tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68721277465462205252024-03-13T10:15:56.394-07:00What on Earth will happen next?No, you're not imagining it. There really has been an increasingly rapid growth in the frequency and violence of natural phenomena in recent years.
You could be excused for wondering if the events presage anything ominous. Read on and find out more in this series of approximately 14 fortnightly blogs.John Puddicombehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954423036482193958noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872127746546220525.post-57591048428832258072012-03-19T02:00:00.003-07:002012-03-19T02:00:01.033-07:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 20pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">An Introduction to End Times.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Part 4 The Tribulation and On (cont’d)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">End Notes – Section 4g<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">Postscript<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">I am certain that the actual events of the end times will not be entirely as I have suggested here. There will be many differences, major and minor. However, the whole purpose of these four parts of ‘What on Earth will happen Next?’ is not to try to second guess God. Perish the thought. No, my aim, and I hope I have succeeded somewhat, is to awaken you to the reality and certainty of some of the events to come and to show you how they might impact this earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Whatever I may have got right or wrong is as nothing compared to your realisation that such things <u>will</u> happen and that they will culminate in the return of our Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">So, do not lose the faith. Keep alert. Watch for the signs and do not fall short. For surely, as our Lord has said in Rev 22:7 “Behold I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book”.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">End Notes:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><u><span style="font-size: 11pt;">a. The believers rewards:<o:p></o:p></span></u></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Rev 22:12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">(1) The Victor’s Crown.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Given to those who overcome the flesh <span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>1Cor 9:25-27</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">(2) The soul-winner’s Crown.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Given to those who win the lost at any cost<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>1Thess 2:19</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">(3) The Crown of Glory<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Given to faithful Pastors and Teachers<span style="mso-tab-count: 4;"> </span>1Pet 5:2-4</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">(4) The Crown of Righteousness<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Given to those who live their lives in expectation of the Rapture </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">2Tim 4:8</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">(5) The Crown of Life<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Given to those believers who successfully overcome temptation, tests, trials and persecutions for the gospel’s sake<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Jas 1:12, Rev 2:10</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">(6) The Crown of Gold<span style="mso-tab-count: 6;"> </span>Rev 4:4</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">(7) The Overcomer’s inheritance<span style="mso-tab-count: 4;"> </span>Rev 2 & 3</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><u><span style="font-size: 11pt;">b. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Babylon</st1:city></st1:place>:<o:p></o:p></span></u></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">(Taken from Unger’s Bible Handbook)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Babylon</st1:city></st1:place> of chapter 18 of Revelation is the Satanic world system in its godless commercial and economic aspects. This system honeycombs all phases of life of unregenerate mankind organised as a system under Satan. Chapter 17 of Revelation highlights the religious aspects of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Babylon</st1:city></st1:place>, but its ramifications are cultural, scientific, educational and governmental as well. The Satanic world system of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Babylon</st1:city></st1:place> is mentioned in more than 30 NT passages. Satan is directing its head (Jn 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; 1Jn 5:19; Rev 2:13). The system is pronounced by God as wholly evil (Gal 1:4; <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">Col</st1:state></st1:place> 1:13; 2Pet 2:20; Jas 4:4; 1Jn 4:3). It is shown to be limited and temporary (1Jn 4:4), as Rev 17-18 proves. It is doomed to destruction at Christ’s second advent (1 Jn 2:17; Rev 17-18; 19:11-16; 20:1-3) It is characterised by greed, pride and war (Jas 4:1-4), and is a perpetual snare to God’s people (1 Jn 2:16; Rev 18:4-5).<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><u><span style="font-size: 11pt;">c. The Millennium:<o:p></o:p></span></u></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">So, at the start of this significant period, Jesus’ millennial reign, let’s try to get some idea of who we believe will be there. First of all there will be the normal human beings we mentioned in the last paragraph of chapter 19 as described in Zec 14:4-5 and Rev 12:6. Then there will be believers who died naturally during the Tribulation, together with the martyrs of the same period (Rev 6:9-11) plus the NT saints from between the time of Jesus and the beginning of the Tribulation, ie. those believers who have died over the last 2000 years plus those still living, all of whom have been raptured. And, last but not least, if Job 19:25-27 is anything to go by, all the OT believers as seen in Rev 4:4. All these people will be in their resurrection bodies of course otherwise they could not operate on earth. No doubt this list can in no way be considered authoritative or complete because who are we to imagine that we might even hazard a guess at who might be there? Jesus is Lord; he is the king of kings and everything is in his domain. This list however might just begin to indicate what a disparate group it could be.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Furthermore, whether or not some unbelievers go through to the Millennium (the one thousand years of Christ’s rule) such as, those who perhaps lived in remote areas, surviving off the land, and did not actually receive the ‘mark of the beast’ is not certain. Views are divided on this (see Rev 13:16 and Heb 9:28 and the concept of instantaneous death revealed in Acts 5:1-11).<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">In addition to this possibility it seems likely that children actually born within the Millennium, even those born to believers, will still have to decide for themselves as to whether or not they accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, even though they are living under his rule! Thus one way or another it seems that we should expect to see unbelievers on the earth during that era.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The essence of this fascinating period is summed up in some extracts from the Bible itself, and whilst an analysis of all this is more than worthwhile, it is, of course, a study on its own:<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt;">Isa 2:1-4<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning <st1:country-region w:st="on">Judah</st1:country-region> and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:city></st1:place>: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">In the last days the mountain of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD'S </span>temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD</span>, 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 <st1:city w:st="on">Zion</st1:city>, the word of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD </span>from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:city></st1:place>. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt;">Isa 11:1-12<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The Spirit of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD </span>will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD</span>— and he will delight in the fear of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD</span>. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD </span>as the waters cover the sea. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from <st1:country-region w:st="on">Cush</st1:country-region>, from <st1:country-region w:st="on">Elam</st1:country-region>, from <st1:place w:st="on">Babylonia</st1:place>, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of <st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region>; he will assemble the scattered people of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Judah</st1:country-region></st1:place> from the four quarters of the earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt;">Amos 9:11-15<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">“In that day I will restore David’s fallen tent. I will repair its broken places, restore its ruins, and build it as it used to be, so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name,” declares the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD</span>, who will do these things. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">“The days are coming,” declares the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD</span>, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">“when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">I will bring back my exiled people <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region></st1:place>; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">I will plant <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region></st1:place> in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD </span>your God.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt;">Luke 19:17-19<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">“ ‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">“The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.’ </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">“His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.’<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt;">Acts 15:16-18<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">“ ‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things’ that have been known for ages.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none; text-align: right;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">John Puddicombe<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none; text-align: right;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Copyright © December 2009<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: windowtext; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-font-kerning: 1.0pt;">The End<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>John Puddicombehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954423036482193958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872127746546220525.post-84533254037352250802012-03-05T02:00:00.003-08:002012-03-05T02:00:04.437-08:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 20pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">An Introduction to End Times.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Part 4 The Tribulation and On (cont’d)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">The Millennial Kingdom – Section 4f<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">Revelation Chapter 19</span></b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">In verses 1 to 5 we have the rejoicing in heaven at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Babylon</st1:city></st1:place>’s fall followed by the announcement of the wedding of the Lamb in verses 6 to 10. Those called to the wedding supper (v.9) include friends as well as the bride (the church). Friends include OT saints, Abraham through to John the Baptist (see Jn 3:29), and Tribulation martyrs. John is so overwhelmed by this scene (v.10) that he wants to worship the angel!<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">In verses 11 to 16 we see the armies of heaven (saints, martyrs and angels) accompanying Jesus (Faithful and True) to earth. His name is ‘The Word of God’ (v.13) and as such he has the right to come and rule the earth as God and Creator-Redeemer (Jn 1:1,3,14; Eph 1:13-14; Rev 5:1-7). The battle of Armageddon ensues. <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Initially, in verses 17 to 19 the forces of the East (c. 200 million) have been fighting against those of the Antichrist (c. 100 million) (see Rev 16:12-14) but then both sides turn against the Lord, to their downfall.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Verse 20. The Antichrist and the false prophet are thrown alive into the fiery lake and, in verse 21, at a word from the Lord, all those, world-wide, bearing the ‘mark of the beast’, die.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The Lord has returned, as he always said he would and after 2000 years of leaving his increasing number of followers to subdue the earth he, Jesus, finally arrives to take control and complete the task.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">At this point it is probably useful to remind ourselves of what Zechariah chapter 14 says about this event. Please read it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">Revelation Chapter 20<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">As we move into the Millennium the first thing to note, from verses 1 to 3, is that Satan is not yet eradicated. He is cast into the Abyss until later. Jesus has plans for him.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Verses 4 to 6 now tell us who John saw in his vision and we note that he does not mention the mortals who survive the Tribulation as described above and in Zec 14:4-5 and Rev 12:6. It would seem that the essential difference is that John, in this vision, is seeing only spiritual beings, although they would now be with the Lord on earth in their resurrection bodies.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Those who were given authority to judge sat on thrones (cf. 1Cor 6:2-3) and they would reign with Christ for 1000 years. According to Matthew 25:31-46 this would also be the time when the nations are judged. (For a further discussion on who might actually be present in the Millennium and how it might operate please see End Note c) – to follow in the next section.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">From verses 7 to 10 we see that at the end of the millennium Satan is released and allowed to entice all those who truly still do not believe in Christ, and gather them for a final showdown around <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:city></st1:place>. Needless to say, they do not survive.