24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares
also.
27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the
reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather
the wheat into my barn.
MATTHEW 13:36-43
36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.
37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked [one];
39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath
ears to hear, let him hear.
Many people overlook an important point here. Jesus says that at the end of the world, the harvest will take place in which the righteous are taken to be with Him, and the wicked are cast into Hell. He never said that there would be two reapings or harvests, as would be the case of a "pre-tribulation rapture".
The "pre-tribulation rapture" theory states that Jesus will return invisibly to take the believers with Him before the Great Tribulation starts, leaving the non-believers to face the wrath of the Antichrist. Those that accept Jesus during the Tribulation will be martyred for their faith and will be brought back with Jesus at His glorious return.
But note also that Jesus also says that the weeds and the wheat are to grow together until the harvest,
at which time they will be separated, the righteous into the kingdom, the wicked into Hell.
MATTHEW 13:47-51
47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:
48 Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.
49 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,
50 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
51 Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord.
Again, Jesus sets out a parable in which a single gathering is done at the end of the world. The
wicked are separated from the just and are cast into Hell, and the good are taken to be with Him in His
kingdom.
MATTHEW 16:27
27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall
reward every man according to his works.
Jesus speaks of this event as being when he would return in glory with the angels to claim His kingdom.
In light of the two parables above, this points to a single event, which the two stories refer to as the
"end of the world."
MATTHEW 24:1- 3
1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple.
2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell
us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the
world?
Jesus truly stated that the Temple stones would be thrown down. In A.D. 70, the enraged Roman
legions under general Titus burned the Temple, and threw the stones of the Temple building itself down
the mountainside to ensure that it would never be rebuilt, and sowed the site with salt. They razed the
city, and later renamed it Aelia Capitolina, dedicated the ruins to Jupiter, and forbid the Jews to come
there to weep for the loss of their Temple.
As we have seen previously in the book of Daniel, God's prophetic "clock" stopped during the 1,878
years when Israel was not a nation after it's destruction by the Romans. Jesus knew of the destruction
to come, so He prophesied of the destruction of the Temple and the nation in the near future, and then
prophesied of events during the interim time that Israel would be scattered to the corners of the earth.
MATTHEW 24:4-13
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all [these things] must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these [are] the beginning of sorrows.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
We are seeing the beginnings of what Jesus prophesied. We all remember the most recent person to
claim to be the "Messiah", namely David Koresh, and there are rumors of others elsewhere who are
making similar claims. And how many times do we watch the evening news, and see reports about
brush-fire wars, famines in north Africa, AIDS epidemics, increasing murders and terrorism and an
increasing amount of earthquakes?
Note in vs 13 that Jesus says that he who is faithful to the end will be saved. The end he spoke of
either refers to death, or His return at the end of the world.
MATTHEW 24:15-20
15 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:)
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
Verse 15 proves that while markedly similar in description, the "abomination of desolation" spoken of in Daniel was NOT Antiochus IV Epiphanes' desecration of the Temple, as Antiochus had performed his abominations 150 years before Jesus' birth. Jesus here refers to it as a future event.
And by the same token, it could not be the fact that the Roman general Titus entered the Temple's inner sanctuary before he destroyed the Temple in 70 A.D. as some believe, as by that time Jerusalem was already in ruins and those who could flee had already done so.
And just as Antiochus Epiphanes set up an image of himself on the altar of the Temple and demanded
that the Jews worship it, slaughtering those who refused, even so will the false prophet erect an image
of the Antichrist on the altar of the rebuilt Temple and will demand that all people worship it or face
death.
REVELATION 13:11-15
11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
14 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.
15 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.
MATTHEW 24:21-22
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the
elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
This is the great tribulation period spoken of in Daniel, the three and a half year period in which the Antichrist will be allowed to destroy the Christians and the Jews virtually unchecked. Satan will wage war against God's people, and then will try to wipe out all of mankind at Armageddon.
The word for "flesh" used here is the Greek word "sarx" meaning literal flesh. If Jesus were to delay His
return, He would return to a dead planet. Mankind would no longer exist. But for the sake of
the elect, (us) He will shorten the days of persecution.
