Prophecy Line

Israel-Jordanian End-times Ties

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reelection bid Tuesday September 17 has definite prophetic overtones, I think. The election is still not confirmed one way or the other as of this writing. But we will offer the following thoughts nonetheless.

Like in the case of Donald J. Trump’s political turmoil in the US, Netanyahu’s whirlpool of opposition that seeks to destroy him is a struggle against wicked powers and principalities to be sure. The ongoing storm involving both leaders continues to focus the attention of the prophetic observer upon end-times stage setting.

The Israeli prime minister, prior to Tuesday’s election, questioned just who the Israeli people wanted to trust to negotiate with in trying to work out a peace deal. Did they prefer to work with Trump and his effort at peace, or with those of Netanyahu’s opposition?

The prime minister reminded how he, Netanyahu, had helped convince President Trump to declare Jerusalem Israel’s capital. He had, he also reminded, convinced Mr. Trump to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Additionally, he announced that, if reelected and upon forming an effective coalition government, he would annex the Jordanian Valley and the northern reaches of the Dead Sea for Israel–a thing that would help to consolidate stronger defensive buffer zones from attacks from the Jewish state’s surrounding enemies.

Netanyahu further sought to provide proof of his close working relationship–even friendship—with the American president. He said that he told the US administration of his plans to annex the Jordan valley well before making the announcement publicly. He said “someone in the White House” had said off the record that “Netanyahu’s plan does not impinge on Trump’s.”

The prime minister said further, “That’s saying a lot.” He went on to express the vast differences in dealing with the current US president as opposed to the previous.

“For over eight years,” Netanyahu said, “I blocked the attempt to push us into the ’67 borders, to uproot settlements. Then, in the last three years, I’m changing the course of Jewish history by getting recognition for settlement, for the borders.”

He declared that he had “persuaded Trump to recognize Jerusalem as our capital, move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, recognize our sovereignty in the Golan, get out of the horrible Iran deal—that Gantz and Lapid [political opponents] supported—and now I’m doing the same thing [not only] vis a vis the Jordan Valley, but also all the settlements inside and outside the blocs. This is crucial.”

Immediately upon his declaration of his intention to annex certain swaths of the Jordanian Valley, the Palestinian leadership complained that this action will assure hostilities for the next hundred years. Leaders of both Russia and of Turkey joined in the rant against Netanyahu’s planned action.

For many years I and others who observe political movement within the Middle East–Israel in particular–have been curious about the entity called JordanMost who study the end-times alignment of nations look with interest at the following prophecy: “He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon” (Daniel 11:41).

The “he” in this prophecy is reference to the Antichrist, who will run rampant over the nations of the Middle East at the height of his power. It is fascinating to consider that present-day Jordan is carved from the territory called Moab in the prophecy. The children of Ammon, of course, are, in modern terms, the people of Jordan.

There are two nations among Israel’s antagonists not mentioned in the Gog-Magog coalition that will storm southward to destroy Israel and take “great spoil.” These countries are Egypt and Jordan.

These are the only Arab-Muslim nations in the region who have officially made peace with the much-hated Israel. While it is not yet clear what Netanyahu’s intention to annex these buffer lands mean in the overall scheme of stage-setting for fulfilled prophecy, we must consider developments with piqued focus.

A number of prophetic passages in the Bible foretell that both Egypt and Jordan (Moab and the children of Ammon) will fare well during Christ’s millennial reign. Of course, the people who come out of these regions to inherit that thousand years of a magnificently restored planet earth will be a remnant. These will be believers in Christ for salvation who survive the terrible time of Antichrist rule and of the judgments of the Tribulation era.

However, the prophecy above and others seem to indicate that people, particularly in the area of present-day Jordan, will avoid Antichrist’s devastation for the most part. Jesus said to each who call Him Lord: “What I say unto one, I say to all, watch” (Mark 13: 37).

As our new book Discerners: Analyzing Converging Prophetic Signs For the End Of Days lays out for believers in these closing days of the age, it is time to seek understanding of the strange things going on all around us. The Holy Spirit will make the madness of it all discernible, if we but seek to know about the signs of the times.

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14 ).

Discernment Needed More Than Ever

A most fascinating book occupies my current thinking. The relatively new release, The Snapping of the American Mind by David Tupelian, is, in my view, one of the great books describing what happens when a people turns their backs on God Almighty.

This isn’t a review of that book in any sense, but I intend to one day soon write one. The book’s contents contain wisdom that seems taken straight from the Apostle Paul’s forewarnings as given to Roman believers of his time–thus to us all who name the Name of Christ.

Never in the annals of history has development of the biblical description of the “reprobate mind” been more clearly manifest than in present-day American society and culture. We’ve looked a number of times at the nucleus of Tupelian’s work that so directly reflects, I think, the words of Paul: 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” (Romans 1:28).

Again, it might seem overly America-centric to keep bringing up our nation as the center of focus in dissecting these end-times matters. The world, after all, is filled with sinfulness as egregious as our nation’s sins. However, in the matter of looking at the descent into madness–through the snapping of the American mind, as author Tupelian would have it–the example of the United States today serves empiricism well. There is no more appropriate nation-state to consider in discerning these strange days so near the end of this Age of Grace.

And there is nothing more important to analysis of all this madness than thought processes filled with understanding. That’s the reason I’ve chosen the title of this commentary.

Many believers in Jesus Christ for salvation of their souls believe that this generation is nearing the time of Christ’s Second Coming. Sadly, the greatest part of God’s family either don’t realize how close Christ’s return is, don’t believe it is close, or really don’t choose to think about it at all. Jesus, Himself, as we have recently looked at, was righteously angry because the religionists of His time, while He was in His physical body, refused to understand that God in the form of Messiah was in their presence. These Pharisees and Sadducees not only should have believed, but should have been informing the Jewish people under their tutelage. They should have been doing so based upon the many signs and wonders their Messiah was performing.

Jesus spoke to their evil: “When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?” (Matthew 16:2-3).

Because of their neglect and deliberate actions to keep the people from this man they considered not sent from God, the people of Israel died in their sin from lack of knowledge. The nation is still suffering the consequences of their evil actions.

This is the danger of people not being taught today the truth that Jesus Christ is about to intervene into the affairs of mankind. He is coming again, and all indicators point to the likelihood that His coming again is very near indeed.

