Eschatology “The Study of Last Things”
The field of “Eschatology” deserves some mention for two reasons:
1. The study of eschatology will test your hermeneutics, that is your views about the end times will derive from your theory of interpretation. Your hermeneutics is your theory of interpretation. Some people have very strict hermeneutic, that is they have a very high view of the Scripture, they take it very literally.
Others take it very softly, they are willing to allegorize and take things a little softer. Depending on your attitudes about that, it will determine where you come out on some of these controversial areas.
2. The second reason that eschatology is so important is because there seems to a widespread belief among many of us that we are being plunged into a period of time about which the Bible says more about than it does about any other time in history.
So eschatology is no longer academic it’s very practical.
Divisions of Theology:
If you take the classical divisions of theology, even different seminaries, pretty much categorizes theology in these partitions.
The study of...
• Bibliology The study of Bible
• Theology Proper The study of Attributes of God
• Christology The study of Lord Jesus Christ
• Pneumatology The study of Holy Spirit
• Angelology The study of Angels, fallen and unfallen
• Anthropology The study of Man
• Soteriology The study of Salvation
• Ecclesiology The study of Church
• Eschatology The study of End-Times; Last Things
Many of the controversies in Eschatology really are issue of Ecclesiology. Many are confused because they don’t really understand what the Church is.
Notice what’s missing? Israelology = the study of Israel as an instrument in God’s program for man;
• Israel takes up 5/6ths of the Bible!
Why Eschatology?
• The final test of hermeneutics, your theory of interpretation.
• We are apparently being plunged into a period of time about which the Bible says more than any other period of history.
The Return of Christ to Rule:
• There are over 1,845 references in the Old Testament to the return of Christ to rule the planet Earth.
• 17 books give prominence to the event in the Old Testament.
• There are over 318 references in the New Testament.
• In 216 chapters.
• 23 of 27 books in the New testament give prominence to the event.
You can understand why people might not believe the Bible, or might take a different view, but what is astonishing is how many people claim to believe the Bible, and claim to be Christian and have no grasp of the idea that Jesus Christ is literally going to return to inherit the promises that God gave to Israel throughout the Old and New Testaments.
• For every prophecy of Christ’s 1st Coming there are eight concerning His 2nd Coming!
His second coming has far more emphasis in scripture than even His first coming. As dominant as that is.
The History of Amillennialism:
• Amillennialism is the belief that there is not going to be a literal millennium.
• The idea that Christ is going to return to rule for a 1,000 years as recorded in scripture many people take allegorically.
• The idea that Jesus is just going to rule in our hearts.
• Basically making God a liar, basically saying that the commitment that God has made all throughout scripture, He is not going to fulfill.
• Origen:
• Origen was the "Father" of Scripture allegorization
Origen was an early church father who had a theory of interpretation “hermeneutics” that leaned on the allegorization of Scripture.
He felt that much of the Bible wasn’t to be taken literally, it was just allegories.
• Augustine:
– Augustine was a prominent church father who adopted Origen’s style of belief.
– He then formulated out of that allegorization the idea of “Amillennialism”.
– In those days, Christians were paid by the government, Christianity had become a state religion (just like it is today!).
• A government salaried minister standing in a government ran pulpit was not apt to point out that God was going to come back to free the world from all of these evil rulers, and that God Himself is going to run things right.
– So in that discomfort they adopted a style of saying, “Well He’s going to come back literally. He is going to rule in our hearts, He is going to rule over us spiritually.”
They found ways to soften that message.
• That amillennial viewpoint was the viewpoint of the medieval church, and it gets codified, in the Roman Catholic traditions.
• Roman Catholic Eschatology:
Roman Catholic Eschatology is of course “Amillennium.”
Reformation:
• The reformers were primarily occupied with the problems of Soteriology, salvation by faith alone.
• The Reformers were burdened by the abuses of the church in so many other areas.
• They did an incredible job at correcting the errors in Soteriology Salvation by faith alone was their watchword.
• That led to persecution to which millions were burned at the stake willingly for their commitment to that Soteriology.
• The tragedy of the Reformation is that the fathers failed to address other areas…
• They maintained the same Eschatology that they inherited from medieval church.
• And as a result, most Protestant denominations are Amillennial and Post-Tribulational in their eschatological views.
• And there emerged a problem with people who wanted to take the Bible seriously, who believed that God means what He says and says what He means.
Amillennial Problems:
• The Bible is filled with Messianic Promises throughout the Old Testament.
