Preparations

To prepare ourselves to understand the end-times, we have to start thinking of the Tribulation and the Wrath of God as two separate and distinct time periods divided by the Rapture of the Church. When you say the words “Great Tribulation,” most people subconsciously, and sometimes consciously, think of a time when the Antichrist is causing great troubles for left behind Christians, even as God is pouring out His wrath on a disobedient world. A lot of people believe this starts only after the Rapture has occurred. These beliefs are based on many years of traditional thinking and ideas that have not always been the mainstream of Christian thinking.

Controversy and misunderstanding has always surrounded the end-times prophecies, even during the time of the early Church. Most early Christian leaders were looking for the Rapture at the end of the Tribulation, just prior to the Wrath of God, and yet, Paul had to write to many early believers in 2 Thessalonians 2 who thought the Rapture was imminent, and those in 2 Timothy 2:18 who thought the Rapture had already come and gone. Most churches today just pass on their old traditional teachings of the end-times without ever stopping to ask questions. At the same time, the bookstores are littered with prophecy books written by people who have recognized the cracks, chinks and major fault lines that are so evident and prevalent in all the prevailing end-times doctrines. These authors and theologians have tried to unravel the mysteries of the end-times anew but with little success. More often than not they fill in a chink or repair a crack only to have a new one develop. The problem goes straight down into the foundation they are building on. If you start out with the wrong foundation, you end up having to patch a whole lot of cracks where things don’t come together properly. The time has come to question the foundational ideas that have been taught for far too long and get back to what Paul, Peter and yes, even Jesus believed.

Part of the foundational problem is in the ordering of events. If you get the order of the major events wrong, then the fault lines are going to appear soon after. The doctrine that is built on an improper ordering of events will start showing chinks and cracks almost immediately. Those who hold to the improper foundation begin to chip away at the Scriptures, trying to make them fit properly on the same faulty foundation only to create their own little fissures. This is done by endless word studies that are meant to search out a different meaning for every word that doesn’t properly fit on the foundation without redefining it. Other methods include pulling scriptures out of context and attaching them to other scriptures to create a whole new context that is designed to cover up the fault lines, or going outside of the Scriptures to find support from nonbiblical sources. And, of course, there are those who receive brand spanking new revelations every time they climb out of bed that have nothing to do with what the Bible says.

By the time you have read through this book, you will have seen the same theme and sequence of events (foundation) laid out over and over again many times. That sequence appears in Matthew 24 and is repeated several times in Revelation, and it is always the same. The Antichrist comes on the scene and causes great tribulation through wars, famines and persecution of the Church and Israel. After the Tribulation, the Body of Christ is raptured, and God begins to pour out His wrath on sinners. As stated, we will see this theme and sequence first in Matthew 24, and then it is repeated in Revelation 6­11. After that, chapter 12 begins the same theme and sequence over again. Revelation 12 through the end of the book gives us a full historical view of the plan of salvation from the beginning of God’s redemptive work to the time when He completes His work and creates a new heaven and new earth in which we can live “happily ever after.” The only thing out of place in the second half of the Book of Revelation is chapter 14, verses 6-20 where God, in just fifteen verses, gives us the end-times sequence of events once again. Those fifteen verses are strategically placed for a reason. We will discuss that reason when we get to that chapter. Daniel’s writings concentrate primarily on the Tribulation, but the same sequence is present.

In all of these books there is a lot of talk about persecution. The more you read the Scriptures, the more you realize that most of the activity described in the end-times prophecies is taking place around the Middle East and Israel where the Antichrist and his tennation empire will be located. That does not mean it won’t be spilling over into many other nations or even the whole earth. In fact, if nothing else major happens between now and then, the world could be referring to the Tribulation as World War III or the Final Middle East Conflict, as opposed to calling it a one-world government or the Great Tribulation. Hopefully, there will be many nations where things are not quite so bad and where righteousness is actually practiced and allowed to flourish. From the Scriptures, we actually see much resistance to the Antichrist, and those “righteous” nations may even attempt to assist Israel in their struggle against the Antichrist—but only time will tell for sure. There will be nations, whether they are righteous or not, that will resist the beast and make war against him. However, the idea that Christians are just whisked away before anything bad could possibly happen to them is not supported by the Scriptures.We do not go through the Wrath of God, but the Bible never says that we will not see tribulation or persecution. Having said that, it must be understood that most of the bad things we read in Revelation pertain to the Wrath of God and not the Tribulation. There will be no stinging locust, scorching sun or 200,000,000 horsemen during the Tribulation. That is all a part of God’s wrath.

It’s important that we not get too technical when interpreting Scripture; otherwise, we end up getting lost. For instance, if we read about the four beasts in Daniel 7—the first being the ancient Babylonian Empire and the last being the beast empire of the Antichrist—and the four beasts in Revelation 4 that are gathered before the throne of God praising Him, and then try to make some kind of correlation between them, we will be hopelessly confused. The only real correlation between them is the use of the word “beast,” and that is because it is just the right word to describe each of them but for different reasons. By the same token, if we spend all of our time trying to make every little word have some deep hidden meaning, we are going to be among those who are forever learning (the prophecies) but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 3:7) The purpose of this book is to understand what God is saying to us in the simplest form possible.

