Kings will be your guardians, And their princesses your nurses. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth And lick the dust of your feet; And you will know that I am the Lord; Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame. 24 "Can the prey be taken from the mighty man, Or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?"
Jeremiah 25:29-38 (NASB) 29 "For behold, I am beginning to work calamity in this city which is called by My name, and shall you be completely free from punishment? You will not be free from punishment; for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth," declares the Lord of hosts.' 30 "Therefore you shall prophesy against them all these words, and you shall say to them, 'The Lord will roar from on high And utter His voice from His holy habitation; He will roar mightily against His fold. He will shout like those who tread the grapes, Against all the inhabitants of the earth. 31 'A clamor has come to the end of the earth, Because the Lord has a controversy with the nations. He is entering into judgment with all flesh; As for the wicked, He has given them to the sword,' declares the Lord." 32 Thus says the Lord of hosts, "Behold, evil is going forth From nation to nation, And a great storm is being stirred up From the remotest parts of the earth. 33 "Those slain by the Lord on that day will be from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be lamented, gathered or buried; they will be like dung on the face of the ground. 34 "Wail, you shepherds, and cry; And wallow in ashes, you masters of the flock; For the days of your slaughter and your dispersions have come, And you will fall like a choice vessel. 35 "Flight will perish from the shepherds, And escape from the masters of the flock. 36 "Hear the sound of the cry of the shepherds, And the wailing of the masters of the flock! For the Lord is destroying their pasture, 37 "And the peaceful folds are made silent Because of the fierce anger of the Lord. 38 "He has left His hiding place like the lion; For their land has become a horror Because of the fierceness of the oppressing sword And because of His fierce anger."
Ezekiel 30:3 (NASB) 3 "For the day is near, Even the day of the Lord is near; It will be a day of clouds, A time of doom for the nations.
Amos 5:18-20 (NASB) 18 Alas, you who are longing for the day of the Lord, For what purpose will the day of the Lord be to you? It will be darkness and not light; 19 As when a man flees from a lion And a bear meets him, Or goes home, leans his hand against the wall And a snake bites him. 20 Will not the day of the Lord be darkness instead of light, Even gloom with no brightness in it?
Obadiah 1:15-21 (NASB) 15 "For the day of the Lord draws near on all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. Your dealings will return on your own head. 16 "Because just as you drank on My holy mountain, All the nations will drink continually. They will drink and swallow And become as if they had never existed. 17 "But on Mount Zion there will be those who escape, And it will be holy. And the house of Jacob will possess their possessions. 18 "Then the house of Jacob will be a fire And the house of Joseph a flame; But the house of Esau will be as stubble. And they will set them on fire and consume them, So that there will be no survivor of the house of Esau," For the Lord has spoken. 19 Then those of the Negev will possess the mountain of Esau, And those of the Shephelah the Philistine plain; Also, possess the territory of Ephraim and the territory of Samaria, And Benjamin will possess Gilead. 20 And the exiles of this host of the sons of Israel, Who are among the Canaanites as far as Zarephath, And the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad Will possess the cities of the Negev. 21 The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion To judge the mountain of Esau, And the kingdom will be the Lord's.
Zephaniah 1:7-18 (NASB) 7 Be silent before the Lord God! For the day of the Lord is near, For the Lord has prepared a sacrifice, He has consecrated His guests. 8 "Then it will come about on the day of the Lord's sacrifice That I will punish the princes, the king's sons And all who clothe themselves with foreign garments. 9 "And I will punish on that day all who leap on the temple threshold, Who fill the house of their lord with violence and deceit. 10 "On that day," declares the Lord, "There will be the sound of a cry from the Fish Gate, A wail from the Second Quarter, And a loud crash from the hills. 11 "Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar, For all the people of Canaan will be silenced; All who weigh out silver will be cut off. 12 "It will come about at that time That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And I will punish the men Who are stagnant in spirit, Who say in their hearts, 'The Lord will not do good or evil!' 13 "Moreover, their wealth will become plunder And their houses desolate; Yes, they will build houses but not inhabit them, And plant vineyards but not drink their wine." 14 Near is the great day of the Lord, Near and coming very quickly; Listen, the day of the Lord! In it the warrior cries out bitterly. 15 A day of wrath is that day, A day of trouble and distress, A day of destruction and desolation, A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness, 16 A day of trumpet and battle cry Against the fortified cities And the high corner towers. 17 I will bring distress on men So that they will walk like the blind, Because they have sinned against the Lord; And their blood will be poured out like dust And their flesh like dung. 18 Neither their silver nor their gold Will be able to deliver them On the day of the Lord's wrath; And all the earth will be devoured In the fire of His jealousy, For He will make a complete end, Indeed a terrifying one, Of all the inhabitants of the earth.
