TERMS AND MORE TERMS: GETTING READY FOR UNDERSTANDING THE END
We are paused. Sitting here looking at the disaster ahead when the Northern King comes crashing down into Israel and the obliteration that happens afterward. hovering behind that scenario lies the promise, Ezekiel, Chapters 38,39 tell us when Russia will invade Israel. Ezekiel 38:8 reveals that Israel will be a nation in their land of Palestine and dwelling in safety. So we have a delay of the obliteration until they can live in perceived safety. Some suspect Israel will feel safe AFTER they do a treaty with the Antichrist's European confederacy. Others suspect the defeat of ISIS and the victory in Syria over various forces will only be accomplished after some sort of agreement with the Soviet Union and Israel negotiated by the US. Perhaps to close the backdoor escape through the Golan Heights of the Syrian rebels being pursued from the North. Such a pact would prove useful until the rebels were crushed and would also park the Soviet forces on the Israeli border. Ready to invade.
Daniel 9:22 And teaching me and talking to me he said, O Daniel, I have come now to give you wisdom.
23 At the first word of your prayer a word went out, and I have come to give you knowledge; for you are a man dearly loved: so give thought to the word and let the vision be clear to you.
24 Seventy weeks have been fixed for your people and your holy town, to let wrongdoing be complete and sin come to its full limit, and for the clearing away of evil-doing and the coming in of eternal righteousness: so that the vision and the word of the prophet may be stamped as true, and to put the holy oil on a most holy place.
25 Have then the certain knowledge that from the going out of the word for the building again of Jerusalem till the coming of a prince, on whom the holy oil has been put, will be seven weeks: in sixty-two weeks its building will be complete, with square and earthwork.
26 And at the end of the times, even after the sixty-two weeks, one on whom the holy oil has been put will be cut off and have no...;and the town and the holy place will be made waste together with a prince; and the end will come with an overflowing of waters, and even to the end there will be war; the making waste which has been fixed.
27 And a strong order will be sent out against the great number for one week; and so for half of the week the offering and the meal offering will come to an end; and in its place will be an unclean thing causing fear; till the destruction which has been fixed is let loose on him who has made waste.
(BBE)
http://www.calvaryprophecy.com/tribbgn.html
The purpose of the tribulation period is twofold. One, to bring about the conversion of the nation Israel to prepare them for her Messiah. Two, to pour out God’s judgment on the unbelieving nations of the world.
The tribulation period, seven years in length, is really broken up into two 3 ½ year time periods. Many believe that the real suffering will take place in the latter 3 ½ years, with the first 3 ½ years pretty much like it is now. There are also many Bible scholars that believe that most of the events of the tribulation period are of a symbolic nature and are not to be taken literally. I do not share these philosophies as you will discover as we walk through the Tribulation period. While there is some symbolism, the majority of the events are described in plain language and are to be taken literally. Those that are not explained by its context, are explained in other parts of the Bible in plain English. For example, the Lord told many parables that the religious leaders of that day could not understand, but later, He explain them clearly to His apostles. This is just one example of how the Lord explained prophecies about future events.
When Jesus comes to take His bride, many millions of people will suddenly disappear. How will this go unnoticed? What will be the explanation for this sudden disaster? Let’s face it, mothers will lose their babies, brothers will lose their sisters, husbands will lose their wives, and so on. This will be big news worldwide. I’m sure that UFOs or some paranormal hypothesis will be a prevailing theory.
(We already discussed this part. W.)
After the rapture occurs the restrainer will be removed, but not taken from the earth. I believe this restrainer to be the Holy Spirit. When the church is taken from the earth the Holy Spirit will stop holding back the door and allow Satan to proceed with his plan. This will usher in the beginning of the Great Day Of The Lord. This is also when the man of sin will be revealed, better known as the Antichrist. Without the removing of the restrainer the Antichrist could not come on the scene.
I include this chart to let you see how easy it is to have disagreements on the whens and wheres of the end times.