I just saw a headline as I write this that 45 percent of college students want “In God We Trust” taken off America’s currency. Obviously, too many parents, pastors, and teachers, both in Sunday schools and in secular classrooms, are without this thing Jesus called “discernment.” Else this statistic would not be there to indicate the sad state of spiritual understanding in our nation today. These have failed miserably to properly instruct and inform many of America’s children.

This is the purpose of our newest book Discerners: Analyzing Converging Prophetic Signs for the End of Days–to raise spiritual awareness of these troubling times and what it all means, and to help parents, pastors, and teachers–and all others—to understand the times that are so obviously near the end of the age.  We want to help all who name the Name of the Lord Jesus to be watchmen on the wall.

Indeed, discernment is needed now more than ever!

***”Discerners” help needed!***

We will greatly appreciate those of our RR family who are proficient at social media interaction helping us get out word that Discerners: Analyzing Converging Prophetic Signs For the End Of Days is now available. We know there are many of our RR folks quite knowledgeable in these areas. We need your help in getting the Christ-centered messages in this book to the vast audiences making up your sphere of influence.

This time so near the end of this Age of Grace is quickly fleeting. This book can deliver the witness of Christ’s saving power at this most crucial moment before the Lord calls His church to Himself.

Anyone who can help in this effort regarding social media interaction we ask to contact Terry James, general editor and one of the authors of the book. His email address is as follows.

Wtjames1@swbell.net

Thanks, in advance, for your willingness to be a part of this effort.

Terry James’ New Book! An Important message from Todd Strandberg and Terry James

We at Rapture Ready have decided to publish what we believe is one of the most important books on understanding these closing days of the Church Age (Age of Grace).

We’re excited to announce that we’re releasing Discerners: Analyzing Converging Prophetic Signs for the End of Days under our own, newly created imprint, RR Press.

We believe the crucial messages in this book can add to our effort in getting out the truth of these prophetic times. The book’s sales can—at the same time—help provide funds to help make up for diminished financial support we, like other ministries, have experienced.

The success of Discerners depends upon you who purchase the book. It is vital that many in the wonderful Rapture Ready family buy copies for themselves and for others within their spheres of love and influence.

Immediate Orders Needed!

We need to receive as many orders of the book as possible as soon as possible!

Please consider helping us by distributing Discerners with your multiple purchases, if you can. Our spiritual heart’s desire—in addition to getting this book into your hands—is to get as many copies as we can into the hands of pastors and Bible teachers across the nation. This will greatly contribute to putting forward the message we believe the Lord desires to be delivered in this crucial hour.

This is an essential mission for these closing days of the Church Age.

This is a book we believe is Holy Spirit-given and directed. Each writer is highly respected authority in studying and presenting the issues, events, and scriptural truth about Bible prophecy. Your pastors, teachers, and family members will be greatly blessed by receiving this collection of powerful examinations of and essays about this critical hour on God’s prophetic timeline.

Thanks much—in advance—for all the help you can give toward making this effort a success.

—Todd and Terry

An Important Note:

Please understand that your generous donations to Rapture Ready—apart from your purchasing this collaboration of some of the most insightful Bible prophecy scholars on the scene today—are still vital to our being able to provide information at no cost to those who come to RR. Rapture Ready must continue to have your prayers and financial support.

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About the Book

Discerners: Analyzing Converging Prophetic Signs for the End of Days

You and I are in times Paul the apostle called “perilous.” It is crucial that those who name the Name of Jesus Christ discern these closing days of this age and exhort other believers to understand these critical times so near to the spectacular moment when Christ will call the Church to Himself (Revelation 4:1).

The Lord Jesus cautioned those who fail to see the signs of the lateness of the prophetic hour:

When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? (Matthew 16:2–3)

Every Christian has the ability to recognize and make sense of the signals that indicate Christ will soon bring an end to this world system. This is a gift from the Creator to those who love Him! It is a distinguishing mark that separates believers from nonbelievers.

Again, Paul wrote:

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Cor 2:14)

Discerners: Analyzing Converging Prophetic Signs for the End of Days brings together the Holy Spirit-influenced writing of eighteen authors. These are among the very top scholars, broadcasters, writers, and speakers on the many areas of Bible prophecy.

The contributors consider and analyze today’s most relevant headlines regarding issues and events of these troubled times. Each prophetic topic is thoroughly examined under the light of God’s Word.

Dr. David Reagan, Jan Markell, Gary Stearman, Dr. Larry Spargimino, and many others present God-given perspectives on the most relevant prophecies that are in the process of being fulfilled.

Is there any doubt that this generation is living within “perilous times”? Dr. Larry Spargimino, host of radio and TV for Southwest Radio Church, kicks off the book with a look at the many aspects of this prophecy by the apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 3.

Jeff Kinley, one of the nation’s top-selling authors and a much-sought-after speaker on Bible prophecy, presents his thoughts on the “strong delusion” (2 Thessalonians) that is assaulting this generation.

Jim Fletcher, a columnist, speaker, and author on Bible prophecy topics, as well as an expert on Israel, presents an in-depth look at the number-one prophetic signal for the end of the age.

Bill Salus, and author and Bible prophecy speaker recognized for his insight of and knowledge about developments in the Middle East, presents analysis on the Ezekiel 38–39 Gog-Magog forces that are even now gathering to Israel’s north.

Gary Stearman, host of the Prophecy Watchers TV program, a prolific writer, and a highly respected prophecy conference host, brings a view of today’s fearful world of rebels and how they turn their backs on God in every aspect of life. He dissects why the movement toward socialism is a sure sign of how near this generation is to the Tribulation period.

Jan Markell, host of America’s most-attended annual prophecy conference and of the nationally syndicated radio program, Discerning the Times, with 850 stations across America, brings a tremendous perspective on the scoffing at God’s great promise of the Rapture and those who share the good news of that blessed event. She examines how the 2 Peter 3:4 statement by the apostle Peter predicting mocking in the last days assures that this stunning event is even now at the door of this generation.

Dr. David Reagan, host of the Christ in Prophecy TV program, and well-known speaker and author, takes a look at how wrath and judgment are more than justified when considering how people continue to shake a fist in the Creator’s face. But he assures that the cleansing of such rebellion will one day lead to heaven on earth, and that is the ultimate promise of the Creator.