MATTHEW 24:23-24
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here [is] Christ, or there; believe [it] not.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and
wonders; insomuch that, if [it were] possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Here is a warning we ALL need to heed! Satan's servants will be empowered to perform miracles to the point that the elect could be deceived by them.
Sadly enough, I have seen people in churches today that are so hungry for signs of God's power that they could very well fall into Satan's trap. They are so desperate for displays of something that they are willing to accept Satanic counterfeits and false prophets without testing them as the apostles Paul and John cautioned.
As a result they are falling into serious error and don't even know it. And in some cases they
are becoming dangerously close to the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, by calling
these demonic manifestations the work of the Holy Spirit.
Please, brothers and sisters, I cannot stress enough the fact that we are to test every spirit, and every "gift"! Having once been in the Occult, I have wielded demonic powers and they can be very, very convincing......but they are NOT from God!
Satan is a great imitator, and sends his servants into churches to destroy them, or make them ineffective.
Case in point. In a church I attended for a while I was able to identify two active witches in the
congregation. I pointed them out to the pastor, but he didn't believe me. A month later he
called me into his office, and admitted I had been right. But it took an incident of which he
wouldn't tell me to prove it to him. Much spiritual damage was done within the church during
the mean time, especially since one of the witches was the church secretary.
Remember the words of the Apostle John!
I JOHN 1-3
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,
3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God.
And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in
the world.
The apostle Paul says to watch out for servants of Satan in the churches when he says,
I CORINTHIANS 11:13-15
13 For such [are] false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
15 Therefore [it is] no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of
righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
I THESSALONIANS 5:21
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
MATTHEW 24:25-27
25 Behold, I have told you before.
26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, [he is] in the secret chambers; believe [it] not.
27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also
the coming of the Son of man be.
Jesus says His coming will be as lightning lighting the sky. In other words, there will be no doubt as
to what is happening when He comes. Every eye will see Him, including those in Hell. Again, this
refers to a glorious Second Coming, not an invisible Second Coming, followed by a visible
Third Coming.
MATTHEW 24:28
28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
The word used for "eagles" in Luke 17:37 below can also be translated as "vultures" and
eagles, like vultures, are carrion birds. And looking at Matthew 24:28 where Jesus speaks of the
"carcase" (carcass) being the place where the vultures will gather sheds a whole new meaning on the
following passage in Luke.
LUKE 17:34-37
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two [men] in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two [women] shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two [men] shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever
the body [is], thither will the eagles be gathered together.
What happens, is that there will be two men sleeping in one bed; two women grinding at the mill; two
men in the field. The Christian will be taken away and put to death, and the non-Christian will be
left.
MATTHEW 24:29-30
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:
30 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.
Jesus Himself states that He will not return until AFTER the great Tribulation, as we have
already seen in the book of Daniel. And when He comes with the clouds of heaven, all the
people (tribes) of earth will mourn, as they ALL will see Him.
MATTHEW 24:31
31 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.
Note Jesus says that when He returns, the elect shall be gathered from one end of heaven to the
other. This would seem to be a gathering of believers from heaven only, as would be
prescribed in a pre-tribulation rapture.
However, Mark says,
MARK 13:26,27
26 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
27 And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds,
from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.
So when Jesus returns, there will be a gathering of believers from the ends of heaven, to the
ends of the earth. And all believers will be gathered at the same time. For those who are still
skeptical, please hang in there. We'll show the final proof in the book of Revelation.
MATTHEW 24:32-36
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer [is] nigh:
33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, [even] at the doors.
34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
36 But of that day and hour knoweth no [man], no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father
only.
As we saw in the Daniel study, (End Times Part II) 490 years (seventy prophetical "weeks") were set
from the time that Persian ruler Cyrus the Great issued the order to rebuild Jerusalem, for Israel to finish
iniquity, anoint the Most Holy (Jesus as Messiah), etc.
DANIEL 9: 24-26
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
25 Know therefore and understand, [that] from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince [shall be] seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
(The Old Testament books of Ezra and Nehemiah document the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the return of the Jews, and the efforts of the nations about them to hinder them.)