And then there is the second half of the Tribulation:
(See above link for these charts.)
All the events shown in the chart are listed in the Bible. The thing we get disagreements on is when exactly they may occur. Our agreements are found in this list:
http://johnsnotes.com/Rapture-TheFiveViews.htm
They all hold to:
The doesn't quite make the cut for me, but we will get to that later. And then there is the matter of the New Heaven and New Earth arriving after the Millennium ends.
The judgments during the Tribulation that we have seen mentioned so often:
Answer: The seven seals (Revelation 6:1-17, 8:1-5), seven trumpets (Revelation 8:6-9:21; 11:15-19), and seven bowls/vials (Revelation 16:1-21) are three succeeding series of end-times judgments from God. The judgments get progressively worse and more devastating as the end times progress. The seven seals, trumpets, and bowls are connected to one another. The seventh seal introduces the seven trumpets (Revelation 8:1-5), and the seventh trumpet introduces the seven bowls (Revelation 11:15-19, 15:1-8).
The first four of the seven seals are known as the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. The first seal introduces the Antichrist (Revelation 6:1-2). The second seal causes great warfare (Revelation 6:3-4). The third of the seven seals causes famine (Revelation 6:5-6). The fourth seal brings about plague, further famine, and further warfare (Revelation 6:7-8).
The fifth seal tells us of those who will be martyred for their faith in Christ during the end times (Revelation 6:9-11). God hears their cries for justice and will deliver it in His timing—in the form of the sixth seal, along with the trumpet and bowl judgments. When the sixth of the seven seals is broken, a devastating earthquake occurs, causing massive upheaval and terrible devastation—along with unusual astronomical phenomena (Revelation 6:12-14). Those who survive are right to cry out, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:16-17).
The seven trumpets are described in Revelation 8:6-13. The seven trumpets are the “contents” of the seventh seal (Revelation 8:1-5). The first trumpet causes hail and fire that destroys much of the plant life in the world (Revelation 8:7). The second trumpet brings about what seems to be a meteor hitting the oceans and causing the death of much of the world’s sea life (Revelation 8:8-9). The third trumpet is similar to the second, except it affects the world’s lakes and rivers instead of the oceans (Revelation 8:10-11).
The fourth of the seven trumpets causes the sun and moon to be darkened (Revelation 8:12). The fifth trumpet results in a plague of “demonic locusts” that attack and torture humanity (Revelation 9:1-11). The sixth trumpet releases a demonic army that kills a third of humanity (Revelation 9:12-21). The seventh trumpet calls forth the seven angels with the seven bowls of God’s wrath (Revelation 11:15-19, 15:1-8).
The seven bowl/vial judgments are described in Revelation 16:1-21. The seven bowl judgments are called forth by the seventh trumpet. The first bowl causes painful sores to break out on humanity (Revelation 16:2). The second bowl results in the death of every living thing in the sea (Revelation 16:3). The third bowl causes the rivers to turn into blood (Revelation 16:4-7). The fourth of the seven bowls results in the sun’s heat being intensified and causing great pain (Revelation 16:8-9). The fifth bowl causes great darkness and an intensification of the sores from the first bowl (Revelation 16:10-11). The sixth bowl results in the Euphrates River being dried up and the armies of the Antichrist being gathered together to wage the battle of Armageddon (Revelation 16:12-14). The seventh bowl results in a devastating earthquake followed by giant hailstones (Revelation 16:15-21).
Revelation 16:5-7 declares of God, “You are just in these judgments, you who are and who were, the Holy One, because you have so judged; for they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve. … Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments.”
