Labor Pains?

“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. “All these are the beginning of sorrows.”   Matthew 24:7-8  NKJV

Another week has passed bringing more and more signs of the end as told to us in the Word of God.  With all of the questions I have been receiving, I thought I would share an article from Jack Kelley, while a few years old, is none the less very informative concerning the days we are living in right now.
 

Have The Seal Judgments Begun?

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

Judging from some of the questions I’ve received lately, people are really getting impatient for the end times to begin in earnest. For years fringe groups have been claiming that the seal judgments have already begun, but it looks to me like this opinion is suddenly becoming more popular.

The Seal judgments are now being compared to the “birth pangs” of Matt. 24:4-8 by people who say the real end times judgments won’t begin until after the great multitude of Rev. 7:9 arrives in Heaven. They say these saints are the church, and claim that we’ll be raptured between the seal judgments and the trumpet judgments that begin in Rev. 8:6. There are several reasons why this cannot be correct, but perhaps the most obvious is that the destiny of these believers is not the same as that of the Church. According to Rev. 7:15 they will serve God day and night in His temple, but there is no Temple in the New Jerusalem where the Church will be (Rev. 21:22) and the Rev. 7 multitude is neither called kings nor priests.

What’s The Big Hurry?

Some of this impatience is undoubtedly prompted by the dissatisfaction people feel about the current condition of our world. In the US, a recent poll shows that only 32% of the population thinks our leaders are taking us in the right direction. People are beginning to realize that the lowest unemployment rate in 5 years doesn’t mean that more people are finding jobs. They know that the labor force participation rate, having been at or above 66% for most of the time between 2003-2008 has been dropping since 2009 and is now at 63.3%. Where is the rest of the workforce? Most have either accepted low paying and/or part time work or have simply given up on trying to find a job. Either way they’re no longer looking for work, so the government doesn’t consider them to be unemployed. People also understand from their own experience that the middle class is steadily losing economic ground, and that the dollars we have don’t buy as much as they used to.

And just this week one of our most highly respected prophecy scholars disclosed his belief that the time for praying the US out of our problems has ended. In effect, He said God gave us fair warning and we didn’t pay attention. He identified the recent presidential election as our response to God’s warning, and said it marked the point of no return for us. Citing passages from Jeremiah and Ezekiel where God told the prophets to stop praying for Israel because He had stopped listening, this scholar stated his belief that our judgment has also been irrevocably determined and prayer will no longer help. Based on these and other circumstances it’s no wonder that many people who read about the Seal judgments in Revelation 6 see indications that they’re already here.

Long time readers of my articles know that I don’t believe the United States can be prayed out of our situation either. For me it’s a matter of there being no place for a strong US in end times prophecy. I’ve said before that I believe people who are praying for America’s recovery are unknowingly praying against God’s plan for the end of the age. He never gave the Church a homeland on Earth and He never promised to save the USA, which He considers to be just another gentile nation.

But neither my esteemed colleague nor I believe we’re already in the Seal judgments. The circumstances we’re currently experiencing are certainly similar to the Seal judgments, although much milder, but certain specific conditions have not been met for them to have actually begun.

Now if you don’t believe that the Bible teaches a pre-tribulation rapture, and if you don’t believe that Israel and the Church have separate destinies, you may not see some of this the way I do. But based on my understanding of Bible prophecy, the events of the Book of Revelation will begin unfolding this way.

Have You Read The Book?

In Rev. 1:19 the Lord gave John instructions on writing the Bible’s most comprehensive prophecy of the End of the Age. He said, “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now, and what will take place later.” Many scholars believe these instructions effectively divide the book into three parts. The things John had seen are contained in chapter 1. The things that were in John’s present are described in chapters 2-3 and the things that will take place later begin in chapter 4 and fill the rest of the book.

Strictly speaking the seven churches of Rev. 2-3 were the only addressees of the book of Revelation (Rev. 1:11). Each one was an actual congregation that deserved both the commendations and the criticisms Jesus gave them. If you’ve visited the sites of these seven churches, as I have, you know that all them disappeared long ago. Why did Jesus choose them as opposed to other churches of the day?

