Prophecy Line
Surveillance Society Surging
America is more and more experiencing what citizenry in Britain has been going through for some time. The assault on U.S. privacy has been undergoing a metamorphosis for decades, but until very recently, the barriers have seemed to at least hold back unbridled Big Brotherism in this nation.
One journalist reported from England in a chapter for one of my books:
If you want to be a film star, come to Britain. We’re all on camera. All you have to do is walk through any town or drive down any road and you are watched, filmed, and monitored. When my wife, Pat, and I tour America , we feel neglected because the roadside cameras are no longer ever-present—not yet. As the world moves towards a “Big Brother” society beyond the nightmares of author George Orwell, who predicted a world in which the state watched everyone in his 1948 classic novel, 1984, it is like we are inmates of a high-tech prison. Big Brother really is watching us in Europe. The rest of the world is not far behind. (Alan Franklin, “Big Brother is Watching,” The Departure).
It seems that now Alan and Pat won’t be sensing that they are neglected when they come to America. Strides are being made–in the name of commerce—to make sure that we are all on Candid Camera.
We have been listening to the debate for some time now about the drones that have spied on, then, in some cases, hunted down and taken out high-priority terrorist targets in some places in the Middle East. Now, the drones are being seen and reported more and more in the homeland. U.S. Senator Rand Paul, some years ago warned that such surveillance is becoming akin to violating the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. That’s the one that, in part, prohibits illegal searches and seizures of private citizens and their properties.
One story around the time Sen. Paul issued the warning outlined the technology’s invasive nature.
Planes able to photograph sunbathers in their back gardens are being deployed by Google and Apple. The U.S. technology giants are racing to produce aerial maps so detailed they can show up objects just four inches wide. But campaigners say the technology is a sinister development that brings the surveillance society a step closer. Hyper-real: 3D mapping services used by C3 Technologies (as purchased by Apple) will form the main part of the software giant’s new mapping service. Google admits it has already sent planes over cities while Apple has acquired a firm using spy-in-the-sky technology that has been tested on at least 20 locations, including London. Apple’s military-grade cameras are understood to be so powerful they could potentially see into homes through skylights and windows. The technology is similar to that used by intelligence agencies in identifying terrorist targets in Afghanistan. (Vanessa Allen, “Software Giants Will Use Military-Grade Cameras to Take Powerful Satellite Images,” Rapture Ready News, 07:04)
People have embraced their satellite-to-vehicle capabilities in searching out locations while traveling. Browsers on the Internet love sometimes taking the virtual tours down the streets of cities throughout the nation. The convenience and entertainment presented by technology continues their desensitizing effects on the American public to the dangers inherent in such surveillance advances.
Homeland security agencies–which have proliferated since 9/11 and the radical Islamist attacks—seem oblivious to complaints that they are becoming increasingly invasive. It is troubling, although thoroughly fascinating, to witness how global control, long ago prophesied by the only source who knows the end from the beginning, is coming to fulfillment in our time.
It is no longer difficult to imagine how Antichrist and his regime of absolute control will have the technological facilities to keep tabs on every victim during the Tribulation. Developments in the global monetary world are moving along the necessity of bringing about that end-times system of control. The powers that be must find a way to make all conform to a singular methodology in transacting business. There must be a completely changed economic order in order to establish even a modicum of stability to a world gone mad in terms of economic insanity.
Satan moves malevolently on the minds of mankind, as the apostle Paul told us: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).
All people of planet earth must be made to cooperate with the regulations the powers dictate. This means everyone must be observed at all times, which is where this is all leading.In my view, this is the major reason for the surging surveillance society we are considering here.
Olivet Overview – Part 2 – By Ed Wood
Last time we looked at the events Jesus foretold in his last public address to his followers just before his crucifixion. As we have seen, the total destruction of Jerusalem and the temple he revealed took place exactly as he described it some forty years later (70 A.D.) By the Roman army led by Titus, the Emperor Vespasian’s son. We have already seen here an example of prophecy fulfilled. Twenty centuries have passed since Jesus spoke of the time yet to come before he would return in a manner so awe-inspiring and unmistakable that at long last the world would be unable to deny that he is exactly whom he said he was so long ago – Son of God and Messiah.
In the first article in this series we took a look our present time and it seems that only willful stubbornness would prevent a person from acknowledging that much more of what the Lord disclosed as already well under way and likely to intensify during the last seven years of history as we know it – a time often referred to the Tribulation, and that with good reason:
Matthew {24:22} [Jesus said] For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved. [Here, as in the following Bible references, bracketed sections have been added.]
Since Jesus was not only the Son of God in the flesh twenty centuries ago, but indeed God himself who exists beyond all time and space as we perceive it, we should not be surprised as to accuracy. The truth is that despite what all too many of the inspirational self-help crowd and even some preachers are peddling, the days ahead are going to get a LOT WORSE! But believers in Jesus Christ can take hope in that before the worst of it comes, they’ll be long gone:
1 Corinthians {15:51-53} Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal [must] put on immortality.
1 Thessalonians {1:9-10} For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, [even] Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
These are but two passages supporting the Pretribulation Rapture in which true followers of Christ will be supernaturally removed from the Earth so as not to be subject to the “wrath” that is to come. There are precedents, notably Enoch (Genesis 5:24); Noah and his family (Genesis 6:9 – 9:17), and Lot and his family (Genesis 18:16 – 19:28). It is not my intention at this time to go into an extensive defense of this subject since so many have already done so over the years. For example, an excellent and comprehensive treatment is to be found in Terry James’ new book Rapture Ready…Or Not? which I strongly recommend to everyone as they expectantly await Jesus’ return.