You are encouraged to open your own Bible frequently to doublecheck the Scriptures to make sure you are not being led astray. The King James Version of the Bible was used for this book because it cannot be beat as far as the purity of the translation. Some of the newer versions have been rewritten with a certain amount of interpretation thrown in as opposed to simply translating verbatim from the original Greek and Hebrew.Having different versions is great when you’re reading about concepts and ideas. To read something from a different perspective with a different wording can sometimes be just what is needed to open our understanding. However, things need to be technically accurate in what they are saying or you lose the message God was communicating in the first place. This is especially true with prophecy. If you use a different version of the Bible, the same message we get from the King James Version should have carried through into the more modern vernacular. If your version is radically different, you should consider purchasing a different Bible.

A few topics need to be clearly understood before we get started on the rest of this book. Because Daniel’s seventieth week from Daniel 9 and the battle of Gog of Magog from Ezekiel 38 and 39 are mentioned quite often throughout the book, they will be explained from the outset to eliminate any misunderstanding. We want to look at how the Bible uses phrases that refer to the end-times also, such as the end, the final end, the latter days and so forth. If we don’t discuss how these phrases are used it could result in much confusion as we go along. After that, we will look at the Day of the Lord and then determine what the “last day” is that Jesus referred to repeatedly in John 6. Also, we want to clear up some confusion about the second coming of Christ. And finally, we are going to establish working definitions for the words “tribulation” and “wrath” as they are used in regards to the end-times, and make note of the clear difference between the two. Dealing with all of these now will make for better comprehension throughout the rest of the book. First, let’s look at Daniel’s seventy weeks.

Daniel’s Seventy Weeks

Daniel 9:24-27

24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

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 seventy weeks are actually seventy groups of seven years, which equals four hundred and ninety years. The first sixty-nine weeks have already been accomplished historically from the time Artaxerxes I, the king of Persia, gave a command to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem to the time that Jesus was crucified on the cross. That is a total of four hundred and eighty-three years, which is the seven weeks and sixty-two weeks of verse 25 combined, leaving just one week of seven years that have yet to be fulfilled. That seven-year period is separated from the rest of the four-hundred-and-ninetyyear total as God allows the Gospel Age to be completed. When the gospel has finally been preached in all the world, a final separating between sinners and saints will begin and last for the entire seven years of Daniel’s seventieth week.

Daniel’s seventieth week is actually the last seven years of world history before the Wrath of God begins. Contrary to what some believe, it is the final seven years of grace, but that grace will occur right alongside Satan’s final seven years of fury as he puts the gospel to a final test. The final proclamation of the gospel will only mark the beginning of the end. After the gospel has been thoroughly preached throughout the entire world to the point where God is satisfied that all people have heard enough to make an informed decision between accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior or facing His wrath, then the Antichrist will come on the scene.He will turn many people away from God out of fear and hatred or towards God in love or, in some cases, desperation. Verse 27 above tells us that the Antichrist will make a covenant of peace with Israel that is supposed to last for seven years, but that he will intentionally break it in the middle of the seven years. The treaty is never meant to bring real peace to Israel, but rather, it is a means of setting Israel up for their own slaughter. When the Antichrist breaks the covenant of peace and puts a stop to the daily sacrifice at the halfway point, the Great Tribulation will begin.

Daniel’s seventieth week is the same as Jacob’s trouble. Jeremiah 30:7 tells us “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.” This statement is referring more to the second half of the final seven years when the Great Tribulation will unfold. The first half of the week will seem like a time of celebration for those in Israel who have rejected God’s covenant of peace through Christ Jesus because they will finally have an agreement with their Arab neighbors that assures them their security. However, as things become steadily worse for Israel, many will turn to Jesus for their salvation. Those who continue to reject the drawing of the Holy Spirit will be crying, “Peace! Peace!” until their destruction comes suddenly upon them. The final salvation for the nation of Israel comes only after the Tribulation and the Wrath of God have run their full course. Jerusalem will be established forever as the City of God, and the Israelis will be special servants to God. The Jews who receive Jesus, which includes the 144,000, will inhabit Israel forever along with the rest of the saints.

Gog

The next thing we want to look at comes from Ezekiel 38 and 39. To eliminate any confusion that might otherwise arise, we need a thorough understanding of Gog of Magog and his place in history during the latter days. Those two chapters are a prophecy concerning a future event in which many nations will join together in an attempt to destroy Israel. As you read through chapter 38, notice in verses 8 and 16 that God is declaring to us that this is an event that will unfold in the latter days. Also notice in the first six verses God is actually naming nations that will join together under the protective covering of Gog to launch this attack against Israel, both for the looting of her wealth and the destruction of her people and national identity. At several places in these two chapters God declares to us that He will use this event to sanctify Himself in the eyes of both Israel and the heathen nations that surround her.He does this by putting confusion on the armies that will surround Israel and by using the forces of nature to overwhelm and eliminate most of the enemy soldiers.