Many scholars who have studied Rev. 2-3 see that with their particular challenges and viewed in the order in which they’re mentioned, these seven are not just a handful of long gone 1st century churches but are representative of the entire Church Age. They say the reason the Lord chose them was to provide this concise look at the Church’s past, present and future.

Accepting this view makes Rev. 2-3 instructive to the entire Church age, because the problems He identified there are still with us. It’s also consistent with the structure of the book, which is to render things in signs. In the Greek language of Rev. 1:1 John used the word “semaino”, which means “to give a sign, or signify”, to describe how he was commanded to write. It means that through out the book certain words and phrases are meant to signify something else. The dragon, the beast, and the woman who rides the beast are three obvious examples.

In his gospel, John used this same word on three occasions to explain that a particular phrase was intended to refer to something else. In John 12:33 Jesus used the phrase “lifted up” to signify his crucifixion. John 18:32 explains that one of the reasons the Jewish leaders took Jesus to Pilate is so he would be crucified, to fulfill the words He had spoken, signifying the kind of death He would die. (The Jewish method of execution was stoning.) And in John 21:19 Jesus told Peter he would stretch out his hands and someone would lead him where he did not want to go. According to John this was meant to signify Peter’s crucifixion.

Therefore seeing Rev. 2-3 as signifying the entire Church Age is a reasonable interpretation. That being the case, then the phrase “the things that will take place later” (literally, after these things) from Rev. 1:19 means that everything from Rev. 4 to the end of the book will come after the Church Age has ended.

After These Things

Rev. 4-5 contain a number of indications that these two chapters describe events that take place right after the rapture of the Church. First, the 24 elders of Rev. 4:4 don’t appear in any earlier description of the throne of God, so they’re new arrivals. In addition they’re sitting on thrones (meaning they’re rulers) wearing white (meaning they’re righteous) with crowns of gold on their heads. The word for crown John used is stephanos. It refers to a victory crown and is the crown of an overcomer.

In Rev. 3:11 Jesus cautioned us to hold on so that no one will take our crown, and in Rev. 3:21 He said, “To him who overcomes I will give the right to sit with me on my throne just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on His throne.” Crowns and thrones.

Singing to God in Rev. 5:9-10 (NKJV) they declare, “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; For You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.”

This is a song only the church can sing.

I agree it would be a bit of a stretch to base our pre-trib conviction on such circumstantial evidence alone, but by putting other clear verses like Isaiah 26:19-20, 1 Thes. 1:10, and Rev. 3:10 with it, the evidence becomes much more concrete, and makes the pre-trib position more consistent with a literal interpretation of Scripture than any other rapture view.

Also, in Romans 11:25-26 Paul made it clear that Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of Gentiles has come in. Once that happens, Israel will have one final chance to receive the Lord’s salvation. We can also see this in Acts 15:13-18, where James explained that Israel was being set aside while the Lord took from the Gentiles a people for himself. After this He will turn His attention toward Israel again, their Temple will be rebuilt, and they’ll have a final chance to seek the Lord.

This final opportunity is known to us from Daniel 9:24-27 as Daniel’s 70th Week, the last half of which is called the Great Tribulation. Both Romans 11:25-26 and Acts 15:13-18 indicate that Daniel’s 70th Week will take place after the Lord has completed His plan to take for Himself a people from the Gentiles. There will be a certain number of Gentiles taken and when that number has been met we will be carried away to our ultimate destiny in the Lord’s house (John 14:2-3) After that, Daniel’s 70th week will begin. I believe Rev. 6-18 is a description of the events that take place during Daniel’s 70th Week.

So the first thing we see is that the rapture of the Church has to precede the Seal judgments. Since the Church is still here, the Seal judgments can’t have begun yet.