• The destiny of Israel is in God’s Covenants.
• The promise given to Mary by the angel Gabriel, that her child would sit on the throne of David. The throne of David did not exist in those days.
– The king in those days were appointed by Rome, he was an Edomite, an enemy of Israel.
• The destiny of Israel in God’s Covenants for Israel hang on this issue.
• And so it’s not surprising that if you’re amillennial, that usually leads to anti-Semitism because there is no regard, and no understanding of Israel’s destiny.
• There are numerous reconfirmations of these in the Old Testament, these same issues are in the New Testament.
This is not an Old Testament issue, it’s a whole Bible issue.
Eschatology
One of the first divisions that people get into as they study the Bible, they’ll fall into one of two camps.
Amillennial:
– This is the idea that Jesus is not going to really rule on the earth, they are serious that it is not really going to happen.
– These passages are treated symbolically or allegorically.
Preterism:
• Out of Amillennialism came a form of that called, Preterism.
– Preterism is getting popular again.
– The Preterists feel that all of these prophesies have already been fulfilled someway in the past. And that too is a very close cousin to Amillennialism because it really means that you have to allegorize all kinds of passages.
– While it is popular among some leadership, that’s publicly visible, it is clearly not a Biblically rooted point of view.
Premillennial:
– The idea that Jesus is going to rule on the earth as being serious and that it is really going to happen.
Post-Millennial:
This group emerged for awhile...
– These were people that felt that the millennium had already started, this was a popular theme in the 17th and 18th century, but as people began to realize that the world was in big trouble it became obvious that we were not in the Millennium Kingdom Rule of Jesus Christ.
Reconstructionism:
• The Kingdom Now or Dominion Theology. (Kat Kerr)
• These are people who believe that it’s the Church’s job to prepare the world for the return of Jesus Christ.
• That it’s the job of the Church to sort of rule, and take over the world and get it ready for Christ’s return.
• This may sound strange, but there is a large number of prominent Christians who when you really understand their point of view, are really Reconstructionists or Kingdom Now Dominionists.
• Hal Lindsey’s did a book, called The Road to Holocaust, because these views will also lead to the attempted destruction of Israel.
Hermeneutics:
Your hermeneutics, your theory of interpretation of the scriptures will determine where you come out on certain issues.
• If you are among those that take the Bible very seriously, and most of the time “literally” in the original versions that are free of errors and believe that God superintended the Scriptures.
Then we are on the right side of the spectrum.
• The reason I say, most of the time “literally” is because some poetic scriptures are giving us an allegorical picture, or figures of speech, such as the Psalms.
For example:
Psalms 91:4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust:
Jesus cleared this one up....
Luke 13:34...how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!
There are over 200 different kinds of figures of speech in the scriptures.
A test of precision, respect of definitions, et al.
• “If you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything!”
There is a section of theology that is omitted in Seminaries and almost not taught in our churches and that study is...
• The great tragedy of many Christians is that they have no grasp of the Old Testament in terms of its foundation for the New Testament, and they have no grasp of Israel’s role in the future.
Israelology:
Israelology is the study of Israel as an instrument in God’s program for man;
• Israel takes up 5/6ths of the Bible!
That is 5 out of 6 parts of the Bible, and yet it is seldom taught!
One of the by-products of Amillennialism is confusion between the role of Israel and the Church.
Israel and the Church
• Israel and the Church are distinctly different:
– They have different origins
– They have different missions
– They have different destinies.
Being sensitive and knowledgeable to that will clear up a lot of confusion.
• The idea that Israel has been replaced by the Church is what is sometimes called...
• “Replacement Theology” these views deny Israel its place in God’s program.
– This false belief does not regard Israel as having any special place in God’s future.
• It makes God a liar
– And laid the basis for Christian Anti-Semitism.
– But as you read the Old Testament as well as the New, God repeatedly hammers away at this issue.
– The apostle Paul deals with this in 3 chapters in the book of Romans.
• The “70 Weeks” deal specifically with Israel and not the Church.
• Paul’s dichotomy:
The apostle Paul divides the people into 3 categories, Jews + Gentiles + Church
• These distinctives reappear after Revelation 4 and on.
The Rapture (Harpazo): The great snatching awat!
• It comes from the Greek word; “harpazo” or “rapture.” to be snatched up forcibly.
• When the Greek was translated into Latin the word was transliterated “rapturo” and the word “rapture” is a derivative of an English adaptation of the Latin Vulgate.