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the
people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end
thereof [shall be] with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
But while regent Babylonian king Belshazzar was partying and seeing the famous writing on the wall, in a fantastic feat of engineering the Persians had diverted the waters of the river, and were marching under the walls and attacking the city from the riverbed. Belshazzar was killed that very night by the Persians.
And in 538 B.C.E. Cyrus decreed that all Jews within his empire (including those living in conquered Babylon) be allowed to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple.
EZRA 7:1-13
1 Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,
2 The son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub,
3 The son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth,
4 The son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki,
5 The son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest:
6 This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he [was] a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.
7 And there went up [some] of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.
8 And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which [was] in the seventh year of the king.
9 For upon the first [day] of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first [day] of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.
10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do [it], and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.
11 Now this [is] the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, [even] a scribe of the words of the commandments of the LORD, and of his statutes to Israel.
12 Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect [peace], and at such a time.
13 I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and [of] his priests and Levites, in my
realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee.
When Ezra returned to Jerusalem, he found out that the people who had returned earlier to rebuild the temple had intermarried with the nations around them in ignorance of God's commandments to not marry among the nations in which they dwelt.
Ezra was appalled and tore his clothes in mourning for what the children of Judah had done.
They had just spent 70 years as captives in Babylon because of their disobedience and within
50 years of their return they had disobeyed His commandments yet again.
Scripture then records;
EZRA 9:5-9
5 And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God,
6 And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over [our] head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.
7 Since the days of our fathers [have] we [been] in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, [and] our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as [it is] this day.
8 And now for a little space grace hath been [shewed] from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.
9 For we [were] bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath
extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the
house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in
Jerusalem.
Verse 9 shows that Ezra had been given authority to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. This is very important here, as the prophecy for the coming of the Messiah had read;
DANIEL 9:25
25 Know therefore and understand, [that] from the going forth of the commandment to restore
and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince [shall be] seven weeks, and threescore
and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
This is also confirmed by Nehemiah, the Jewish cupbearer to King Artaxerxes;
NEHEMIAH 1:1-11
1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,
2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and [certain] men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province [are] in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also [is] broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.
4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned
[certain] days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven
5 And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:
6 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.
7 We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.
8 Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, [If] ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:
9 But [if] ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, [yet] will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.
10 Now these [are] thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.
11 O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to
the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant
this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.
NEHEMIAH 2:1-8
1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, [that] wine [was] before him: and I took up the wine, and gave [it] unto the king. Now I had not been [beforetime] sad in his presence.
2 Wherefore the king said unto me, Why [is] thy countenance sad, seeing thou [art] not sick? this [is] nothing [else] but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,
3 And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, [lieth] waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it.
6 And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.
7 Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;
8 And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which [appertained] to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.
Remember, the 70 weeks of Daniel's prophecy had said;DANIEL 9:25-26
25 Know therefore and understand, [that] from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince [shall be] seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof [shall be] with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
Now;Persian King Artaxerxes reigned from 464-423 B.C.E. The seventh year of his reign would
have been 457 B.C.E. (464 - 7 = 457). Hold onto that number for a few minutes.
Jesus was born in September of 7 B.C.E., as Idumean king Herod the Great who was ruling Judea at the time died in 4 B.C.E., after he had slaughtered the children 2 years old and under in Bethlehem, trying to destroy Jesus.
As Scripture records;
MATTHEW 2:1-21
1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
3 When Herod the king had heard [these things], he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,
6 And thou Bethlehem, [in] the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found [him], bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.
13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.
17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying,
18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping [for] her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.
19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life.
21 And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.
Who were these "wise men from the East"? King David in Psalms makes a fascinating reference to this, when he said concerning Messiah;
PSALMS 72:10-11
10 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
11 Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.
Seba was the son of Cush, and Sheba was Cush's grandson. Sheba settled in modern day south-western Saudi Arabia bordering the Red Sea (about where modern-day Yemen exists), and Seba is associated with the Sabeans, a warlike nomadic tribe just to the north of Yemen. And both nations were EAST of Judea, so it seems that David may have been referring to these kings when he wrote the passage from Psalms quoted above. Thus the "wise men" truly came from the East!
