An Introduction to End Times.

Part 2 Daniel’s Prophecy (cont’d)

Will there be a positive outcome for Israel? – Section 2b

Yes! Of course. God has said so, initially in Ge 12:6-7*. Then again in Ge 13:14-17 He says  to Abram “Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west.  All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.  I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted.  Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.”

In Ge 17:19-22*, Ge 21:12* and Ge 35:9-13* God specifically confirms the lineage. Read also Ge 15:7-21, Ge 22:15-18, Ex 6:2-8, Jos 1:4-5, Is 11:11-16, Jer 23:5-8, Jer 30:3, and Jer 31:35-40 for further confirmation.

And, what is more – the land is His to give! See 2Chr 7:20 & Ps 24:1-2*.

So what does Da 9:26-27 mean?

To study this fully we need also to be aware of other prophecies in the book of Daniel. Of these there are many, but the ones that concern us here, since they relate closely to the area we are studying in Da 9:20-27 are:

Da 2:31-45* - Note the statue (v.31) then the change from the iron legs to the iron and clay feet in v.33 and the corresponding interpretation in vs.40 & 41, plus the explanation in v.42 onwards and;

Da 7:1-27* - Note the four beasts (vs.3-6) and then the change from the terrifying beast to the description that it was different with ten horns in v.7. Then the little horn which spoke boastfully and the fact that three of the first horns were uprooted before it, with the whole beast eventually being slain, in vs.8-11 (NB vs.9 & 10 are parenthetical and go with v.13). Note also the corresponding interpretation in vs.17 & 18, plus the expansion of this in vs.19-22. The explanation follows in vs.23-27.

In these two sections we have references to four parts of a statue and four beasts. These can both be compared to four major empires of the period. The gold head and the lion to Babylonia, the silver chest and arms and the bear to Medo-Persia, the bronze belly and thighs and the leopard to Greece, and the iron legs and the terrifying beast to the Roman empire.

But the areas we are concerned with are the 2000 year ‘church gap’ between the ‘iron legs’ and the ‘iron and clay feet’ in Da 2:33a and Da 2:33b, leading to the reference in Da 2:34 to the rock ‘not cut by human hands’ (ie. Jesus) smashing the feet and becoming a huge mountain (at his second coming). Similarly, in the interpretation of the dream, we notice the gap between Da 2:40 and Da 2:41 leading on to Da 2:44, the setting-up of God’s Kingdom that will never be destroyed.

And likewise the same 2000 year ‘church gap’ occurs between ‘… whatever was left.’ and ‘It was different …’ in Da 7:7, and also between Da 7:19 & 20 and Da 7:23 & 24. Also there is reference in Da 7:25 to ‘a time, times and half a time’, ie. 3½years, followed by ‘his power being taken away’ and sovereignty being handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High’ in Da 7:26-27.

In both these prophecies we see the ‘church gap’ occurring with the subsequent introduction of God’s kingdom after a period of tribulation.

The same sort of thing happens in Dan 9:26-27!

But in all these examples what/who is the strange new ‘It’ in ‘It was different’ in Da 7:7, and the ‘little one (a horn)’ in Da 7:8, and ‘the other horn’ in Da 7:20, and the ‘another king’ in Da 7:24 and the ‘He’ & ‘him’ in Da 7:25, and the ‘his’ in Da 7:26 and the ‘He’ at the beginning of Da 9:27? These are, I believe, all references to the new ‘Roman’ (or European) empire that will emerge at the end of the Church Age and its leader, the ‘antichrist’, as he is known to us! (The term ‘antichrist’ first appears in 1Jn 2:18*).

End notes for ready reference:

Ge 12:6-7

^{Ge 12:6} Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 

^{Ge 12:7} The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

Ge 17:19-22

^{Ge 17:19} Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 

^{Ge 17:20} And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 

^{Ge 17:21} But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” 

^{Ge 17:22} When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

Ge 21:12

^{Ge 21:12} But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.

Ge 35:9-13

^{Ge 35:9} After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. 

^{Ge 35:10} God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel. ’” So he named him Israel.

^{Ge 35:11} And God said to him, “I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from your body. 

^{Ge 35:12} The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.” 

^{Ge 35:13} Then God went up from him at the place where he had talked with him.

Ps 24:1-2

^{Ps 24:1} The earth is the LORD'S, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;

^{Ps 24:2} for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.

Da 2:31-45

^{Da 2:31} “You looked, O king, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 

^{Da 2:32} The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 

^{Da 2:33} its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 

^{Da 2:34} While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 

^{Da 2:35} Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

^{Da 2:36} “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. 