The Most Preposterous Belief of Biblical Christianity
A controversial viewpoint.
Your view will derive from your hermeneutics: how seriously do you take the Biblical text?
Traditional denominational eschatology is “amillennial” and has problems with the “harpazo” or “rapture.”
• This is unquestionably the most preposterous belief in Christianity.
• The idea that at some time in the future all the true believers in Jesus Christ will be snatched out of the world, bodily, immediately, and suddenly.
• That sounds absolutely zany, that sounds crazy.
• There is only one thing that this theory has going for it...it happens to be what the Bible teaches.
I’m watching Eureka season 3, Ep.3 Best in Faux @02:06...Feynman Road...
• Richard Feynman at Caltech stated, when talking about particle physics “Particle Physics when you get into it is the most ridiculous theory that has ever come along in the of physics. The only thing that it has going for it is that it is unquestionably correct ”
• And that is what you come out with this strange view.
Spiritual Order of the Epistles
Romans Doctrine Soteriology
1, 2 Corinthians Reproof
Galatians Correction
Ephesians Doctrine Ecclesiology
Philippians Reproof
Colossians Correction
1, 2 Thessalonians Doctrine Eschatology
1st Epistle to the Thessalonians:
Our Blessed Hope
• The first epistles to the Thessalonians deals with “our blessed hope.”
Both of these epistles....
• They both deal with the key topics of Eschatology.
• The Thessalonian epistles are probably the two earliest of Paul’s epistles, dated typically by some scholars in 52 to 53 A.D. time period, they both were written from Corinth to Thessalonica.
Why was Paul writing these Letters?
• When Paul was in Thessalonica he planted a church, and then taught the early church about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
• After Paul is gone for awhile, he finds that the church is upset because some of the members had died.
• Now they have become confused, because many had felt that Christ’s coming would occur in their lifetime, it never occurred to them that it may be much later than they had expected.
• So Paul is dealing with this issue in the book of Thessalonians
Looking Back Chapters 1 – 3
– Their Exemplary Conversion 1 Thessalonians chapter 1
– Their Exemplary Evangelism 1 Thessalonians chapter 2
– Their Exemplary After-Care 1 Thessalonians chapter 3
Looking Ahead Chapters 4 – 5
– Their Calling and Comfort 1 Thessalonians chapter 4
• Paul is reminding them of things that he had taught them when he was among them a year ago.
• So he taught them these issue their first few weeks of their Christian experience.
1 Thessalonians 4: 13-15
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which
are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if
we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep
in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of
the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord
shall not precede them which are asleep.
• The Harpazo
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice
of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall
rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever
be with the Lord.
• The dead in Christ will receive their new bodies first, there is a generation that is not going to die.
• They will be caught up and receive new bodies.
The Harpazo
“Caught up”: Greek: Harpazo = forcibly snatched up; Latin, rapturo (Vulgate).
• When a Christian dies, their soul and spirit is with the Lord, but the body is in the ground decaying.
Their Dilemma
The Upper Room Promise
John 14:1-3
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am,
there ye may be also.
• God created the Earth in 6 days, imagine what He has prepared in the time that He has been gone!
• ...”that where I am, there ye may be also“...
There Are Two Comings Involved:
• ...”I will come again, and receive you unto myself“...
• Once for the Church
• And once for Israel
There will be two different events.
– Their Calling and the Challenge 1 Thessalonians chapter 5
The Children of the Day
1 Thessalonians 5:1-9
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto
you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as
a thief in the night [to children of the night]. For when they shall say, Peace
and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them . . . But ye, brethren,
are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all
the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor
of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and
be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken
are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting
on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Children of the Night
The times and seasons....to the children of the night
• ...”But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto
you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as
a thief in the night [to children of the night]“...
For when they shall say peace and safety...
• ...”“For when they shall say, Peace and safety;
then sudden destruction cometh upon them ...
• ...”the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night
[to children of the night]“...
Children of Light
• ...”Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day:
we are not of the night, nor of darkness“...
• verse 9 ...”For God hath not appointed us to wrath“...
• God has not appointed His Church to wrath, we are receiving that as we walk through this world.
John 17: 14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world...16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world... 21...that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.... 24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am;
• We won’t know the day or the hour but we will know the times and the seasons, and to be expecting Him.
Acts 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
2nd Epistle to the Thessalonians: Our Blessed Hope II
The "day of the Lord" misapprehensions were clarified by Paul:
• The Present Distress 2 Thessalonians chapter 1
Paul is in Corinth when he gets wind of another complaint by the Thessalonian Church.