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">In verse 11 to 15 the spiritually dead are confirmed by the non-appearance of their names in the ‘book of life’, and then the degree of their punishment is determined according to the record of their lives. In any case they are thrown into the lake of fire for ever (Isa 33:14, Isa 66:24, Mk 9:48, Jude 7). Death (holding the body) and Hades (holding the soul) are no more. (Jn 5:24-27).<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">Revelation Chapter 21<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">In verse 1 God reveals his new heaven and earth, and the earth as we know it has gone (see 2Pet 3:10).<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">In verses 2 to 5 we read that everything will always be new as God comes to earth to live permanently with his sinless people, those made perfect through Jesus, in the new heaven and earth. Death and pain and distress are no more. The former things will pass away. Verses 6 to 8 go on to confirm that God is the Beginning and the End and that all who overcome (see 1John 5:4-5) will inherit all this and drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. On the other hand the place for those who do not, will be in the fiery lake of burning sulphur.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Verses 9 to 11 give us a glimpse of the New Jerusalem. The description is breathtaking. Note its size; 1500 miles long, wide and high – about the size of a cube occupying all of <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>! The outlook is glorious for those who have been faithful to the Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">Revelation Chapter 22<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">In verses 1 to 6 we have a description of life in the New Jerusalem and in verses 7 to 21 we get the essential final message to keep this whole prophecy alive and not seal it up, for the time is near.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Next time: End Notes<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>John Puddicombehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954423036482193958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872127746546220525.post-79362667822628693532012-02-20T02:00:00.004-08:002012-02-20T02:00:08.346-08:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 20pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">An Introduction to End Times.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Part 4 The Tribulation and On (cont’d)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Features of the Great Tribulation – Section 4e<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">Revelation Chapter 14<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">In this chapter we envision, perhaps from a spiritual point of view some of the activities that we will see during the closing of the Great Tribulation.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">In verses 1 to 5 we see the 144,000 Jews, now in heaven, who were sealed (at the beginning of chapter 7) to evangelise for the Lord. Other believers have already moved to the desert (Rev 12:6). These particular workers must have suffered tremendously during their activities and they are now worthy of a special new song which only they can sing.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">In verses 6 and 7 we see a proclamation of the eternal nature of the Gospel and in verse 8 anticipation of the fall of Babylon (see chapter 17) – the satanic world system.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">In verses 9 to 11 we are reminded that the most severe and eternal punishment will be meted out to those who freely co-operate with the antichrist. But, on the other hand, in verses 12 and 13 we are assured that the supreme testing of those who keep to God’s ways during those days will not go unrecognised.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Verses 14 to 20 perhaps provide a heavenly pre-view of the final harvest of believers by Jesus at Armageddon (through the agency of angels, see Mt 13:39-43). There is now no further opportunity of salvation for anyone. The rejects are trampled in the wine-press of God’s wrath (Joel 3:13).<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">Revelation Chapters 15 and 16<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><i><span style="font-size: 11pt;">In these chapters we see the last woe</span></i><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> and fulfilment of chapter 14. <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Chapter 15</span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">: in verse 1 we see the seven last plagues, held by the seven angels, which represent the final fury of God that will be cast from the golden bowls onto the earth.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">In verses 2 to 4 we catch a glimpse of the martyrs from the Tribulation (as in Rev 14:14-16) standing outside of the tumult that some of them have only recently emerged from, with maybe also, others, such as those referred to in Rev 6:9. The song they are singing is redolent of the song of Moses sung by the Israelites after the successful crossing of the red sea (Ex 15). <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">In verses 5 to 8 the seven angels are handed seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Chapter 16</span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">: in verses 1 to 21 the angels release natural calamities (<i>the third and last woe</i>) from the seven bowls onto the earth. These grim judgements <i>(Bowls one to four)</i> fall upon all those remaining.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">vs. 10-11 <i>(Bowl five)</i> – the antichrist and his kingdom suffer.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">vs. 12-14 <i>(Bowl six)</i> – God opens the way for the armies (of unbelievers) from the East to join battle against Jesus at Armageddon.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">v. 13 ‘3 frogs’ represent the ‘satanic trinity’.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">vs. 17-21 <i>(Bowl seven)</i> – This final judgement (see also the earlier notes at chapter 8 verse 1) and the hugh earthquakes literally prepare <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:city></st1:place> and the world for the millennium. Mountains and valleys are reformed – especially around <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:city></st1:place> (Zec 14:4-5).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">At this time, Jewish believers who have come to Christ during the Great Tribulation (ie. since the time of the escape of the others to the desert in Rev 12:6), are led to safety through the resultant valley of Zec 14:4-5.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">Revelation Chapter 17</span></b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">In this chapter an angel shows John the plight of the great prostitute – the false religion. This is a consensus of corrupt religions brought together by the Antichrist during the first half of the Tribulation. Even today attempts are being made to encourage the formation of a single ‘world religion’ or ‘faith’.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Verses 1 to 6 illustrate the need that the Antichrist and the false religion have for each other during the early Tribulation but eventually the Antichrist wins out. In verses 7 to 14 the allusions flow thick and fast. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Seven hills of Rome</st1:city></st1:place>? Five ancient kingdoms (Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, Medo-Persia, Greece) have already fallen, Rome, at the time Revelation was penned, already is, and, following the ‘church age’ (see Part 2, section 2a), the new Rome of the Antichrist is yet to come? Ten countries of the EU?<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Eventually in verses 15 to 18 the Antichrist deifies himself, as we know, at the beginning of the Great Tribulation (see Dan 9:27) and turns away from the religious mix.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">Revelation Chapter 18<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">We now see the downfall of ‘The System’ of the Antichrist, his political and economic ‘Babylon’ (see End Note b, to follow in section 4g). In verses 1 to 3 an angel announces this and reflects on all who have been involved with her. In verses 4 to 8 God calls his people out and declares her annihilation.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Then the tears of all those who shared in her ways and Babylon’s own final destruction are described in verses 9 to 24.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Next time: The Millennial Kingdom</span></b></div>John Puddicombehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954423036482193958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872127746546220525.post-26180680458700572102012-02-06T02:00:00.000-08:002012-02-06T02:00:01.094-08:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 20pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">An Introduction to End Times.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Part 4 The Tribulation and On (cont’d)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Approach of the Great Tribulation – Section 4d<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">Revelation Chapter 10<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">In this chapter we see, at a time that maybe still within the first half of the tribulation an angel, possibly symbolising Jesus, holding another (little) scroll. ‘The seven thunders’? – who knows? – only Jesus. But there will certainly be no more delay (to the second half of the Tribulation? – the first half now being in the process of completion).<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Verse 7. With the seventh trumpet the mystery of God will be accomplished. This mystery (a previously hidden truth) would appear to be the whole theme of the little scroll (See also Rev 11:15, Dan 9:24 and Eph 1:9-10)<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Verses 8 to 11. This same scroll seems to contain a prophecy which John must digest (cf. Eze 3:1). Sweet because it is the word of God (Ps 19:10), yet bitter for the pain it foretells. But right now John must issue yet more of this prophecy.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">Revelation Chapter 11<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Verses 1 and 2 could indicate that we are now moving into the second 3½ years, ie. the second half of the Tribulation – the Great Tribulation – with the measuring (preservation) of true believers and abandonment of others. Throughout the first half of the Tribulation martyred believers have been slain as in Rev 6:9-11. Now, at the start of the Great Tribulation, according to Daniel 12:1, all new true believers – ‘everyone whose name is found written in the book’ – ie. those ‘saved’ in the first half of the tribulation and still alive, are transported by God to a safe place in the desert as described in Rev 12:6. Closer examination of the scriptures suggest it is not unreasonable to suppose that this refuge could be <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Petra</st1:city></st1:place>. (See below for Chapter 12 v. 6)<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The events outlined in Daniel 9:27b and Matthew 24:15-16 are about to unfold.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Verses 3 to 6 introduce God’s two witnesses who will prophecy for 3 ½<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>years. Don’t mess with them, they have power! – Who are they, well probably not actually Moses and Elijah themselves, but similar. Although there are no traceable corpses or graves for either of these two ancient prophets (Moses or Elijah) they must be well established in their resurrection bodies by now and presumably, in such case, could not be killed (v.7). No, but it seems that these two new witnesses certainly have the same attributes and powers as their forerunners. (Further reading around: Lk 9:28-31; 2Ki 2:1-11; and Deut 34:5-6.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Verses 7 to 10. Finally these two witnesses are overcome by the beast – the Antichrist (see 2Thess 2:3-4) – his heart now overwhelmingly filled by Satan, and their bodies lie in the streets of a corrupted <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:city></st1:place> for 3½ days. Not so long ago, say before the twentieth century, it would have seemed impossible that their bodies could have been viewed by ‘every people, tribe, and nation’, but now, thanks to TV, we see this sort of thing almost every day on BBC News 24! This reminds us that Revelation is a book that needs to be continually reviewed in the light of technical, as well as political, changes in our lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">In verses 11 to 14 however, we see that God makes his point. There is a severe earthquake and seven thousand of their enemies are killed, with the survivors thoroughly shaken but giving glory to God. <i>The second woe is over, the third will follow soon.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><i><u><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Trumpet seven.<o:p></o:p></span></u></i></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">With verses 15 to 18 the last trumpet is sounded and we see through glimpses into heaven that the end of the Great Tribulation is in sight (see the earlier notes at chapter 8 verse 1). In verse 19 we see the ark and are thus assured of God’ ultimate salvation for his people from all that has gone before.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">Revelation Chapters 12 and 13</span></b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">In these two chapters we have a parenthetical re-look at the characters involved so far and the spiritual interplay of their activities throughout history.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Chapter 12</span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> shows us the story of the woman ‘Israel’ (see Isa 54:1 and Hosea) and verses 1 to 4 show how Satan (the red dragon) has pursued her all her life, even from the time of Genesis 3:15, in the knowledge that his nemesis would be through her son (Jesus). In verse 5 the son is revealed – note the ‘iron sceptre’ (see Ps 2:8-9 and Rev 19:15). Note also, that between this verse and the next (v.6) there is room for the ‘church age’ (see Part 2 – Section 2a).<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">In verse 6 God transports Christian Jews to safety (in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Petra</st1:city></st1:place>? – a ‘place prepared’, also in v.14 below) as described above for Chapter 11 vs. 1 and 2. (see also Jer 30:7, Dan 11:41, and Mt 24:16)<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Verses 7 to 14. During the Tribulation Satan (the dragon) is hurled to earth by the archangel Michael and loses the freedom of his realm in the second heaven. He vents his fury on <st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region> (through the Antichrist) but God’s eagle wings see her (<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region></st1:place>) to safety (as in v. 6 above).