Then there are the views of the Millennium:
http://johnsnotes.com/Rapture-TheFiveViews.htm
We've discussed these before but here's a quick follow up:
https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/mill.cfm
Some see this(The Millennium) as a future earthly theocracy by which Christ will rule over the nations for a thousand years. Others see it as a time during which Christ will rule earth from heaven through the life-changing power of the Gospel. Still others look at it in another way. And the multitude of others holds a multitude of other interpretations.
https://www.gotquestions.org/144000.html
The book of Revelation has always presented the interpreter with challenges. The book is steeped in vivid imagery and symbolism which people have interpreted differently depending on their preconceptions of the book as a whole. There are four main interpretive approaches to the book of Revelation: 1) preterist (which sees all or most of the events in Revelation as having already occurred by the end of the 1st century); 2) historicist (which sees Revelation as a survey of church history from apostolic times to the present); 3) idealist (which sees Revelation as a depiction of the struggle between good and evil); 4) futurist (which sees Revelation as prophecy of events to come). Of the four, only the futurist approach interprets Revelation in the same grammatical-historical method as the rest of Scripture. It is also a better fit with Revelation’s own claim to be prophecy (Revelation 1:3; 22:7, 10, 18, 19).
With a plethora of ideas about the Millennium I will give others short shrift in this blog and dwell on my own conclusions. I will site some other discourse on it in a later post but my own futurist, premillennial view as the literal interpretation will be dominant throughout.
We are paused. Sitting here looking at the disaster ahead when the Northern King comes crashing down into Israel and the obliteration that happens afterward. hovering behind that scenario lies the promise, Ezekiel, Chapters 38,39 tell us when Russia will invade Israel. Ezekiel 38:8 reveals that Israel will be a nation in their land of Palestine and dwelling in safety. So we have a delay of the obliteration until they can live in perceived safety. Some suspect Israel will feel safe AFTER they do a treaty with the Antichrist's European confederacy. Others suspect the defeat of ISIS and the victory in Syria over various forces will only be accomplished after some sort of agreement with the Soviet Union and Israel negotiated by the US. Perhaps to close the backdoor escape through the Golan Heights of the Syrian rebels being pursued from the North. Such a pact would prove useful until the rebels were crushed and would also park the Soviet forces on the Israeli border. Ready to invade.
Daniel 9:22 And teaching me and talking to me he said, O Daniel, I have come now to give you wisdom.
23 At the first word of your prayer a word went out, and I have come to give you knowledge; for you are a man dearly loved: so give thought to the word and let the vision be clear to you.
24 Seventy weeks have been fixed for your people and your holy town, to let wrongdoing be complete and sin come to its full limit, and for the clearing away of evil-doing and the coming in of eternal righteousness: so that the vision and the word of the prophet may be stamped as true, and to put the holy oil on a most holy place.
25 Have then the certain knowledge that from the going out of the word for the building again of Jerusalem till the coming of a prince, on whom the holy oil has been put, will be seven weeks: in sixty-two weeks its building will be complete, with square and earthwork.
26 And at the end of the times, even after the sixty-two weeks, one on whom the holy oil has been put will be cut off and have no...;and the town and the holy place will be made waste together with a prince; and the end will come with an overflowing of waters, and even to the end there will be war; the making waste which has been fixed.
27 And a strong order will be sent out against the great number for one week; and so for half of the week the offering and the meal offering will come to an end; and in its place will be an unclean thing causing fear; till the destruction which has been fixed is let loose on him who has made waste.
(BBE)
http://www.calvaryprophecy.com/tribbgn.html
The purpose of the tribulation period is twofold. One, to bring about the conversion of the nation Israel to prepare them for her Messiah. Two, to pour out God’s judgment on the unbelieving nations of the world.
The tribulation period, seven years in length, is really broken up into two 3 ½ year time periods. Many believe that the real suffering will take place in the latter 3 ½ years, with the first 3 ½ years pretty much like it is now. There are also many Bible scholars that believe that most of the events of the tribulation period are of a symbolic nature and are not to be taken literally. I do not share these philosophies as you will discover as we walk through the Tribulation period. While there is some symbolism, the majority of the events are described in plain language and are to be taken literally. Those that are not explained by its context, are explained in other parts of the Bible in plain English. For example, the Lord told many parables that the religious leaders of that day could not understand, but later, He explain them clearly to His apostles. This is just one example of how the Lord explained prophecies about future events.