Nevertheless, it is important that those of us who believe in the certain truth of God’s Word to be informed of what will soon come to pass not only to increase our Bible knowledge, but to relate it to whoever else we many encounter who thirsts for accurate answers in a world which is so lacking in them today. But be cautioned – there will definitely be resistance from those who only what they want to hear. And even this is a sign of these times:
2 Peter {3:3-7} Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as [they were] from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
Sadly, you may find the greatest opposition from the clergy of the major denominations of organized religion since many of such institutions have already fallen deeply into apostasy, embracing the “doctrines of devils,” just as the apostle Paul said they would in the last days:
1 Timothy {4:1-2} Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.
2 Timothy {4:2-4} Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away [their] ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
But now, let us continue our Olivet exploration and see where it takes us.
Just Around the Corner
1) The Abomination of Desolation {Matt. 24:15-22; Mark 13:14-16}
In his discourse, Jesus mentioned an “Abomination of Desolation” being set up in the “holy place as mentioned by Daniel. Here are Daniel’s own words:
Daniel {11:31} And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily [sacrifice,] and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.
Antiochus IV Epiphanes fits the bill above by putting a statue of Zeus with his face on it and by sacrificing pigs in that “holy place” within the temple’s inner section, circa 170 B.C. This makes sense in that though it was a future event to Daniel, it was already an accomplished event by the time Jesus walked the earth. (See the apocryphal book of 1 Maccabees and Josephus’ history, Antiquities Book 12, chapters 5-11 for more details about all of this.)
Interestingly, Daniel also mentioned the following which does describe a second desecration:
Daniel {9:26-27} And after threescore and two weeks [Seven weeks (49 years) – Time it took from Artaxerxes order to rebuild Jerusalem until it was finished. (Neh. 2) and sixty-two weeks (434 years) – time from completion of Jerusalem to Jesus’ crucifixion] shall Messiah [Jesus] be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince [the Roman army, under the command of Titus in 70 A.D.] that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof [shall be] with a flood [See Jeremiah 46:8 where the term “flood” is actually referring to an army, as it is here], and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he [Antichrist] 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.
How we know this is not referring to Antiochus is that the desecration described here occurs after the Messiah (Jesus) was cut off, not before. Remember, the first violation of the temple’s holy place was over 170 years earlier. Revelation further confirms what Jesus said:
Revelation {13-11, 13-15 } And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy [Antichrist]. . . And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by [the means of] those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
Again, it looks like another defiling statue imbued with some manner of “pseudo-life” (either by technology, supernatural means or both) will be erected in the “holy place.” This was something well beyond Antiochus’ abilities, but certainly not those of Satan’s ultimate henchman of the future. What this also tells us is in order for this prophecy to come to pass, the holy place has to exist once again, either in a partially or completely restored temple. This has not happened yet however most prophecy scholars think it will rise again atop the Temple Mount once again despite the fact the Muslim Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque are presently there. An organization named the Temple Institute has already prepared the implements that will be used in this restored temple and descendants of the Levitical priesthood are being trained to resume the Mosaic sacrifice system – see http://www.templeinstitute.org for more information. Personally, I agree that a third temple is guaranteed because with God, nothing is impossible.
2) Jerusalem surrounded. (Matt. 24:15-20; Mark 13:14-18, Luke 21:20-40)
Jerusalem threatened by enemies is by no means a unique event. Notable examples are its sack by the forces of Shishak, pharaoh of Egypt (1 Kings 14:25-26), threatened invasion but divinely thwarted invasion by Sennacherib, king of Assyria (2 Kings 18:13-19:36); its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (2 Kings 24:10-25:30) and, once again, a similar carnage by the Romans that we have already mentioned.
An important difference between Luke’s account and those of Matthew and Mark should be mentioned. Luke does not mention the “abomination of desolation” while both Mark and Matthew do. Why? Could it be that Luke somehow missed it in his research, something which seem doubtful considering the obvious care he took in compiling what would one day become the gospel that bears his name and the subsequent Book of Acts. Or was Luke describing the Roman invasion which resulted not in a profaning or occupation of the temple, but its complete destruction whereas Mark and Luke are revealing an event yet to come even in our time initiated by the Antichrist? I do not pretend to have a definitive answer to this question and offer this possible explanation as a possibility only.
What we do know is that at the very end of the Tribulation, Jerusalem gets surrounded and invaded yet again, the details of which come from a source about 2500 years ago from the Old Testament (Zechariah 14:1-21) and how the whole matter concludes – and who it is that intervenes! The last three chapters of Revelation provide an even more detailed account of this very same events.
In summary, at the end of the most terrible time in human history, Israel’s last defenders make a stand against the 200 million man (and no doubt woman) army as it begins its assault on the city the Jews have vowed never to surrender again, no matter what the cost! In their very last extremity, these besieged defenders call out to God for help – and get an answer that causes them to weep as they recognize at long last the Messiah that their ancestors rejected 2000 years ago to save them, and him accompanied by every saint that has ever lived. And from that fateful Last Day, life on Earth changes forever!
Next time, we’ll go back just a little bit time to look at some of the things which precede this culmination of history, following as we have the sequence of the Olivet Discourse. In the meantime – Keep looking up!
Globalism at Full Gallop
In writing last week’s “Nearing Midnight” column, I expounded a bit on the all-out assault on national sovereignty. I thought I was through. I’m not. The gist was that this end-times attack can be seen in all its vehemence while the entire mainstream media and even Republican establishment leaders in many cases are waging all-out war on Donald Trump’s candidacy.
Trump presents his political case as “America First.” He claims to want to reestablish America’s autonomy in the area of global trade–a thing that has set off a frothing-at-the-mouth rage by the globalist-elites. No matter any other invective they throw at him, Trump’s nationalistic campaigning, wanting to keep America as the leader of the world’s nations, thwarting their globalist agenda, is the real reason for the rage, make no mistake.
There is no longer any pretense of equal coverage of the candidates. Rather than question both candidates on the issues, the mainstream news journalists (no longer an accurate nomenclature for this mob) don’t question Mrs. Clinton at all and hang on every word from the mouth of Trump. There ravenous desire is not to find out what his hopes for making America great again is all about, but to take anything he says and either blow it out of all proportion or make up lies about what he says out of whole cloth.