These are but a few examples of this book’s examination and analyses of why this generation is in the very last of the last days when the Rapture of the Church will occur.

Discerners: Analyzing Converging Prophetic Signs for the End of Days brings current issues and events into crystal-clear perspective when overlaid with prophetic Bible truth by these eighteen experts. You will instantly recognize the daily headlines you’ve experienced, and will find help in understanding what these mean in the lead-up to final fulfillment of prophecy yet future.

*********************

Terry James, partner with founder Todd Strandberg in Rapture Ready (raptureready.com), is General Editor of the book, as well as the author of the introduction and the conclusion of the book. Strandberg is author of the book’s preface.

The full list of contributors to this stunning look into the near future includes:

  • Dr. Larry Spargimino
  • Don McGee
  • Jeff Kinley
  • Nathan Jones
  • Daymond Duck
  • Tom Hughes
  • Phillip Goodman
  • Grant Phillips
  • Jim Fletcher
  • Bill Salus
  • Pete Garcia
  • Gary Stearman
  • Ryan Pitterson
  • Jan Markell
  • Tim Cameron
  • Dr. David Reagan

This book will help you be a discerner of the end-times issues and events exploding around you. We all want to hear our Lord’s words: “Well done, good and faithful, servant” on that eternal day when we stand before Him at the judgment seat of Christ.

We look forward to receiving your order as soon as possible.

Amazon Paperback Addition

Amazon Kindle Addition

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

End-Times War Intensifying

A man stood up the other day at one Democrat Party function or the other. He was a fellow Democrat with those gathered, as I recall.

The man with the microphone for that moment said something like, “Our nation is in serious trouble, and the only one who can make it right again is the Lord Jesus Christ.” That’s not his exact quote, but it was just as strong as I’ve paraphrased here.

There was immediate and loud reaction to his words. They were not in support of the speaker’s sentiment. Far from it; there were shouts for him to shut up and even stronger invective, as I heard the reaction.

They gave him the proverbial hook in no uncertain terms.

He was exactly right, of course, and what he was doing on that Democrat stage, I must admit, baffled me. Having heard all such references to God in a positive way shouted down by Democrat Party gatherings since well before the 2016 presidential election–shouted down with boos and hisses of serpent-like virulence–I was surprised that even one among them still held to the view he tried to express.

Now I am aware that there are many true Christians even among the Democrat Party as it is currently constituted. However, it is getting more and more difficult to come to that conclusion based upon the God-opposing madness that–again, in my view— has become manifest since the time immediately following John F. Kennedy’s presidency.

It is as if that political element within America is waging war on God. I’m not thinking here in terms of symbolically or allegorically or metaphorically, or any other way than literally. It seems the Democrat Party, with the full-blown assistance of the mainstream media and every other humanistic element of culture and society, is at war with God–specifically with Jesus Christ.

Lest critics brand me as a falsehood-spreading, right-wing deplorable, I offer a couple of pieces of evidence of recent vintage to support my case.

While the anti-God forces seek in every way, and on a daily basis, to push Christian beliefs from the public square, the champions of this force incessantly seek to claim that Christians are doing what they, themselves, are doing to remove all godly governance.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) passed a resolution at its summer meeting championing “religiously unaffiliated” voters, who the resolution noted are the “largest religious group” within the party.

The DNC’s “Resolution Regarding the Religiously Unaffiliated Demographic” stated that “religiously unaffiliated Americans overwhelmingly share the Democratic Party’s values,” and “have often been subjected to unfair bias and exclusion in American society.”

The resolution also takes a shot at deeply religious voters, who are accused of using their religious beliefs to oppress other groups.

It said “those most loudly claiming that morals, values, and patriotism must be defined by their particular religious views have used those religious views, with misplaced claims of ‘religious liberty,’ to justify public policy that has threatened the civil rights and liberties of many Americans, including but not limited to the LGBT community, women, and ethnic and religious/nonreligious minorities…

DNC chair Tom Perez has been openly critical of church-going Americans in the past.

Perez said in December 2018 that Republicans have an advantage because “people buy” what they hear at church.

“It should come as a surprise to no-one that that person has elevated the issue of courts to the top because that person on the pulpit is saying ‘ignore everything else that this person has done and is doing, we have to focus on one issue of Roe vs. Wade.’ And people buy it. Because that’s their only source,” Perez said. (“DNC Resolution Celebrates Democrats’ ‘Largest Religious Group’ — And It’s Not Christians,” Daily Caller, Peter Hasson, senior reporter, 8/30/19)

The “religiously unaffiliated” designation is used to avoid “we are against any governance by any deity” label. America is still a nation that has a significant remnant of God’s people, and the Democrat elite know it. They are masters, it seems, of luciferically inspired language.

Nowhere is the growing war against true believers in Jesus Christ more pronounced than within the so-called higher education institutions of America. We can read or hear news reports almost hourly of professors ranting against the way America was founded. They always bring the slavery issue into the mix of their vitriolic condemnation of the Founding Fathers. They ignore the goodness within the Founders’ intention to, ultimately, bring about realization and acceptance that all men are created equal and that God is that Creator who favors no human being over another.

One example in American academia today of the hatred for all that is Christian is Jeff Klinzman, an adjunct English professor at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He claims to be in sympathy with the domestic terrorists called Antifa, and posted the following on Facebook. “I know who I’d clock with a bat.”

He was referring to President Trump, who had said previously: “Antipas are Radical Left Wack Jobs who go around hitting…people over the heads with baseball bats.”

The professor also wrote that he wanted to “stop evangelical Christians” and posted a poem that said, “Kill them all and bury them deep in the ground.”

Klinzman explained why he shared the poem, “It’s not pretty, and I’m not proud, but seeing what evangelical Christians are doing to this [country] and its people fills me with rage, and a desire to exact revenge.”

When contacted by Cedar Rapids ABC affiliate KCRG, Klinzman said he was part of the group, “I affirm that I am antifa.”

Antifa is a far-left group that often goes to rallies to fight white supremacists or groups they perceive to be racist. They also have a history of attacking journalists covering the protests. (“‘Kill them all’: Iowa professor resigns after his comments about evangelicals revealed,” Washington Examiner, Julio Rosas, August 27, 2019)

Jesus’ own words immediately came to mind when observing the treatment of that aberrant member of the Democrat Party’s most active membership, the man who stood with the microphone claiming Jesus as the answer to all problems.