<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Verses 15 to 17 describe how the antichrist’s pursuing forces chase after <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region></st1:place>, towards the desert, but earthquakes swallow them up. The dragon then goes after any remnants (or very recently converted Christian Jews) left in the land.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Chapter 13</span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> reveals the strength of the Antichrist (the beast) and verses 1 to 10 describe his career and how he has emerged to his position at the start of the Great Tribulation empowered by Satan now on earth. (This from a revived Roman Empire (the EU?), see Part 2 – Section 2b and also Dan 7:7-8, 19-28, Rev 12:12, 17:3, 7-14.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Verses 11 to 15 introduce us to the false prophet, a henchman to the Antichrist (the beast) and third member of this satanic counterfeit trinity headed by Satan. He performs miracles in order to deceive and sets up an image in honour of the beast (see Dan 9:27).<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">In verses 16 and 17 we now move into what I regard as a very recognisable, and frighteningly real possibility. We have already had talk in our media of a ‘cashless’ society and how convenient this might be. Think about it. We already use debit and credit cards, almost without thinking about it – it is an accepted norm in our lives. We already know that the government would like us to have ID cards. Let’s imagine that the government decide to utilise our bank cards as a forerunner of an ID card, or combine it with a dedicated ID card and then, with a little coercion, persuade us to accept the resultant device in the form of a ‘chip’, which is inserted under the skin at the back of the hand, or forehead, <i>‘in order to cut down the possibility of accidental loss or fraud’</i>, or some other pretext. Well you’re there, aren’t you? (Remember that all this will <u>not</u> be experienced by existing believers, because of the Rapture, but non-believers will be subject to it.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Just move on a bit, and, if as an extension to the same scheme we are persuaded to actually change to a ‘cashless’ society, then all who receive such a card or chip would be under complete control, in that it would then be quite easy for the controlling powers to <i>limit the right of any individual or individuals to purchase anything, including food.</i> It makes me shudder.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Quite the significance of verse 18, and what ‘666’ is, we have yet to find out. The number six in itself, of course, can signify man’s falling short of God’s perfection – ‘7’, but surely a more specific meaning of ‘666’ will reveal itself in due course?<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Next time: Features of the Great Tribulation<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>John Puddicombehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954423036482193958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872127746546220525.post-44698440417640224112012-01-23T02:00:00.000-08:002012-01-23T02:00:11.357-08:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 20pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">An Introduction to End Times.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Part 4 The Tribulation and On (cont’d)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Continuing Evangelism – Section 4c<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">Revelation Chapter 7<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">This chapter could be a parenthetical section illustrating God’s continuing desire to draw people to Himself, even through these troubled times.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Angels are told to hold back the earthly disasters of Chapter 6 pending the sealing of special evangelists from twelve tribes of Israel. God would not want to leave a spiritual vacuum on the earth and, without the presence there of the Holy Spirit (per 2Thess 2:7) or the Church, God’s ‘salvation’ would not be presented to the world. Thus 144,000 Jews are ‘sealed’ by God to spread the word. Incidentally note the absence, from the list, of Ephraim and Dan (cf. Num 13:4-15). See also 1Ki 12:25-30.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Verses 9 to 17 describe those who have been ‘saved’ by the special evangelising force so far during the Tribulation. Their white robes show them to be ‘cleansed’ by the blood of Jesus. But, note, unlike Christians from the Rapture or earlier they do not sit on thrones or get rewards (‘thrones’ entitle them to sit in judgement as opposed to only reigning (cf. 1Cor 6:2-3, Rev 20:4), ‘crowns’ are symbolic of ‘rewards’, see End Note (a), yet to come. However verses 16 and 17 suggest that they are well cared for after what they must have been through at the hands of the Antichrist.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">Revelation Chapter 8</span></b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><i><u><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Seal seven.</span></u></i><u><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">I see verse 1 as a continuation from chapter 7 (remember, the division of the bible into chapters was not part of its original structure) and possibly representational of the Millennium (Rev 20) when Jesus rules on the earth ‘with a rod of iron’ (Ps 2:9; Rev 12:5; 19:15). Surely this would be a time when ‘God in heaven’ could take a break!<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">This would tie in with the broadly held view that the seventh seal, the seventh trumpet and the seventh bowl (both see later) all describe one and the same event, but seen from different viewpoints, or in different ways, all depicting the completion of God’s judgements upon the earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Others however, perhaps more wisely, see this silence as a precursor to even greater coming judgement following the opening of the seventh seal, perhaps with God, meanwhile, in his infinite patience, just waiting – in case any ‘last minute’ believers should come forward!<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">I believe the section from verse 2 of chapter 8 to the end of chapter 9 (verse 9:21) to be a continuation of God’s judgements as we work through the first six trumpets.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Verses 3 – 5. This priestly role has been interpreted in many ways, including that of being taken to represent our great high priest, Jesus, himself, fulfilling his role as our intercessor and offering the prayers of all the saints to the Father.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><i><u><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Trumpets one, two, three and four.<o:p></o:p></span></u></i></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Verses 7 to 12 can be seen as divine action taken against the earth in the form of fire, food and other shortages, poor water supply, and darkness, as we move through the first four trumpets. This is followed in verse 13 by a warning of three woes to come.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">Revelation Chapter 9<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><i><u><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Trumpet five.<o:p></o:p></span></u></i></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Verses 1 to 11. An angel comes to earth and is allowed to release demons (‘given a key’ – by God) who were specifically told to torture, not kill, ‘unsealed’ (unsaved) humans for five months; as opposed to harming earthly matter or introducing natural calamities. Think of this as a ‘carrot and stick’ approach, by God, to bring souls into the Kingdom – and the ‘stick’ is getting harder! (See also Lk 8:31, 2Pet 2:4; and Jude 6).<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">I am reminded of Hebrews 10:26-31. </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">‘</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.’<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><i><u><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Trumpet six.<o:p></o:p></span></u></i></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Verses 12 to 21. <i>The first woe is over.</i> At the sound of the sixth trumpet a voice commanded that the four angels bound at the great river <st1:place w:st="on">Euphrates</st1:place> be let loose.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">These four angels, loosed now during the first half of the tribulation, have been held for just this occasion. They in turn release a force of 200 million troops from the east across the <st1:place w:st="on">Euphrates</st1:place>. They kill a third of – (the remainder of?) – mankind. In which case, this combined with the killings in Rev 6:8 now equals half the population of the world as we know it, ie. three and a half out of seven billion dead through major tragedy. This is just the early stages, the run-up, to the battle of Armageddon. Can you imagine it? <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The passage now covered in verses 17 to 19 is in the terminology of the time of John, but, in present day vision, could be representational of tanks, guns, flame-throwers and other weapons of atomic warfare. <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">In verses 20 and 21 we see that even with all this happening, there is such hardness of heart that people still fail to repent, or even recognise, their situation!<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Next time: Approach of the Great Tribulation<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>John Puddicombehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954423036482193958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872127746546220525.post-61942787295051600802012-01-09T02:00:00.000-08:002012-01-09T02:00:11.534-08:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 20pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">An Introduction to End Times.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Part 4 The Tribulation and On (cont’d)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">The Church in Heaven – Section 4b<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">Revelation Chapter 4 – The Church and Holy Spirit in Heaven.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">From this point on (as you will recall from the note on Rev 3:22 in Part 3) there is no<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>contemporaneous reference to ‘the church’ in the Bible (the exception being in Rev 22:16). Immediately we can infer that the church, as we know it, is ‘no more’. In fact it has joined Jesus in heaven and all believers are now in their resurrection bodies (see 1Cor 15:52).<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">This view is strengthened by the reference in Rev 4:4 to the twenty-four elders. These elders, we can understand, represent all believers from the Old and New testaments, as indicated by the reference to their being dressed ‘in white’, signifying that they have been saved by the blood of Jesus. Furthermore they are wearing ‘crowns’. From various references in the bible you will see that ‘crowns’ are rewards given by Jesus (see End Note a). Incidentally these elders have to have been humans – angels have never held office, nor have they ever received ‘crowns’. I believe these twenty-four represent the twelve tribes of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region></st1:place> and the twelve apostles in their resurrection bodies.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">We also see in v.5 the ‘seven spirits (or the sevenfold spirit) of God signifying the presence of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">Revelation Chapter 5<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">This chapter introduces the sealed scroll and the search for someone worthy enough to open it. That person of course, is our Lord and in opening the seals he proves his right to the ownership of the world and sets about his full recovery of it from Satan. We are at the beginning of the 7 year Tribulation. Verses 9, 12, and 13 glorify the moment with respectively the ‘song of the saints’ (you purchased men for God), the ‘song of the angels’, and the ‘song of all creatures’.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">Revelation Chapter 6</span></b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><i><u><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Seal one.<o:p></o:p></span></u></i></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Here we begin the start of the first 3½ years of the Tribulation as described in Daniel 9:27 and elsewhere. Verse 2 describes the entry of the antichrist onto the world scene. Make no mistake, this is not a picture of Jesus. Jesus in scripture never went around with a bow (without arrows) and our Lord wears many crowns (Rev 19:12), not just one. This is a pretender, and the whole situation ties in with 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Incidentally the absence of arrows is seen by some as indicating that although he is a man of war, bent on conquest, the Antichrist’s approach to a position of power in the world will, initially at least, be by diplomacy not force.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><i><u><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Seal two.<o:p></o:p></span></u></i></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Verses 3 and 4 symbolise warfare and could readily depict a future invasion of <st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region> by <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Russia</st1:country-region></st1:place>, say, and other nations as described in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><i><u><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Seal three.<o:p></o:p></span></u></i></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Verse 5 suggests wide-ranging famine especially affecting the poor or underprivileged. Verse 6 adds the connotation that for those ‘in the know’ or having sufficient wealth, shortages will not be a problem and that within certain classes of the population luxury foodstuffs will still be available. Incidentally, ‘Do not damage the oil and the wine’ (v.6), could signify that God will protect those who believe in Him (these commodities are used in making sacrifices to God).<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><i><u><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Seal four.<o:p></o:p></span></u></i></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Verses 7 and 8 seem to depict the resultant deaths of all this warfare, amounting to a fourth of all the earth and presumably precedes the ‘third of mankind’ killed by the plagues in Rev 9:18. With the current population of the world approaching 7 billion, a fourth amounts to some 1.75 billion.