^{Da 2:37} You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; 

^{Da 2:38} in your hands he has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.

^{Da 2:39} “After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 

^{Da 2:40} Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. 

^{Da 2:41} Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. 

^{Da 2:42} As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 

^{Da 2:43} And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.

^{Da 2:44} “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. 

^{Da 2:45} This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. “The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy.”

Da 7:1-27

^{Da 7:1} In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying on his bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream.

^{Da 7:2} Daniel said: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. 

^{Da 7:3} Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea.

^{Da 7:4} “The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a man, and the heart of a man was given to it.

^{Da 7:5} “And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’

^{Da 7:6} “After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule.

^{Da 7:7} “After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.

^{Da 7:8} “While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth that spoke boastfully.

^{Da 7:9} “As I looked, “thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze.

^{Da 7:10} A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.

^{Da 7:11} “Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. 

^{Da 7:12} (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.)

^{Da 7:13} “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 

^{Da 7:14} He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

^{Da 7:15} “I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit, and the visions that passed through my mind disturbed me. 

^{Da 7:16} I approached one of those standing there and asked him the true meaning of all this. “So he told me and gave me the interpretation of these things: 

^{Da 7:17} ‘The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth. 

^{Da 7:18} But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever—yes, for ever and ever.’

^{Da 7:19} “Then I wanted to know the true meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others and most terrifying, with its iron teeth and bronze claws—the beast that crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. 

^{Da 7:20} I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and about the other horn that came up, before which three of them fell—the horn that looked more imposing than the others and that had eyes and a mouth that spoke boastfully. 

^{Da 7:21} As I watched, this horn was waging war against the saints and defeating them, 

^{Da 7:22} until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom.

^{Da 7:23} “He gave me this explanation: ‘The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it. 

^{Da 7:24} The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings. 

^{Da 7:25} He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time.

^{Da 7:26} “ ‘But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. 

^{Da 7:27} Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.’

1Jn 2:18

^{1Jn 2:18} Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.

Next time: Present Signs and the Rapture

An Introduction to End Times.

Part 2 Daniel’s Prophecy

The Church Age. – Section 2a

We have already mentioned the ‘Tribulation’ and touched on the ‘Church Age’. A third name we will come across in due course is the ‘Rapture’, but we will deal with that later.

To put these happenings and the rest of end times into perspective we really need to look at the overall timetable of events which can be called ‘God’s Prophetic Calendar’. (See diagram above). For this we need to start at the time of King Artaxerxes I of Babylon.

In the year 445 BC the cupbearer to this king, a Jewish exile named Nehemiah, found himself talking to the king, in Susa (near the present Basra), about the walls of Jerusalem – some 700 miles from Susa – which were still in disrepair following the sacking of Jerusalem some 90 years earlier, when the city had been taken by the Babylonians. The story is told in the book of Nehemiah, mainly in chapter 2. (See Ne 2:1-8*)

This episode within the book of Nehemiah forms part of a prophecy within the book of Daniel, chapter 9. In this chapter Daniel describes how he was praying to God about the due return of the Jews to their homeland, which had been prophesied by Jeremiah (Jer 25:11-12)*. While he is praying the Archangel Gabriel came to him as follows:

The Seventy “Sevens”

^{Da 9:20} While I [Daniel] was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the LORD my God for his holy hill— 

^{Da 9:21} while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. 

^{Da 9:22} He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. 

^{Da 9:23} As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision:

^{Da 9:24} “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.

^{Da 9:25} “Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem (see Ne 2:1-8) until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. 

^{Da 9:26} After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 

^{Da 9:27} He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.’”

So what does this message tell us?

The ‘issuing of the decree’ to restore Jerusalem is taken by many to have been in the year 445 BC, as mentioned in Da 9:25 above, but scholars are divided on this point. Some take an alternative date of 458 BC and some use a slightly different calculation from then on, but the end result we are seeking is more or less the same whichever route you use.

When God speaks of ‘sevens’ (sometimes referred to as ‘weeks’), it is widely taken, as in this example, that he is actually meaning 7 years (Greek = Heptads), and in the times we are talking of here (in the Old Testament) a year was reckoned as 360 days.

For the illustration here, I will use the common method of reckoning as follows. Starting from 445 BC the first seven ‘sevens’, which would account for 49 years, takes us to 396 BC (or maybe 397 BC if we count in our ‘present day’ years of say 365.25 days per year!). This ties in with our reckoning of the completion of the rebuilding of Jerusalem.