They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.  (John 16:2-3)

Just as the pious Jews sought to kill those who believed Jesus was Messiah, the elite of that Democrat Party gathering seem to be of the mindset reflected by the words of the professor as given above.

But it is not just those within the Democrat Party who are waging war against Christ. The whole world is going mad with the reprobate mind that has infected mankind because of collective resistance to Heaven’s governance. They are primed, sad to say, to accept their false Christ, who will soon appear on the world scene. Antichrist will wage the ultimate war against Christ. He–and all who follow him—will meet their devastating end upon the killing field called Armageddon.

Don’t be part of that end-times war-making. Accept Christ as prescribed in God’s Word.

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9-10)

Scanning Fearful Future Still on Track

Madness that assaults the senses every waking moment continues to expose the lateness of the prophetic hour. This generation is deeply into reprobate mindset the Apostle Paul forewarned will ultimately afflict any person or any generation of people who turn their backs on the God of Heaven.

Not intending to make myself out to have a word of knowledge or other strange wind of supernatural soothsaying ability, I nonetheless must recount a matter that constantly dominates my spiritual senses these days. It involves how the Lord spoke to those senses years ago about things that have proven to be insight with ongoing, unfolding validation.

My series of commentaries I called “Scanning a Fearful Future” covered the emails filled with panic I was at the time receiving on a regular basis. Pundits, including well-known Bible prophecy teachers and TV hosts, were saying that Christians in America faced imminent danger from dynamics taking place within ever-darkening governmental efforts to completely change the nation in deleterious ways. We would, these pundits proclaimed, wake up one morning and find that the America as founded was now a more or less totalitarian regime. Christians would soon be marching off to gulag. At the very least, we would no longer be able to teach and preach or even talk about Bible truth in public.

Just as ominously, these pundits were saying, the economy would completely collapse and we would return to times almost like those before electricity–at least that’s how the dystopian warnings sounded to yours truly. Indeed, the presidential administration then in power seemed to be moving America in the dire direction that was being forecast.

All of this was taking place during the latter part of 2010 and the first part of 2011.

The emails kept coming. Would the United States soon collapse and Christians in America be marched off to FEMA camps for internment? Or worse, would Christians suffer martyrdom as did believers in Christ during the time of the Roman Coliseum spectacles?

Again, even prophecy teachers of renown were intimating that this might be the case. Certainly, many secular pundits were almost in unison in predicting that the American and world economies were on the verge of collapse.

So, in light of the large number of emails I received from those who read our articles –all worried about future prospects—I undertook to write a series of ten commentaries. While writing these, the Holy Spirit, I’m convicted in my own spirit, imparted through those articles the answer to give these worried brothers and sisters.

I’ve written a number of times over the years since that time about the thoughts I believe the Lord gave through that series. The bottom line was and is that there would be no sudden collapse of the United States economy–there would be no incarceration and martyrdom of Christian Americans. I cautioned that there was indeed such incarceration and martyrdom of Christians all over the globe at that very moment. There continues to be this horrendous treatment around the world as I write this.

America, I wrote back then, deserves no special dispensation from such collapse. Christians in America are not, in our own righteousness, immune from the kind of torture and martyrdom being foisted upon Christians who live within evil regimes around the world. Any and all such dispensation is by the grace of God, and that alone. He determines who is born when and where. He, alone, will have mercy upon whom He will have mercy. And this does not mean He favors anyone in particular in the general sense of dealing with mankind.

In the case of America, God has obviously determined that the nation is on the planet and at this time for very specific purposes. We have gone over many times that it is believed those purposes are 1) to be a primary instrument of spreading the gospel around the world, and 2) to act first as midwife for Israel’s rebirth into modernity, then to act as military protector. The Lord can do that Himself, but He has chosen the US, it is obvious to me, at least, to be his human agency in providing that protection over His chosen nation.

In that regard, America is undeniably the apex nation of the world so far as earthly riches are concerned. America is the most materially blessed country of history. It has been among the most spiritually blessed as well.

As I stated in that series, the US has, sadly and tragically, become one of the most wicked nations of all times, as well. The evil stretches from pornography to the abortion of more than sixty million babies. So, our “goodness” as Alexis de Toqueville ascribed to this nation is more than overshadowed by the evil among us. As Ruth Graham is accredited with saying (and I paraphrase): “If God doesn’t hold America accountable for her wickedness, He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.”

How true this is now more than even when she uttered that thought. We have watched the absolute debauching of society and culture through the LGBTQ and all forms of perversion involving sexuality. We now watch reports of transvestites or drag queens assigned to libraries to teach small children their perverted ways and perversions beyond theirs. We see the Vogue teen magazine instructing, in explicit detail, teenage girls and younger how to indulge in sodomy as a pleasurable means of avoiding sexual interaction that impregnates. We are barraged hour by hour with reports of every sort of inculcation that tries to destroy the institution God the Creator designed involving one man and one woman as husband and wife.

Yet, with all this, including our largest cities becoming infested with filth and lasciviousness that is the antithesis of all God intended, America is still here and not only still here, but far outpacing all other nations of the world in most every area of culture–except for turning back to God to a great extent. There are nations that are seemingly seeking God’s face much more than is our beloved America.

This will, ultimately, bring that judgment, Mrs. Graham forewarned those years ago.

America, as I think the Lord showed me,  is, however, going to be here for His specific purposes until He calls His Church to be with Christ in the Rapture. This is based on Jesus’ own prophecy found in Matthew 24: 36-42 and Luke 17: 26-30. He has put his man of the hour into the office of president of the United States in a miraculous way. Donald J. Trump defied all political odds and defeated the woman who the political world believed to be a sure thing as candidate for the presidency in 2016.

Mr. Trump is a builder perhaps unparalleled in modern history. He is a businessman with acumen few can in truth deny. He is a friend of Israel like no other president. He has accomplished things in Israel no other president has come close to attempting. Some Israelis even are calling him their “king.”