But Wait, There’s More

Rev. 6:1 tells us a rider on a white horse will appear after the events of Rev. 4-5 (the rapture). This rider is thought by most to be an early appearance of the anti-Christ. The world won’t recognize him as such, but will think of him as a great peacemaker. Daniel 8:25 says he will deceive many this way, and in 1 Thes. 5:3 Paul said the world will believe peace has arrived, but then destruction will come upon them suddenly. So at the beginning of the Seal judgments, there will be a short period of peace that the whole world will notice. That is not the case today and it hasn’t been the case for a number of years. I believe this peace will come right after Ezekiel 38-39, a war that God will use to draw Israel back into their covenant with Him. If so, then the Seal judgments can’t begin until after Ezekiel 38-39.

Suddenly peace will be taken from the world again, as Paul indicated, and people will be dying in large numbers (Rev. 6:4). Inflation and food shortages will become so acute that it will take everything an average person can earn in a day to buy one day’s worth of food (Rev. 6:6). One fourth of the world’s populated areas will suffer the effects of war, famine, and pestilence. Even wild animals will take part in the carnage (Rev. 6:8).

People will die for the Christian faith in large numbers. Their spirits will cry out to the Lord for vengeance but the death and destruction will get much worse before it’s over (Rev. 6:9). Finally there will be a great earthquake that sends the people of Earth running for cover. The Sun will turn black and the Moon will turn dark red (Rev. 6:12-14). Everyone from the world’s leaders to the humblest of men will look for a place to hide from God’s judgment (Rev. 6:15-17).

Please note that this doesn’t mean the coming wrath will begin at the end of the Seal judgments. The Greek words of Rev. 6:17 describe continuous and ongoing action. It means the post-rapture world will finally realize that what has been happening through out the seal judgments is that the great day of God’s wrath has already begun.

In Conclusion

So, while many of the conditions affecting the world today appear quite similar to those described in the Seal judgments of Rev. 6, they are in fact much milder previews of what lies ahead. The full impact of this first cycle of judgments won’t be felt until after the Lord has made good on His promise to rescue us from the time and place of their occurrence, and Israel has returned from their long estrangement from God to once again be a covenant keeping nation.

But take heart, you who grow impatient, because if you listen carefully you can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah. 05-04-13

 https://gracethrufaith.com/end-times-prophecy/have-the-seal-judgments-begun/

Keep watching.

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/180-Israeli-students-quarantined-after-coronavirus-exposure-618455

https://www.raptureready.com/2020/02/23/look-up-by-daymond-duck/

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/south-korea-raises-alert-to-highest-level-as-coronavirus-cases-jump/ar-BB10hOVE?li=BBnb7Kz

The Treaty of Death

The ruler will make a treaty with the people for a period of one set of seven, but after half this time, he will put an end to the sacrifices and offerings. And as a climax to all his terrible deeds, he will set up a sacrilegious object that causes desecration, until the fate decreed for this defiler is finally poured out on him.”                 Daniel 9:27  NLT

I imagine most of us are familiar with the old expression, “no deal is better than a bad deal”, and I for one think that the situation Israel is soon to find herself in will be a perfect example of that saying.  In the very near future, after the War of Ezekiel 38-39,  Israel will  acknowledge the supernatural intervention of God to defend them and rebuild the Temple in order to return to the Levitical system of worship.  However, it is the antichrist which brings this to pass and as a result, they accept the man of sin as their messiah which sets the stage for all that is to come.  You see, the antichrist does not allow Israel to rebuild the temple solely for themselves, but also because he needs it for an event he has planned for the future.

“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. “Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. “And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. “But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! “And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.      Matthew 24:15-21  NKJV

How many of you have seen the classic old western movie “High Noon” starring Gary Cooper?  The entire movie revolves around the climax, which is a confrontation between the town marshal and the outlaw and his gang who will arrive on the train at high noon.  When the nation of Israel signs a treaty with the antichrist the clock begins on the seventieth week of Daniel.  This is a period of time which the Bible teaches is seven years of three hundred and sixty days each for a total of two thousand five hundred and twenty days.  Unfortunately for Israel, their “High Noon” will occur at the midpoint, or three and one half years into this period of time.