Well…maybe not always exactly out of whole cloth, but certainly to take his audaciousness and turn it, through twisting and fabrication, into what they hope will continue to widen the margins in the polls in favor of their own political ideology and chosen candidate–an ideology that is in complete synchronization with that of the Democrat Party–in my humble estimation.
The mainstream news organization is a global conglomerate as never before. They view America as the hold-up to the utopian dream. If all nations are forced to be more equal in material wealth–all peoples equal in personal wealth–the world will live at peace. It didn’t work with Stalin’s Soviet Union or with Mao’s China. It’s not working anywhere in the world at present–e.g., Venezuela, Cuba, and any other place it’s being tried. But, somehow, if America gives up its wealth in some sort of insane redistribution scheme this time it will work, so the reprobate thinking goes.
Thus, globalism is the ideology, philosophy, and theology all rolled up into one ball of upside-down thinking that will in the minds of the one-world order types bring peace, prosperity, and love for all mankind.
We have witnessed the scheme being implemented to an incremental degree over the past seven and three-quarters years. Even before the Obama administration, the scheme was underway, as a matter of fact.
The James Bakers of this new world cabal, it must be truthfully noted, are no different in their pursuit of bringing America down than are the George Soros types. They are all simply at the opposite ends of the geopolitical spectrum, and rather than that spectrum being linear, it forms a circle, with the left meeting the right to close what will be a planetary dictatorship at some point.
Put a cross-hair symbolically over that circle, and it is all of us who are at the center of that bull’s eye. We are to be encapsulated within that circle of power.
The circle is quickly closing. This election of the next American president will likely determine just how quickly and completely that geopolitical spectrum-corral is in place.
Ours is not a political website. We are about eschatology–the study of end things from the perspective of Bible prophecy. So what I have written here is all examined after prayer and much study about what God’s Word has to say about things to come. We are particularly interested for the moment, of course, in what might be about to come to pass in terms of the immediate future.
We know beyond any doubt within our own prayer and study that what we are seeing is the attempted closing of that one-world circle–the structure that will be the stage setting for the coming king of fierce countenance. We are witnessing the rapid advancement of the neo-Tower of Babel being constructed, the platform from which Antichrist will, for a time, be allowed to subject most of the planet.
I find it rather ironic that the one question I and other speakers often get at forums where we interview or speak is: “What about America? Is it in Bible prophecy?” Or: “Why isn’t America in Bible prophecy?”
I find it ironic because we have no real answer as to why America, the most grandiose and powerful nation-state of all of history, is given no mention, while other smaller places–like Libya–are mentioned. Yet, we, in my opinion, now find ourselves at a moment in history when the American electorate has at its fingertips when entering the voting booths the ability to determine whether, in fact, this circle of global gulag will be sooner rather than later closed.
That global, imprisoning circle will ultimately be closed. There’s no doubt about it. The Lord has long ago reported it’s closing. But, I sense it doesn’t have to be closed just yet. I believe the American electorate might just be able to have an effect on its timing so far as its closing into a lock-down position is concerned–to delay it for a time later rather than sooner.
I view this matter under the rubric of 2 Chronicles 7:14. God’s people hold the key to slowing the onslaught of the Antichrist regime that is reaching out for the throats of the peoples of the world–particularly for the throats of all Christians. The Holy Spirit is still the restrainer of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. He is resident within each believer, those who constitute the church of Jesus Christ.
We must, as God’s people, humble ourselves and pray, turn from our wicked ways, and seek His face. And, I believe that we must vote in the right way in this presidential election, perhaps one of the last opportunities we might have to do so.
The rider on the white horse of Revelation chapter 6 is preparing to gallop. Rapture Ready…or not the time is coming when God’s children will be called into Christ’s presence. It is time to be about doing our earthly duty, while looking up.
Damascus’ Cup of Wrath
Reports of atrocities coming out of Syria are reminders of the ongoing rage of man against man. We live in a world headed for a time in which God must deal in judgment with planet earth. We get an inkling of what faces the cities of this world with the declaration found in the book of God’s most terrible judgment. “And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath” (Revelation 16:19).
The great commercial center at the time of that judgment will suffer as perhaps no city or people have ever suffered, when God’s cup of wrath is full, and He gives it to Babylon to drink. Jesus Himself said it would be the most terrible time in human history–and that’s saying something! This earth has been witness to regimes that have dealt so fiercely with their peoples that we sometimes wonder how the Creator of all things could have allowed such treatment.
The Lord has acted at times to judge the murderous governments throughout history, of course. The Third Reich is an example. Hitler’s Reich was to last a thousand years, but lasted barely twelve, and is today looked upon as among the most heinous–certainly considered the most horrendous of the modern era. Yet there are elements among us that view the Nazi regime as a good idea, particularly because of the way that government treated the Jews.
Syria’s present tyrant-ruler is one such admirer of the Nazi attitude toward God’s chosen people. Like all Muslim states of the radical sort–and it’s difficult to find one that isn’t radical—the brutal Syrian dictatorship of Bashar Al-Assad, successor to his father, Hafez Al-Assad, hates Jews with satanic passion and has Israel in its crosshairs for annihilation. For this reason, it can be said with certainty that, barring repentance, the Syrian leader and his ilk are in for some very rough times indeed. God’s Word says about the people of earth and their treatment of Abraham’s progeny: “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:3).
But, it is not the Jews alone that the Syrian dictator comes against with luciferian anger. He slaughters anyone who would defy his self-anointed right to rule with an iron fist of oppression. He is doing so with abandon these days, even in the face of pressure –although milquetoast pressure—by the international community.
The world of opposition to what’s going on in Damascus and surrounding area is of the spineless sort because of threats from Russia and China. Putin and the Chinese leadership have made it clear that any military action to put Assad out of power will be met with Russian and Chinese force. It is much like in the cold-war days when the Soviets and the Maoists held the nuclear threat over the heads of the world’s diplomatic community.