The second time period of sixty-two ‘sevens’, referred to in Da 9:26, which equates to (62x7) 434 years, plus the first 49 years, takes us up to 38 or 39 AD (depending whether we count a year zero between BC and AD or not) (ie. 434+49 = 483 years altogether). However, if we reckon the total number of days (483x360) in years of say 365.25 days each we come to 31 or 32 AD. What happened about then? Well surely this would tie in with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, or when ‘the Anointed One’ was ‘cut off’, as Da 9:26 puts it.

Since then however (ie. when Jesus was crucified), practically 2000 years have gone by. So have we reached the end of the overall prophecy? Have we gone through the third time period of one ‘seven’, ie. the seventieth ‘week’, or final 7 years, of the prophecy in Daniel?

Well, the answer has to be ‘No!’, for we surely have not yet attained ‘putting an end to sin’ etc. as stated in Da 9:24. Anything but!! Also we have certainly not reached the end days envisioned by Isaiah, Daniel and David in Is 2:2-4*, Da 7:13-14*, and Ps 72:1-4*.

Furthermore we have not reached even, the events of Da 9:27, where a certain ruler (now known to us as the ‘antichrist’ - see section 1b) ‘will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing  of the temple  he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.’

But, Da 9:24 tells us that ‘Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for Daniel’s people (Israel) and his holy city (Jerusalem) to finish transgressions, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy (the Temple?)’.

So, what has happened?

This now re-introduces the concept of the ‘Church Age’ or ‘the Church Gap’, which has so far lasted around 2000 years and which was mentioned earlier in Part 1(section 1b). This period started at Pentecost, in AD 33, the year of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and is still running at where we are now, in the early part of the 2000’s. As stated in Part 1 it essentially covers the period of the non-existence of Israel. You could say that God’s clock stopped at the crucifixion and will start again, sometime after the re-emergence and establishment of Israel as a nation in 1948 (in fact at the time of the ‘Rapture’ - see Part 3, later). This ‘Church Age’ is a period of time that was ‘not seen’ by the Old Testament prophets. It was hidden by God as it were. In fact, the ‘Church’ itself is not mentioned in the Bible until Mt 16:18 when Jesus declares “On this rock I will build my church”. There are many instances of this same church gap appearing in the Old Testament, ie. references in the Bible where descriptions of events suddenly jump from what we know has happened in the Old Testament, to what has not yet occurred, and what must therefore still be in the future. Examples of this can perhaps be seen, for instance, between: Isa 40:3 and 40:4*, and Mal 3:1 and 3:2* with even more striking examples appearing in Daniel, some of which we will come to later.

So, it seems possible that God’ clock has stopped at the end of Daniel’s 69^th week, so to speak, and that for the last 2000 years Israel has been going through a second ‘Babylonian type’ experience. Why? Well, since the time of King David the Jews have been falling out of favour with God, again and again, culminating in the rejection and murder of His Son in AD 33. The steps God would take in such an event are described in Leviticus 26* and Deuteronomy 28*.

Jesus explains the situation in a prophetic parable in Matthew (also in Mark & Luke). See Mt 21:33-46*.

End notes for ready reference:

Ne 2:1-8

^{Ne 2:1} In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before; 

^{Ne 2:2} so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.” I was very much afraid, 

^{Ne 2:3} but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”

^{Ne 2:4} The king said to me, “What is it you want?” Then I prayed to the God of heaven, 

^{Ne 2:5} and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it.”

^{Ne 2:6} Then the king , with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.

^{Ne 2:7} I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? 

^{Ne 2:8} And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests. 

Jer 25:11-12

^{Jer 25:11} This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

^{Jer 25:12} “But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt,” declares the LORD, “and will make it desolate forever.

Is 2:2-4

^{Isa 2:2} In the last days the mountain of the LORD’S temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.

^{Isa 2:3} 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. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths. “ The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

^{Isa 2:4} He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.

Dan 7:13-14

^{Da 7:13} “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 

^{Da 7:14} He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

Ps 72:1-4

^{Ps 72:1} Endow the king with your justice, O God, the royal son with your righteousness.

^{Ps 72:2} He will judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice.

^{Ps 72:3} The mountains will bring prosperity to the people, the hills the fruit of righteousness.

^{Ps 72:4} He will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; he will crush the oppressor

Is 40:3-4

^{Isa 40:3} A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.

^{Isa 40:4} Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.

Mal 3:1-2

^{Mal 3:1} “See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty.

^{Mal 3:2} But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.

Lev 26:27-35

^{Lev 26:27} “ ‘If in spite of this you still do not listen to me but continue to be hostile toward me, 

^{Lev 26:28} then in my anger I will be hostile toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over. 