What we are told will happen at that time reveals exactly who the antichrist is, and what his plan has been all along while allowing Israel to rebuild their Temple.  The phrase “abomination of desolation” is found several times in the scriptures and is spoken of  specifically by both Daniel and Jesus.  What it refers to is an event which has occurred once before, and will happen once again at the midpoint of Daniel’s seventieth week.  In 168 BC, Antiochus Epiphanes, who was a Greek king that had conquered Israel, erected an altar to Jupiter Olympus in the Temple and sacrificed a pig on the altar.

Most all scholars agree that what Jesus is telling us in this passage from Matthew is that at the midpoint of Daniel’s seventieth week, this scenario will be repeated when the antichrist stands in the “holy place” and proclaims himself to be god.  We also find in the book of Revelation that he erects a statue there and commands all to worship it.

Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.     Revelation 13:11-15  NKJV

This is the “sacrilegious object” Daniel refers to in the passage above, and it is at this point, after just three and a half years, that in Jesus’ own words a time of “great tribulation” begins, all because what the antichrist has been after all along is to be accepted and worshipped in place of the true God.

Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.    2 Thessalonians 2:3-4  NKJV

Obviously the “Great Tribulation” begins because there are those on the earth who see the antichrist for who he really is, and refuse to worship him.  He will then begin a persecution the likes of which this world has never seen. 

He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.       Revelation 13:16-17  NKJV

What we are told about this time is very clear, either you take the mark and worship the beast or you will be hunted down and killed. 

Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.  Revelation 13:6-10  NKJV

And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.     Revelation 20:4  NKJV

Do you notice how black and white this time of Great Tribulation will be?  There are only two sides to this conflict; those who choose to worship the beast, and those who reject his claims and chose to have their names written in the Book of Life by accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior.  How terrible will this time of persecution be?  Consider what Jesus had to say about that question.

“And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.    Matthew 24:22  NKJV

Unless God chose to intervene, eventually all would be killed.  So in His infinite wisdom, God chose to limit the length of the Great Tribulation to only three and one half years.  Then what will occur is something the entire world has been waiting for since Jesus ascended to Heaven forty days after His resurrection.  So far the order of events as I see it are the Rapture, The destruction of Damascus, the Gog/Magog conflict, the confirmation of a peace between Israel and its enemies which begins the Seventieth Week of Daniel, and the Abomination of Desolation after twelve hundred and sixty days. 

So much is happening right now in this world that many find it hard to believe the Church will be here much longer.  As there are no preconditions for the rapture, coupled with the signs we are seeing fulfilled before our very eyes, it certainly seems time is definitely running out.  If you have never made the decision to accept the gift of eternal life offered by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ I urge you to do it today.  Simply tell God you accept His Son Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and turn your life over to His control.

Father, I know I am a sinner in need of salvation. I believe you sent your Son Jesus to die on the cross for my sin, and I ask you now to forgive me of my sins. I want to receive your gift of salvation so please come into my heart and help me to live and follow you as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Keep watching.

Pestilence

“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.    Matthew 24:7 NKJV

I am sure many of you have visited or are failiar with the Rapture Ready website.  I visit it every day at least once, and often more, simply because it’s content is so helpful and enlightening for those of us who choose to watch.  This commentary by the founder, Terry James, is just such an article.  I have had questions concerning the outbreak in China and this article says much about that and more in a much better way than I ever could.  Read and be encouraged that our deliverance is drawing near.

Prophetic Pandemic? :: By Terry James

Published on: February 7, 2020 by RRadmin7 Category:General Articles, Terry James

The entire world is on high alert because of the coronavirus that is spreading quickly. More than six hundred have died from the disease as of this writing. China, the country from which it emanates, has millions of people under quarantine.

There is no known cure, and experts report that it will possibly take years to develop a vaccine to cure or prevent its spread. Agencies responsible for controlling the virus fear a pandemic—a worldwide spread of the deadly disease.

Air travel makes the spread of the virus almost impossible to curtail. American Airlines is reportedly being sued by its employees in order to prevent the company from sending crews around the world, placing them at risk for exposure.

The fear generated by the spread of coronavirus affected not only the worldwide medical industry, but also the global economy.

