(Continued from Part 1.)
Daniel 12
6 “How long will it be before these astonishing things are fulfilled?”
7 The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for a time, times and half a time.[b] When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.”
8 I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?”
9 He replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are rolled up and sealed until the time of the end. 10 Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.
11 “From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. 12 Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days.
13 “As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.”
How do we know that we Really have to go through the Tribulation?
Trust me, I wish I could prove that the “Pre-Tribulational Rapture” is true.
But… It is not what the Bible says, and it does not follow the principles of Bible history.
Examples:
Noah. He had to build an Ark to escape the flood. Took him and his family 120 years to carry out that. THAT is a lot of Work.
Joseph built storehouses to hold all the grain during the 7 years of plenty to save the world during the 7 years of famine.
Exodus – The Hebrews dwelled in the land of Egypt during the 10 plagues. They were untouched but lived Through it.
Also, look at this scripture from Isaiah 26. It says here to Hide in your Homes until God’s Wrath passes by.
Isaiah 26 – Hide from God’s Wrath
19 But your dead will live, Lord;
their bodies will rise—
let those who dwell in the dust
wake up and shout for joy—
your dew is like the dew of the morning;
the earth will give birth to her dead.
20 Go, my people, enter your rooms
and shut the doors behind you;
hide yourselves for a little while
until his wrath has passed by.
21 See, the Lord is coming out of his dwelling
to punish the people of the earth for their sins.
The earth will disclose the blood shed on it;
the earth will conceal its slain no longer.
Isaiah 26: 19-21
This scripture is a Hidden Gem nestled deep in the book of Isaiah. It is talking about End Times (not some other event…) It discusses Resurrection, Hiding and the Lord’s Wrath at the end of the Age. Note the Word – Hide until is passes.
It does not say “Don’t worry about God’s wrath, cause He’s gonna rapture you!”
No… It says “Hide. Shut the Doors for a little while.”
People who teach a pretribulation rapture seem to ignore just how much the Bible gives us to warn us and to prepare us. Jesus’s words in Matthew 24 can not be summarized as “Don’t worry about what is going to happen, because I’m going to rapture you before it gets bad.” What he say is…. “When you see the Abomination that causes desolation”.
Also, looks at these exhortations from Paul and Peter. None of this sounds like we get a ‘free pass to heaven’.
2 Timothy 3
But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
2 Peter 3 – The Day of the Lord
3 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.
3 Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
2 Thessalonians 2 – The Man of Lawlessness
2 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness[a] is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
5 Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
1 Thessalonians 4 – Believers Who Have Died
13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
What we see in the scriptures is also something that makes us feel like we are very close to the beginning of the Tribulation. Scoffers are scoffing. Lawlessness. Rebellion. Itching ears hearing what they want to hear.
The Great Falling Away
I am convinced that the source of the Great Falling Away (of ‘believers’) is because things happen that they didn’t expect or prepare for.
They want Prosperity. They want to be Raptured.
When it doesn’t happen, when terrible times DO come they will doubt the Lord, they will rebel, they will fall away.
They will say “Why would a Good God allow this?!?” and shake their fist to heaven.
I don’t want to be one of those people. I want to have my heart aligned to the Real God. Even if I don’t like his plan of Tribulation… I don’t like it. I don’t want to go through it. I want what we all want. Rapture! Heaven! Whoo Hoo!!
But God…
Has a Plan.
He set it in motion Eons ago.
The Bible says “As for God… His Way is Perfect”
Job says “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”
We need to have our hearts aligned to who God says He is as it is written in the Bible.
The God of the Bible says Difficult Times will come.
Our answer should be, our prayer should be. “Okay. Lord… Help me to be wise and faithful. Help me to not harden my heart toward you. Help me to prepare. Not to save my life, but to lose it. To you. For you. Lord, I would like to be one of those standing on the earth on the day that you return. With my head and heart lifted up to heaven. With my last breath, seeking your face.”
So, we prepare. Our hearts first. Submitting that He is Lord. Regardless of the outcome or the troubled path into eternity.
We also prepare practically. Because according to the Bible, once a man or woman of God submits to His Authority. There is a Task. A Mission.
How much time do we have to prepare for the Trouble to Come?