I don’t agree with the Israelis bestowing that nomenclature or the thought, but I put it here just to show the importance of this man who is not a godly one, but who is most definitely God’s man for this crucial hour at the end of the Church Age. No matter what Satan’s globalist hordes try against Trump, he prevails and even thrives. It is astonishing to behold. And, it is at least in part attributable to God’s people invoking the prayer of 2 Chronicles 7:14, I have no doubt.

The “Scanning a Fearful Future” series concluded by saying it is all in fulfillment of Christ’s prophecy as listed in the “days of Noah, days of Lot” Scriptures above. We are in an unprecedented time of economic upturn–of building, selling and buying in this nation, even while the rest of the world is struggling. Thus, also, even though the signals abound that all could come crashing down. And many economic experts say it will do so at any moment. This is what they were saying, remember, back in 2010 and 2011.

But God holds all in His omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent hand.

Just like Jesus said, I believe that it will be just like in the days of Lot when Christ next catastrophically intervenes into the affairs of rebellious mankind. That evil generation was buying, selling, and building. Business was great. But the day Lot and his family went out of Sodom, God’s judgment fell and destroyed the rebellious inhabitants.

As stated near the end of that series, Christians need not fear that coming judgment and wrath. It will be not a fearful future, but a fantastic future we will face when the glorious event we call the Rapture occurs and we are suddenly in the presence of our Lord and Savior.

As I view it, all is still on track to unfold exactly as I believe I was impressed to write those nine years ago.

Doors to Your Future

“Forget the book of Revelation. We have all the facts about Armageddon.”‘

The CNN anchorwoman’s opening statement into the lead story some years ago was given with lighthearted inflection. Although her words undoubtedly were intended to grab the attention of viewers in preparation for the ensuing story about Armageddon, the movie sensation of that hour, the tongue-in-cheek lead-in nonetheless appropriately reflected the worldview of biblical prophecy. Hollywood, the facetious opening implied, knows better than the God of the Bible what the future holds for mankind.

Dr. David Jeremiah remarked at that time, “Satan hates the book of Revelation because it foretells his doom.” It should not surprise us that a worldwide news medium should broadcast with such lack of understanding because Satan, who is the prince of this world, conducts an ongoing propaganda campaign that presents near truths designed to keep fallen mankind on the broad way that leads to destruction.

Jesus said, “Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13,14).

There are, Christ tells us, two roads or pathways through life in the physical body. Because of man’s nature, fallen since the rebellion in the Garden of Eden, people are on the wide, easy path of least resistance that leads to their eternal separation from God, their Creator. Jesus Christ represents the other pathway–the narrow Way–that leads people to eternal life in Heaven, forever in the presence of God who adopts them as His children because of their trust in His Son as the only atonement for sin.

Every heartbeat moves you one moment nearer to eternity. You will enter that infinite realm through one of two doors. You may choose which of those doors you will ultimately enter while life yet pulses within your breast. However, by not choosing, you are swiftly moving toward the door beyond which awaits torment and damnation that will never end (see Luke 16:19-31).

While such a view runs counter to this world system’s theologies and philosophies of “feel-goodisms” and salvation by “do-goodisms,” and as unpopular as it is to point out that man is a fallen creature that needs saving, ignoring the truth of God’s Word means souls lost forever. Thankfully, “the Lord is … not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

The Hissing Serpent

Satan’s all-consuming purpose is to plant in the minds of men, women, and children a big question mark about God. Because there is within each of us a God-shaped soul-space, the great deceiver knows he cannot convince mankind there is no God. His drive is to create doubt about the Creator of all things: Is God a being or just a force of some kind like that portrayed in the “Star Wars” fiction? Is God existential in His dealings with His creation? Has He simply created and set all things in motion, then moved on, leaving that creation to evolve and fend for itself like is presented by the deist view? Or is God a deity who can be trusted? Can He be relied upon to keep His word, to see those who trust in Him through the vicissitudes of life and bring them into His loving, eternal presence when physical life on earth has run its course?

The latter of these deceptive questions was used by the serpent in the Garden of Eden (read Genesis 3). “Yea, hath God said?” was the question Lucifer the fallen one implanted within the minds of the first man and woman (see Genesis 3: 1). “Ye shall not surely die” the devil told the couple. He was implying that God wanted to keep them ignorant and under His thumb because He didn’t want them to become as gods, which gaining the forbidden knowledge would accomplish. In essence, Satan planted in their minds the belief that God is a liar. His Word cannot be trusted.

The serpent hisses the same subtle propaganda today into the ears of this self-willed generation of earth dwellers. If we will look and listen attentively, we can perceive an incessant assault upon the voracity of God’s truth coming at us from every angle.

Media Manipulation

The CNN story alluded to at the beginning of this commentary is mild in comparison to the many attacks on God’s truth-particularly in the area of biblical prophecy–while human history moves forward. Some might say that it is a natural thing for there to be increased interest generated during such a dramatic, exciting period. Movies, TV programs, speculation within news journalism–these things are to be expected to exploit the hopes, fears, and hunger for spectacular entertainment while earth moves ever deeper into the millennium. And exploited they continue to be!

However, it is not a natural exploitation. It’s a supernatural exploitation that more and more becomes evident to the spiritually attuned eye and ear. Satan, who has never ceased his assault against God’s truth, continues to intensify his attack at every point within the arena of human affairs. People’s almost-fanatic desire to gain supernatural knowledge about the future is fertile ground for the great deceiver to work his nefarious, anti-God subterfuge. Like the pied piper, Satan enchants the majority of humanity, enticing people to follow him down the broad way to the open door into the eternal abyss.

Satan’s attempted undermining of God’s truth is more and more observable in these closing days of the Church Age. He slyly chooses not to completely omit biblical prophecy as he influences media to create programs catering to their audience’s voracious appetites for knowledge of what the future holds. He subtly weaves sparse, disconnective textual bits and pieces from Bible prophecy within the nonsense and lies of false prophets in order to give their false prophecies an air of validity and believability. Always the message from the mind of the deceiver is that man and his humanistic solutions can overcome the dire predictions for mankind’s future if everyone will come together as one in peace and harmony.