Ezekiel 38:1-23

1 And the Word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,

3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:

4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:

5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:

6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.

7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.

8 After many days thou shalt be visited: IN THE LATTER YEARS thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.

9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.

10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:

11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,

12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.

13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?

14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when My people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?

15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:

16 And thou shalt come up against My people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; IT SHALL BE IN THE LATTER DAYS, and I will bring thee against My land, that the heathen may know Me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.

17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by My servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?

18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that My fury shall come up in My face.

19 For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;

20 So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at My presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.

21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all My mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man's sword shall be against his brother.

22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.

23 Thus will I magnify Myself, and sanctify Myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.

When God speaks of the spiritual rulers of cities and nations in the Bible, He refers to them in the masculine gender.When He refers to the cities and nations themselves,He refers to them in the feminine gender. This is because the cities and nations are joined to and submitted unto the rulers just like in a marriage relationship. The name Gog is probably the name of the spiritual prince that rules the land of Magog. Magog is hard to find on even ancient maps, but the consensus is that it is either Turkey or Russia or a combination of the two. In verses 2 and 3 above, Gog is referred to as the chief prince of Meshach and Tubal. Gomer and Togarmah are both mentioned in verse 6. In Genesis 10, we learn that the sons of Japheth (who is the son of Noah) are Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras. Of these seven, Magog, Meshech, Tubal and Gomer are the ones who settled Turkey, and they would be the ones who eventually continued to migrate due north into the Soviet Union. Togarmah is a son of Gomer who also settled a part of Turkey. If Magog is not the Soviet Union, it is certainly Turkey since God calls Gog the chief prince of the different provinces of Turkey.

Those families which were driven out of Babel and began settling Europe and Asia are not mentioned in Ezekiel 38. However, the Middle East and North Africa are a different story. Persia does not exist as a nation today, but the land mass that it used to occupy is currently occupied by Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, parts of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Iran is the one nation that is a direct descendant from Persia. Ethiopia and Libya both represented a greater portion of the African continent in the past; therefore, the naming of them in Ezekiel could mean that there will be other African nations who join with Gog to attack Israel, but not necessarily. What is interesting about the list of countries is that it includes all the areas first settled by the three sons of Noah and their children. Their descendants who remained in these ancient lands should be the ones who hold on to the remembrance of God’s great flood judgment better than any of those who moved out into the furthest reaches of the planet, but instead, they appear in a lineup of rogue nations who, more than any other nations on earth, hate the Jews and the God of heaven.

The very mention of these nations brings a flood of thoughts of war, terrorism and an undying hatred of Israel. In recent history, Moscow has certainly had its share of influence over each of the nations that are named, mostly by supplying them with arms and military expertise. This was more prevalent before the downfall of the Soviet Union as a superpower. Part of the reason for the wars Israel has embarked upon in the past is that Russia had stored large caches of arms in surrounding countries in preparation for a blitzkrieg type war against Israel. They were never successful in pulling it off because of US and Israeli intelligence and Israel’s superior warfare.When Gog launches the future attack mentioned in Ezekiel, it will also meet with failure, but this time it will be because of divine intelligence and warfare. It will be nearly impossible for other nations to aid Israel because to defeat the enemy would surely destroy Israel in the process.

For a long time Turkey has maintained a secular government with ties to the U.S. and Europe, but forces are at work right now to turn it towards a more Islamic state, which would enhance its ties to the Arab world and weaken its ties to the others. Turkey is a very interesting country, both historically and geographically. From the early 1300s until World War I, the Ottomans ruled Turkey. The Ottoman Empire at its high point ruled most of the territory described by Ezekiel above. They controlled the land of Israel but at a time when the land was not occupied by the nation or people of Israel. The capital was in Constantinople (modern Istanbul) from which Constantine also ruled the Roman Empire. Constantine built Constantinople in a.d. 313 upon a high plateau overlooking the Sea of Marmara. The unique location of Turkey makes it a sort of a land bridge or crossroads joining the Middle East to Russia in the north and Europe to the northeast. Turkey is considered to be a part of both Europe and the Mid East at the same time. Russian ships in the Black Sea must pass through the strait of Bosporus of Turkey to get to the Mediterranean Sea. Turkey is also where the seven churches of Asia, mentioned in Revelation 2 and 3, were located.

All of the nations named above, excluding Russia, if not Islamic governments, have large majorities of Muslims living in them—some of them with numbers exceeding 95 percent. The reason this is important is because Islam is an Antichrist and anti-Jewish religion at its very core. From the very pages of the Koran, we see verses that warn Muslims about Christians and Jews. They are both called infidels and losers that will see the flames of hell if they do not convert to Islam. Christians are called perverters of “The Book.” The New Testament is considered a perversion of the truth. Muslims are told to live at peace with all people even as they are given the right to own slaves, given the responsibility of ruling over and putting under tribute all non-Muslims who live in their communities and directed to fight a jihad against anyone who provokes or stands against them. A Jihad is any struggle a Muslim must go through in the practice of Islam. An armed, holy war is considered a lesser jihad, but the Koran describes it as a means of dealing with any opposition they encounter. Jews and Christians are singled out as primary targets of jihad, which makes sense from a religious point of view since they practice an anti-Islamic religion and serve a different God.