– Persecutions having begun…
– Up till now, the pressures on the Church came from the Jewish leadership.
– Everyplace that you go to in the book of Acts, there are these uprisings, but it was always from the Jewish leaders that are resisting the Christians.
– The Romans up until now, didn’t take sides, they just wanted order, they didn’t want insurrections.
– Suddenly, we are starting to see persecutions by the Romans.
– The Thessalonians are upset because they think the Tribulation has begun.
– The Thessalonian Church is really shook up they’re starting to get the abuses under Nero and all the rest.
They are upset because of one of two reasons:
• They think that they have missed the “Rapture”.
• Or Paul didn’t teach them properly because they know that they haven’t been raptured and there are persecutions going on, and they are really upset.
• The Order of Events 2 Thessalonians chapter 2
• One of the most important eschatological books of the New Testament…
– Misapprehensions responded to:
– Soon, but not yet.
• ....”Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except
there come a falling away first, and that Man of Sin be revealed“....
• The Man of Sin and the Son of Perdition is the Anti-Christ.
2 Thessalonians 2:1,2
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind,
or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as
that the day of the Lord is at hand.
• The Coming Challenge 2 Thessalonians chapter 3
– Work for the night is coming.
An Apparent Forgery?
There was a forgery being circulated as if by Paul, and Paul is responding to this letter that is not one that he wrote.
• ...”nor by letter as from us“...
The Man of Sin
2 Thessalonians 2:3-5
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except
there come a falling away first, and that Man of Sin be revealed, the Son
of Perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God,
or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God,
showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with
you, I told you these things?
• The Man of Sin and the Son of Perdition is the Anti-Christ.
– He has 33 labels in the Old Testament, 13 in the New Testament, but this is only two of the allusions.
– [The word in the Greek is apostasia and…]
– It can mean a falling from the faith, like an apostasy....,
– Or it can mean catching away or caught, away...
• You can make a competent case if you are a Greek expert, that this term apostasia here is referring to the rapture.
– Or a type of rapture, just like in the days of Noah, when God took them all away.
• The Anti-Christ is...
....”He’s going to oppose and exalt himself above all that is called God,
or that is worshipped“....
• This world leader is going to arise and he’s going to exalt himself above...
– Allah
– The Pope
– Or any other concept of the Jewish Messiah
– Take whatever you call God in the Catholic world, the Jewish world, the Protestant world or the Islamic world.
– He is going to exalt himself above all that is called God.
• This implicitly talks about a world religion worshipping him.
• ....so that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God....
The Temple will be standing:
This is one of three places that we know that the Temple is going to be standing at the
end times, Jesus, Paul here and John all make reference about it.
Showing himself that he is God.
The apostle Paul says, ...
– ”Remember ye not, that, when I was yet
with you, I told you these things?“...
• He was with them during their first two or three weeks of their Christian experience. He went there and they got saved and he taught them all of this stuff?
– These are teachings that you usually don’t get until you have been a Christian for some years.
• Heavy topics, yet taught in the initial weeks of their introduction to the Gospel!
• Daniel 9 is highlighted in Jesus’ confidential briefing…
The Restrainer:
2 Thessalonians 2:6-8
And now ye know what [restraineth] that he might be revealed in his time.
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only He who now [restraineth]
will [restrain], until He be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked
One be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth,
and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
Who is the “Restrainer” (or “hinderer”)?
The Greek grammar shows, “He” is a person (grammatically, it is neuter: pneuma, The Spirit).
– The “Restrainer” is not an angel, or some force, He is not the Church!
• This is a person......”only He “......”who now [restraineth]“....
• The Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost and He is still here right now.
• The Holy Spirit will be very active in the forthcoming period, but He is in a role today that is unique.
We are sealed:
• Most of Paul’s epistles are hard to understand because we don’t grasp how astounded he was as a pharisaical Jew to realize that the Holy Spirit was given to the believer and that He seals you, and that He indwells you.
• Ephesians 1:13.... in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,....
The Holy Spirit will be removed?
• And it’s in that sense He is going to be removed from the Earth.
• But people are going to be saved after He leaves and they are saved by Him, so He’s still going to be active but He’s going to be active the way He was in the Old Testament.
• Jesus makes the remark that He had to leave so that He, the Holy Spirit could come in the unique way that He indwells the Church today.
– This removal of the Holy Spirit is an allusion to the rapture.