The great deceiver hisses convincingly into the already-inflated egos of the one-world builders that they are “as gods.” They must, he whispers, overcome all obstacles totally apart from the deity Christian fanatics claim is the only One who knows the end from the beginning. Satan’s voice whispers against the One who prophesies a time of unprecedented trouble for the world because of mankind’s rebellion against Him and rejection of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Revelation 19:10 says, “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. ” The book of Revelation is not just a series of revelations of judgments, although it does reveal great details about the coming wrath of God and the reasons for judgment. The book is the revelation of Jesus Christ–the unveiling of the truth about who Christ is in His glorified magnificence.

Satan is presently mounting an all-out offensive in an attempt to pervert and thwart the truth of God’s prophetic Word. The nucleus of his attack centers around the lie that the book of Revelation is confusing, cannot be understood and, indeed, is not meant to be understood because it is a mishmash of symbolism and allegory that was never intended to be in the canon of Scripture. Tragically, many people in the body of Christ choose to fall for this satanic lie.

Even some Christian seminaries choose to ignore God’s revelation of His Son Jesus Christ by treating biblical prophecy, and the book of Revelation in particular, as symbolic or as history already accomplished. This despite the fact that Revelation 22:19 states, “If any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

Christians who fall for this luciferian deception not only are missing the blessing promised by God to those who read and heed the revelation (see Revelation 1:3), but they are unwittingly helping Satan in his full-fledged assault on God’s truth as he leads lost men, women. and children to eternity apart from God.

Consider the foreshadows of wrath inundating this world in profusion. From the rapidly spreading apostasy developing through ecumenism to the precise alignment of nations as predicted in God’s Word to the perilous times Paul warned about in 2 Thessalonians 3, everything foreshadows our redemption that thrilling moment as foreseen by John in his vision: “After this I looked and, behold, a door was opened in heaven; and the first voice that I heard was, as it were, of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up here” (Revelation 4:1).

In order to enter that door, you must first open your door, the door to your heart (your soul). Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). It is your decision to make. There will never be one more important than the choice you make regarding the doors to eternity. God’s Word says, “Be ye therefore, ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not” (Luke 12:40).

Right this moment, choose Jesus Christ, who faithfully promises “surely, I come quickly” (Revelation 22:20). Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

***Look for new book next week!***

Discerners: Analyzing Converging Prophetic Signs For the End Of Days is scheduled for release the week of September 2, 2019. We prayerfully hope our Rapture Ready family will be blessed mightily by this vitally important book for these closing days of this troubling though exciting age.

We say it is vitally important because each and every believer in Jesus Christ is commanded by the Lord to be watchful as the time of His return nears.

Jesus said: “”What I say unto one, I say to all. Watch.” (Mark 13: 37)

He said also: “When you see all these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your head, for your redemption draws near.” (Luke 21: 28)

Signs of His coming again are upon the horizon literally in every direction one looks. Yet, sadly, God’s people are without knowledge about the lateness of the prophetic hour.

Discerners is the book that draws all major signals together in a single, powerful volume that will help the believer be the watchman the Lord wants him or her to be during these critical times.

Eighteen of the top Bible prophecy teachers, preachers, broadcasters and writers in the nation cover in-depth yet in understandable language what issues and events of these strange days mean in terms of things to come.

You can know what to expect while God’s prophetic clock continues to tick through the last increments of this Age of Grace.

Look for Discerners: Analyzing Converging Prophetic Signs For the End Of Days the week of September 2.

Consider getting a copy for your pastor and Bible teachers. It is our prayer at Rapture Ready that this book will generate interest among those charged with rightly dividing the word of truth for their flocks during these prophetic hours.

Watch for further information and how to order beginning the week of September 2, 2019!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doomsdayers Diatribe

Only six days into the presidency of Donald J. Trump, the humanistic gurus of the community known as the” Atomic Scientists” raised a ruckus. They lamented that we were within two and a half minutes of nuclear midnight. This was supposed to mean that global catastrophe was closer, perhaps, than it has ever been.

The atomic scientists’ perception as the unthinking–bumbling, or perhaps deliberate evil–of the new president made the doomsday clock time-setters nervous indeed.

Their joint declaration stated that scant few days after his taking office, “Both his statements and his actions as president-elect have broken with historical precedent in unsettling ways. He has made ill-considered comments about expanding the U.S. nuclear arsenal. He has shown a troubling propensity to discount or outright reject expert advice related to international security, including the conclusions of intelligence experts. And his nominees to head the Energy Department and the Environmental Protection Agency dispute the basics of climate science.”

I have written in these commentaries for years that the globalists’ key rallying point for trying to bring about the new world order they seek has been global warming. It is now called climate change. The luciferian rant is ratcheting up in every aspect of geopolitical atmospherics. However, we can expect, I have absolutely no doubt, an even more massive uptick in the assault. Climate change will continue to be the spear tip of the campaign against God’s order of things as we move deeper in human history toward the Tribulation hour.

The scientists in question collectively issued the accusation–highly disturbing in their view– that Trump, during the 2016 presidential campaign, talked about the need to increase and upgrade nuclear weapons capability. At the same time, they ranted that he spoke against their and the general, scientific community’s overwhelming consensus that climate change poses a threat beyond any other to the well-being of the planet.

All the while they said nothing of former President Obama’s trying to anger Russia’s Vladimir Putin in the last months of the Obama administration–a thing that gave Putin fodder to proclaim the need to further increase the Russian nuclear arsenal.

Like in every other instance of hypocritical treatment by media and by the humanistic, scientific community, Obama got a pass, while their collective ire descended full force on the one who defeated them in the American electoral process.

They ignored that international relations deteriorated dangerously during the Obama years, rather noted fawningly that the former president in 2010 called for a nuclear-free world.

At the same time, they pointed out angrily their convoluted and quasi-accurate assessment that Trump suggested South Korea and Japan might consider developing nuclear weapons since North Korea and even China represent growing threats. They berated Trump and his six-day-old administration for having no “firm plans” to extend the controversial “Iran nuclear deal.”

The doomsdayers further castigated Trump and laid out their great fear his winning the American presidency wrought.

“The political situation in the United States is of particular concern. The Trump transition team has put forward candidates for cabinet-level positions (especially at the Environmental Protection Agency and Energy Department) who foreshadow the possibility that the new administration will be openly hostile to progress toward even the most modest efforts to avert catastrophic climate disruption.”

Please believe me. Although we have heard week after week of such sophistry to this point, it is nowhere near the last we will hear of the climate change madness.