The location of Tarshish has been much disputed among scholars, and no one knows it's exact
location to this day. The name "Tarshish" is translated as being "smelters", a place where
metals were refined, and has been placed as far north as Spain, and as far south as
Ezion-Geber in southern Judea at the northern tip of the present-day Gulf of Aqaba.
King Herod the Great of Judea died in 4 B.C.E., and Jesus was at least 2 years old when Herod ordered the slaughter of the children. Babylonian astrological charts show a conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn in March and September of 7 B.C.E., of which the second conjunction was the most significant.
Luke the physician who was also an extremely meticulous historian records;
LUKE 2:1-20
1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
2 ([And] this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12 And this [shall be] a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God,
and saying,
14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
17 And when they had seen [it], they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
18 And all they that heard [it] wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered [them] in her heart.
20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had
heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
The fact that the shepherds were watching their flocks of sheep in the fields at night indicates
that it was still before winter, thereby supporting the September birth date of Jesus.
There has also been some controversy over the "Cyrenius" (some versions read Quirinius) being the governor of Syria during the time of Jesus's birth as recorded in Luke, as Roman records show him ruling Syria in 6 C.E., about 13 years after Jesus's birth. However coins have been found with the name "Quirinius" dating from 11 B.C.E. to after 4 B.C.E. Scholars think he may have been the governor of Syria twice.
There has also been controversy over the fact that during a census, citizens were required to return to their birthplaces to be counted, and taxed.
A Roman document from Gaius Vibius Maximus, governor of Egypt, which has been dated at
approximately 104 C.E., (about 70 years after Jesus' death) has been found decreeing that all
citizens residing outside of the country return to their own ancestral cities to be counted and
taxed. So, this bears out Luke's words as written in the Gospel which bears his name, again
showing his meticulous attention to accuracy.
Jesus began His public ministry when He was 30 years old, and would have been 33 years old
in September of 26 AD, (there is no "0" year; it went from 1 B.C.E. to 1 C.E.). He was
crucified the following spring on the morning of Passover in 27 C.E.
"Messiah the Prince" in Daniel 9:25 below refers to Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem (known as Palm Sunday) 1 week before He was killed in 27 C.E.
DANIEL 9:25
25 Know therefore and understand, [that] from the going forth of the commandment to restore
and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince [shall be] seven weeks, and threescore
and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
As the New Testament records;
MATTHEW 21:1-11
1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,
2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose [them], and bring [them] unto me.
3 And if any [man] say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.
4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,
5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.
6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them,
7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set [him] thereon.
8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed [them] in the way.
9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed [is] he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?
11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
Now, remember Daniel's prophecy concerning the appearance and "cutting off" (death of
Messiah).....
DANIEL 9:24-26
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
25 Know therefore and understand, [that] from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince [shall be] seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the
people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end
thereof [shall be] with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
Daniel is told that 483 years after the command to rebuild the city of Jerusalem, Messiah
would be "cut off, but not for Himself" (die for our sins).
MALACHI 3:1
1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord,
whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom
ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
LUKE 3:1-6
1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene,
2 Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.
3 And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;
4 As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways [shall be] made smooth;
6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
John the Baptist as he was called, warned the people that he himself was not the promised Messiah, but was the herald of He who was indeed the promised Messiah.
(For those of you who may be offended by the word "Christ" used in the text below,
remember the New Testament was written for the most part in Greek, and the word "Christ"
is a Greek translation of "Messiah".)
LUKE 3:15-18
15 And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not;
16 John answered, saying unto [them] all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:
17 Whose fan [is] in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.
18 And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people.
JOHN 1:19-34
19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?
20 And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.
21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
23 He said, I [am] the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.
24 And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.
25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?
26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;
27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.
31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.
32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.
That is why there is a separation between the 69 "weeks" and the 70th "week".
But as Daniel also saw in verse 27 below, the Antichrist will make a seven-year treaty with
Israel, and in the midst of the "week", he will break it and set up the abomination of
desolation.
DANIEL 9:24-27
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
25 Know therefore and understand, [that] from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince [shall be] seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof [shall be] with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he
shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations
he shall make [it] desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured
upon the desolate.
When the treaty is signed, the last "week" will be locked in, and the prophetic clock will start
the final countdown.