When Jesus comes to take His bride, many millions of people will suddenly disappear. How will this go unnoticed? What will be the explanation for this sudden disaster? Let’s face it, mothers will lose their babies, brothers will lose their sisters, husbands will lose their wives, and so on. This will be big news worldwide. I’m sure that UFOs or some paranormal hypothesis will be a prevailing theory.
(We already discussed this part. W.)
After the rapture occurs the restrainer will be removed, but not taken from the earth. I believe this restrainer to be the Holy Spirit. When the church is taken from the earth the Holy Spirit will stop holding back the door and allow Satan to proceed with his plan. This will usher in the beginning of the Great Day Of The Lord. This is also when the man of sin will be revealed, better known as the Antichrist. Without the removing of the restrainer the Antichrist could not come on the scene.
I include this chart to let you see how easy it is to have disagreements on the whens and wheres of the end times.
And then there is the second half of the Tribulation:
(See above link for these charts.)
All the events shown in the chart are listed in the Bible. The thing we get disagreements on is when exactly they may occur. Our agreements are found in this list:
http://johnsnotes.com/Rapture-TheFiveViews.htm
They all hold to:
• A literal 7-year Tribulation.
• Jesus will return visibly, bodily and personally at the end of the Tribulation.
• Jesus will set up a literal 1000-year earthly kingdom.
• Mortals will repopulate the earth during the Millennium.
• All resurrected & raptured saints will reign with Christ on earth.
• There will be a final judgment at the “Great White Throne.”
• All unbelievers will be condemned.
• Time ends and eternity begins after all this.
The doesn't quite make the cut for me, but we will get to that later. And then there is the matter of the New Heaven and New Earth arriving after the Millennium ends.
The judgments during the Tribulation that we have seen mentioned so often:
Answer: The seven seals (Revelation 6:1-17, 8:1-5), seven trumpets (Revelation 8:6-9:21; 11:15-19), and seven bowls/vials (Revelation 16:1-21) are three succeeding series of end-times judgments from God. The judgments get progressively worse and more devastating as the end times progress. The seven seals, trumpets, and bowls are connected to one another. The seventh seal introduces the seven trumpets (Revelation 8:1-5), and the seventh trumpet introduces the seven bowls (Revelation 11:15-19, 15:1-8).
The first four of the seven seals are known as the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. The first seal introduces the Antichrist (Revelation 6:1-2). The second seal causes great warfare (Revelation 6:3-4). The third of the seven seals causes famine (Revelation 6:5-6). The fourth seal brings about plague, further famine, and further warfare (Revelation 6:7-8).
The fifth seal tells us of those who will be martyred for their faith in Christ during the end times (Revelation 6:9-11). God hears their cries for justice and will deliver it in His timing—in the form of the sixth seal, along with the trumpet and bowl judgments. When the sixth of the seven seals is broken, a devastating earthquake occurs, causing massive upheaval and terrible devastation—along with unusual astronomical phenomena (Revelation 6:12-14). Those who survive are right to cry out, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:16-17).
The seven trumpets are described in Revelation 8:6-13. The seven trumpets are the “contents” of the seventh seal (Revelation 8:1-5). The first trumpet causes hail and fire that destroys much of the plant life in the world (Revelation 8:7). The second trumpet brings about what seems to be a meteor hitting the oceans and causing the death of much of the world’s sea life (Revelation 8:8-9). The third trumpet is similar to the second, except it affects the world’s lakes and rivers instead of the oceans (Revelation 8:10-11).
The fourth of the seven trumpets causes the sun and moon to be darkened (Revelation 8:12). The fifth trumpet results in a plague of “demonic locusts” that attack and torture humanity (Revelation 9:1-11). The sixth trumpet releases a demonic army that kills a third of humanity (Revelation 9:12-21). The seventh trumpet calls forth the seven angels with the seven bowls of God’s wrath (Revelation 11:15-19, 15:1-8).