Zechariah 12:1-14 (NASB) 1 The burden of the word of the Lord concerning Israel. Thus declares the Lord who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him, 2 "Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah.
3 "It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.
4 "In that day," declares the Lord, "I will strike every horse with bewilderment and his rider with madness. But I will watch over the house of Judah, while I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. 5 "Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, 'A strong support for us are the inhabitants of Jerusalem through the Lord of hosts, their God.' 6 "In that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot among pieces of wood and a flaming torch among sheaves, so they will consume on the right hand and on the left all the surrounding peoples, while the inhabitants of Jerusalem again dwell on their own sites in Jerusalem. 7 "The Lord also will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will not be magnified above Judah. 8 "In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them in that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them. 9 "And in that day I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 10 "I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. 11 "In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 "The land will mourn, every family by itself; the family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves; 13 the family of the house of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself and their wives by themselves; 14 all the families that remain, every family by itself and their wives by themselves.
Zechariah 14:1-4 (NASB) 1 Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. 2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. 3 Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. 4 In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.
Malachi 4:1-4 (NASB) 1 "For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze," says the Lord of hosts, "so that it will leave them neither root nor branch." 2 "But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. 3 "You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing," says the Lord of hosts. 4 "Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel.
The Rapture
The Lord will come back some day. It will happen. He will dramatically intervene in the affairs of man, putting an end to the evil of this age. We are told to be constantly on the alert for His Return, even though we are clearly told that we will not know the day or the hour.
Matthew 24:36 (NASB) "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
Matthew 24:42-47 (NASB) 42 "Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. 43 "But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44 "For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. 45 "Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 "Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. 47 "Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
Matthew 24:48-51 (NASB) 48 "But if that evil slave says in his heart, 'My master is not coming for a long time,' 49 and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards;
50 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, 51 and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Notice that it is the attitude of an evil servant’s heart that says the Lord delays His coming.
There are many instructions (warnings) to be ready.
Luke 21:36 (NASB) 36 "But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man."
Revelation 3:10 (NASB) 10 'Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
Matthew 25:1-13 (NASB) 1 "Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
2 "Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent.
3 "For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,
4 but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps.
5 "Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep.
6 "But at midnight there was a shout, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.'
7 "Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.
8 "The foolish said to the prudent, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'
9 "But the prudent answered, 'No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.'
10 "And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut.
11 "Later the other virgins also came, saying, 'Lord, lord, open up for us.'
12 "But he answered, 'Truly I say to you, I do not know you.'
13 "Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.
Titus 2:13 (NASB) 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,
1 Peter 4:7 (NASB) 7 The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.
1 John 3:3 (NASB) 3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
Revelation 3:11 (NASB) 11 'I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown.
Revelation 16:15 (NASB) 15 ("Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.")
Revelation 22:7 (NASB) 7 "And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book."
Revelation 22:12 (NASB) 12 "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.
Revelation 22:20 (NASB) 20 He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
See also: Luke 12: 35-40, Ro. 8:23, 2Cor. 5:2, Gal. 5:5, Phil. 3:20-21, Heb. 9:28, James 5:7-9
Notice that scripture presents the Return of Christ for His Bride:
John 14:2-3 (NASB) 2 "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
3 "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
1 Corinthians 15:50-52 (NASB) 50 Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 (NASB) 13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
Revelation 19:7-10 (NASB) 7 “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.”
8 It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
9 Then he said* to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” And he said* to me, “These are true words of God.”
10 Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said* to me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
Notice that other scriptures depict the coming of Christ with His Bride (to the earth)
Revelation 19:11-16 (NASB)
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.
12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.
13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.
15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.
16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."
Jude 1:14-15 (NASB) 14 It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones,
15 to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."
Revelation 19:17-21 (NASB) 17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, "Come, assemble for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great." 19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.
20 And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. 21 And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.
Revelation 20:1-6 (NASB)
1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;
3 and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.
4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.
It seems to be an obvious conclusion that there is at least some time that transpires between the coming of Christ for His Bride when He meets the Bride in the air and the physical return of Christ to the earth with His bride to take authority. It may be only a second, but the two events are two separate events, with at least a short time frame between them. For pre-millennialists the question over the timing of the rapture can be boiled down to one of how long is the interval between the two events.
Those of a post tribulational rapture would assert that the two are basically simultaneous. Those of a mid-tribulational persuasion would say three and on-half years. Those of a pre-wrath rapture, which is similar to the mid-trib viewpoint would probably see the time frame as greater than simultaneous, but less than the three years of the mid-tribbers. The pre-tribulation rapture fold will see the time frame as seven years.