Friday, January 31, the Dow Jones Industrial Averages closed down around 600 points. This generated anxiety among some who are already predicting any-moment global financial collapse. It caused one observer to weigh in with increased forewarnings. The day before the 600-point decline, he wrote:

In the light of the Coronavirus, which is spreading with no end in sight, more people are feeling compelled to ask the question, will the global economy fail? Some are predicting that the global economy, including the US economy will fail due to the introduction of new factors such as the Coronavirus…

Before the introduction of the Coronavirus, the global economy was already in deep trouble. What people should know is that back in December of 2019, before the Coronavirus went active, the global economy was on the verge of collapse…

Many economists that I have spoken to are concerned that the global economy will continue to decline as a result of the Coronavirus. Do these fears have merit? It does not matter. Perception drives reality. If the people on this planet believe that their health is threatened by this virus, the global economy, already on thin ice, will collapse. (Dave Hodges, “Will the Coronavirus Cause a Global Economic Collapse? The BDI Says Yes!” January 30, 2020)

The economy snapped back in an almost flabbergasting way this week. It seems even this world-wide threat can’t hold back the tremendous perception that  a profound economic boom is still on the upswing.

It is my belief more intensely than ever that the Rapture will occur in the midst of just such an economic boom as is presently perceived.

To some prophecy watchers, this newest of the threats to millions around the world is yet another of the converging signs that the end of the age is at hand. It ranks up there with earthquakes taking place daily, like the one a couple of weeks ago so powerful that it was felt strongly in Miami.

Bible prophecy, of course, tells that such virulent diseases will be prevalent during the Tribulation, the last seven years preceding Christ’s Second Advent. Jesus briefed His disciples about this coming assault as He sat on the Mount of Olives just before His crucifixion:

For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:7, 8)

My friend Chuck Missler, one of the great prophecy teachers, spoke about this passage. I remember listening with fascination while he waxed eloquent on what he thought the word “pestilence” in Jesus’ foretelling might mean. He equated the term to one found in another prophetic Scripture:

I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.(Revelation 6: 8)

Chuck, as I recall, postulated that the word “pestilence” in Jesus’ Olivet Discourse might be the same as the words “wild beasts” in the Revelation 6: 8 passage about the four horsemen of the Apocalypse.

He put forth the thought that “wild beasts” could well mean what he termed “micro-beasts”—i.e., not necessarily only literal, four-footed animals like lions and bears, but perhaps voracious, flesh-eating and destroying entities that can be seen only under powerful microscopes. He suggested the term might indicate microbes—germs—of such virulence that they could not be detected or destroyed before they have done their deadly work.   

Missler wrote:

There was a time not long ago when the medical profession felt they had most of the major diseases licked, and for the rest it was just a matter of time.

Now that former optimism appears tragically premature. Many of the previously “defeated” diseases are making a comeback, in hardier strains which are resisting our former treatments.…

The rapidity with which diseases, emergent or deliberate, can pass through our “global village” is terrifyingly real.

With modern air travel and global commerce, as well as our present understanding of modern biotechnology, the Biblical predictions now seem frighteningly imminent. (“Emergent and Deliberate Diseases,” Koinonia House, February 1, 1998)

The world’s top biological scientists and medical professionals have done much to defeat new and mutating bacteria and viruses since Missler wrote about these matters years ago. However, rather than stopping the progress of these “micro-beasts,” all efforts have been ineffective. for the most part. The ”beasts” are proliferating and are becoming more virulent.

Daniel’s prophecy about exponential travel (Daniel 12: 4) is now on an ever-increasing pathway to fulfillment, greatly escalating the ability of the micro-beasts to invade new human hosts around the globe Yet, we haven’t reached that time of Tribulation forewarned by Jesus while He answered the disciple’s questions about what the future holds.

Nonetheless, the coronavirus is certainly an indicator to add to all the other signals of that time just ahead, about which Jesus declared:

For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. (Matthew 24:21)     

https://www.raptureready.com/2020/02/07/prophetic-pandemic-terry-james/

There is no doubt in my mind that all believers in the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be going home soon.  My prayer is that you have made the choice to believe and give your life to Him so you can join us as we make that journey to our eternal home in the blink of an eye.

Keep watching.