37 But as the days of Noe [were], so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two [women shall be] grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed [is] that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite [his] fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for [him], and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint [him] his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.
II PETER 2: 20-24
20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known [it], to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog [is] turned to his own
vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
God Himself says through Ezekiel;
EZEKIEL 33:13
13 When I shall say to the righteous, [that] he shall surely live; if he trust to his own
righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for
his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.
MATTHEW 25:31-46
31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth [his] sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed [thee]? or thirsty, and gave [thee] drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took [thee] in? or naked, and clothed [thee]?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done [it] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done [it] unto me.
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did [it] not to one of the least of these, ye did [it] not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
This is the initial judgement at Jesus' return. Those who have accepted the Mark of the Beast (we'll see this in the Book of Revelation) will be cast into Hell, while the righteous will receive their rewards, their place in God's kingdom, and their assignment as to where they will rule during the Millenium (the 1,000 year reign of Jesus on Earth).
12 But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute [you], delivering [you] up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake.
13 And it shall turn to you for a testimony.
14 Settle [it] therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer:
15 For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to
gainsay nor resist.
Just as the apostles and martyrs down through history have been brought before rulers to give an answer to those in authority concerning their faith in Jesus, even so shall we be brought to trial. But Jesus said that it will be an opportunity for us to witness to them, and a testimony against them.
He also says not to worry about what we're going to say, as the Holy Spirit will give you
wisdom to speak, just as He did to those before us.
LUKE 12:16
16 And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and
[some] of you shall they cause to be put to death.
During the end times, things will be incredibly hard for those who survive WW III. Starvation
and disease will be rampant, persecutions will be increasing, and when given a choice, many
people will betray others to the authorities to save their own lives, especially those who do not
have a foundation of Christ in their lives.
World War II brought out some of this in people, in which neighbors who had lived in harmony
next door to Jewish families for generations betrayed them to the Nazis to save their own
lives, because if the Nazis found out that these neighbors knew where Jews were hiding and
didn't report them, they would be killed or sent to the death camps also.
The same will happen to the Christians. Those who do not accept the Mark of the Beast will be hunted like animals, and anyone caught harboring fugitives or not turning them into the authorities will be put to death also. And when the choice comes, unfortunately many will choose their own lives above others.
As Jesus said,
MATTHEW 10:34-36
34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
36 And a man's foes [shall be] they of his own household.
One night about 15 years ago I had a dream. I was in the United States and I knew it was
sometime in the future. The sky was dark and cloudy, a cold wind was blowing, and it seemed
to be about November. I knew there was a famine in the land, whether natural or artificially
controlled, I wasn't told.
I saw a young boy, probably about eight years old, dressed in rags, shivering in the wind. He
was given a piece of paper that stated that for every Christian turned into the authorities, he
would get some food. And I saw people either dragging Christians to the authorities, pointing
them out, or bringing in slips of paper with names of Christians on them.
And I saw huge barn-like structures where these Christians were being systematically put to
death. This may be a case of what Jesus was talking about......
MARK 13:24,26
24 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
25 And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.
26 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
Jesus says here that after the Great Tribulation, the sun will grow dark, the moon will wane,
and Satan and his demons will be thrown out of Heaven for good. Jesus is using a compressed
time frame here, for the book of Revelation speaks of Satan being cast down some time
before Jesus returns, I suspect just before the Tribulation, either at the rise of the Antichrist,
or during the three and a half year period of the Tribulation.
MARK 13:27
27 And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds,
from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.
Ah! Now we come to an often overlooked verse. Note that Jesus says that after the
Tribulation, He will send His angels to gather His elect from both Earth and Heaven, at the
same time. There will be no "first-gathering" followed by a second gathering of those "left
behind" at the Rapture, as pre- and mid-Tribulation teachings express.
Remember the parable of the harvest spoken of in Matthew 13. Jesus spoke of letting the
weeds and the wheat grow together until the harvest, at which time the wicked would be
severed from the just, and cast into Hell. Even so here, Jesus speaks of one gathering, a
single event. But please keep reading. We will see the final proofs in the book of Revelation.
MARK 13:28-30
28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:
29 So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, [even] at the doors.
30 Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.