The point is that every pre-millennialist that I know of sees a rapture. We agree on much more than we disagree. But the question is important, though not essential for salvation. It is interesting to question whether or not you will be here for that horrible time called the great tribulation. Our attitude must be that if God so wills, so be it. Our brethren in the faith have almost always had to pay for their faith with their blood. We in America have had it easy compared to our ancestors in the faith and we have learned from their example that God is sufficient for every and all trials. To God be the glory regardless of our doctrinal perspective and how future events work out. Do not fall back even if you find yourself in the midst of the Great Tribulation. But, the question is “What does the Bible teach?’
The case in support of a pre-millennial, pre-tribulational rapture can be summarized as follows:
Ø The bible pointedly promises deliverance from this time of Great Tribulation:
Revelation 3:10 (NASB) 10 'Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. (See page on this scripture)
Luke 21:36 (NASB) 36 "But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”. (See page on this scripture)
Ø There are indications of the Church being in Heaven for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb during the Great Tribulation:
Matthew 25:1-13 (NASB)
1 "Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
2 "Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent.
3 "For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,
4 but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps.
5 "Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep.
6 "But at midnight there was a shout, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.'
7 "Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.
8 "The foolish said to the prudent, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'
9 "But the prudent answered, 'No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.'
10 "And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut.
11 "Later the other virgins also came, saying, 'Lord, lord, open up for us.'
12 "But he answered, 'Truly I say to you, I do not know you.'
13 "Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.
Ø The Return of our Lord is a blessed hope, not a fearful thing.
Titus 2:13 (NASB) 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,
Ø The bride has not been destined for wrath:
1 Thessalonians 1:10 (NASB) 10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.
1 Thessalonians 5:9 (NASB) 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
There are some who would point out the wonderful truth that the wrath that is pointed to in these verses is the wrath of eternal judgment. But the context of these two verses (The whole book of I. Thessalonians, and especially the context of 5:9 (read 4:13-5:11) strongly support the rescue is from the wrath of God outpoured in the Great Tribulation. The following scriptures emphasize the aspect of God’s wrath during the Tribulation.
Revelation 14:19 (NASB) 19 So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God.
Revelation 15:1 (NASB) 1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished.
Revelation 15:7 (NASB) 7 Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever.
Revelation 16:1 (NASB) 1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, "Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God."
Revelation 16:19 (NASB) 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.
Revelation 19:15 (NASB) 15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.
Ø The return of Christ for His Bride can occur at any time. The theological term is that it is imminent. The doctrinal statement of the Church in which I serve has the following in its doctrinal statement: “The second coming of the Lord is imminent, and will be personal, visible, and pre-millennial. This is the believer’s hope and is a vital truth which is an incentive to holy living and faithful service.” [New Covenant Church Statement of Faith # 11] That means that we are not awaiting any other event that must precede the rapture. (See below for a review of objections to this view.)
Refer to the above scriptures on “Instructions (warnings) to be ready
Ø The one who restrains the mystery of lawlessness must be removed in order for the fullness of that evil power to be removed. “He that restrains” is the Church. (See page on this portion of scripture for details)
2 Thessalonians 2:7 (NASB) 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.
Ø Daniel’s seventieth week is a time decreed for Daniel’s people, who are the Jews. See the discussion on the Times of the Gentiles and also Daniel’s 70yh week. This and a couple of references in the book of Revelation is where we get that the Tribulation period is seven years. The Tribulation is Jewish in nature and not part of the Church Age.
Daniel 9:24-27 (NASB) 24 "Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. 25 "So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 26 "Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. 27 "And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate."
Times of the Gentiles
Jesus spoke of the “times of the Gentiles” in Luke 21:24 and Paul spoke of “the fullness of the Gentiles”, in Romans 11:25. This is undoubtedly an important concept, and one which seems to be one which there was a previous basis for understanding of the terminology used. These scriptures, combined with Acts 1:7 and I Thessalonians 5:1, indicate that both Jesus and Paul understood the concept of “times and seasons”.
What is meant by this phrase “Gentile times”? The answer is found in the book of Daniel. The king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar was given a dream of which Daniel was given its meaning. Read Daniel chapter 2 for this story. Daniel himself was given dreams and visions from God concerning four great beasts coming up from the sea. Read chapter 7 of Daniel and Revelation 13:1-18. Both of these revelations concern the same thing: the times of the Gentiles.
The great statue is a prophetic picture of the great kingdoms of this world as they impact Daniel’s people, the nation Israel. It provides a prophetic picture (history written in advance) of the times of the Gentiles in the flow of the earth’s history. It can be seen as the role of Gentile Kingdoms on the highway of the history of the earth. It begins with the then (at the time of Daniel) current empire of Babylon and shows the emergence of three other kingdoms that impact the nation Israel as they move down their highway of history.