Those of the now antiquated million woman march” and the “if- it-feels-good-do-it” crowd lost their “political fast-track to succeeding” they were previously on. These sorts, as we have witnessed, are furious to the point of displaying mental instability. But, the globalists elite of this world, working to bring in Antichrist’s regime–even if unknowingly–are exceedingly more angry and determined that this president will be removed by hook or crook.

We know intimately of the volume increase on talk of impeaching him. There are absolute proofs that a coup d’état have been in the deep state plans of the angriest of the nation’s power brokers.

It does not, nor should it, surprise, that this level of rebellion is raising its ugly, serpent-like head. We only have to go to the great book of Revelation to understand the extremes to which fallen man will go when they don’t get their way.

There will be a rebellion of the most horrific magnitude ever at the end of the Millennium–the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ. This uprising will occur, we are told through prophecy, after the rule of the only perfect Ruler in all of human history.

And, this gets us back to the Doomsday Clock scientists’ forewarning of Trump causing the destruction of the earth because of his declaring as lunacy their climate change mantra. Well, maybe it’s I–not Trump–who call it lunacy, but he adamantly opposes it–and them nonetheless.

The fact that Revelation 20:7-9 tells us there will be this last, satanically led rebellion in an attempt to dethrone the Creator of all things lets us know that there will still be a planet earth, despite President Donald Trump, and even seven years of Tribulation.

Also, it proves, in my estimation, the lunacy of the doomsdayers diatribe.

 

On Observing the Times

Jesus looked directly and deeply into the eyes of the pious religionists and elitist-legalists (the Pharisees and Sadducees). His omniscient, penetrating, piercing, eyes saw into their very souls. These religious zealots and lawyers sought to disprove the claims by His followers that He was sent from God. They wanted Him to immediately perform a private miracle for them, thinking, no doubt, that He would fail, giving them fodder for their attacks against Him.

Jesus, in answer to their probing demands that He show them a sign to prove His commission from Heaven, said:

When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? (Matthew 16:2-3)

Thus begins the introduction to my latest book, Discerners: Analyzing Converging Prophetic Signs for the End of Days, to be released very soon. The Lord’s admonishment is one of the strongest given for those who are supposedly responsible for knowing what God’s Word, the Scripture, has to say about issues and events –about circumstances—of the times surrounding their lives.

The Pharisees, in particular, were supposed to know, in-depth, God’s Word to Jews. Yet, these not only didn’t recognize the fact that the Messiah was among them, they mocked Him and wanted to–and eventually did—kill Him.

Jesus had performed miracle after miracle. The signals were in every direction that He was who He was–the very Messiah for whom all of believing Israel longed.

Rather than embracing their future King, they mocked, harassed, and ultimately murdered Him, with the help of the Roman government.

They wanted a “sign” from Him, yet He had done wonders that everyone in Israel knew about except, seemingly, these Pharisees and Sadducees who confronted Him.

This man of Galilee represented a threat to their authority of being religionists and legalists who ran things. They couldn’t have their controlling apple cart turned upside down. Theirs was a very lucrative business, and they wanted no Messiah ruining their money-making enterprises.

Saul of Tarsus, of course, was, before his Damascus Road experience, one of the chief prosecutors/persecutors who sought to end the lives of those who followed Jesus–the one whom religionists and legalists considered an imposter, but whom His followers believed and claimed to be Israel’s Messiah.

We must wonder today about those, particularly among the so-called clergy—who cannot or will not discern the times. These totally ignore, or refuse to accept, God’s Word on things to come. They spiritualize or allegorize prophecy yet future concerning Christ’s soon return to put an end to this rebellious world system.

Would Jesus say the same to these today as he said of the religionists of that day?

“O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?”

The Bible consists of–as my friend, the late Chuck Missler, used to inform—about 27 percent prophecy. Of that, approximately 14 percent is yet to be fulfilled. Yet only a very few pastors in the pulpits will touch on the prophetic portions. If they do, they spiritualize it or allegorize it to such an extent that they give their congregations little indication that these are things to come, in a literal sense. They certainly don’t examine the prophetic portions about prophecies yet to be fulfilled, checking on and including issues and events of the times that are unfolding–times that even a modicum of examination and exploration would divulge are absolutely ripe with prophesied things on the very cusp of taking place.

Such things to come are bulging at the proverbial seams, trying to burst forth.

Looking at the political situation in America today, as well as at the moral comportment of so many, what discerner from a believer’s perspective can deny that evil men and seducers are growing worse and worse?

Seeing the battles, with the nation divided almost down the middle, who with a discerning spirit can deny that rebellion against the God of Heaven is raging, or that that same God, the Holy Spirit, is acting as never before as Restrainer against the evil that is ramping up moment by moment?

Who that has been given discernment by that same Holy Spirit can but recognize that worldwide hatred for Israel is coming to a head, just as the prophet Zechariah foretold?

All prophetic signs are in process of converging at this very moment during these strange and troubling, although exciting, times; they are exciting because it all means the Lord Jesus Christ must be about to call all believers into the clouds of glory to be with Himself.

The believer that Jesus Christ is who God’s Word says He is must be dedicated to observing these matters unfolding so near the time of His return to establish His righteous kingdom on this rebellious earth. It’s time for Christians to be discerners.

See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. (Ephesians 5:15-17)

The Times of the Signs – Part Three By Ed Wood

By way of a review, here are the prophecies from the Olivet Discourse already occurring that we looked at in Part One of this series:

1) The appearance of False Prophets.

2) Wars and rumors of wars (The Twentieth Century was the worst so far.)

3) Famine.

4) Earthquakes.

5) Natural Disasters.

6) People getting worse.

7) Christians being persecuted.

8) The access and preaching of the Gospel to virtually every part of the world.

9) Strife among families.

The second article covered what we can expect before the Tribulation:

10) The Rapture

After the Rapture, the Tribulation will begin with the pouring out of God’s Judgments upon the earth as listed in the Book of Revelation. As conditions become increasingly worse for those not taken in the Rapture, it is likely that these desperate people will be looking for an “Answer Man” in much the same way the post World War 1 Germans ultimately chose Adolf Hitler. This next time, though, the range and demonic power of the future leader will reach beyond a single country. This “man of sin” (2 Thessalonians 2:3) will ultimately end up ruling the entire world. A major act of his will be the ratifying of a seven-year “covenant with many,” (Daniel 9:27). It will be a treaty he will also break after three and a half years.