Islam and the Arab national identity are two major reasons the battle of Gog of Magog will be fought. Israelis are considered to be illegal occupants on Arab land. The whole Arab world and much of the Muslim world are opposed to Israel remaining a nation to the point that they are willing to lay down their own lives and the lives of their children to remove the Jews from what they consider to be their own land. The Palestinian issue adds fuel to the fire. Many so-called Palestinians are from other Arab countries, but because of the blinding hatred Arabs and many Muslims have for Israel, they are willing to believe the lies that swirl around the whole issue. The Palestinians control a part of the temple mount where the Jewish temple will be built again in the future. The Dome of the Rock,where Muslims believe that Mohammed ascended into heaven to pray with Jesus,Moses and Elijah, is located on the temple mount, and the Arabs want it all for themselves. They want the Jews out—no matter what the cost.

God instructs Gog in verse 38:7 to be a guard unto these nations. Russia currently is the only nation that has a close working relationship with this group of nations and that has the military strength to provide a shield of interference for them against NATO, the U.S. or any other allies of Israel who might want to prevent this attack. Russia will have an economic incentive for attacking Israel. Verse 12 above explains that they will come to take all of the goods and resources God has blessed Israel with since bringing them back into their own land. In verse 2 below, we see that Gog comes from the north. North of Israel is Turkey and beyond that is Russia. In fact, Moscow is directly due north of Jerusalem which is one of several reasons why many believe Russia will lead this group of armies once again as they attempted to do in 1967 during the six-day war.

Ezekiel 39:1-29

1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:

2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:

3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.

4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.

5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.

6 And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

7 So will I make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel; and I will not let them pollute My holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.

8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

In the following verses we notice that it will take Israel seven years to consume the spoils of war which are left behind by the defeated armies of Gog. That means the Antichrist cannot be the leader of the pack for this attack because he does not attack until halfway through his seven-year time of turmoil, which would leave only three-andone- half years for Israel to gather their plunder. On the contrary, when the Antichrist does attack, it will begin the final three-and-onehalf years of world history which is the Great Tribulation, immediately followed by the Wrath of God. When he attacks, the Bible informs us that many saints, unsaved Jews, and the city of Jerusalem will be given over into his hand. He will overrun Jerusalem, slaughter or enslave the Jews who remain in the city and single out Christians for destruction. That is not what is happening here. This is God’s last intervention on a broad scale to protect all of Israel and to maintain peace on the earth. To the contrary, during the Great Tribulation, God will protect his 144,000 elect Israelites from the Antichrist and will deliver many of His saints even as others fall to persecution, but He will not prevent the Antichrist from overthrowing Jerusalem. The Tribulation is something God has predetermined that He will allow to take place.He will allow Satan one last chance to tread down Israel and to try the saints. Those saints who want to keep their souls will either have to trust God for deliverance or give up their lives in exchange for their souls.

The Antichrist will rise up to rule the nations of Gog soon after they have been defeated by God. The seven-year peace accord that the Antichrist makes with Israel will overlap the seven years in which the Jews are consuming the spoils with which the armies of Gog littered the nation of Israel. In the middle of the seven years the Antichrist breaks the peace accord, and the Tribulation begins. That is one of the ways God provides for His 144,000 chosen Jews in the wilderness.

9 And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire SEVEN YEARS:

10 So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord GOD.

11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.

12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.

13 Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.

14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.

15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamongog.

16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.

17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to My sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.

18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.

19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.

20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.

As mentioned above, this is God’s last big intervention. This is the last call for Jews and heathen alike before the Antichrist takes over the armies of the nations that are defeated here. The Antichrist rises in the Middle East and controls all of the nations that Gog controlled with the possible exception of Russia. Apparently, this wake-up call (the divine defeat of Gog) is wasted on a large portion of the Jews. When the Antichrist arrives, there will be many Jews who have rejected God’s New Covenant and His Savior. They believe their golden age has already arrived. God has intervened on their behalf, and now all they have to do is make peace with those heathen nations around them and be the crown jewel and apple of God’s eye as the Scripture has promised. They fail to realize that God’s promises are to those who receive His Messiah, Jesus, and who are looking past the end of this world and the beginning of something new in the ages to come. They may even consider the Antichrist to be their messiah.

At the same time plenty of new Christians in Israel and the countries that surround Israel will be finally convinced they are serving the wrong god and jump ship, so to speak. The God of Israel and of heaven has been sanctified in their eyes by His miraculous defeat of Gog. That defeat not only leads to a new respect for the God of the Jews, but it will cause many to search out the truths of the New Covenant and be saved by their acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. These saints, more than any others, will be the ones the Antichrist makes war against within the borders of his own kingdom and the ones who are killed for refusing the mark of the beast.