As the death tolls rise with Assad’s military murdering people in plain view, yet blaming the opposition rebel forces of perpetrating the killings, the international community wrings its collective hands and seems totally unable and unwilling to take action that would truly cause the raging to cease in the region.
Satanic/demonic influence, with ISIS and other forces wreaking havoc on innocents, driving refugees along with terrorists to Europe and other places presents dangers the world has only begun to suffer.
There seems no chance of a Jonah-Nineveh sort of repentance by Assad and his ruling henchmen. We can say with certainty, then, that God’s judgment is on its way to Syria. But, it’s not just the fact that God will judge anyone who hates Abraham’s seed, or that judgment will come because of the obvious sins of the regime in murdering the Syrian people. We can know with certainty God’s judgment is coming because of the prophecy, with which most Bible prophecy students are familiar.
“Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap” (Isaiah 17:1). Damascus’ cup of wrath is about to be poured by the mighty hand of God. But, lest the rest of the world think this city that harbors most every Islamist terrorist organization that is blood-vowed to destroy Israel is alone in the prophetic promise to drink of that cup of wrath, consider again the following forewarning to all cities of earth: “And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath” (Revelation 16:19).
This Race We Face
Do you sense that time is moving faster than ever before? I must tell you that I sense that the rush of everything going on becomes more intensive by the hour.
We all have had the conversation that when we were younger, time for us seemed to move much more slowly. The older we get, the minutes, hours, days, etc., fly by at a much faster rate.
Maybe it’s just that as our age increases, everything slows down within our own physiology–within our capability to match the speed with things whizzing past us. The race of life in which we must participate, possibly, might simply overwhelm us, and we can no longer keep up. The perception, therefore, might be that time itself is moving ever faster, while that’s not really the case.
Some of you physicists could likely make the case that time is actually speeding up or slowing down, or whatsoever theory science postulates these days. But, the clock still moves one second at a time. We live our own given increments of life one tick at a time like every other of our fellow travelers on the planet. So, it is outside the realm of reality to suppose that the movement of time itself is appreciably changed from the time we were youngsters.
It has to be that the increased activities and events crowding in on our given ticks of the clock have colluded to alter our perception–to make it seem that time is moving more swiftly.
There is not much room for argument that in America today, for many of us, life’s pressures have seemingly compressed our given twenty-four hours. We are indeed racing toward our destinations–our destiny–at ever-increasing speed, it seems.
This column, of course, is called “Nearing Midnight.” The commentaries Todd and I write are focused as much as possible on Bible prophecy. We place Bible prophecy as a template over the issues and events of this, what we believe to be the end-times, generation. We hope thereby to gauge how near human history is to the Second Coming of Christ.
Progression in stage-setting for fulfillment of prophecy is all-important in this gauging effort. How quickly things look to be taking place that line up with what Jesus and the Old and New Testament prophets foretold give some sense of when the Rapture of the Church might occur–i.e., we know that the Rapture of the Church will happen at least seven years prior to Christ’s Second Advent (Revelation 19:11). Therefore, if we consider that things are swiftly moving toward what the prophets say will happen during the post-Rapture era and Daniel’s seventieth week (the Tribulation), we can say with a degree of certitude that Jesus is on the very brink of calling the Church to Himself (Revelation 4:1).
For example, we have witnessed and analyzed the formation of the Gog-Magog coalition of Ezekiel 38 and 39 taking shape at a phenomenal pace. Russia, Iran (Persia), and a number of other entities that hate Israel are gathering.
There is a building world financial crisis that threatens to collapse the global economy. And, in that regard, the internationalist, new-world-order architects are going full steam ahead in their efforts to do away with national sovereignties and to instead bring the world back to Babel. We see the absolutely blatant all-out assault on the U.S. presidential candidate who opposes globalism and calls America back to the founders’ vision for this country.
Mainstream media now admits, through an article by a New York Times former journalist who is now a news media-analyst for the Times that the mainstream news conglomerate is all in for defeating Donald Trump. The writer admits their objective is to see that Trump, whom they claim–as does Barack Obama–is unfit for the land’s highest office never gets into the White House. There’s no longer any pretense of fair and balanced coverage of the candidates.
Prophetically, this fits what Daniel the prophet and John the Revelator foretold. There is to be a revived Roman Empire–a final world empire over which a beast called Antichrist will rule. We are, at this present time in history, caught up in a race politically, prophetically, and personally, as believers.
Politically, we witness the fomenting of chaos in our nation by those who want America brought into conformation with the global blueprint. It is a luciferian plan being carried out by Satan’s human minions. The current presidential administration has taken an active part in creating this chaos, through the Department of Justice (attorney general) actions and in other ways through international diplomacy.
The presidential race is bringing into focus just how determined the fallen one is to bring all mankind into its prophesied final form.
Prophetically, we are racing toward the time when the Lord will catastrophically intervene into the affairs of rebellious mankind. The Church–all born-again believers in Jesus Christ–will be removed and the most terrible time of all human history will begin.
Personally, we who name the name of Christ should all be engaged fully in the race to complete the Lord’s Great Commission while there is yet time to do His work here on earth. There are those in Heaven watching God’s children. They are cheering for believers who are running the race set before us. If you’ve read my book, Rapture Ready…Or Not, you know that I’m convinced with all that is within me that I met some of these heavenly observers on Good Friday, April 22, 2011. AMAZON
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)
Jerusalem’s Burdensome Stone
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu consistently insists Jerusalem will never be parted for the cause of peace negotiations. Despite his playing to the news cameras and to the international community diplomatic forces trying to force the Jewish state to divide the city where Jesus was crucified, when push comes to shove, Netanyahu says a resounding “NO” to Jerusalem being divided.