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><i><u><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Seal five.<o:p></o:p></span></u></i></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Verses 9 to 11 reveal the martyrs who have died so far during the tribulation; ‘slain … because of the testimony they had maintained.’ They are given white robes (signifying their redemption) and told to wait a little longer (perhaps through the Great Tribulation?) until those yet to die likewise, have joined them.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><i><u><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Seal six.</span></u></i><u><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The terrible natural disasters described in verses 12 to 14, according to some, depict the wholesale breakdown of law and order prior to the Great Tribulation. However, the wording itself: </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">‘</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.’ </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">is reminiscent of Eze 38:19-20, Isa 13:10, Joel 3:15 et al, all depicting the actual time of the Day of the Lord. Furthermore the same wording is surely taken from Jesus’ own quotation of Isaiah (Isa 13:10, and 34:4) in Mt 24:29, which is followed, in Mt 24:30, by the words: </span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">‘At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky …’</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">, thus indicating that it is relating to the actual Second Coming which is at the end of the Great Tribulation.</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Verses 15 to 17 indicate that at that time those who have hitherto rejected God will finally recognise their predicament, if not their error.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Next time: Continuing Evangelism<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>John Puddicombehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954423036482193958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872127746546220525.post-29542150946097016002011-12-26T02:00:00.000-08:002011-12-26T02:00:08.301-08:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 20pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">An Introduction to End Times.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Part 4 The Tribulation and On<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="font-size: 16pt;">The Seven Churches – Section 4a<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">A working hypothesis.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">As we move forward from the Rapture we will be following, mainly, the book of Revelation. By the very nature of its symbolism it is impossible for us to deduce a fact for fact interpretation from the text of this particular book. Indeed, commentators on the book, even modern commentators, vary enormously in their interpretations and in no way could I even pretend to have any better insight. Accordingly therefore, I would prefer to set the following before you as a working hypothesis of God’s prophecy, which hopefully could provide a sufficiently credible framework on which to base any further examination.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">What I have written here, and in the three earlier parts, is based on previous studies and revelations by many others but, above all, I am indebted to the teachings of just a precious few who have inspired my initial enthusiasm for ‘end times’, and taught me so much.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">We have reached the Rapture, as we saw at the end of the previous section, in line with 1Thessalonians 4:15-17, and </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">2Thessalonians 2:7 together with John 14:16-18 and Ephesians 1:13-14. The Church and the Holy Spirit are now in heaven with Jesus, and the antichrist has the world to himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The antichrist, we believe is someone associated with power in Europe (because of the connection with Rome from Daniel 2:40-41 and Daniel 9:27 – see Part 2), who will be further empowered by Satan, as we shall see.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">When we say that the Holy Spirit has left the earth we are talking of his presence as we know it today. Today his omnipresent power and support is available to all believers because it is through the Holy Spirit that we believers have each been given the full power of Christ to call on (see Ephesians 1:3-23). However, although the Holy Spirit has by then, left the earth, God is still in charge and without doubt can deploy him at any time for special mission as He did in Old Testament times.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">To continue our essay directly on from the previous session, ‘the Rapture’, we would need to go straight to chapter 4 of the book of Revelation. However, before doing this let’s quickly go to the start of the book of Revelation to remind ourselves of the beginning of this important book.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">Revelation Chapters 1 to 3.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Revelation, as we know, was penned by John on <st1:place w:st="on">Patmos</st1:place> at the dictation of an angel, sent by Jesus, in order to announce God’s plan for the world. In this respect take special note of Rev 1:3. We are not dealing here with something that can be glossed over or taken lightly. God means us to note it, and note it well!<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">In these opening chapters we have greetings and the letters of Jesus to the seven churches. ‘Seven’ equates to the completeness and perfection of God. But why these seven?<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">They are, of course, the seven churches John knew but in addition some see these seven as being representative of many different but coterminous church congregations throughout the then future church history.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Others however, see these churches as being representative, successively, within the whole ‘Church Age’ that was due to come (ie. from Acts to the Rapture). It has been suggested by writers and commentators that the representations could be identified as being say:<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Ephesus</span></st1:city></st1:place><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> – the <i>loveless</i> church for the period 33 to 100 AD,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Smyrna</span></st1:city></st1:place><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> – the <i>persecuted</i> church for the period 100 to 312 AD,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Pergamum</span></st1:city></st1:place><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> – the <i>worldly</i> church for the period 312 to 590 AD,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Thyatira – the <i>paganised</i> church for the period 590 to 1517 AD,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Sardis</span></st1:city></st1:place><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> – the <i>lifeless</i> church for the period 1517 to 1750 AD,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Philadelphia</span></st1:city></st1:place><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> – the <i>missionary</i> church for the period 1750 to 1905 AD, and</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Laodicea</span></st1:city></st1:place><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> – the <i>lukewarm</i> church for the period 1905 to the beginning of the Tribulation.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">In hindsight these epithets seem apt enough, we need dig no further now. We can move on to what is in store when the ‘Church Age’ ends; believers are Raptured, and the remaining population of the world moves into the Tribulation.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Next time: The Church in Heaven<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>John Puddicombehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954423036482193958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872127746546220525.post-64683716714331155052011-12-12T02:00:00.000-08:002011-12-12T02:00:04.440-08:00<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 20pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">An Introduction to End Times.</span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 18pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Part 3 Present Signs and the Rapture (cont’d)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The Rapture – Section 3c<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span lang="EN" style="color: red; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The next event – the Rapture.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Now we move on from the signs we are seeing to what we expect to be ‘the next event’ – the ‘Rapture’.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">This actual name does not appear in the Bible and the event itself is not well documented there either, in fact you have to look with care to find it. However, there are enough references made to it – depending upon your interpretation – to suggest that it will involve Christians and Jesus, but that it will be something different from the Lord’s second coming.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The word ‘rapture’ in the Concise Oxford dictionary means ‘ecstatic delight or mental transport’ and in this sense can mean to be ‘taken out of oneself’. The biblical references apply the experience to all ‘believers’ since the time of Christ. Whether believers from before then will actually be involved in precisely the same event is not stated, although we can surmise that they are not necessarily excluded (see Job 19:26). Either way, we will certainly be together with believers from the Old Testament in due course.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">For the present though, back to the Rapture. In addition to biblical references there are several deductions and reasoning we can apply, which will help us come to the conclusion that many Christians come to, that the Rapture will certainly take place and that it will happen shortly before the Tribulation. For the purposes of this examination therefore we will continue with this assumption although there are many who believe that it will take place at some other time, such as during the Tribulation.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><i><u><span lang="EN" style="color: red; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">So let’s look at the classic references which many believe to illustrate the Rapture:<o:p></o:p></span></u></i></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">1Thessalonians 4:15-17<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">‘According to the Lord’s own word*, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 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. <u>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.’</u> </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">(* The Life Application Study Bible comments: Either this was something that the Lord had revealed directly to Paul (eg. Gal 1:17-18) , or it was a teaching of Jesus that had been passed along orally by the apostles and other Christians.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">1Corinthians 15:52</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">‘… in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.’<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Titus 2:13<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">‘… while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,’<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Luke 12:35-40<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. <u>It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.</u> It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. <u>You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”</u><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><i><u><span lang="EN" style="color: red; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Now let’s compare these with some references to the Second Coming of Christ:<o:p></o:p></span></u></i></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Matthew 24:4-30<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ……………. …………………………………………………….<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">“So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">“Immediately after the distress of those days ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">“<u>At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.<o:p></o:p></u></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Luke 17:24<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">‘For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.’<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Zechariah 14:1-9<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">‘A day of the LORD is coming when your plunder will be divided among you. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">I will gather all the nations to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:city></st1:place> to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle. <u>On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Judah</st1:country-region></st1:place>. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">On that day there will be no light, no cold or frost. It will be a unique day, without daytime or nighttime—a day known to the LORD. When evening comes, there will be light.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">On that day living water will flow out from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:city></st1:place>, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The LORD will be king over the whole earth.’<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Revelation 1:7<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><i><u><span lang="EN" style="color: red; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Do you see the differences between the two?</span></u></i></b><b><i><span lang="EN" style="color: red; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span></i></b><b><span lang="EN" style="color: red; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The Rapture is an event experienced only by Christians, the Second Coming is an event experienced by everyone during a period of great Tribulation. Again, we will expand on this later.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">You may also like to consider the following additional points which further highlight some of the reasoning for the Rapture.