21 And I will set My glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall SEE My judgment that I have executed, and My hand that I have laid upon them.

22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.

23 And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against Me, therefore hid I My face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.

24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid My face from them.

25 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for My holy name;

26 After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against Me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid.

27 When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations;

28 Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there.

29 Neither will I hide My face any more from them: for I have poured out My spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

After the fall of Gog, the Antichrist will step in and take control of the alliance formed between the nations that come against Israel. He will make a seven-year covenant of peace even as they are cleansing the dead from the land. The defeat of Gog is a supernatural provision of God that will help some of the Jews to get through the time of the Antichrist and the Great Tribulation. The seven-year period Ezekiel is talking about is Daniel’s seventieth week when God finishes gathering his Jewish people unto Himself, both physically in Jerusalem and spiritually in their hearts, even in times of trouble. This will culminate with the Rapture of the entire Body of Christ, both Christians and Messianic Jews, both living and dead.

The End

Jesus spoke the words “the end of the world” three times in Matthew: in chapter 13:39 and 49 and chapter 28:20. The disciples also used those words as they inquired of Him about the signs of His coming and the end of the world. In this book we will determine what it is they were talking about by distinguishing between events that happen before the end of the world, those that happen after the end of the world and those things and that time that mark the end of the world. This may sound strange to some, but the end of the world does not mean the end of the earth or the end of time. It does not mean a sudden end to all people living on the earth. It is more of a transition, a sudden end to the age of God’s grace when sinners are no longer given the opportunity to repent and escape the wrath to come. The end of the world actually marks the beginning of God’s wrath. Even after God’s wrath is completed, there will be survivors on the earth who do not have the mark of the beast and did not participate in the Battle of Armageddon. These survivors will be ruled over by Christ and His saints. So, even though the world as we know it— with all of its corruption, sin and the curse—will come to an end one day, life will continue, but in a very different vein.

The Bible uses end-times phraseology pretty liberally. It speaks of everything from that final moment in time when God brings an end to His redemptive work and begins to punish sinners, all the way up to thousands of years surrounding that final moment on either side. We need to be aware of the different ways the Bible speaks about the end-times and the end of the world so we don’t get confused by words that could refer to either a single day or a thousand years.When most people think of the end-times, they think of the Antichrist, the Great Tribulation, the Rapture and the Wrath of God. However, in the Bible the end-times can be just that, or it can be much more.

In Hebrews 9:26 we are told that “now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Jesus came to the earth two thousand years ago as a sacrifice for sin, but yet, we are told that that was a part of the end of the world. Likewise, Peter declared in 1 Peter 4:7 that “The end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.” That makes it sound like the end of the world was eminent right from the beginning of the Church Age when Peter wrote these words. He also said a thousand years is like a single day to the Lord. He included the Millennial Reign and the final judgment of all mankind which occurs after the Millennium in that analogy. So for him to say that “the end is at hand” could be interpreted to mean that the final end could be ten thousand years from now, or a week to ten days from God’s perspective.

We are living in the end-times just as Jesus was living in the endtimes when He paid the price for our sins. As far as this book is concerned, we acknowledge that the Bible has included the last several thousand years as a part of the end-times, but we are going to be focusing on the final years of the end-times prophecies, and that pivotal point Jesus referred to as “the last day.”What we really want to know is, are we about to enter those final days of the end of the world when the Antichrist will be wreak havoc, the Church will be raptured and the Wrath of God will be poured out? How close are we to the last day? Although it’s obvious that we are not quite there yet, this book will help you understand how things will begin to unfold when we finally arrive at the final days of the end of the world.

The second half of Daniel’s seventieth week is the Great Tribulation when the Antichrist—along with natural disasters, wars, persecution and perplexity of nations—will be causing more damage and turmoil on the earth than has ever been witnessed by man.When we think of the end, we tend to think of those last three-and-one-half years when the real trouble starts as opposed to the first three-and-one-half years, even though they are both a part of the end after the gospel has been preached to all the world. During the first half of the seven years the

Antichrist will be attempting to get things started, but he will still be under restraint from God. He will not be able to accomplish his great destructive plans on the earth until God allows him to begin trying mankind at the appointed time, but he will be positioning himself for the final Tribulation through the peace accord with Israel and other means. In Daniel 8:19 an angel said these words to Daniel about a vision that he had just seen: “Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.” The angel was giving details of what would take place during the last end—the time of the Tribulation.When the Tribulation itself draws to an end, the Scriptures declares this to be the very end of the world when God punishes sinners. But, before He can punish evildoers, He must rescue His saints. And before they can be rescued, the Resurrection must take place.