The prime minister has, as pointed out before, learned to talk the talk in playing the game to agree on matters of forging some sort of a peace. This is a trick long utilized by former terrorist and PLO head Yasser Arafat and most other Islamists when it comes to seeming to agree to move ahead with peace, but always changing some things at just the right time in the process to prevent negotiations from ever actually coming to fruition. Netanyahu, however, makes no bones about the status of Jerusalem in his thinking.
He said, upon becoming prime minister the first time around: “I will never allow Jerusalem to be divided again. Never! Never! We will keep Jerusalem united and … we will never surrender those ramparts… Jerusalem has been the capital of Israel for 3,000 years since the time of King David and we don’t expect to change that for the next 3,000 years!”
His consistent position, despite all of his jockeying to produce sound bites on occasion that make it seem he’s for doing most anything to bring about peace for the region, is as firm as ever. Netanyahu’s position with regard to Jerusalem is unchanged. As time has gone on, he has made his thoughts even more adamant about Jerusalem and what he considers the most vital matter involved in keeping the city undivided.
He continues to say that whoever proposes that giving up the heart of Jerusalem-the Temple Mount-will bring peace, is fatally mistaken. He declared that taking the Temple Mount out of Israeli hands, would bring decline, and even more horrendous radical Islam in the region and in the world…
Netanyahu has said, “Only under Israeli control, will this accessibility… and freedom of religion continue… The Temple Mount is in our hands and … it shall remain in our hands.”
Netanyahu’s assessment of the vital importance of the Temple Mount is far more profound than even he realizes, I suspect. If I might be so bold, I refer to my own writing on the matter, written some years ago.
Mt. Moriah sits at the southern end of the ancient city, crested by a golden dome that represents hundreds of millions whose religion demands of its adherents’ blood-vowed opposition to God’s chosen nation, Israel. This is the place God picked to have His temple on earth constructed. It is the precise location where the third temple will sit, the temple that will be desecrated by Antichrist, earth’s last and most beastly tyrant. Even more importantly, the Temple Mount will be the home of Christ’s Millennial Temple. Moriah, then to be known as Zion, will be supernaturally elevated by the tremendous topographical changes caused when the Lord’s foot touches the Mount of Olives at His return.
Diplomats of the world have, for the past four decades, engaged in effort after effort to bring stability to the region, at whose heart the city of Jerusalem sits. We remember the many jetting’s to and from Washington DC, Jerusalem, and other capitals of the Mideast. From Henry Kissinger, James Baker, Madeleine Albright, and Colin Powell to Condoleezza Rice.
America’s secretaries of state have burned mega-gallons of jet fuel in trying to find the formula for peace that would defuse the Armageddon bomb. And, the former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, immediately upon resigning, was named by the so-called “Quartet” (US, EU, UN and Russia) as the overseer of continuing efforts toward constructing Mideast peace, which has eluded mankind for thousands of years…
To be even more specific about the importance of the temple mount, here is what one of the foremost Christian Hebrew scholars, Arnold Fruchtenbaum, tells us.
The significance of Israel’ s reinstituting the Sanhedrin may be another event that leaves in place the possibility of how the Lord will work out His will with His people. Almost sixty years after a 1900-year absence, the nation of Israel came into existence. Jewish people from the four corners of the world have made Aliyah to live in the Land. The Temple Institute in Jerusalem has reconstructed the instruments for Jewish Temple worship; Jewish men determined to be descendants of Aaron, known as the Kohanim, are being trained in ritual practices to serve as Temple priests; and now we have the establishment of an authoritative body to speak to the nation of Israel on matters of Jewish religion. This is significant in light of such passages as Zechariah 12:10 and Hosea 5:15, which speak of a time when the people of Israel will be led into the acceptance of Jesus as their Messiah. The existence of a religious authority for the entire nation will facilitate the multitudes coming to faith. (Arnold Fruchtenbaum, Ariel Ministries Newsletter, Fall/Winter, 2004)
Make no mistake, the Temple Mount–Mount Moriah—is the burdensome stone that Zechariah the prophet foretold: “And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it” (Zechariah 12:3).
Deducing Today’s Delusion
The title of this week’s commentary is a proper one, I think. The famous fictional detective invented by mystery author Conan Doyle–Sherlock Holmes–often used the term “deduced” in his brilliant dissection of seemingly unsolvable crimes. He would “deduce,” or conclude, that the circumstances surrounding the mystery had led to the inevitable solving of the murder, theft, or whatsoever the crime involved.
There is no greater mystery than the mystery of iniquity mentioned by Paul the apostle: “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way” (2 Thessalonians 2:7).
We are presently in the midst of iniquitous circumstance and behavior by a world of rebellious earth dwellers–as the KJV terms the anti-God masses of humanity that will one day suffer God’s wrath and judgment. At the heart of the mystery of iniquity that surrounds us is a growing evil spiritual dementia that is setting the stage for the prophecy given through the apostle Paul. The prophecy is from the same section of the second letter to the Thessalonians above: “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12).
I think it is patently obvious to any true student of Bible prophecy that we are witnessing a form of spiritual dementia–of upside-down thinking each and every day. This evil darkening of the ability to think sanely, morally, comes from precisely the anti-God rebelliousness the great apostle warned about in his letter to the Romans:
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them” (Romans 1 28-32)
I believe it is relatively easy to deduce from things taking place all around us today that the delusion Paul forewarns will be full-blown when the Holy Spirit withdraws as restrainer of evil is even now developing. As a matter of fact, my own conclusion is that the satanically inflicted dementia is already rather far advanced. The evidence grows hour by hour that we are in a world going mad with luciferian rage.
Let’s examine that evidence to see if we are on to something, as Sherlock Holmes might say…
* Economic Irrationality
As oft is said about insanity, as attributed first to Albert Einstein, the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over to solve a problem although it fails every time and expecting a different result.
This is exactly where today’s thinking is at this hour of history in America. The government runs the Treasury printing presses over and over to produce trillions of dollars with nothing to back them in order to solve the national economic woes, which only get worse and worse.