When Jesus spoke of "this generation" He was not speaking of the generation that the
disciples came from. He spoke of the generation that saw the events come to pass that He
spoke of. In other words, those who see these things come to pass, will see the return of Jesus
within the lifetime of their generation.
MARK 13:31-37
31 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
32 But of that day and [that] hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
34 [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.
35 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:
36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
Again Jesus reiterates that He doesn't know when he is due to return as this information has
been reserved for the knowledge of the Father alone.
It is interesting that the church is referred to as Jesus' bride (we'll see this in the Revelation
study). In Hebrew custom, the prospective groom could not go to get his bride (who was
waiting for him elsewhere, usually at her father's house) until the father of the bride gave him
permission. And the father alone knew when he would allow the groom to get his bride.
This gives new meaning to the following parable that Jesus told;
MATTHEW 25:1-13
1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
2 And five of them were wise, and five [were] foolish.
3 They that [were] foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
9 But the wise answered, saying, [Not so]; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
The oil Jesus was referring to here, is faith. The wise bridesmaids knew that the bridegroom
couldn't come for his bride until her father gave him permission, and had prepared for his
coming by keeping their faith alive and ready. The foolish had made no such preparations, and
as such were caught by surprise when the bridegroom suddenly appeared.
And while the foolish bridesmaids went to find someone to rekindle their faith, the bridegroom
entered to get his bride and begin the wedding feast, and the door was closed. And when the
foolish bridesmaids were ready, they tried to enter but could not. The groom had claimed his
bride, and could not stop the marriage celebration because of foolish bridesmaids.
The same is with us. If we keep our faith alive, and be ready for the bridegroom when He
comes for His church, we will be allowed into the marriage feast. But if we're caught by
surprise, and we're not ready, woe to us, for we will be cast out.
LUKE 17:22-24
22 And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see [it].
23 And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after [them], nor follow [them].
24 For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one [part] under heaven, shineth unto the
other [part] under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.
Again Jesus says that as lightning is seen from one part of the sky to the other, even so will it
be when he returns. ALL will see Him, and there will be no mistake of His coming!
LUKE 17:25-30
25 But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.
26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed [them] all.
30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
Jesus says here that all things will seem to be taking place normally; the sun will be shining,
people will be going about their business, just before He comes. And as the Flood destroyed
those who would not listen or were not prepared, even so will Jesus' return catch people by
surprise.
LUKE 17:31-32
31 In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.
32 Remember Lot's wife.
Jesus is saying that when the abomination of desolation as spoken of in Daniel and
Revelation is set up, flee! Don't slow down long enough to even look back. For if you look
back, you will be caught in destruction even as Lot's wife did for her disobedience.
LUKE 17:33-37
33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two [men] in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two [women] shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two [men] shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever
the body [is], thither will the eagles be gathered together.
20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
21 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.
22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
23 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.
24 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.
Some scholars have tried to place this prophecy as being the destruction of Jerusalem by the
Roman general Titus in A.D. 70, but the fact that Jesus includes it with the time of the end
points rather to the fact that the Antichrist will surround the city with armies when he comes to
proclaim himself as Messiah to the Jews. It is during this time that the abomination of
desolation will be set up, and the great persecution will begin.
The times of the Gentiles are the three and a half years of terror that the Antichrist will reign
from the city, destroying all of those who will not worship him. The Jews will have fled the
city, leaving it virtually in the hands of the Gentiles.
LUKE 21:25-26
25 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;
26 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.
As we saw in the book of Daniel, the "sea" referred to in prophecy does not mean the
physical sea, but multitudes of people. The "sea" will be unstable because of the great
conflicts and changes in politics that are coming, and we're seeing the beginnings of that
today. We'll see this again in the book of Revelation.
27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and [so] that day come upon you unawares.
35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these
things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Some people I have spoken to refer to verse 36 as being proof that the rapture will occur
before these things take place. However that is not what the verse says. Jesus says to pray
"that we may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass"; He did
not say that we all would escape them.
I CORINTHIANS 15: 50-52
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
51 Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and
the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Here is the greatest set of verses that Christians use in reference to the rapture. Paul states
that mortal bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God because the flesh is corrupted by sin. So
the body dies, and the spirit, if a person dies with Jesus in their hearts goes to be with Him
until the resurrection. If a person dies without Jesus, they go to Hell to await the resurrection
of the unrighteous after the Millenium.