– ...”And then shall that Wicked
One be revealed“...
• That Wicked One can’t be revealed until after the rapture
• ...”whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth,
and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming“...
• That’s a broad statement of what will ultimately happen before it is all over.
The word “until”. Until what?
–....”until He be taken out of the way“....
The statement revealed:
–...”And then shall that Wicked One be revealed“....
• We have to get this order of events here, it’s very important not to miss this.
The Order of Events
They believe that the Day of Lord has come, and they have not been taken out of the way (or why would they be upset?)
They either have been misinformed (by Paul!) or they have missed the Harpazo…
• No! ......
• An apostasy must come first. [or the word “departure” might refer to the Rapture]
• Then the Restrainer will be taken out of the way— and His containers!
• Then the Man of Sin will be revealed…etc.
The rapture occurs before the 70th Week of Daniel.
The Great Deception
2 Thessalonians 2:9-11
Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and
signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness
in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they
might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion,
that they should believe [the] lie:
This leader is going to come and work with All power and signs and lying wonders!:
• ....”whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and
signs and lying wonders“....
• ....”And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness
in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth“....
• ....”for this cause God shall send them strong delusion,
that they should believe [the] lie“....
Not a lie, but “the lie” (a definite article)
• This passage implies that those who rejected Christ before the rapture, God will send them a strong delusion.
• The picture that is painted here would seem to suggest that if someone has had the opportunity to accept Christ and rejects Him, when the rapture takes place, they don’t really get a second chance.
• Because they are going to be enmeshed in the lie that follows.
• The time yo receive Jesus Christ is now!!!
The Second Coming
Two different Views:
Daniel 2:44-45 Daniel 7:9-14
Daniel 12:1-3
Zech 14:1-15
Matt 13:41
Matt 24:15-31
Matt 26:64
Mark 13:14-27
Mark 14:62
Luke 21:25-28
The “Rapture”
John 14:1-3
1 Cor 15:1-53
1 Thess 4:13-18
Rom 8:19
1 Cor 1:7-8
1 Cor 16:22
Phil 3:20-21
Col 3:4
1 Thess 1:10
1 Thess 2:19
1 Thess 5:9; 1 Thess 5:23
Acts 1:9-11
Acts 3:19-21
1 Thess 3:13
2 Thess 1:6-10
2 Thess 2:8
2 Peter 3:1-14
Jude 14-15
Rev 1:7
Rev 19:11-20:6
Rev 22:7, 12, 20
The “Rapture”
2 Thess 2:1, (3)
1 Tim 6:14
2 Tim 4:1
Titus 2:13
Heb 9:28
James 5:7-9
1 Peter 1:7, 13
1 John 2:28-3:2
Jude 21 ; Rev 2:25; Rev 3:10
Two Events?
Rapture: imminent; no precedent condition.
Second Coming: list of prerequisite events.
Rapture
Translation of all believers.
Translated saints go to heaven.
Earth not judged.
Imminent, any-moment, signless.
Not in the Old Testament.
Believers only.
Before the day of wrath.
No reference to Satan.
Christ comes for His own.
He comes in the air.
He claims His bride.
Only His own see.
Tribulation begins.
Church believers only? Second Coming
No translation at all.
Translated saints return to earth.
Earth judged; righteousness established.
Follows definite predicted signs,
including Tribulation.
Predicted often in Old Testament.
Affects all men on the earth.
Concluding the day of wrath.
Satan is bound.
Christ comes with His own.
He comes to the earth.
He comes with His bride.
Every eye shall see Him.
Millennial Kingdom begins.
OT saints raised after Millennium?
The “Great Tribulation”
• Is not 7 years but 3 ½ years
• The first 3 ½ years will be a false peace.
• The last 3 ½ years will be great tribulation for the world.
Daniel 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,
Matthew 24:21, 22
For then shall be Great Tribulation, such as was not since the beginning
of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should
be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those
days shall be shortened.
• Defined by Jesus, in a quote from Daniel 12:1.
Daniel 12:1
And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
• Another label for this time is called.....
The Time of Jacobs Trouble
– The focus of the Great Tribulation is worldwide but the focus is on Israel.
[Jeremiah 30:7
Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s
Trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
• The German Holocaust: Took 1 out of 3 Jews ;
• This next Holocaust will take 2 out of 3 Jews!
Zechariah 13:8,9
And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. 9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.
The Time of Jacobs Trouble
– The focus of the Great Tribulation is worldwide but the focus is on Israel.