The end of the highway, as far as the nation Israel is concerned, was and still is the glory of the Kingdom of God manifested literally and physically on the face of the earth. This period of Gentile dominance over the nation Israel represents an interruption in their progress to their national destiny. In essence, the Babylonian captivity itself represented an interruption into the perfect will of God concerning Israel, as God’s chosen people. The seventy years of the captivity of Israel in Babylon was a result of their sin and was not necessary in the progress toward their destiny as the people chosen by God to be the channel of blessing for the whole world. In this case, their sin was that of not celebrating the Sabbath years of the land. (Daniel 9:2, Jeremiah 25:11 and II Chronicles 36:21)
Prior to the revelation given to Daniel, the instructed Jewish scholar would see a series of events progressing toward the fulfillment of the promised glory of God through the nation of Israel. Except for some warnings given for sin and disobedience, Gentile dominance over the nation Israel was not in the scheduled future of the nation Israel. God had, after all, given them covenants and promises which assured them of His unfailing plans for His chosen people. Some of these promises and covenants were of an unconditional nature. God, who could not lie would fulfill His plans for their people.
They were perfectly correct, at least in the eyes of those of us who are premillennial. Of course, those who are amillennial and those who hold to replacement theology will differ with their conclusions. They will tend to see the promises to Israel as being rendered null and void because of their rejection of Jesus Christ at His first advent. The premillennialist will agree that all the promises made to Israel will be fulfilled literally on this earth during the millennial reign of Christ on this earth. The covenant made with Abraham and with David will find their complete and ultimate fulfillment on this earth.
Try to put yourself in the place of a devout Jewish scholar just prior to the time of Daniel. You would be totally unprepared for the seventy weeks of years of Gentile dominion that prophesied about. This period of time would be seen as a total interruption to God’s revealed plan for the nation Israel. These seventy weeks of years were an interposition into the established schedule of expected events. Had not Isaiah the prophet clearly prophesied about a glorious Kingdom reign where God’s rule would be established and enforced in all the earth?
Someone has described prophets as those who look over the landscape of time and see a series of mountain peaks. The distance between those peaks are not clearly seen. They could honestly see the first and Second Advent as closely related in time and space, not seeing the hundreds of years which have separated the two events. May I suggest we look at this as a parenthesis? The schedule of events is going to continue on as planned, but after an unforeseen interruption. At least it was unforeseen in the revelation of God as given to the Jewish prophets.
Just as an aside, this opens up another can of theological questions. What would have happened if Israel had not sinned? Would the Kingdom been established without the Babylonian captivity? I do not pretend to know how God’s will and man’s choices work out in practice, but I am comfortable with the concept that God can know how something is going to work out without necessarily making it happen. I am also comfortable with the fact that God’s Word is totally true. It is completely true, but it is not exhaustive Truth; it does not contain all truth about everything, just the truth that God wants to reveal at that time to a specific group of people.
From God’s perspective the interposition of the times of the Gentiles into the schedule was not an unplanned interruption to His plan. Study Romans chapters 9-11. “O the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!” Romans 11:33. The revelation to Daniel represented a new look into the ways of God. I repeat, it was not new to God, but it was a new revelation given to Daniel. The bible, from Genesis to the book of the Revelation is a book of progressive revelation. God was constantly revealing more and more of Himself to His people. The written form of revelation stopped when the cannon of scripture was completed. Individual prophecy is not on the same level as the written Word of God. God still speaks, He still leads, but that is not to say that the process of written progressive revelation continues today. We do not need another modern book of the Bible to complete our required understanding of God.
We can now examine the Words of Jesus concerning the times of the Gentiles in the context of the understanding of His times. Be sure to go and read the statement in its complete context. Luke 21.24 says “and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” As long as God has temporarily set aside the nation Israel as the center of His work on this earth, Jerusalem will be under the dominance of Gentile nations. When Jehovah again claims Jerusalem and drives the Gentiles from His capital city, the times of the Gentiles will come to an end.
Now read the words of Paul in Romans 11:25. For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery-so that you will not be wise in your own estimation-that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved.”
Daniel saw a future (to him) time period when his people, the Jewish nation would be trampled underfoot of the Gentile nations. He saw this period to be seventy sevens (7+62+1). Daniel 9:25-26 tells of a period of seven weeks and sixty two weeks, and then the messiah will be cut off. He saw the period up to the cutting off of the Messiah, and then he saw one final week. Something happened between the sixty-ninth and seventieth week. Like the godly man just prior to the revelation of Daniel not seeing the interruption (parenthesis) that was the times of the Gentiles, Daniel did not see another intercalation into the schedule of the history of his people. There has already been almost 2000 years between the sixty-ninth and seventieth years of Daniels field of sight.