Lyndon Johnson’s presidential administration conducted a War on Poverty to produce a Great Society. Since that 1964 all-out effort to solve America’s differences in the plight of the have-nots vs. the haves, the poverty has only increased. More than $22 trillion has been thrown at the problems involved. The nation is now bankrupt for all practical purposes, and the national debt grows exponentially.
It’s the same all over the world. Nations are in dire economic chaos, and the global economic structure–for the most part inextricably linked to the U.S. dollar–is on the brink of collapse. Only the staying hand of Almighty God is keeping global depression beyond any ever experienced from happening.
Yet, the powers that be continue to use the same methodologies time and time again in their insane effort to somehow get a different result.
* Diplomatic Dementia
The international community of diplomat’s views Israel as the hold-up to peace. This, even though Israel is a thin sliver of a nation that threatens no other nation, but provides vast goods and inventive services to the whole world.
Israel’s enemies, on the other hand–the Arab nations that surround the Jewish state–threaten to annihilate the tiny nation on a daily basis. Israel offers to sit down and come to peace with those who hate them, but the Arab states won’t even recognize Israel as a country. Yet the United Nations as a whole blames Israel for not being willing to give their enemies the land they want. The land Israel’s antagonists want, of course, is the very buffer territory that gives Israel a degree of protection from their enemies, who have attacked them in three major wars.
The diplomats cannot understand or refuse to recognize the true problem in the region. It is a satanically spawned dementia that dominates their thinking.
* Societal insanity
Can there be much argument that we are faced with a culture seemingly gone mad, considering things we see transpiring as of late?
What were just a few short years ago designated mental/psychological disorders are now proclaimed to be normal human behavior. As a matter-of-fact, there now are laws that demand we assign things like homosexuality, trans-gender identification and other conditions formerly considered aberrant or abnormalities special status, warranting privileged treatment –or else.
The absolute insanity of making us agree, through legal stipulation, that men, if they feel like a woman on any given hour or day, must be allowed to go into women’s restrooms, should speak for the far advanced state of reprobate thinking in which we find ourselves. The evidence makes it a no-brainer to deduce that there is already considerable delusion in society and culture today.
I’m sure you can think of dozens of things going on in society and culture that are even more bizarre.
* Religious Reprobate Reasoning
Religious delusion at this time of the end of the age is running wild. God’s Word, Jesus Himself, says that the Son of God is the only Way to God the Father–to Heaven.
Even some “evangelical” ministries are now wanting to make nice with apostate religionists within Christianity. Even more deludedly, they are reaching out to embrace other religions that will have nothing to do with Jesus Christ as a spiritual factor, much less as Deity who offers the only Way to their perverse version of Heaven.
Crislam, the combining of Christianity and Islam, is one such effort sponsored by some well-known supposed Christian leaders. Recently, Pope Francis was interviewed on a flight returning to the Vatican. He was recorded saying over and over that Islam is a religion of peace and that it presents only love, not danger, to mankind.
Following the murder of a Catholic priest in northern France by those who claimed the act was done for Allah, the pope opined the following:
I think it is not right to identify Islam with violence…This is not right, and it is not true…I don’t like to talk about Islamic violence because each day when I read the paper I see violence here in Italy…Terrorism is born of worshipping money in a capitalist society. I know it dangerous to say this, but terrorism grows when there is no other option and when money is made a god, and it, instead of the person, is put at the center of the world economy…That is the first form of terrorism. That is a basic terrorism against all of humanity.
Pope Francis has said on occasion that Christianity and Islam are both religions of conquest, and he has blamed Western thinking and interference in the Middle East as responsible for the rise of Islamic extremism. “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20).
It doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to deduce that the end times delusion Paul prophesied for the Tribulation period as recorded in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 has truly already infected this pre-Tribulation era.
Welfare World Order
Watchmen on the wall should be alert as never before. It is becoming clearer by the day. The self-appointed governing elitists of planet earth are using the slothful inclination of fallen mankind as fuel for the engine of their drive toward a new world order.
We witness time after time the bringing down by angry voters European leaders who aren’t totally sold out to the socialistic promises of something for nothing–or at least many handouts for very little work in return by the citizenry of the nations they serve. We thereby begin to understand the means by which the Antichrist regime will eventuate. Chaos in the streets translates to first untenable, unsustainable promises by elected politicians to quell the unrest. Then, eventually, an absolute iron fist of control as forecast in Revelation 13:16-18 will be used to bludgeon resisters into submission to the beast-state.
One blog pundit recently interviewed an insider to the world economic elite. I’m not certain about the multibillionaire interviewee’s position within the global economic order of things, but his commentary in answering seems to indicate he sees great danger in the machinations of his peers who are part of the new tower of Babel builders.
Multi-billionaire Hugo Salinas Price told the blogger news service interviewer that the globalists elite plan to control the world. Now, that’s not a surprise to biblical prophecy watchmen. We of the literal view of Bible prophecy who comment on such matters have written countless times about this plan. We have done so, resisting the conspiracy-theorist mentality that tends to set dates and name names as if we were Old Testament prophets. The observations from a globalist insider, on the other hand, present possibilities too fascinating to resist reporting. Salinas told his interviewer that the globalists’ plan to completely rebuild the world order into a new one is a disturbing fact as time moves forward. He said:
“The problems we are seeing in the West are not going to be resolved in any positive way. What we have had in the West, in recent decades, has been the welfare state. The welfare state is, in my view, what I would call, “socialism light.” We’ve had “socialism light” and now we’re going to transition to full-blown socialism… [It is these] elite, who do not want to give up their control. The furtherance of their control lies in socialism.