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: black;">1Thessalonians 5:9<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">For God did not appoint us (Christians) to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: black;">Luke 21:36<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Be always on the watch, and pray that you may <u>be able to escape</u> all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: black;">Revelation 3:22<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">(There is no contemporaneous reference to ’the church’ again in the Bible — the exception being in Rev 22:16 — thus strongly indicating that it is no longer on earth during all the Tribulation which Revelation describes).<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: #444444;">John 14:1-4</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">"Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You know the way to the place where I am going." <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: black;">2Thessalonians 2:7 cf. John 14:16-18<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">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. </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">(Thus the antichrist cannot begin his assignment until the Holy Spirit – and consequently the church, which he protects – is removed.) Supported by:<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: black;">John 14:16-18<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, <u>for he lives with you and will be in you.</u> I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Plus:</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: black;">Ephesians 1:13-14<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-font-kerning: 1.0pt;">And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Next time: The Tribulation and On<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>John Puddicombehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954423036482193958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872127746546220525.post-10777529891997914572011-11-28T02:00:00.000-08:002011-11-28T02:00:00.934-08:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 4.0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 20pt;">An Introduction to End Times<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Part 3 Present Signs and the Rapture (cont’d)</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Present Signs (Global) – Section 3b</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span lang="EN" style="color: red; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Global indications.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><i><u><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Reaching the world for God.<o:p></o:p></span></u></i></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">These are the words of Jesus in Matthew 24:14. Representatives of Wycliffe Bible Translators expect to have reached just about all world languages by the year 2025 (Vision 2025) and God TV reckons that the world-wide coverage of their transmissions is practically already complete.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><i><u><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The ‘groaning’ world and global disaster (cf. Rom 8:22).<o:p></o:p></span></u></i></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Let us look again at Matthew 24:7</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places”. </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">We have seen nation against nation and widespread famine is now, unfortunately, becoming almost commonplace. As for earthquakes, have you noticed the sudden rise in their frequency? Various statistics are available covering the world but typically global numbers for earthquakes of say 6.0+ on the Richter scale have risen to around 5 times more per annum than say 40 or 50 years ago. Recent major examples have been in Japan in 2011 and New Zealand in 2010 and 2011.</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><i><u><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Morals and behaviour.<o:p></o:p></span></u></i></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Look now at Matthew 24:37 </span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">“As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.” </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">and the period it refers to, in Genesis 6:11 </span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">“Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence.” </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Look also at 2 Timothy 3:1-5 </span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Do you think we are getting there? In Hebrews 12:25-26 and Haggai 2:6-7 God promises that as judgment against sin He will ‘shake the earth’. Is he doing this? We haven’t even mentioned some other specifics in this category – divorce, child prostitution, abortions, embryonic research? Surely we are just piling up sins?<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><i><u><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Fads, cult and occult.<o:p></o:p></span></u></i></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Note Paul’s advice to Timothy and his reference to ‘later times’ in 1Ti 4:1&7: </span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">“The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons………Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.”</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><i><u><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Acquisition of knowledge.<o:p></o:p></span></u></i></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">‘At the time of the end many will go here and there to increase knowledge’. (see Daniel 12:4). Certainly we are now seeking and acquiring knowledge enormously. We even have a name for it. ‘Information Technology’ is what we call it! Allied to this feature also, of course, is the ever increasing speed at which this is all happening.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><i><u><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Scoffers and mockers.<o:p></o:p></span></u></i></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">‘First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.’ </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">2Pet 3:3-7 (also cf. Jude 17-19).<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">No comment! This prophecy speaks for itself.</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><i><u><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Increasing governmental control.<o:p></o:p></span></u></i></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Do you ever have the feeling that there is greater and greater government control in our lives? The means for this could really come into being with ID cards. Alongside this type of ‘identification technology’ we also have mooted the concept of a cashless society. The ‘powers that be’ will certainly then be in a position to monitor, even control, what and which individuals may or may not buy, since every purchase will be made through the auspices of a vast computer.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Imagine, just as a conjecture, that for some reason in a given society, the authorities wanted to prevent a person, or class of person from purchasing a given commodity. The machinery would be in place to do such a thing. The anonymity of cash, of course, would have gone and the persons concerned would be unable to purchase except via the central computer route.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">This may be jumping ahead from present day, and we will come to this again, but just take a look at Revelation 13:16-18.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Next time: The Rapture – Section 3c<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>John Puddicombehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954423036482193958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872127746546220525.post-89736052523255349542011-11-14T02:00:00.000-08:002011-11-14T02:00:03.786-08:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 4.0cm;"><br />
<b><span style="font-size: 20pt;">An Introduction to End Times.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 4.0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Part 3 Present Signs and the Rapture</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Present Signs (Israel) – Section 3a</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">So where have we got to?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">So, how do we know where we are now and what will happen next in all this?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Firstly, note that there <u>will be</u> an end, see Eph 1:9-10*, 1Pe 1:5*, and 2Pe 3:10* as well as Mt 24:35*, and Mk 13:31*.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Now, clearly the ‘church age’ is still with us but the nation ‘<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region></st1:place>’ has returned to the scene, so are we at a transition point?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Many people believe that we are. There are plenty of signs which indicate that the period of ‘Tribulation’ (See Part 1, section 1b) may not be far off. Some of these signs are more significant than others but all are telling, especially when considered on a collective basis. Also, should some of the evidence or bible references backing these arguments seem tenuous or not immediately obvious, please hold them in mind – the relevance will become clearer as we move forward in this whole end time study.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">With regard to timing, the transition point referred to above could well materialise within the next year or so, or even sooner.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">So what signs (or conditions) are we meaning and what would be the next event? Let’s look at the signs first.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">First of all, <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region> must exist.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Well first and foremost, as already alluded to, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region></st1:place> has to exist. Why? Well we have already highlighted the fact that God’s covenant with <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region></st1:place> is ever-lasting. So before any final arrangements take place Israel needs to be a nation, again. This of course happened in May 1948, after a period of almost 2000 years. We have already looked (in Part 2, section 2a) at some bible references on this but let’s look at a couple more which remind us of the everlasting nature of this covenant. Firstly in Genesis 17:7-8 (below), and then additionally in Amos 9:11-15 (below), where v. 15 also shows us that Israel will ‘<u>never again</u> be uprooted from the land I have given them.’ Thus the prophecy cannot refer to the reforming of Israel after the return from Babylon. It must be at some later time – such as now!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">Ge 17:7-8. “</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">I will establish my covenant as an <u>everlasting covenant</u> between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The whole <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">land</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Canaan</st1:placename></st1:place>, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">Amos 9:11-15. </span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">“In that day I will restore David’s fallen tent. I will repair its broken places, </span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">restore its ruins, and build it as it used to be, so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name,” declares the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD</span>, who will do these things. “The </span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">days are coming,” declares the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD</span>, “when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman </span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow </span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">from all the hills. I will bring back my exiled people <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region></st1:place>; they will rebuild the ruined cities </span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and </span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">eat their fruit. I will plant <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region> in their own land, <u>never again to be uprooted from the </u></span><u><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">land I have given them</span></u><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">”.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Note that within 10 years of the re-birth of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region></st1:place> in 1948 (prophesied also in Isaiah 66:8 </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">‘</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment?’</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">) the EU, based on the ‘Treaty of Rome’ started emerging. See the prophecies alluding to this in Part 2, section 2b (Da 2:33a to 2:33b, and Dan 7:23 to 7:24 both being types of reformation of the old ‘Roman Empire’ to the modern ‘Treaty of Rome’).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">Jerusalem</span></b></st1:place></st1:city><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;"> must be in Jewish hands.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Before a new Temple can exist in Jerusalem, Jerusalem, at least, must be under Jewish control. This was achieved in 1967 by the Jews as a result of the ‘six-day war’, against overwhelming odds. Did you ever wonder why and how this event succeeded so quickly? Could God have been there?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">Existence of the <st1:city w:st="on">Temple</st1:city> in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:place></st1:city> (See 2Thess 2:4).</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Although there is no actual temple in existence at present, it is an open secret in Middle Eastern circles that detailed plans</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> have been drawn-up, and preparations made, for the temple’s rapid reconstruction, as soon as the time is right. Furthermore, manufacture of replacement temple instruments and other paraphernalia is already said to be in hand. The precise site of the new temple has been established we are told, just to the north of the present ‘Dome’ where old documentation apparently shows it to have originally been. This position, apparently, has been confirmed by the chance exposure of an ancient archway in the original city wall, when a crater was blown in the ground during hostilities in the ‘six-day war’.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">Israel</span></b></st1:country-region></st1:place><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;"> blossoms (cf. the millennium era.)</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">Isa 27:6 ‘</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">In days to come Jacob will take root, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region></st1:place> will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit.’