It is very important that we think about this. What was it that Daniel failed to see? What is this intercalation, this insertion into the history of the world? It is evident that Daniel would have expected the seventieth year or years to follow immediately after the sixty-ninth. This is a mystery, just as the times of the Gentiles were a mystery until it was revealed to Daniel. This mystery was revealed in its fullness to the apostle Paul. It was pointed to by Christ, but it was left to Paul to flesh it out.
Christ said, in Matthew 16:18 “...upon this rock I will build My Church; and the gates of hell will not overpower it”. Notice that He did not say I have built, but I will build. It is a future work.
Paul speaks of this revelation of the mystery in Ephesians 2:11- 3:11. Please read and study carefully. In 3:3 he says “that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery.”, and 3:6, “to be specific that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”
The point I am making is that there are two periods on interpositions injected into the history of His chosen people:
1. The time of the Gentiles
2. The Church age
Neither of these were clearly seen or adequately anticipated until they were given through revelation. A Biblical mystery is something that is not able to be seen unless God reveals it. There are several mysteries discussed and revealed in the Bible. Several mysteries are said to be mysteries and explained in the New Testament.
It appears evident beyond a reasonable doubt that human history is made up of the histories of three distinct groups: Jew, Gentile, and the Church of God. I Corinthians 10:31 speaks of this grouping when Paul say “Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks, or to the church of God.”
These groups have many similarities, and often proceed down the road together, but they are in fact separate and distinct entities. They each have a different beginning, a different history, and a different destiny in the plans and purposes of God.
With regard to their beginning:
Ø The Gentiles started in the Garden of Eden with Adam.
Ø The Jews started with Abraham
Ø The Church started at Pentecost
With regard to their histories:
Ø The history of Gentile dominions is revealed in the Bible mainly as their histories intersect with Israel.
o Egypt
o Assyria
o Babylon
o Medes and Persians
o Greece
o Rome
o The future Revived Roman Empire – the feet and toes of clay mixed with iron.
At the time of Daniel, two the Kingdoms dynasties had faded, Babylon was the current one, the others were all future. Today, all are historical except the last one, the Revived Roman Empire. The historic record of prophesies fulfilled literally is a great encouragement to those of us who are students of prophesy. The study of prophecies fulfilled is a great way to anticipate the future fulfillment of currently unfulfilled ones.
Ø The history of the Jews makes up most of the Bible.
Ø The history of the Church is revealed during the New Testament times, and the written Biblical record stops around 100 AD.
With regard to their purpose:
Ø Israel was a people prepared for the advent of the Messiah. They were specially chosen by God and are to be the people through which all the peoples of the world are to be blessed.
Ø The Church was to reveal His special grace and manifold wisdom to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places (Ephesians 3:10), and to make Israel jealous (Romans 11:11)
Ø The Gentiles appear to be raised up to demonstrate the sovereignty and power of God.
With regard to their destiny:
Ø Israel is to be the primary earthly vessel for the manifestation of the Kingdom of God in all the earth.
Ø The Church has a part in the destiny of Israel, but their promised destiny is of a more heavenly nature.
Ø The Gentile nations will share in the Kingdom glory, but in an apparently subservient role during the Millennium.
Note that while the elements of the three groups all have similarities. There are things related to each group which is different from the other groups. They are similar but separate.
Let’s look at a few other areas of distinction that may be instructional.
Worship:
Ø Israel could only worship at one place, through priesthood, at a distance and according to a rigid religious protocol.
Ø The church worships wherever two or three are gathered. We are the Priesthood, with a boldness to enter into the Holy Place and have much freedom of expression in styles of worship.
Ø The Gentiles are separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the world (Eph 2:12).
Rules of conduct:
Ø Israel was instructed to smite the other nations, extract an eye for an eye, and to stone rebellious children.
Ø The Church is instructed to love their enemies, turn the other cheek, bless those who curse them, and welcome the prodigal son back into the family.
Ø The Gentiles have sinned without the law and will perish without the law.
Relations to the land (the earth)
Ø God has promised Israel great blessings, with the major emphasis being earthly. Restored Israel will have her greatest earthly splendor and power during the future Kingdom.
Ø The Church has its citizenship in heaven.
The attempts to mingle Judaism with The Church have created many problems. This is not to say that much cannot be gained by the serious study of the Hebraic roots of our Christian faith. But scriptures interned for the Jews have been used to persuade the Church to emphasize physical and financial prosperity as the sign of God’s blessings. Individuals that were faithful in Israel were promised earthly blessings as a reward for their obedience. To them, persecution and defeat at the hands of their enemies was a sign of God’s disfavor. To the church, persecution is seen as a typical outcome of living our heavenly life on this earth. We are told to rejoice at being persecuted.