The seven bowl/vial judgments are described in Revelation 16:1-21. The seven bowl judgments are called forth by the seventh trumpet. The first bowl causes painful sores to break out on humanity (Revelation 16:2). The second bowl results in the death of every living thing in the sea (Revelation 16:3). The third bowl causes the rivers to turn into blood (Revelation 16:4-7). The fourth of the seven bowls results in the sun’s heat being intensified and causing great pain (Revelation 16:8-9). The fifth bowl causes great darkness and an intensification of the sores from the first bowl (Revelation 16:10-11). The sixth bowl results in the Euphrates River being dried up and the armies of the Antichrist being gathered together to wage the battle of Armageddon (Revelation 16:12-14). The seventh bowl results in a devastating earthquake followed by giant hailstones (Revelation 16:15-21).
Revelation 16:5-7 declares of God, “You are just in these judgments, you who are and who were, the Holy One, because you have so judged; for they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve. … Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments.”
Then there are the views of the Millennium:
http://johnsnotes.com/Rapture-TheFiveViews.htm
We've discussed these before but here's a quick follow up:
https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/mill.cfm
Some see this(The Millennium) as a future earthly theocracy by which Christ will rule over the nations for a thousand years. Others see it as a time during which Christ will rule earth from heaven through the life-changing power of the Gospel. Still others look at it in another way. And the multitude of others holds a multitude of other interpretations.
https://www.gotquestions.org/144000.html
The book of Revelation has always presented the interpreter with challenges. The book is steeped in vivid imagery and symbolism which people have interpreted differently depending on their preconceptions of the book as a whole. There are four main interpretive approaches to the book of Revelation: 1) preterist (which sees all or most of the events in Revelation as having already occurred by the end of the 1st century); 2) historicist (which sees Revelation as a survey of church history from apostolic times to the present); 3) idealist (which sees Revelation as a depiction of the struggle between good and evil); 4) futurist (which sees Revelation as prophecy of events to come). Of the four, only the futurist approach interprets Revelation in the same grammatical-historical method as the rest of Scripture. It is also a better fit with Revelation’s own claim to be prophecy (Revelation 1:3; 22:7, 10, 18, 19).
With a plethora of ideas about the Millennium I will give others short shrift in this blog and dwell on my own conclusions. I will site some other discourse on it in a later post but my own futurist, premillennial view as the literal interpretation will be dominant throughout.
Re 20:1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
3 and cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years should be finished: after this he must be loosed for a little time.
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as worshipped not the beast, neither his image, and received not the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they lived, and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5 The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should be finished. This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: over these the second death hath no power; but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
7 And when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8 and shall come forth to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9 And they went up over the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down out of heaven, and devoured them.
10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are also the beast and the false prophet; and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire.
15 And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.
(ASV)
The literal interpretation is that Satan is chained for 1000 years and Jesus rules from Jerusalem. With the resurrected saints who were killed in the Tribulation:
Re 2:26 And he that overcometh, and he that keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give authority over the nations:
27 and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to shivers; as I also have received of my Father:
28 and I will give him the morning star.
(ASV)
Ezekiel 20:33 Living Bible (TLB)
33 I will rule you with an iron fist and in great anger and with power.
The Millennium is ruled by the Lion of Judah not the Lamb of God. The Law will be in full force. The saints of the Trib will be the governors of Earth. The princes. The priests. The 144,000. Resurrected last among the saved.
Most of the End's terms covered. We'll expand on those terms as we go along.
Now, let's meet some of the people in the drama.
Ezekiel 20:33 Living Bible (TLB)
33 I will rule you with an iron fist and in great anger and with power.
The Millennium is ruled by the Lion of Judah not the Lamb of God. The Law will be in full force. The saints of the Trib will be the governors of Earth. The princes. The priests. The 144,000. Resurrected last among the saved.
Most of the End's terms covered. We'll expand on those terms as we go along.
Now, let's meet some of the people in the drama.
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