</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 72pt; mso-pagination: lines-together; text-indent: -72pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Joel 2:23-24 </span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">’Be glad, O people of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Zion</st1:city></st1:place>, rejoice in the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD </span>your God,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 72pt; mso-pagination: lines-together; text-indent: -72pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">for he has given you the autumn rains in righteousness. He sends you</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 72pt; mso-pagination: lines-together; text-indent: -72pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. The threshing</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 72pt; mso-pagination: lines-together; text-indent: -72pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 72pt; mso-pagination: lines-together; text-indent: -72pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">oil.’</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 72pt; mso-pagination: lines-together; text-indent: -72pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">From being largely a desert around 1948, when the Jews started returning to their promised land, Israel has become the 4<sup>th</sup> largest exporter of fruit in the world and the biggest flower exporter in Europe. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region></st1:place> today is covered with buds, grain and trees. This place was wilderness until a very few years ago.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">Jerusalem</span></b></st1:place></st1:city><b><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;"> to be a ‘cup of reeling’ (cf. Zec 12:2-3)</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">A published extract (anon):</span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> Here is a city, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:city></st1:place> – no natural resources, no harbour, no river – no reason to be relevant on the modern scene. It’s important to whom? To a minority of the Jews (not all of them!). To Islam? Islam had it for a thousand years and let it turn into rubble, until they realised it was important to the Jews and then, of course, it was very important to Islam. To Christians? Well we like to visit there – but not to die for it. So the whole idea that <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:city></st1:place> could be a burdensome stone to the entire world, on the face of it, sounds absurd. And yet, as we look around today, people in every major capital of every nation that’s internationally relevant on earth are struggling as to what posture to take – how to deal with what could be called the struggle for <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:city></st1:place>. Increasingly it becomes the focus of world attention – even though in secular terms it is a ‘nothing place’. Why? Because it is, and remains, God’s <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Holy</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">City</st1:placetype></st1:place>. <b>Anon.</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">End notes for ready reference:</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">Ephesians 1:9-10</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: widow-orphan lines-together;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: widow-orphan lines-together;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: widow-orphan lines-together;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">1Peter 1:5</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: widow-orphan lines-together;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: widow-orphan lines-together;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(you Christians) who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: widow-orphan lines-together;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">2 Peter 3:10</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: widow-orphan lines-together;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: widow-orphan lines-together;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">Matthew 24:35</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: widow-orphan lines-together;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: widow-orphan lines-together;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">Mark 13:31</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: widow-orphan lines-together;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: widow-orphan lines-together;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Next time: </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Present Signs (Global) – Section 3b<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>John Puddicombehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954423036482193958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872127746546220525.post-37537285003467414532011-10-31T02:00:00.000-07:002011-10-31T02:00:07.612-07:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 20pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">An Introduction to End Times.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 18pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Part 2 Daniel’s Prophecy (cont’d)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span lang="EN" style="color: windowtext; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Will there be a positive outcome for Israel? – Section 2b<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Yes! Of course. God has said so, initially in Ge 12:6-7*. Then again in Ge 13:14-17 He says<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to Abram </span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">“Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">And, what is more – the land is His to give! See 2Chr 7:20 & Ps 24:1-2*.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span lang="EN" style="color: red; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">So what does Da 9:26-27 mean?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">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:<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">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;<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">In both these prophecies we see the ‘church gap’ occurring with the subsequent introduction of God’s kingdom after a period of tribulation.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The same sort of thing happens in Dan 9:26-27!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">But in all these examples what/who is the strange new ‘<u>It</u>’ in ‘<u>It</u> was different’ in Da 7:7, and the ‘<u>little one</u> (<i>a horn</i>)’ in Da 7:8, and ‘<u>the other horn</u>’ in Da 7:20, and the ‘<u>another king</u>’ in Da 7:24 and the ‘<u>He</u>’ & ‘<u>him</u>’ in Da 7:25, and the ‘<u>his</u>’ in Da 7:26 and the ‘<u>He</u>’ at the beginning of Da 9:27? </span><span lang="EN" style="color: red; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">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*).<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">End notes for ready reference:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ge 12:6-7<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ge 12:6</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ge 12:7</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">Ge 17:19-22<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ge 17:19</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ge 17:20</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ge 17:21</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ge 17:22</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ge 21:12<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ge 21:12</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ge 35:9-13<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ge 35:9</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> After Jacob returned from Paddan <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Aram</st1:place></st1:country-region>, God appeared to him again and blessed him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ge 35:10</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region></st1:place>. ’” So he named him <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region>. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ge 35:11</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ge 35:12</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ge 35:13</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> Then God went up from him at the place where he had talked with him.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ps 24:1-2<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 72pt; mso-pagination: lines-together; text-indent: -72pt;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ps 24:1</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> The earth is the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD'S</span>, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ps 24:2</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 2:31-45<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 2:31</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> “You looked, O king, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 2:32</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 2:33</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 2:34</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 2:35</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 2:36</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 2:37</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 2:38</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 2:39</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> “After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 2:40</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 2:41</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 2:42</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 2:43</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 2:44</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> “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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 2:45</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:1-27<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:1</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> In the first year of Belshazzar king of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Babylon</st1:city></st1:place>, 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. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:2</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> Daniel said: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:3</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:4</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> “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. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:5</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> “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!’ </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:6</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> “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. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:7</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> “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.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:8</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> “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.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:9</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> “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.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:10</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:11</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> “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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:12</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:13</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> “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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:14</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:15</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> “I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit, and the visions that passed through my mind disturbed me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:16</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:17</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> ‘The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:18</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever—yes, for ever and ever.’</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:19</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> “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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:20</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:21</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> As I watched, this horn was waging war against the saints and defeating them,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:22</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:23</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> “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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:24</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:25</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:26</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> “ ‘But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:27</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.’<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">1Jn 2:18</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">1Jn 2:18</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: windowtext; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Next time: Present Signs and the Rapture<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>John Puddicombehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954423036482193958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872127746546220525.post-82354432068071361232011-10-17T02:00:00.000-07:002011-10-17T02:00:08.563-07:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 20pt;">An Introduction to End Times.