This misplaced emphasis has caused the Church to emphasize massive church building projects, great ritual, seek governmental power and create an ungodly division between “clergy” and “laity”. The true Church is called to be separated from the world and follow Jesus in His heavenly calling. May we, as part of the “one new man” begin to be a little more (or a lot) more heavenly minded as we pursue the high calling of Christ Jesus.
Daniel’s Seventieth Week
This prophecy has been the basis of much study by learned men. Many bible expositors follow this general guideline
“The translation of the Hebrew term for heptad, which means no more than a group of seven of anything, by the word weeks is misleading. In this instance history provides the interpretation, and, as will be seen, these are years rather than weeks.”
Lewis Sperry Chafer, “Systematic Theology”, Volume 4, page 338
The following is a quote from J. Vernon McGee - Thru The Bible with J. Vernon McGee.
“The starting point for this period of 490 years is essential to the correct understanding of the prophecy. Since this period is projected into the Times of the Gentiles, it must fit into secular history and originate from some date connected with the Times of the Gentiles. Of course there have been many suggestions for a starting point: the decree of Cyrus (see Ezra 1:1-4); the decree of Darius (see Ezra 6:1-12); the decree of Artaxerxes -- at the seventh year of his reign (Ezra 7:11-26); but I feel that the decree of Artaxerxes in the twentieth year of his reign (Neh. 2:1-8) meets the requirements of verse 25. The commandment to rebuild the city of Jerusalem was issued in the month Nisan 445 B.C. That, then, will be our starting point.
The first seven weeks of forty-nine years bring us to 397 B.C. and to Malachi and the end of the Old Testament. These were "troublous times," as witnessed by both Nehemiah and Malachi.
Sixty-two weeks, or 434 years, bring us to the Messiah. Sir Robert Anderson in his book, The Coming Prince, has worked out the time schedule. From the first of the month Nisan to the tenth of Nisan (April 6) A.D. 32, is 173,880 days. Dividing them according to the Jewish year of 360 days, he arrives at 483 years (69 sevens). On this day Jesus rode into Jerusalem, offering Himself for the first time, publicly and officially, as the Messiah.
After the 69 weeks, or 483 years, there is a time break. Between the sixty-ninth and Seventieth Week two events of utmost importance are to take place:
1. Messiah will be cut off. This was the crucifixion of Christ, the great mystery and truth of the gospel: "From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day" (Matt. 16:21). "That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:15).
2. Destruction of Jerusalem, which took place in A.D. 70, when Titus the Roman was the instrument.
The final "week" (the seventieth), a period of seven years, is projected into the future and does not follow chronologically the other sixty-nine. The time gap between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks is the age of grace -- unknown to the prophets (Eph. 3:1-12; 1Pet. 1:10-12). The Seventieth Week is eschatological; it is the final period and is yet unfulfilled.
"The prince" is a Roman; he is the "little horn" of Daniel 7; he is "the beast" of Revelation 13. After the church is removed from the earth, he will make a covenant with Israel. Israel will accept him as her Messiah, but in the midst of the "week" he will break his covenant by placing an image in the temple (Rev. 13). This is the abomination of desolation. What Israel thought to be the Millennium will turn out to be the Great Tribulation (Matt. 24:15-26). Only the coming of Christ can end this frightful period (Matt. 24:27-31).
My friend, you and I are living in the age of grace, and the Seventieth Week of Daniel, the Great Tribulation, as the Lord Jesus called it, is yet to take place.”
Thru The Bible with J. Vernon McGee.