Let’s look at what scripture says still has to come. However, I put in this caveat. We (here in the United States) don’t know what OUR world will look like when the End Times events (that are to happen in the Middle East / Israel) will occur. What I mean is it is possible that while Ezekiel 38/39 Daniel 11 events are going on, the USA could be ‘out of the picture’. Fallen / Knocked out. So, with that said we need to be diligent because we may not even know what events are going on in the Middle East once they happen because we could be ‘out of the game’. EMP knocking out all power and we’ll be so busy here just surviving that we wouldn’t even know that the Antichrist has or has not arrived. Or even ‘when’ the Tribulation is ‘officially kicked off’ and we ‘start’ the 7-year countdown. “Our” Tribulation could be 10+ years so to speak…
So, let’s look at The Big Event that will come (All Nations Rise Against Israel)
There are Stages to it. First a War between the King of the North and the King of the South. Let’s read scripture and then I’ll give my thoughts on who, what and when.
Read Daniel 11 and Ezekiel 38 & 39 again. I would post it here, but for brevity sake, I’ll trust you to take your own look.
Here is my interpretation of these passages when looking at current world events and leaders:
King of the North
I (and scholars that I respect) have been watching the changes in Turkey for several years now. Turkey / Erdogan is a plausible candidate for ‘King of the North’ as described in Daniel 11.
Throw in Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Pakistan into a ‘Ten Nation Alliance’ with King of the North and you are getting close to the 10 Nations in alliance with the King of the North as described in scripture.
The King of the South is in that light – likely Saudi Arabia (along with Egypt and some of the smaller nations UAE, Bahrain, etc..) which forms the Southern King’s Alliance.
The King of the North attacks the King of the South and then eventually — Once the Southern Alliance is defeated (forced to surrender), … All nations go against Israel as described in Matthew 24 and Luke 21. Battle of Armageddon
Keep in mind that Before this War between North and South, and then against Israel, the Bible states that there will be a Peace Treaty with Israel for a time. Which may be coming soon.
So in that light… It seems this current War now happening in Israel is just a prelude to the bigger war / end of the world war to come. Look first for a peace treaty to come out of this current war. Then…. The King of the North will develop and eventually launch his plan as Daniel 11 describes.
The King of the North is now very clear with his allegiance as shown in latest quotes in new reports (see links below Fox / Breitbart). Although a NATO ‘member’, He / Turkey is with Hamas (i.e.. the elimination of Israel and the Jews).
Note – there is a lot of ‘back and forth’ in Daniel 11. It appears to me that the first few verses have already happened – Rise of Ottoman Empire (headed up by Turkey in Istanbul) for almost 1000 years until it’s downfall during WWI (1918) when the Ottoman Empire was defeated and divided into ‘new countries’ – Modern Turkey, Iraq, Palestine/Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Iran, etc….
These verses 5-6 also seem to have already occurred. The King of the South (Saudi Arabia) is the new power that has grown strong in the past 100 years. Exceeding the North (Turkey) for power, wealth and influence. The King of the North is now jealous because the South was once just a conglomeration of desert tribes and meant nothing to the Ottoman Empire for all of history (till now) due to Oil discovery. The only value to the Ottomans was because Mecca and Medina were and are located in modern day Saudi Arabia. The Turks ruled all of Ottoman (from North to South) for centuries, and they want to rule again.
5 “Then the king of the South will grow strong, along with one of his princes who will gain ascendancy over him and obtain dominion; his domain will be a great dominion indeed. 6 After some years they will form an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the South will come to the king of the North to carry out a peaceful arrangement. But she will not retain her position of power, nor will he remain with his – Daniel 11:5-6
Armageddon is on the Horizon (shown in Ezekiel 38/39 and Daniel 11). Now also look at Zechariah 12
As we draw closer to end time events, I believe the light of scripture will make more and more sense to us if we are searching for it.
Jesus tells us to be prepared. That means many things. Including understanding (or at least trying to understand) the times we are in, what the events happening may mean, and what (if anything) we should be doing about it. Jesus does give us a number of answers regarding being prepared. Here is one of them Matthew 24:45-46
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: 45-46
Summary of the Eschatology
We will go through The Great Tribulation
It is happening soon (Be a Watchman and Blow your Trumpet)
Due to some prophesied events that still need to happen, we have some time to still prepare.
In Part 3, I will describe developing a Prepper Plan. (To become the Wise and Faithful Servant.)
(To be concluded tomorrow, in Part 3.)