“I think this comes from a central idea that has possessed the imagination of the world. It’s the idea that authority comes from below. In other words, that authority comes from the people. This idea of authority from the will of the people is a myth of our civilization…
“I’m just saying that those who control the world know they have to curry the favor of the people. To do this they went the way of the welfare state, and democracy to give people the fiction they (the people) are in control. Well, they are not and never have been.” (Eric King, Billionaire Hugo Salinas Price – Elites Plan to Control the World, KingWorldNews.com)
To watchmen on the wall, it is increasingly clear that what Mr. Salinas reports is based in truth. And it is easy to observe that America is in the cross hairs of those who are targeting the United States for the new world order methodologies with regard to bringing about the ever-increasing welfare state. This nation is on the fast track to becoming the completely changed nation Barack Obama promised during his first presidential campaign.
Added to the continuing push to garner ever-increasing votes through pandering to welfare recipients –and I mean those who “won’t” work, not those who “can’t” work—is the deliberate stirring of America’s malcontents. The Black Lives Matter, and other groups that are basically thugs for hire who foment chaos, in combination with feeding the welfare discontent with trillions of out of control, printing press dollars, constitute a deadly formula designed to bring America down. The purpose is so that Satan can bring in his long-desired one-world order over which Antichrist will reign for a time.
The United states is the hold-up. As the lone national entity still strong enough to resist the subduing of national sovereignty in order to make all people under one, central, authority world-wide, the globalist elite, under Satan’s authority whether they know it or not, must destroy America as it currently exists. The U.S. dollar must be taken away as the prime currency to which all others are in one way or another inextricably linked. Revelation 13: 16-18 outlines Satan’s ultimate plan in this regard.
Olivet Overview – Part 1 – By Ed Wood
Many years ago I had the privilege of conducting a monthly Bible Prophecy study with a group of about half a dozen people. I had even then been long interested in this subject, but in order to do a credible job I really had to do some further studying. As I did I came to the conclusion that even though what has become the Olivet Discourse, detailed in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 came much later than the prophetic texts of the Old Testament, it forms a unifying foundation for all of them plus the Book of Revelation which was written some sixty years later.
In this increasingly turbulent time when it seems that the entire world is rapidly heading toward a very grim future, it seems that the opportunity to examine what Jesus himself revealed about the days immediately prior to his return would be prudent. I would first suggest to the reader that he or she read the gospel passages listed above in order to get the most out of this series of articles. Let’s begin!
An Already Completed Prophecy
1) THE TEMPLE IS DESTROYED [Matt. 24:1-2; Mark 13:1-2; Luke 21:5-6]
In 70 A.D. the temple was totally destroyed by the Roman soldiers led by Titus, the emperor Vespasian’s son. Jesus had said that the destruction would be total; “There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
This occurred in 70 A.D. in exactly the way Jesus described almost 40 years earlier by the Roman soldiers under command of Titus, the son of Emperor Vespasian. The devastation was indeed total, and it is quite likely that the stones themselves were pulled apart from each other to get the gold from the temple treasury that had melted in the heat of the fire which was set to destroy the entire complex.
The noted historian Josephus’ account from War of the Jews, Book 6, chapter 5, verse 2 lends credence to this supposition:
And now the Romans, judging that it was in vain to spare what was round about the holy house, burnt all those places, as also the remains of the cloisters and the gates, two excepted; the one on the east side, and the other on the south; both which, however, they burnt afterward. They also burnt down the treasury chambers, in which was an immense quantity of money, and an immense number of garments, and other precious goods there reposited; and, to speak all in a few words, there it was that the entire riches of the Jews were heaped up together, while the rich people had there built themselves chambers [to contain such furniture].
Prophecies in Progress
2) FALSE PROPHETS, FALSE DOCTRINE [Matt. 24:4-5,11,23-28; Mark 13:6,21-23; Luke
21:8]: This is not confined to the false religions or cults today, though there are multitudes of these, but most disturbing has been the corruption of doctrine now under way in many of the large denominations of the nominally Christian church in Europe and North America. Heresy was always a problem in even Paul’s time, as many of his epistles demonstrate, but today it is pandemic. The sad fact is that perhaps most of the Western Church has abandoned the authority of the Bible and its fundamental precepts such as Jesus being the only means of salvation, heterosexual relations between married people as the only ones acceptable to God, and even the masculine gender of God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
3) WARS [Matt. 24:6-7; Mark 13:7-8a; Luke 21:9-10]: The Twentieth Century produced more casualties due to war than any time previously and the Twenty-First Century now sees a rapid and increasing instability in the Middle East. The increase in Islamic terrorism with such new and militant entities such as ISIS is now reaching across the planet even to the United States and Europe.
4) FAMINE [Matt. 24:7b; Mark 13:8b; Luke 21:11] According to the latest figures, the world’s reserve food supplies are dwindling and the prices are increasing, due in no small past to weather factors. The effect is that more people are going hungry and this in itself has led to civil unrest.
5) NATURAL DISASTERS [Matt. 24:7b; Mark 13:8b; Luke 21:11,25b]: The horrendous series of earthquakes in Japan half a decade ago and overall increase in seismic activity from 2002 onward clearly demonstrate that geologically speaking, something unprecedented has begun and though the counts have decreased in the past few years, the trend shows no signs of returning to the relatively quiescent levels of the past. Additionally, we are seeing extremes in weather all across the planet almost on a daily basis more profound than any humanity has experienced in historical times.
6) PEOPLE BECOMING MORE HOSTILE [Matt. 24:12]: For everyone who watches TV or reads the newspapers, the increase in violence and horrific crime is unmistakable. Most recently we’ve seen more violence in our schools and universities, tragic shootings of civilians and police officers, and the increase of Islamic terrorism with ISIS becoming a major factor in this.
7) CHRISTIANS PERSECUTED [Matt. 24:9-10; Mark 13:9-13; Luke 21:12-17]: In officially atheistic countries and those in which Islam predominates, more and more Christians are being targeted with violence and even death. For example in countries such as Iran, the population of Christians is in serious decline. We may not realize it here in America, but there really are places in the world where standing up for Jesus can still be a cause for martyrdom.