Rev. 3:10
( a very important question of interpretation)
Revelation 3:10 in three translations:
(NASB) 10 'Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
(KJV) 10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
(Darby) 10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee out of the hour of trial, which is about to come upon the whole habitable world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
Read the verse the same way you would read any sentence and see what would be the normal understanding of the sentence. It clearly represents a promise of deliverance from the coming period (hour) of trial, temptation or testing which is going to afflict the inhabited world. This sounds like a easy conclusion to reach, but not everyone would agree. The approaches that agree with this reading include:
|
Position / Doctrinal Template |
Period of time of the deliverance |
|
|
|
|
Pre-millennial, pre-tribulational rapture folks |
Seven years – They generally (almost always see the Great Tribulation as being a seven year period of time) |
|
Pre-millennial, mid-tribulational rapture folks |
Three and one-half years, because they generally see that as the period of Great Tribulation. |
|
Pre-millennial, pre-wrath rapture folks |
A shorter period of time. They see the deliverance as being from the period of the wrath of God, which in their view is much shorter than the totality of the Great Tribulation. They see a large portion of the tribulation as man inflicting man, rather than God inflicting wrath. |
The discussion among these three groups that are similar in many ways, involves the length of time of the period that the deliverance involves. Note that they all see the verse as “a deliverance from, as in out of”. You may be asking “Why are you belaboring this point”? The reason is that many sincere, God-fearing people see it in a different manner. This group probably makes up numerically around one-half of the population of the visible church, if they hold the official view of their denominations. When this is the case, it is a time for thoughtful study and intercourse rather than arrogance. The templates that would tend to see from as though are:
|
Position / Doctrinal Template |
Period of time of the deliverance |
|
|
|
|
Amillennialists * |
No deliverance from, but rather a “keeping Through |
|
Pre-millennial, port tribulational rapture folks |
No deliverance from, but rather a “keeping Through |
Amillennialism: The Pocket Dictionary of theological terms defines as: “The belief that the thousand years mentioned in revelation 20 do not represent a specific period of time between Christ’s first and second comings. Many Amillennialists believe instead that the millennium refers to the heavenly reign of Christ and the departed saints during the Church Age. Amillennialists usually understand Revelation 20 to mean that the return of Christ will occur at the end of history and that the Church presently lives in the final era of history.
It has been said that the Greek word “ek”, which is translated “from” can mean through. This way of looking at it is necessary in order to be consistent with their template. The question is not one of opinion, but can we come to an understanding from the study of the scriptures themselves. I believe we can. How can a non-Greek scholar investigate such issues? Are we held captive to experts? I think not, though we have to dig deeply. But there is a way and I will attempt to apply it here.
---------------A good place to start is with Strong’s.------------------
Greek Strong's Number: 1537 Greek Word: ἐκ Transliteration: ek
Root: a primary preposition denoting origin (the point whence action or motion proceeds), from, out (of place, time, or cause, literal or figurative. Part of Speech: prep
Usage Notes:
English Words used in KJV:
of 366
from 181
out of 162
by 55
on 34
with 25
miscellaneous translations 98
[Total Count: 921]
or ex, ex; a primary preposition denoting origin (the point whence motion or action proceeds), from, out (of place, time or cause; literal or figurative; direct or remote) :- after, among, × are, at, betwixt (-yond), by (the means of), exceedingly, (+ abundantly above), for (-th), from (among, forth, up), + grudgingly, + heartily, × heavenly, × hereby, + very highly, in,...ly, (because, by reason) of, off (from), on, out among (from, of), over, since, × thenceforth, through, × unto, × vehemently, with (-out). Often used in composition, with the same general import; often of completion.
Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary.
--------------------------------------
According to the above, the word “ek” is used 921 times in the NT, and it almost always clearly means “out of”. It seems that the meaning of “out of” is clearly favored by the study of the original languages. If you run all the usages in the NT where “ek” is used, you may a very few that might indicate a “keeping through”. Without being dogmatic, it seems that the doctrinal template will influence a forced interpretation, instead of taking the generally used meaning. We can apply logic to the discussion that supports “kept out of”.
It is strange to me (and others also) that the very interpreters who, in one breadth say that the Church is promised to be kept through the Great Tribulation, immediately describe the horrific persecution and martyrdom as occurring during that very time period. It also difficult to reconcile a “keeping through” with other scriptures that teach that few, if any, believers will still be alive when Jesus comes in power and glory.
A few of the many instances of “ek”: Do they mean “out” or through?
Matthew 2:15 (KJV) 15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
Matthew 7:5 (KJV) 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
Matthew 15:19 (KJV) 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
Matthew 27:53 (KJV)
53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
Revelation 3:16 (KJV) 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Luke21:36 Escape
Luke 21:36 (KJV) 36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Greek Strong's Number: 1628 Greek Word: ἐκφεύγω Transliteration: ekpheugō
Vine's Words: Escape, Flee, Fled
Usage Notes: English Words used in KJV:
escape 5
flee 2
[Total Count: 7]
from <G1537> (ek) and <G5343> (pheugo); to flee out :- escape, flee.
Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary.
Lokk at the other times when ek pheugo is used
Romans 2:3-4 (KJV) 3 And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? 4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
Hebrews 2:3 (KJV) 3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
Hebrews 12:25 (KJV) 25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
Acts 16:27 (KJV) 27 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
Acts 19:16 (KJV) 16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
2 Corinthians 11:33 (KJV)
33 And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands.
1 Thessalonians 5:3 (KJV)
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
Objections to the Pre-Tribulational Rapture
For you brave souls which have waded through what you may think is needless detail, maybe the following discussion will indicate why it was necessary. Most of the objections to a pre-millennial, pre-tribulation rapture are base, in my opinion, on a failure to distinguish between things which are different regarding:
1. Israel and the Church
2. The Glorious Appearing when Jesus comes with His Church and the Rapture (catching away) when He comes to receive His Church to where He is.