^{Lev 26:29} You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters. 

^{Lev 26:30} I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars and pile your dead bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols, and I will abhor you. 

^{Lev 26:31} I will turn your cities into ruins and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings. 

^{Lev 26:32} I will lay waste the land, so that your enemies who live there will be appalled. 

^{Lev 26:33} I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins. 

^{Lev 26:34} Then the land will enjoy its sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate and you are in the country of your enemies; then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. 

^{Lev 26:35} All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest it did not have during the sabbaths you lived in it.

Deut 28:61-66

^{Dt 28:61} The LORD will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed. 

^{Dt 28:62} You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the LORD your God. 

^{Dt 28:63} Just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.

^{Dt 28:64} Then the LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. 

^{Dt 28:65} Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. 

^{Dt 28:66} You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life.

Mt 21:33-46

^{Mt 21:33} “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. 

^{Mt 21:34} When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.

^{Mt 21:35} “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 

^{Mt 21:36} Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 

^{Mt 21:37} Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

^{Mt 21:38} “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ 

^{Mt 21:39} So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

^{Mt 21:40} “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

^{Mt 21:41} “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

^{Mt 21:42} Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “ ‘The stone  the   builders

rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’ ?

^{Mt 21:43} “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and give to

a people who will produce its fruit.

^{Mt 21:44} He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be

crushed.”

^{Mt 21:45} When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was

talking about them. 

^{Mt 21:46} They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.

Next time: Will there be a positive outcome for Israel?

An Introduction to End Times.

Part 1 Introduction (cont’d)

So what will happen? – Section 1b

Now, most people who deal with the Bible know that the book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament, is a prophetic book. This is indeed true, but there are many other places in the Bible also dealing with the future and we should draw on these as well to create the best picture we can. I say ‘the best picture we can’ because the Bible doesn’t tell us everything. But it tells us a lot. No doubt God has his reasons for not revealing everything to us and perhaps one of them might be that our finite minds could not possibly take in all that the future will bring when one day we are faced with the infinite!

Perhaps things are getting clearer?

The world has, also, grown up over the centuries with the idea that the book of Revelation and some of the other prophecies in the Bible are unfathomable, which indeed they may be; but perhaps they are becoming less unfathomable as the years go by. Times have now moved on. For instance, the advent of nuclear and biological weaponry, and nuclear power (compared to the days when we didn’t even have gunpowder!) have brought some of the huge and horrific conflagrations (military and otherwise) that we read of in Revelation into a realistic, even current, realm.

With the advent of radio and TV, and the wider perspective these media bring we are now much more aware of worldly events and global politics – indeed, not so long ago we didn’t even have global politics! Also, events which at one time, could only be imagined in surreal terms, can now be perceived as actual earthly possibilities.

For instance, in one verse of Revelation it talks of two dead bodies, in one particular place, being seen by the whole world, over a period of a few days (Rev 11:8-10). Imagine the incomprehensibility of such a hideous and wide-scale viewing, even being possible, to our forefathers. Now we see such things almost every day on BBC News 24!

But, should we be looking?

But, is it right for us to look into the future? Should we allow ourselves to be concerned about what will come, didn’t Jesus say that even he did not know ‘the day or the hour’ of these events? (Mt 24:36). True, but in the same passage he also said “Therefore keep watch, …” (Mt 24:42), and “So you also must be ready …” (Mt 24:44), both referring to his return. Later on Jesus again exhorts us to “… keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.” (Mt 25:13).

Another very important reason for staying aware is expressed by Jesus in Revelation 1:3, “Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.” Doesn’t that inspire you to look further into the prophecies? To read, and re-read them. I think so, and, to keep looking at the prophecies afresh!

Possibly a good place to start is Matthew chapter 24. Read all of it. This passage is a master outline of end times and it is especially significant because it comes from Jesus himself (parallel passages can be found in Mark 13 and Luke 21). Here Jesus starts off with a prophecy about the Temple in Jerusalem and continues with a long prophecy about end times.

Before going into the whole prophecy the first thing to note is that the prediction about the Temple (Mt 24:2) was fulfilled precisely in AD 70 when the Romans destroyed it completely. Even Jesus’ words “… not one stone here will be left on another …” came true. The Romans, in their eagerness to recover any gold remaining from the Temple roof, turned over all the stones, one by one, to look for it.

The ‘Church Age’.