Daniel 12:1
And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for
the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never
was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy
people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
When does the rapture take place?
Amillennial View:
Generally assume the rapture will take place at the end of the 70th week, after the Great Tribulation. That’s called “Post-Tribulationalism”.
Post-Tribulation Views (there are different kinds)
The result of the allegorization of the scriptures.
• Classic Post-Tribulationism (Payne, et al)
• Semi-classic Post-Tribulationism (Alexander Reese)
• Futuristic Post-Tribulationism (George E. Ladd)
• Dispensational Post-Tribulationism (Robert H. Gundry)
Post-Tribulation Problems:
• Denies the New Testament teaching of Imminency.
• If the rapture doesn’t occur until the end of the 7 years, then it can’t happen tomorrow.
• We are told to expect the “Rapture”at any time…
• Requires the Church to be on the earth during 70th Week, which contradicts a number of passages.
• Noah escaped God’s wrath, how much more should Christ’s Bride? He is our Ark..
• Israel & the Church are mutually exclusive (Daniel 9:26).
• The Church experiences God’s Wrath.
• Promised not to experience (1 Thessalonians 5:9...”God hath not appointed us to wrath“...; Revelation 3:10...”I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world,“...).
• How can the Bride (the Church) come with Him, if He’s coming at the end of the tribulation?
There are More Problems...
• Who will populate the Millennium?
• The unsaved are condemned and the saved are immortal so who will populate the millennium that’s going to have children, and there will be those that die, etc?
• Who are in the “Sheep and Goat” Judgment of Matthew 25?
• How can the virgins of Matthew 25 buy oil without the Mark of the Beast? No, one will be able to buy or sale without the Mark of the Beast.
You can’t hold this view and take the Bible with precision.
Rapture precedes the Tribulation?
• “Mid-trib” views deny imminency…
• 70th Week is defined by covenant enforced by the Coming World
Leader (Daniel 9:27).
• “Great Tribulation” = last 1/2 of 70th Week (Matthew 24:15, 21).
• The Leader cannot be revealed until after the Rapture (2 Thessalonians 2:6-9).
The Biblically Precise lean towards, the Pre-Tribulation or Premillennial view:
– The idea that Jesus is going to rule on the earth as being serious and that it is really going to happen before the Great Tribulation.
– That it’s going to happen before the 70th Week begins.
– We don’t know what the interval of time is between the time the rapture takes place nor the time that the antichrist is revealed, and then becomes powerful enough to enforce a treaty, and then enforces a treaty with Israel for 7 years.
– That could be 1 day or 30 years, we have no idea, so there is an interval.
– It probably won’t be long, but there is an interval.
The Rapture precedes the Tribulation:
• The 70th Week is defined by a covenant enforced by the World Leader.
Daniel 9:27 27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
• The “Great Tribulation” is the last half of the 70th Week.
Matthew 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: ...21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
• The Leader cannot be revealed until “after the rapture”.
2 Thessalonians 2:6-10 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
Again the “Order of Events”
1. The Day of the Lord can’t come until the apostasy.
2. The “Restrainer” is removed.
3. The “Man of Sin” is revealed.
4. All of this happens before the 70th Week of Daniel.
5. Therefore before the tribulation.
Eschatology:
Pre-Tribulation
Pre-Tribulation is not a new idea, it was around at the start of the Church Age.
• Epistle of Barnabas, (A.D. 100).
• Irenaeus, in Against Heresies.
• Hippolytus, a disciple of Irenaeus (2nd Century).
• Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho.
• Ephraem, the Syrian (4th Century).
Ephraem of Nisibis (A.D. 306-373)
• A recently discovered document by Ephraem, the Syrian was discovered.
– Most of us inherit our understanding of the church history from the western church. – – Of Western Europe.
– We need to remember that the Greek traditions goes deeper and longer by 1,000 years.
– And one of the most prolific writers in the Greek traditions was a man by the name of Ephraem the Syrian.
– Ephraem wrote in the 4th century, most of his writings were never translated from Greek to English.
In one of his sermons, he wrote:
—On the Last Times, the Antichrist, and the End of the World (303-307 A.D.)
For all the saints and Elect of God are gathered, prior to the tribulation that
is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to
overwhelm the world because of our sins.
• This is a Pre-Tribulation position taught way back in the early Greek church.
Pre-Trib Popularization
• Emanuel Lacunza (Ben Ezra), 1812.
• Edward Irving, 1816.
• John N. Darby, 1820.