At the very end of the Wrath of God, Jesus returns to the earth with His saints to fight the Battle of Armageddon. The purpose of this battle is to put down the military resistance that the Antichrist will mount against Him as He returns with His saints to take over the earth and to begin the Millennial Reign. This reign is a part of the end-times prophecies, but it comes after the world (as we know it) and the Wrath of God have both come to an end.We will still be on the same old planet, but the new reality of the Millennial Reign will be that God will move to the forefront of world events through Jesus Christ as He starts ruling the earth in righteousness, and Satan will be restrained in the bottomless pit. The Millennial Reign adds a thousand years to the end-times prophecies, and at the end of the thousand years, a new heaven and new earth will be created while the Great White Throne Judgment of Jesus Christ is taking place. After the White Throne Judgment is completed and the New Jerusalem descends out of the new heaven to remain on the new earth, everything that relates to the end-times is then officially over.

Matthew 24:13 and 14 both mention the end, but they differ in their meaning. Verse 13 declares that “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Taken at face value, we can simply say we must endure to the very end of our lives on this earth,whether that end comes by death or by Rapture. Verse 14 is a little broader. It speaks more of a process or series of events when it states, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” The “end” this verse speaks of is Daniel’s seventieth week, which begins shortly after the failed attempt by Gog to destroy Israel when the Antichrist makes a seven-year peace accord with Israel. That final seven years is the last chance for mankind to make a decision between God’s plan of salvation through the gospel of Jesus Christ or simply continuing on in a beggarly lifestyle that is conceived in death and will end in death without Jesus Christ.The controversy has been whether we must endure just until before Daniel’s seventy weeks begins, to the middle or towards the end. Because the world has heard the gospel, does that mean we are no longer needed or required to remain on the earth? This question was already answered in the piece on Daniel’s seventieth week. Daniel’s seventieth week is not the Wrath of God, and it does not encompass the Wrath of God in any way. God allows Satan to try all of mankind during that time, and He uses it to shake the Jews to their very core until, as Jeremiah 30:7 says “It is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.”The rest of this book will make all these things abundantly clear.

The Day of the Lord

The following excerpt from Isaiah 13:6-13 is one of the best descriptions of the Day of the Lord in the Bible. It is clearly described as a day of punishment for sinners.

“Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger...and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

The Day of the Lord is actually much longer than just a single day, but the first day sets the stage and the tone for what is to follow. Whenever we read about the Day of the Lord, we see the skies becoming black as the heavenly lights refuse to shine. This absence of light lasts only for a very short time. In the New Testament the Day of the Lord becomes the Day of Christ, and after everything goes black, Jesus appears in His glory as the only light. The Day of the Lord begins as a rescue mission as Jesus removes His people from off the planet so that the day of God’s punishment of sinners can begin. After the removal of Jesus’ New Testament elect from the earth, the lights begin to shine again, but then the world is suddenly cast into a period of time that is known as the Wrath of God. The Day of the Lord marks the end of the grace of God and His tolerance for unrepentant sinners and the start of vengeance.

The Last Day

In John 6 Jesus informs the multitude that He is the Bread of Life sent from the Father. During that discourse He mentions four times between verses 39 and 54 the fact that He will raise up all who receive Him on the “last day.” In verse 40, He declares, “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” In John 11:24, after Jesus arrives late for the healing of Lazarus, Martha meets up with Him and makes it clear that she understands what the last day is all about. After Jesus tells her that her brother will rise again she responds by saying, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” In context Jesus is telling her that He was going to heal Lazarus; however, Martha is a little shaky in her faith, not expecting that Jesus will heal her brother from the grave, but her response shows that she does understand the fact that the resurrection of believers is going to take place on the very last day of this world.

The entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 15 speaks about resurrection, beginning with the resurrection of Jesus and progressing to the resurrection of the saints. In verses 22-26 we see that all those who belong to Christ will be made alive at His coming. When we receive Him as Savior we are born again and made alive on the inside, but it’s not until He comes for us that we are made alive in the flesh again, albeit, a different kind of flesh. It is a spiritual type of flesh that is incorruptible and eternal. In verses 23 and 24 we see that the end does not come until after Christ comes for us. He delivers the kingdom up to His father when He delivers His saints up into heaven to stand before the throne. The last enemy—death—is fully defeated when believers are raised from the dead with new bodies, never to die again.

22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

In the verses above we see that the Resurrection and the defeat of death occur at the coming of Christ. In the verses below we see that the dead saints will be raised and those who are still living will be changed from corruptible to incorruptible at the last trump.

51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

The last trump signals that last day which Jesus is speaking of in John 6—the day of the Resurrection.Verses 51-55 do not speak of the Rapture, and being changed in the twinkling of an eye does not even come close to suggesting that we will suddenly disappear.We will not! We are suddenly changed to incorruptible on the last day, but we do not disappear. However, we do see that this change will take place only after the last trump sounds to announce the coming of Christ and the end of the world. Actually two last trumps will sound in the latter days—one at the end of the Tribulation and the other at the end of the Wrath of God. The last trumpet of the Wrath of God is the last of seven trumpets of judgment. We are reassured in the Scriptures that believers are not appointed unto God’s wrath, so it is not the final trump of the Wrath of God that we need to be concerned about.

First Thessalonians 4:16 and 17 declare that “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.” No saints will be alive and remaining at the last trump of the Wrath of God because God Himself promised that believers will not see His wrath. The only other last trumpet sounds after the “tribulation of those days” when Jesus said that He would come to gather His New Testament elect at the sound of a great trumpet. That trumpet announces an end to our stay on this earth and an end to God’s grace toward sinners.