The prophecy then moves forward some 2000 years passing over most of the period sometimes referred to as the ‘Church Age’ (see Part 2, later), during which time Israel ceased to exist as a nation  – AD 134 to AD 1948 (cf. Deut 28:61-66). Since 1948 Israel has been reforming and Jews have been returning to their homeland. In many ways the prophecy has now started to come back into operation (cf. Amos 9:11-15). There are many signs in the wind and closer inspection of the scriptures will reveal them extensively, but Matthew 24 itself gives us an indication.

After his prophecy about the Temple, Jesus moves on in verses 4 to 8 of Matthew 24 to talk about “… the beginning of birth-pains.” Included here are references to “Nation will rise against nation …” and “There will be famines and earthquakes in various places”. Surely we have been seeing such events increase dramatically over the last 50 years or so?

I believe that verses 9 to 13 of Matthew 24 go on to describe the first half of the Tribulation period (see next paragraph) which is yet to come. The phrases “… you (Christians) will be hated by all nations because of me …” and “Because of the increase of wickedness the love of most (people) will grow cold …” are surely not too far fetched to be imagined.

The Tribulation.

 ‘The Tribulation’, is the seven years of great turmoil and suffering that we understand will precede the 2^nd coming of the Lord.

The word ‘Tribulation’ itself is not mentioned in the Bible until Revelation 7:14, but reference to the period concerned is first mentioned in Jeremiah 30:7 ‘It will be a time of trouble for Jacob (Israel)’. Isaiah in 61:2 refers to it as ‘the day of vengeance of our God’. Certainly it will be a time when the world experiences God’s wrath. Jesus himself makes reference to it in Matthew 24:21 “For then there will be great distress, unequalled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equalled again”. The tribulation, and reference to its length of seven years, is also spoken of in Daniel 9:27.

At verse 15 of Matthew 24 we see the ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ mentioned (also found in Daniel 9:27b) when the antichrist, as he is known, declares himself to be God. However, throughout the Tribulation God takes, and continues to take, unprecedented steps (see in particular, Rev. chapters 7, 11, and 14) to see that ‘the gospel is preached in the whole world’ (Mt 24:14).

Nevertheless persecution becomes even worse and Jesus warns his followers, to flee immediately, ‘without even going back to fetch your cloak!’ (Mt 24:18) and ‘How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!’ (Mt 24:19).

The Second Coming.

There will be plenty of opportunity for deception about Jesus’ coming, but in the end there will be no doubt “… the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light … the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky …” (Mt 24:29-30).

Jesus then stresses the importance of developing an awareness, even early on, of the signs to come, and keeping watch, and being ready, for the timing of all this is unknown – but it will be when we least expect it. Meanwhile his servants must continue to look after his household and not abuse his absence (Mt 24:36-51).

If you are still in doubt that all these events will actually take place then we have Jesus’ personal assurance, expressed in Luke 24:44 “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms”.

Remember that this statement was made before the New Testament was written. Had it been, then, for good measure, I am sure it would have been included in this list as well.

We have to choose.

The whole purpose of the Tribulation surely, is to make man finally choose between Satan and God, and to bring judgement on unbelievers and unbelieving Israel. For thousands of years God has given people the free choice of worshiping him or rejecting him. Now before taking those who belong to him into his new kingdom he needs to finalise matters. Before that however, Jesus will return to reign over all the earth for a transition period of a thousand years, which maybe is not so far away. ‘Soon’ (Rev 22:7,12,20) is the word Jesus uses! This will be the ‘Millennium’, the thousand years referred to in Revelation 20:2-7.

However, before that happens the Bible shows that there will be a tremendous polarisation in world affairs. We have to accept that things are not just going to continue in the present apparently aimless way. The crunch is coming, and it is coming soon, in the form of major supernatural activity and divine intervention.

There are some ferocious times ahead, but it is not beyond our capabilities, based on what the Bible tells us, to find out a lot more about them. In the three parts which follow I have tried to express the likely turn of future events in accordance with the ‘best picture’ I believe that can be made out from the Bible. There is, of course, plenty of room for variation in the detail of this picture. However, the essential point to realise, is that whatever actually takes place, it will fit exactly with the prophecies we find in the Bible, and that furthermore, there will most certainly be an end! (see Eph 1:9-10, 1Pe 1:5, 2Pe 3:10, Mt 24:35, Mk 13:31 and Lk 21:32)

Will you and I have to live through such testing times in this world? – Or, even something far worse in the next? Well, that could depend on how freely and how soon we come to accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour.

Jesus said to his disciples “I will not leave you as orphans…” (Jn 14:18), “I will come back and take you to be with me…” (Jn 14:3). Will YOU be joining him?

Next time: Daniel’s Prophecy