Yet even in regions which are still considered predominantly Christian, those who hold to the authority of the Bible and its moral standards are finding themselves increasingly marginalized. In the United States it became “official on June, 17 1963 when the Supreme Court in the case of Murray v Vitale decided in an 8 to 1 vote to effectively kick prayer out of our public schools. Now just about any time there is some public event in which the name of Jesus Christ is raised in prayer, there tends to be a big noise from those who’ve obviously decided that the First Amendment applies only to themselves and not to Christians. This nationally increasing departure from Judeo-Christian principles was tragically demonstrated again by the Supreme Court in the Roe v Wade case in which gave its approval to what I believe can only be called legalized infanticide of the unborn.
Unfortunately the attack against biblical standards has not confined itself to the secular world but has also invaded the major branches of Protestantism not only in the United States, but Canada and Europe as well. For example, the Episcopal Church has not only given approval to homosexual behavior but allows actively homosexual clergy. The Evangelical Lutheran Church, Presbyterian Church are but two more examples of major denominations which have embraced what the Bible clearly relates is an aberrant and sinful lifestyle. Yet this is but one symptom of the overall descent of these churches into heresy and apostasy as many reject even the core belief in Jesus and him alone as being the only means of salvation.
8) GOSPEL PREACHED WORLDWIDE [Matt. 24:14; Mark 13:10]: When Gutenberg first invented a printing press with movable type, it was the beginning of a revolution when books could be reproduced at a cost which put them into the price range that common people could afford. A major step toward the realization of Jesus’ prophecy began in 1456 with the production of a Latin Bible from his device. Now the Bible in its various version and languages are available across the world. With the advent of computer and communications technology it is literally possible for anyone on the planet to read or hear God’s Word. (Which means that when the Lord does return there will be little excuse for someone’s protestation of ignorance!)
9) FAMILIES IN STRIFE [Mark 13:12; Luke 21:16]: Once the solid bedrock of any society, the conventional family is becoming increasingly dysfunctional on many levels with the children generally showing the greatest adverse effects. In many families even in the U.S., kids are being raised in single-parent households. One parent is then called upon to do the job that God intended for two, especially when the other biological parent is disinterested and indifferent. One can easily imagine how the children in such circumstances can have trust issues – after all if I can’t trust Dad or Mom, how can I trust a stranger? This situation can also be profound if one or both parents are abusive. How many times are we seeing “adult-level” crimes now being perpetrated by “children” now? Too many, I would say.
Another factor damaging the traditional family, in my opinion, is the increasing acceptance by the more affluent countries of homosexual behavior to the point where same-sex couples are routinely allowed to adopt children. One can only wonder what the long-term effects of being raised in an environment might lead? Lately we have seen “gender identity” issues rise to at a level that they are being noticed by the media. Personally, I find it alarming in that it seems like more and more people have become so confused that as far as gender goes, they don’t know what they are anymore! It is a sad commentary on any society whose moral decline only exacerbates such confusion and if one looks at the great powers of the past which likewise did so did not retain their status.
I believe Jesus was saying such conditions of moral decay would be widespread in the times just before his return:
Luke {17:28-30} Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed [them] all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
During the Tribulation, one can only expect that this will worsen as family members turn against each other, reporting “subversive” actions not in accord with the One World Government ruled by the worst despot in history. (Daniel 8:9 – 12); Revelation chapter 13) We can look toward Nazi Germany and Communist Russia as infamous examples of this very thing. Perhaps we can look at those Mark and Luke passages which present family strife as a transitional phase, already partially fulfilled but well on the way to becoming a lot worse in the days ahead.
Next time we’ll look at what may be just up ahead for a world rapidly heading for the most grim time in history.
THE OLIVET DISCOURSE – WHAT JESUS TOLD US TO EXPECT
| by Ed Wood | ||||
| Status | EVENT | BIBLE REFERENCE | ||
| Matthew | Mark | Luke | ||
| D | TEMPLE DESTROYED | 24:1-2 | 13:1-2 | 21:5-6 |
| I | FALSE PROPHETS | 24:4-5,11,23-28 | 13:5-6; 21-23 | 21:8 |
| I | WARS | 24:6-7 | 13:7-8a | 21:9-10 |
| I | FAMINE | 24:7 | 13:8b | 21:11 |
| I | EARTHQUAKES &
NATURAL DISASTERS |
24:7 | 13:8b | 21:11,25b |
| I | PEOPLE GET WORSE | 24:12 | ||
| I | CHRISTIANS PERSECUTED | 24:9-10 | 13:9-13 | 21:12-15 |
| I | GOSPEL PREACHED WORLDWIDE | 24:14 | 13:10 | |
| I | FAMILIES IN STRIFE | 13:12 | 21:16 | |
| DURING THE TRIBULATION | ||||
| F | ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION * | 24:15-22 13:14-16 | (See ** below) | |
| F | JERUSALEM SURROUNDED ** | 24:15-20 13:14-18 | 21:20-24 | |
| F | GREAT TRIBULATION | 24:21-25 13:19-20 | 21:25-26 | |
| F | SIGNS IN THE HEAVENS | 24:29 13:24 -25 | 21:11,25-26 | |
| F | SIGN OF JESUS | 24:30
THE MILLENNIUM BEGINS |
||
| F | JESUS RETURNS | 13:26 | 21:27 | |
| F | ELECT GATHERED | 24:31 13:27
NOTES: |
||
D = DONE
I = IN PROGRESS (But we can expect all of these to intensify as time goes by.) F = FUTURE EVENT
* Jesus told us here that the antichrist will desecrate the temple as did Antiochus IV Epiphanes as related in Daniel 8:9-14. In Daniel 9:27, the prophet describes a second similar desecration of the temple in the midst of the antichrist’s one “week” (seven years) reign.
** Luke’s version omits the mention of the Abomination. Perhaps it relates the siege of Titus in 70 A.D.
while Matthew and Mark’s versions refer to that second event that Jesus mentioned which will occur during the Tribulation.
Terry James Prophecy Line 