The Great Tribulation Begins

THE ANTICHRIST MOVES INTO THE TEMPLE AND CLAIMS TO BE GOD

After the “son of perdition,” breaks the seven-year covenant “with many” he will move himself into the restored Jewish temple (Daniel 11:45) proclaiming the he is actually God in human form – the “messiah. He will be backed up in this outrageous lie by his henchman, the false prophet (Revelation 13:1-18). The “abomination of desolation” will set up in the temple and the last, worst years of the Tribulation period will begin.

The Jews, who have re-instituted the Mosaic system of the Old Testament in the rebuilt temple, will discover to their dismay that they have been betrayed and no doubt actively resist his claim of deity. Except for resistance from “the east,” the Antichrist would have probably moved immediately to crush the Jews with a Final Solution of his own (Daniel 11:44). The delay buys time for Israel to seek refuge in the wilderness at Petra and with the assistance of the descendants of Moab:

Isaiah {16:1-5} Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela* to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion. For it shall be, [that,] as a wandering bird cast out of  the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon. Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the Outcasts**; bewray*** not him that wandereth. Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler****: for the extortioner**** is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land. And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he***** shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness. *Petra, ** Israelite refugees, *** “betray”, **** The Antichrist, ***** Jesus – who has returned. (We will look at this in greater detail shortly.)

From the New Testament, we have what is appears to be Jesus’ warning to the Jews of when to make their move:

Matthew {24:15-21} When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 

Mark 13:14-19 gives us this same account but Luke’s version, though similar, has important differences:

Luke {21:20-24} And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

Note that the “abomination of desolation” is not mentioned and that the Israelites either be cut down with the sword or dispersed across the world while their territory is taken over by the Gentiles. This sounds much more like the account of the invasion of Jerusalem by Titus in 70 A.D. and its aftermath. The temple at that time was also not desecrated by a false messiah and his image. Instead, it was totally destroyed.

Today, the Jews are still dispersed and until 1948 had no country to call their own. In Matthew’s and Mark’s accounts, Israel has to be a nation because this is a necessary precondition for the temple to exist once more because the Antichrist cannot defile it if it isn’t there.

THE END OF THE TRIBULATION

The last three and a half years will see an increase of the severity of the judgments being poured out upon the earth by God. The Antichrist has usurped the temple and is dealing with opposition from “the east.” During that time, it appears that not all the Jews have sought refuge in the wilderness, that some have managed to hang on in Jerusalem. Perhaps it will be the Israeli army supported by willing civilians. By the end of the Tribulation, the situation will become completely desperate as the Antichrist, with demonic help, gathers together troops from the rulers of the whole world, including those from the east who have now become his allies.

Revelation {16:12-14} And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs [come] out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, [which] go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

Here is a description of the invasion of Jerusalem:

Zechariah {14:1-2} Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

The Antichrist’s victory would be inevitable except that:

Zechariah {14:3} Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.

Revelation {19:11-16} And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him [was] called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes [were] as a flame of fire, and on his head [were] many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he [was] clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies [which were] in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on [his] vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

Jesus will banish the Antichrist and the False Prophet to the lake of fire and slay their troops (Revelation 19:17-21). Satan will be locked away for 1000 years and Jesus will reclaim the temple and begin his millennial reign.

Now there will be signs immediately before these events and the return of Jesus.

11) SIGNS IN THE HEAVENS

Matthew {24:29} Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.

It is quite clear from this and from Mark 13:24-25 that the phenomena in the skies will be universal and terrifying to the people who have managed to survive up until this point.

The gospel of Luke provides another look into what is coming.

Luke {21:25-28} And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

Once again, Matthew’s and Mark’s versions seem to be totally directed to the time immediately preceding Jesus’ Second coming while the final sentence in Luke’s account suggests that there might be earlier indications as well. Let’s look at verses 27 and 28 again:

And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”

It’s true that those survivors who come to accept Jesus during the seven years of tribulation can expect their “redemption” when they see the signs listed above, but could it also be a warning to believers before the Tribulation even begins?

Could they be for us?

We’ve already seen the reasons in our past articles why the Rapture and the Second Coming are two distinctly different events. Remember that the former requires no prior conditions and is therefore unable to be fixed in time, while the latter must occur at the end of the seven-year Tribulation. The unexpected nature of the Rapture is consistent with what Jesus said here:

Luke {13:34-37} [For the Son of man is] as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

We are directed to be on “watch” and that suggests that there will be specific things that will occur even prior to the Rapture.

What kinds of early signs might we expect?

We’ve seen that Matthew 24:29 and Mark 13:24-25 provide us with several specific ones prior to the Second Coming:

The sun and moon darkened (also indicated in Revelation 18:12)

Stars falling from the sky.

The first sounds very much like what is commonly called “nuclear winter,” where the smoke and material ejected into the atmosphere by even a limited nuclear exchange obscures the light coming in from luminous objects in space along with the tainting of the water. A catastrophic asteroid impact or a huge meteor storm (stars falling from the sky) would have very similar effects, differing only in that the fallout from the latter would not be radioactive. This account from Revelation gives us an accurate description of what the results of either of these catastrophes would be like:

Revelation {8:7-12} The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. and the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed. And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter. And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.

Looking at Luke’s passage, we see many other signs in addition to those from the sky which already have an eerie ring of familiarity to our Twenty-First Century world. Nations are increasingly in distress, racial tension is at an all-time high, and our seas are literally roaring with more storms and, earthquakes, and the resulting tsunamis with every passing year.

What we have not seen yet are any pronounced signs in the heavens. If Luke’s account is telling us to expect them in our own time along with those that are already happening, these should show up next. Exactly what they will be is open to speculation, but I think when they do begin to occur, they will be unmistakable. They will indicate that our time to be gathered together in the clouds with Jesus will be very near  (1 Corinthians 15:51; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)!

Those signs that will occur at the end of the seven years will followed by:

Matthew {24:30-31} And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

The Bible does not tell us exactly what it will be, but it is clear that it will be so spectacular and unmistakable (Matthew 24:27) that the whole Earth will recognize it for what it is.

In Part Four of this series, we’ll look at what is to follow after Jesus comes back.

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