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="font-size: 20pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Part 2 Daniel’s Prophecy<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 16pt;">The Church Age. – Section 2a<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOCfKSW3XHdXuTuwQ0Dqqah8iVvNFIwYbrsqCrUq-vASFc8yWMT6y13M7MgRu0WCIG5sMnYHQDwX7-CdVfQIe6EEpkCtTNDjaRegzApJYtOB2oeeKt4nr1j7W1EG8CMgXQGnejIP6LsWFP/s1600/CDC1E6B3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOCfKSW3XHdXuTuwQ0Dqqah8iVvNFIwYbrsqCrUq-vASFc8yWMT6y13M7MgRu0WCIG5sMnYHQDwX7-CdVfQIe6EEpkCtTNDjaRegzApJYtOB2oeeKt4nr1j7W1EG8CMgXQGnejIP6LsWFP/s640/CDC1E6B3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">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 <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Babylon</st1:city></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">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*)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">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:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><strong>The Seventy “Sevens” <o:p></o:p></strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 9:20</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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—<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 9:21</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 9:22</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 9:23</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 9:24</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> “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. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 9:25</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> “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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 9:26</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 9:27</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.’”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;"><strong>So what does this message tell us? <o:p></o:p></strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">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 = <i>Heptads</i>), and in the times we are talking of here (in the Old Testament) a year was reckoned as 360 days.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">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 <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:city></st1:place>. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The second time period of sixty-two ‘sevens’, referred to in Da 9:26, which equates to (62x7) 434 years, <u>plus</u> 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 <u>days</u> (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.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">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?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">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*.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">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)</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #ff6600; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">‘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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of the temple<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.’<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">But, Da 9:24 tells us that </span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">‘<u>Seventy</u> ‘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?)’</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: red; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><strong>So, what has happened?<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">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 <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region></st1:place>. 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 “</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">On this rock I will build my church</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">”. 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.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">So, it seems possible that God’ clock has stopped at the end of Daniel’s 69<sup>th</sup> 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*.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Jesus explains the situation in a prophetic parable in Matthew (also in Mark & Luke). See Mt 21:33-46*.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><strong>End notes for ready reference:<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><strong>Ne 2:1-8<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ne 2:1</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ne 2:2</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ne 2:3</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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?” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ne 2:4</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> The king said to me, “What is it you want?” Then I prayed to the God of heaven,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ne 2:5</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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 <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Judah</st1:place></st1:country-region> where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ne 2:6</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ne 2:7</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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 <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Judah</st1:place></st1:country-region>?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ne 2:8</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><strong>Jer 25:11-12<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Jer 25:11</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Babylon</st1:city></st1:place> seventy years. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Jer 25:12</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> “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 <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD</span>, “and will make it desolate forever.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Is 2:2-4<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Isa 2:2 </span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Isa 2:3 </span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Isa 2:4</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Dan 7:13-14<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:13</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> “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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Da 7:14</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ps 72:1-4<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ps 72:1</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> Endow the king with your justice, O God, the royal son with your righteousness. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ps 72:2</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> He will judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ps 72:3</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> The mountains will bring prosperity to the people, the hills the fruit of righteousness. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ps 72:4</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> He will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; he will crush the oppressor<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Is 40:3-4<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Isa 40:3</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Isa 40:4</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Mal 3:1-2<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Mal 3:1</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> “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. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Mal 3:2</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Lev 26:27-35<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Lev 26:27</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> “ ‘If in spite of this you still do not listen to me but continue to be hostile toward me,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Lev 26:28</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> then in my anger I will be hostile toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Lev 26:29</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Lev 26:30</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Lev 26:31</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Lev 26:32</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> I will lay waste the land, so that your enemies who live there will be appalled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Lev 26:33</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Lev 26:34</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Lev 26:35</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest it did not have during the sabbaths you lived in it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Deut 28:61-66<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Dt 28:61</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> The <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD </span>will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Dt 28:62</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD </span>your God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Dt 28:63</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> Just as it pleased the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD </span>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. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Dt 28:64</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> Then the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Dt 28:65</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD </span>will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Dt 28:66</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Mt 21:33-46<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Mt 21:33</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> “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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Mt 21:34</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Mt 21:35</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Mt 21:36</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Mt 21:37</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Mt 21:38</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> “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.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN" style="color: #1f497d; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Mt 21:39</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: #365f91; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Mt 21:40</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: #365f91; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"> “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: #365f91; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Mt 21:41</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: #365f91; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"> “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.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: #365f91; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Mt 21:42</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: #365f91; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"> Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “ ‘The stone<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>builders <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #365f91; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’ ? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: #365f91; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Mt 21:43</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: #365f91; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"> “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and give to <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #365f91; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">a people who will produce its fruit.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: #365f91; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Mt 21:44</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: #365f91; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"> He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #365f91; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">crushed.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: #365f91; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Mt 21:45</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: #365f91; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"> When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: lines-together;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #365f91; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">talking about them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><sup><span lang="EN" style="color: #365f91; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Mt 21:46</span></sup><span lang="EN" style="color: #365f91; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"> They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Next time: Will there be a positive outcome for Israel?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div></div>John Puddicombehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954423036482193958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872127746546220525.post-91905211002251928962011-10-03T02:00:00.000-07:002011-10-03T02:00:00.109-07:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