• Margaret McDonald, 1830.
Later Pre-Tribulation Eschatology
• Peter Jurieu, The Approaching Deliverance of the Church, 1687.
• Philip Doddridge’s Commentary on the New Testament, 1738.
• Dr. John Gill, Commentary on the New Testament, 1748.
• James Macknight, Commentary on the Apostolical Epistles, 1763.
• Thomas Scott, Commentary on the Holy Bible, 1792.
Three Groups Facing Flood of Noah
• Those that perished in the Flood.
• Those preserved through the Flood.
• Those removed prior to the Flood.
Pre-Flood:
– Enoch was one person that was removed before judgement.
– Enoch was born: Hag Shavout
It is believed that Enoch was born on the Feast of Weeks.
– Enoch was translated: Hag Shavout
It is believed that Enoch was translated on the Feast of Weeks, his birthday.
– The Church is “One Body” who will be removed before the judgement.
Romans 12:5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ...
– Church was born: Hag Shavout *
The Church was born on the Feast of Weeks in Acts 2.
Is it possible that the Church will also be translated on the Feast of Weeks, it’s birthday?
Hag Shavout means Feast of Weeks, Harvest, Pentecost
Date Setters
• Joachim of Flores, 1260.
• Militz of Kromeriz, 1365.
• Joseph Mede, 1660.
• John Napier, 1688.
• Pierre Jurieu of France, 1689 .
• William Whitson, 1715; then 1734; then 1866.
• J.A. Bengal, 1836.
• Joseph Worlf, 1847.
• William Miller, 1843; then Oct. 22, 1844.
• C.T. Russell, 1874.
• E.C. Whisenant’s “88 reasons for 1988.”
• Harold Camping, September 1994.
• More coming . . .
Matthew 24:36
But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but
my Father only.
Matthew 24:42
Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
Matthew 24:44
Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
Matthew 25:13
Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
Luke 12:40
Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.
Acts 1:7
And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
“Rapture-itis”
• This is a uniquely American dementia. Just because the Church will not go through The Great Tribulation, why should we escape what most of the Body of Christ in most of the world for most of the past 2,000 years has had to endure?
Other Issues:
• Israel: God’s Timepiece
• The Rise of a European Superstate
• The Rise of the Far East.
• The Refuge in Edom
• The Battle of Armageddon
• The Magog Invasion
• The Rebuilding of the Temple
•The Rebuilding of Babylon.
The Coming Temple:
As mentioned by Jesus
Matthew 24:15
Paul
2 Thessalonians 2:4
John
Revelation11:1, 2
The Temple Mount Today
Al Aksa Mosque
Western Wall
Dome of the Rock
Views on Where the Temple Stood
Traditional View
Northern Conjecture
Southern Conjecture
Problems with Northern Conjecture
• Agrippa’s view of the Azarah.
• Roman surveillance of the Azarah.
• Water Aqueduct.
• Location of the Moat.
• Hulda Gates Elevation.
Some Background History
• 70 A.D.: Fall of Jerusalem.
• 132 A.D.: Bar Kochba Revolt.
• 135 A.D.: Romans regain Jerusalem.
• Aelia Capitolina built over the ruins.
• Temple to Jupiter built over the site of the Jewish Temple: an
Equestrian Statue of Hadrian was installed over the Holy of Holies.
Our Challenge
We are being plunged into a period of time about which the Bible says
more than it does about any other period of time in history...
Strategic Trends
• Struggle for Jerusalem Zech 12; Luke 21
• Magog Invasion Ezek 38, 39
• Rise of European Superstate Dan 2, 7
• Rise of China Isa 49; Rev 19
• Toward Global Government Dan 11, Rev 13
• Ecumenical Religion Rev 13, 17, 18
• Global Pestilence Rev 6:8
• Decline of United States Hosea 4 - 14
• Weapons of Mass Destruction Mt 24:22
New Temple Mount Breakthroughs:
The Temple | Bob Cornuke
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKqDx3RDCos
117,260 views
Archeology
Temple
by Robert Cornuke
https://www.khouse.org/articles/2015/1223/print/
There is no place that is considered a more significant as well as volatile, piece of real estate than the Temple Mount. Some say that World War III will erupt there. More blood has been shed over disputes of ownership and control of the traditional temple platform than any other location on earth. But some now believe the temple of Solomon was never even there at all, and that the legend of it being at that spot has gone unchallenged for so long now that tradition seems to have sealed reality into a long forgotten tomb.