The Second Coming of Christ

Much confusion exists about the second coming of Christ. Some of that confusion comes from the doctrine of a disappearing Church. It is an established historical fact that Christ first came to the earth and died on the cross. For many it is also an established fact of faith that His death on the cross was for our salvation, justification and the remission of our sins. Before His departure, He declared He would come again to receive us to Himself. Titus 2:13 calls His second coming the “blessed hope,” “the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” This is when He appears in the clouds in His glory to gather His New Testament elect. He never sets foot on the earth during His second coming, but the Bible tells us repeatedly that this event will be witnessed by all the world, not just believers. Many theologians have turned the appearing of Jesus in the clouds into a disappearing of the Church without a trace. One reason for that is because most people do not distinguish between the second coming in the clouds and Christ’s third coming on a white horse at Armageddon.

His third coming will bring a completion to the time of God’s wrath as He leads His people out of heaven and back to the earth to defeat the armies of the Antichrist and to take back control of the earth. His first coming was to die for all mankind. His second coming is to resurrect believers who have already died, and rescue those who are still alive from the wrath to come.While the Wrath of God is being poured out on the earth, the wedding feast of the Lamb will be occurring in heaven with all of God’s redeemed present and accounted for. As the wedding feast draws to a conclusion in heaven, so does the Wrath of God on the earth. When Jesus returns a third time, all of His saints will accompany Him on white horses, and they will bring a conclusion to God’s wrath by defeating the forces of the Antichrist and establishing the Millennial kingdom of Christ.

Tribulation versus Wrath

Both in the Bible and in general usage, the words “tribulation” and “wrath” have vastly different meanings. To understand the endtimes prophecies you have to be aware of these differences as you read and study. The word “tribulation” refers to the troubles, struggles, persecutions and distresses all human beings suffer during their lives because we all live in a fallen and cursed world. Natural disasters, sickness, crime, wars, relationship and money problems are all examples of the types of tribulations that both sinners and saints might suffer in their lives. The big difference is that the saints have a whole list of heavenly promises to help get them through the tough times while sinners—who have a right to the same promises—are either unaware of them or have rejected them.

In the Bible, tribulation refers more to the struggles and persecutions that saints experience from those around them who—either through ignorance or deliberate belligerence against the gospel and those who obey it—mount varying degrees of attacks against the righteous. It also refers to attacks launched from the invisible world of spiritual wickedness. The Great Tribulation is nothing more than troubles, distresses and persecutions that engulf the whole planet at the end of the world to a degree never experienced before. The Great Tribulation is Satan’s last chance to purge the planet of all that is good and godly and remake it in the image of his own darkened and perverted soul. The Antichrist will be Satan’s number one emissary of evil works during the Great Tribulation. Daniel 9:26, which we read earlier, informs us that he will attack Jerusalem at the start of the Tribulation, and there will be desolations to the end of the war. Daniel reveals in several places that the Antichrist will attack Jews and Christians in his part of the world, but that is only a part of the Tribulation. Wars, famines, pestilences and diseases will combine with what the Antichrist is doing in the Middle East to bring the worldwide death toll to a full one-quarter of mankind. God brings the madness to a close at the end of the three-and-one-half years that He has already predetermined He will allow, and then He begins to pour out His wrath on sinners.

The word “wrath” can mean a very deep heartfelt anger toward someone, but when we speak of the “Wrath of God” it becomes an action word. For thousands of years, God has been withholding His anger against those who pervert and reject His ways.At the end,when He finally unleashes His anger against sinners, it will be after the gospel has been preached to all the world and He has allowed everyone to make their final decision. He will then judge those who reject goodness. God’s wrath will come as an intense flood of vengeance and punishment on a disobedient world that wants nothing to do with Him and His goodness. God’s wrath is a punishment aimed at those who are evil and destructive, while tribulation comes from evil and is meant to hinder or destroy all that is good. There is a tremendous difference between the Great Tribulation and the Wrath of God. This will be made more evident as we continue in this book.

An End Times OutlineWe will begin this study in Matthew 24 which provides a quick chronological synopsis of the end-times narrated by Jesus under the direction of the Holy Spirit. We will then move on to Revelation. Because of the importance of understanding the sequence of events, both in Matthew and Revelation and other places that touch on the end-times, a brief outline of how it all unfolds follows:

1. THE CHURCH AGE. Jesus speaks to the disciples as though the time has already begun. This includes the thousands of years from the time of His death up to the time the church is raptured out of the earth. The Church Age also includes the time of Jacob’s Trouble and the time of the Great Tribulation.