<b><span style="font-size: 20pt;">An Introduction to End Times.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<b><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Part 1 Introduction (cont’d)<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 16pt;">So what will happen? – Section 1b<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">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!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">Perhaps things are getting clearer?<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">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.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">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.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">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!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">But, should we be looking?<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">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 </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">‘the day or the hour’</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> of these events? (Mt 24:36). True, but in the same passage he also said </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">“Therefore <u>keep watch</u>, …”</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> (Mt 24:42), and </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">“So <u>you also must be ready</u> …”</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> (Mt 24:44), both referring to his return. Later on Jesus again exhorts us to </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">“… <u>keep watch</u>, because you do not know the day or the hour.”</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> (Mt 25:13).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Another very important reason for staying aware is expressed by Jesus in Revelation 1:3, </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">“</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">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.”</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> 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!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">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 <st1:city w:st="on">Temple</st1:city> in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:city></st1:place> and continues with a long prophecy about end times.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">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 </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">“… not one stone here will be left on another …”</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> came true. The Romans, in their eagerness to recover any gold remaining from the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Temple</st1:city></st1:place> roof, turned over all the stones, one by one, to look for it.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">The ‘Church Age’.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>– AD 134 to AD 1948 </span><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">(cf. Deut 28:61-66)</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">. Since 1948 <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region></st1:place> has been reforming and Jews have been returning to their homeland. In many ways the prophecy has now started to come back into operation </span><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">(cf. Amos 9:11-15)</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">. 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.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">After his prophecy about the Temple, Jesus moves on in verses 4 to 8 of Matthew 24 to talk about </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">“… the beginning of birth-pains.”</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> Included here are references to </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">“Nation will rise against nation …” </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">and</span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;"> “There will be famines and earthquakes in various places”</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">. Surely we have been seeing such events increase dramatically over the last 50 years or so? <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">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 </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">“… you (<i>Christians</i>) will be hated by all nations because of me …”</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> and </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">“Because of the increase of wickedness the love of most (<i>people</i>) will grow cold …”</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> are surely not too far fetched to be imagined.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">The Tribulation.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘The Tribulation’, is the seven years of great turmoil and suffering that we understand will precede the 2<sup>nd</sup> coming of the Lord.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">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 </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">‘It will be a time of trouble for Jacob (<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on"><i>Israel</i></st1:country-region></st1:place>)’</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">. Isaiah in 61:2 refers to it as </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">‘the day of vengeance of our God’</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">. Certainly it will be a time when the world experiences God’s wrath. Jesus himself makes reference to it in Matthew 24:21 </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">“</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">For then there will be great distress, unequalled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equalled again”. </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The tribulation, and reference to its length of seven years, is also spoken of in Daniel 9:27.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">At verse 15 of Matthew 24 we see the </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">‘the abomination that causes desolation’</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> 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 </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">‘the gospel is preached in the whole world’</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> (Mt 24:14).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Nevertheless persecution becomes even worse and Jesus warns his followers, to flee immediately, </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">‘without even going back to fetch your cloak!’</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> (Mt 24:18) and </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">‘How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!’ </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">(Mt 24:19).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">The Second Coming.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">There will be plenty of opportunity for deception about Jesus’ coming, but in the end there will be no doubt </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">“… the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light … the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky …”</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> (Mt 24:29-30).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">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).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">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 </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">“</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">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”</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">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.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">We have to choose.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">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.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">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.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">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)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">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.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Jesus said to his disciples </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;">“I will not leave you as orphans…” </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">(Jn 14:18),</span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;"> “I will come back and take you to be with me…” </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">(Jn 14:3).</span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Will YOU be joining him?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><o:p><strong>N</strong></o:p><strong>ext time: Daniel’s Prophecy<o:p></o:p></strong></span>John Puddicombehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954423036482193958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872127746546220525.post-37385840690518728842011-09-19T07:00:00.000-07:002011-09-19T07:00:15.341-07:00<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
<b><span style="font-size: 20pt;">An Introduction to End Times.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Part 1 Introduction<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="font-size: 16pt;">So what is the situation? – Section 1a<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">It seems to me quite alarming, even terrifying, that so many people have so little idea of what might well be happening in the world in the not so distant future.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">I am not sure why people should be so unaware. It may be due to ignorance, or lack of concern, or our fear to face facts, or many other reasons as well, but I think that mostly it is due to unbelief – not lack of faith – just unbelief. What do I mean by unbelief? To my mind, unbelief is the inability to believe that something could possibly take place, merely because it exceeds our own cognition or capability to think beyond what we see now. In the Bible, St. Paul talks of unbelievers being blinded by the devil (2Cor 4:4). This is the kind of thing I mean.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The same situation arose at the time of Noah, of course. No one then would have believed that the whole world could be flooded, but it was, and Noah was the only person who seemed to have an inkling of what was in store. (Gen 6:9ff)<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">But it is now spelt out for us!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The situation I am talking about now though is even more shattering because, not only is the chain of events to come, spelt out for us in the Bible, but it seems painfully clear to me and many others that the situation in the world today, which could lead on to what I am talking about, is quite obvious and ominous. I am talking about the end of the world as we know it. I am not talking about it all going up in a puff of smoke (at least not yet) but, a complete change in our situation.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">It is no good saying, “Oh, people have been going on about the ‘end of the world’ since time immemorial (or at least since the days of the Acts of the Apostles) and it hasn’t happened yet.” That is just putting your head in the sand.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Anyone who has studied the Bible</span><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">(*)</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">, and many others besides, must be well aware that we are fast approaching ‘end times’ as it is known. The increasingly violent<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and frequent disasters throughout the world over recent years, should <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>tell you that God is far from happy with the way the world is behaving at the moment and that ‘things could happen’ at any time. We (ie. the world) have been asking for trouble, from a Godly perspective, for a long time now. If you are not aware of this then it is not up to me to prove it to you. Just open your eyes and take a look around. Even if you are not familiar with the Bible you must know that things are not right with the world and indeed are rapidly getting worse. <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">(*) The bible consists of 66 books, attributed to around 40 different authors. It has been written over hundreds of years and concerns the actual history of 100’s of thousands (millions) of people across a time period of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>more than 4000 years – all of it pointing to the one man ‘Jesus Christ’. The Bible is, furthermore, fully supported by secular historical verification.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">Why look at the Bible though?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">So let’s look at what the Bible says, but first, if we want to know what lies in the future, and how soon that might be, why should we go to the Bible at all?<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Well, we can look to spiritualism and horoscopes (and many people do), but objectively, information from these sources is only reckoned to be around 5% accurate – or 95% wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Or, we can look to science – to our own knowledge. In many respects science is amazing but, when it comes to forecasting and prophecy, we are talking around a 25%, or maybe even 40% accuracy, but not much more. </span><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">(This is not to say that science is wrong. Far from it. True, fully verifiable science agrees with the Bible – and we would expect this – God is not ‘anti’ science, He invented it – surely science only tells us what God has already set out!)<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Or, we can turn to the Bible. Many things are predicted in the Bible, personal, social, political, environmental and so on. In fact, that is one feature that makes the Bible unique, it is a predictive book. No other religion can claim to have such a handle on the future.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">The Bible is a predictive book!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Now, according to the Encyclopaedia of Biblical Prophecy (J. Barton Payne - Hodder and Stoughton 1973) the Bible contains 737 predictions. Of these, 594 have happened as stated, ie. about 80%. However, the remainder all concern future times and so have not yet had a chance to be fulfilled! Thus the Bible has, so far, been 100% accurate. One would think therefore, that a reasonable assumption might be that it will continue to be 100% accurate. Christians of course accept this – ‘Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever’ (Heb 13:8).<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">One feature that stands out in the Bible is the prediction that one day a carpenter who lived around 2000 years ago is going to return to the world, and history as we know it will come to an end. This is an amazing prediction and of course many people do not accept it but if you know your Bible, that has to be your main-line thinking. </span><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">(<u>Some</u> prophecies, amongst scores, concerning Jesus’ <u>first</u> advent are: Deut 18:15, 2Sam 7:13, Jer 31:31-34, Daniel 9, Zech 13:7 (Mk 14:27), Book of Psalms c. 20 refs. (see MacArthur Study Bible p. 754) and Book of Isaiah c. 30 refs. (see MacArthur Study Bible p. 965).<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 11pt;">However, we are about to explore prophecies concerning Jesus’ <u>second</u> coming!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">It is incredible that at a time when the world is going bananas over global warming</span><span style="color: #ff6600; font-size: 11pt;">,</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> environmental collapse, and financial chaos (& where will it all lead?), the one source that surely will tell people – the Bible, God’s own Word – is the one place they refuse to look!!<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Next time: What will happen?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div></span></span>John Puddicombehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03954423036482193958noreply@blogger.com0