Like so many, I thought that the location for the temple of Solomon had been proven to be on the traditional Temple Mount in Jerusalem. But, I became suspicious after reading the work of the late archaeologist and author, Dr. Ernest L. Martin. My research efforts would not have been possible without his ground-breaking insights. However, I hope that my own personal research presented herein offers a bold new chapter in this potentially history-adjusting subject.
LET THE DEBATE BEGIN!
Jesus warned His disciples of the coming destruction of the temple and that not one stone of the temple would be left on top of another. Matthew 24:1–2 says, “Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” Christ’s words clearly state that the entire temple, each and every stone, would be dug up, dislodged, and tossed away. It is interesting to note that there are massive stone blocks by the thousands set in the wall supporting the Temple Mount platform. Was Jesus wrong in His prophesying that not one stone would remain standing?
Historian Flavius Josephus wrote that the entirety of the temple was indeed in total ruin and destruction after 70 AD. He went on to say that if he had not personally been in Jerusalem during the war and witnessed the demolition by Titus of the temple that took place there, he wouldn’t have believed it ever existed. Josephus (Jewish Wars, VII, 1.1) speaks of widespread destruction in all Jerusalem as well.
So, if the Temple was completely destroyed to the last stone being toppled over, what is, and was, the huge stone fortress we see today rising over Jerusalem? I believe, as do others, that it once was the Roman fort occupied by the mighty Tenth Legion (Legio X Fretensis). I also believe that the true site of Solomon’s temple is about a thousand feet south of the temple mount in the City of David. This would mean that Jesus was correct in His prophetic words and that each and every stone, to the last one, was thrown down.
Where Was The Temple?
The garrison of Fort Antonia in Jerusalem was as big as several cities, according to Josephus, housing approximately 6,000 men plus the needed support staff. All told, as many as 10,000 personnel served there. But this huge fort has never been found in Jerusalem by archaeologists. I feel that the reason archaeologists have not found the mighty Roman fort is because the tradition of the Temple Mount complex being the temple site has blinded them.
City of David
Three thousand years ago, the City of David was about 12 acres in size and had an estimated population of only around 2,000 people. It is a finger of land just south of the present traditional Temple Mount. As a former policeman, I would like at this point to lay out a linear case for the City of David as the one and only place for the temple, but first must present a brief history. The Jebusite fortification was a fortress, albeit a small one, but it had what David wanted. It was strategically situated, with a high walled castle-looking complex rising majestically from the Kidron Valley. A spring flowed abundantly inside with clear, pure water, which made it even more desirable.
The Bible tells us that while David and his army were outside looking up at the Jebusite stronghold, there, standing defiant on the top of the walls were men hollering down mockingly. 2 Samuel 5:6–10 describes it this way:
— 2 Samuel 5:6–10 NKJV
“You shall not come in here; but the blind and the lame will repel you,” thinking, “David cannot come in here.” Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion (that is, the City of David). Now David said on that day, “Whoever climbs up by way of the water shaft and defeats the Jebusites (the lame and the blind, who are hated by David’s soul), he shall be chief and captain. “Therefore they say, “The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.” Then David dwelt in the stronghold, and called it the City of David.
David took control of what the Bible calls the Stronghold of Zion (Metsudat Tsion), that is, the City of David. These last two locales (Stronghold of Zion and the City of David) are the huge keys to solving the riddle as to where the true temple is located. But to keep on a straight path regarding the true temple site, let’s go back to David capturing the City of David from the Jebusites. After he was in his newly taken fortress, David was visited by an angel of the Lord that pointed out the desired patch of real estate within the city walls that David was to purchase from Araunah (Ornan) the Jebusite (2 Samuel 24:18–25). This land purchase was for a threshing floor—usually comprised of a level area paved with flat stones where grain is tossed in the air and the wind carries away the lighter chaff (worthless husks of broken straw) and leaves the heavier kernel of wheat to fall on the threshing floor. It is interesting, that David had captured the 12-acre fortress by force, yet God was now ordering David to pay money to the Jebusite owner for a threshing floor. But this comment in Scripture is a huge clue for the temple location. In 2 Chronicles 3:1 we read: “Now Solomon began to build the temple at the house of the Lord at Jerusalem…at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.” This verse conclusively says that the temple will be built in the strict boundary of the City of David at the place of the threshing floor bought from the Jebusite. That can only be in the City of David, and this makes it impossible for the Temples to have been on the Temple mount........
Hour 22 Revelation 1 - 3
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