2. THE BATTLE OF GOG OF MAGOG. Before any of what we consider to be normal end-times events begin to take place, Israel will be surrounded by the armies of Gog who will be defeated by God’s intervention. It will take the Israelis a full seven years to burn the armaments of the army of Gog which litter the mountains of Israel. God will use this as one method of providing for the 144,000 in the wilderness as they continue to collect the spoil of Gog during the second half of this seven-year period. These seven years will be the final seven years of history when God is finishing up His work of grace.We are going to call this Gog Specific. The nations that are a part of this attack are named in Ezekiel 38 and 39. Gog will rally the forces of rebellion again at the end of the Millennial Reign, but this time it will include people from the four corners of the earth.We will call that Gog Nonspecific.

3. DANIEL’S SEVENTIETH WEEK. This is the final seven-year period of grace when God is still dealing with lost mankind. It culminates with the Rapture of the Church. After the defeat of Gog, the Antichrist will rise up from the remnant of these armies and make a false covenant of peace with Israel. This seven year covenant of peace will begin Jacob’s Trouble. Thesecond half of this seven-year time period will be the Great Tribulation, which includes the time of Jacob’s Trouble.

4. THE GREAT TRIBULATION. The time of Great Tribulation is a time when Satan and the Antichrist will cause turmoil on the earth directed primarily at the Jews, Christians and the land of Israel. It is not to be confused with the Wrath of God. The Great Tribulation is the second half of the final seven-year period when the Antichrist will break the peace agreement with Israel and set himself up in the Jewish temple as God. The Church is still on the earth and the Antichrist will persecute it, along with Israel, as he leads his evil followers in multiple wars. The Church Age and the time of the Antichrist actually overlap during the three-and-one-half-year period of the Tribulation when the temple of God is given over to the power of the Antichrist.

5. THE RESURRECTION. This is also known as the “last day.” The last day does not bring an end to the earth, nor does it bring an end to events taking place on the earth. It is the day that the hope of God’s children is fulfilled, and the despair of His enemies begins to manifest. The Resurrection will take place at the sounding of the last trump just like the Rapture, but it must proceed the Rapture of the Church, possibly by just the twinkling of an eye, to prepare believers for their journey to heaven.

6. THE RAPTURE. Jesus said that He would return after the Tribulation to gather His New Testament elect, which includes born-again Jews and Gentiles. The 144,000 chosen of Israel, who have been protected from the ravages of the Tribulation, will be sealed in their foreheads, and they, along with the entire Church (every born-again individual on the earth that is ready for His return), will be taken out of the earth by being caught up into the clouds with Jesus, to escape the outpouring of God’s wrath and to ever be with the Lord. The Day of the Lord, so often mentioned in the Bible, always begins with the sun and the moon and the stars of heaven being shaken and withholding their lights. The darkening of the skies is a prelude to Jesus returning to deliver those that belong to Him from the wrath that will immediately follow their departure. The shaking of the heavens, the Resurrection, the Rapture and the outpouring of the wrath of God are all a part of the Day of the Lord, although the outpouring of God’s wrath will continue for a period of years, not just a day. The Wedding Feast of the Lamb will begin upon our arrival in heaven with our Savior Jesus Christ, and will last for the entire time of God’s wrath.

7. THE WRATH OF GOD (not to be confused with the Tribulation) Several years (approximately seven) of God’s wrath will be poured out on an ungodly world that has soundly rejected Him. God will not begin to pour out His wrath until after the Rapture has taken place and is completed. The Wrath of God is revealed under the final seal of the heavenly book of Revelation. That final seal reveals the seven trumpets of judgment. The seven vials, the destruction of Babylon, the 200,000 horsemen, the stinging locusts, the scorching sun and Armageddon are all a part of the Wrath of God, not the Tribulation.

8. THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON. This is the curtain call for the Day of the Lord or the time of God’s wrath when Jesus will return yet again—this time in the company of His battle-ready saints and with His angels.When He returns this time, it will be to take vengeance on all those who have rejected the ways of truth and righteousness and not for His elect who are already with Him.When we return with Him, the armies of the Antichrist will be waiting at Armageddon to do battle.With the defeat of these armies, all power and authority will be restored to Jesus, and Satan will be locked away for a thousand years.

9. THE MILLENNIAL REIGN. This is a thousand-year period which actually begins with the Battle of Armageddon. Jesus will begin His reign on the earth with His saints before the final judgment of God and before God comes to live on the earth with His saints. At the end of the millennium, Satan will be released for a short time to tempt the nations once more, resulting in a final purging of evil ones. This is when Gog marshals the rebellious from the four corners of the earth. This is Gog Nonspecific.

10. THE WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT. Sinners and saints are separated, and everyone receives their just rewards. This is the only time sinners will ever get a glimpse of heaven. The new heavens, new earth and New Jerusalem will be created at this time.

11. GOD COMES TO EARTH. The heavenly New Jerusalem, which is called the Bride of the Lamb, comes down from heaven with God in residence to ever be with His beloved saints on the new earth.

*A special note to help keep things straight in our minds as we read this book. The Tribulation ends, the skies go dark, Jesus appears in the clouds, the Resurrection and the Rapture occur, and the Wrath of God begins all on the same day. That day is called the Day of the Lord and the Last Day.

©

Copyright 2004 RevelationStation.com

All rights reserved.