Objections
· The Coming of the Lord cannot occur until the appearance of the anti-christ.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-7 (KJV) 1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
At first glance it might appear that this passage teaches that the rapture must be preceded by the revealing of the anti-christ. This is based on a mistaken interpretation of 2 Thess. 2:1-17, a mistake brought about by the failure to distinguish between the Glorious Appearing and our gathering together unto Him. Does the following refer to two events that are closely related, or is it a case of referring to the same event by the use of two different phrases?
|
Coming for His Saints |
Coming with His Saints |
Scriptures |
|
|
|
|
|
Our gathering together unto Him |
The Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ |
2 Thess. 2:1 |
|
Not proceeded by signs |
Many signs given in anticipation of the event |
I Thess. 5:4, Heb. 10:25, Mt 24:29-31 |
|
Israel Unchanged |
All her covenants fulfilled |
|
|
The Church removed |
The Church returns |
I Thess. 4:17, Jude 1:14-15, Rev. 19:14 |
|
The nations unchanged |
The nations judged |
Matthew 25:34-46 |
|
His coming unseen by the world |
His coming clearly visible to all the world |
|
There are many more scriptures to consider, but that becomes a major enterprise. Remember to ask the question as you read prophetic scriptures as to the event to which is being referred.
A case might be made that it is two phrases describing one event, but let us ask if there is any precedent for a person asking a question which described two events, even when they thought it was about one event?
Matthew 24:3 (NASB) As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"
These things refer to the destruction of the temple which happened in AD 70. That is definitely a separate event from the sign of His coming and maybe even separate from the end of the age.
The Glorious Coming (His Coming with His Saints) and the Rapture (the coming of Christ for His Saints) are two separate events, as has been shown previously. Now let’s go back to:
2 Thessalonians 2:6 (NASB) And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed.
Also note that there is something restraining the antichrist, the spirit of lawlessness, the lawless one. Who are what is it? Of the few powers that are powerful enough to restrain the power of Satan, there are only two suitable answers, though many have been proposed. The only two answers which seem to fit are:
1. The Holy Spirit
2. The Body of Christ
Notice the progression in this passage:
1. Paul identifies activities of the man of sin.
2. Doubtless Satan would hasten his activities if allowed.
3. The activities of the end await God’s appointed time.
4. So the plans of Satan are restrained.
5. The Restrainer restrains until he is taken out of the way,
6. The Restrainer is removed to allow a vast outpouring of evil as brought about by the unhindered release of the man of sin, whose wickedness and hatred of mankind is that of Satan himself.
7. There follows a few (blessedly shortened) years in which the earth suffers without the restraint of God in the government of God in this earth.
A somewhat long quote by Oswald Chambers, the author of “My Utmost for His Highest”, found in a book of his, “The Love of God.”, pg 27 seems very appropriate in the flow of this logic.
“At present He (God) is giving men opportunity to try every line they like in individual life as well as in the life of the nations at large. Some things have not been tried yet, and if God were to cut us off short we would say. ‘If You had left us a bit longer we could have realized our ideal of society and national life.’ God is allowing us to prove to the hilt that it cannot be done in any other way than Jesus Christ said; that is by a personal relationship to God through Jesus Christ, who is God and man – One. When sooner or later we come to the end of our tether, we hear Jesus Christ say: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit’ (Matthew 5:3)”
He goes on to explain that at a future time, after all the schemes of man apart from God has run its course, “The Love of God will become the great reality.”
Psalm 2:1-12 (NASB)
1 Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
3 "Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!"
4 He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them.
5 Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying,
6 "But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain."
7 "I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.
8 'Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.
9 'You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.' "
10 Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth.
11 Worship the Lord with reverence And rejoice with trembling.
12 Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!
The Restrainer is either The Holy Spirit, or The Church and either way the sequence is as follows:
1. The Church is removed by the rapture
2. The Antichrist is revealed
3. The tribulation happens
4. The Lord returns to establish His Kingdom.
So the conclusion is that the antichrist need not be revealed prior to the rapture of the Church. Again, the fact that the Lord can come back at any time precludes anything as having to be done prior to that event.
Matthew 24 teaches that the Lord comes after the Tribulation
This objection is easily answered when one understands that much of what Jesus Taught was concerning the Jew and the nation Israel. To an individual Jew who is saved and alive during the tribulation, there are certain and sure signs of the Lord‘s Coming to establish His Kingdom. It is always a good thing to distinguish when the Word of God is addressing the nation Israel or the Church.