Paul also states that when the believers are resurrected in their new immortal bodies, those
believers who are still alive when Jesus returns will be instantly changed from mortal bodies
to immortal bodies. They will never see death.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immorality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
On that great day that Jesus returns, the great enemy of mankind, Death itself will be
conquered for the believers. Those who have died in Jesus will rise again to live forever in
new glorified bodies, and those who are still alive will never suffer death, for they will be
changed into immortal bodies at the same time. Death will still be in the world however, and
non-believers will still die. But just as Jesus conquered death, even so will all believers
through His power at His coming.
I THESSALONIANS 4:13-18
13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive [and] remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Paul again expresses the hope of every Christian, namely that when we die it will not be forever, but that we will be resurrected with the return of Jesus at the last trumpet, and will live with Him forever.
Note that Paul states that this will happen when the Lord appears with the voice of the
archangel and the trumpet of God! Jesus said He would return with a shout and the sound of
the trumpet, and Paul confirms this fact and states that it will be when Jesus returns. There
will be one gathering, and that when the Lord returns for His kingdom.
I THESSALONIANS 5:1- 3
1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as
travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
I have had these verses quoted to me many times by believers in the pre-tribulation rapture,
saying that if the Lord comes as a thief, there must be no warning of when He will arrive.
While this seems viable, there are several verses in Revelation that counter this theory. I had
thought to wait until the study in Revelation to do this, but I will quote the passages below.
Please read again the above three verses, and then read the verses below.
REVELATION 16:13-16
13 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.
14 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.
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed [is] he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
There are several verses that give a clue to this. I have listed them below.
II CORINTHIANS 4:3-4
3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light
of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers to the knowledge of the truth, so that they cannot
be saved unless God binds the demons who are holding the spirit of the unbeliever captive, so
they can receive the knowledge of the truth.
Jesus Himself spoke of this problem when he addressed his disciples concerning the fact that
He spoke to them in stories (parables) rather than tell them the truth plainly. As He said,
MATTHEW 13:13-15
13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and [their] ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes
they have closed; lest at any time they should see with [their] eyes, and hear with [their] ears,
and should understand with [their] heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
I THESSALONIANS 5:4-11
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
6 Therefore let us not sleep, as [do] others; but let us watch and be sober.
7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
II THESSALONIANS 1:6-12
6 Seeing [it is] a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
11 Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of [this] calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of [his] goodness, and the work of faith with power:
12 That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to
the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
If Jesus is coming to be glorified in His saints, then this will happen when He comes back, as
there will still be saints here on the earth during the Tribulation period.
Note also, that Paul says to those who are troubled, "rest with them" (the rest of the
Christian saints) until Jesus comes to take vengeance on those who have rejected the Word of
God, and have persecuted His people. So again, Paul refers to a single event, in which Jesus
will appear and claim His kingdom.
II THESSALONIANS 2:1-4
1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and [by] our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so
that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
Here we come to a critical issue. The "day of Christ" that Paul speaks of here, is the return
of Jesus, when He comes to claim His kingdom and the church. Paul states plainly that the
Antichrist must rise first before this can happen, and we have already seen in the book of
Daniel that he will be allowed to destroy the Christians and Jews for three and a half years.
But first there must come a falling away, and we're already seeing that happen. I have been
astounded and shocked by some of the clearly unscriptural teachings within the churches, and
many people are developing a unhealthy fascination with angels, even to the point of
worshiping them, which Scripture clearly forbids.
Others, especially some charismatics I have seen, are so involved in the display (or with many
of them, attempts to display) of the gifts of the Spirit that they are worshiping the Holy Spirit
more than Jesus Himself. Jesus said the Holy Spirit would direct all worship to Himself
(Jesus).
JOHN 16:13-15
13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew [it] unto you.
15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and
shall shew [it] unto you.
There is lastly, and most alarmingly, a movement toward ecumenism, in which the various
denominations are breaking down the barriers between them, and are worshiping together,
despite the fact that some of these churches are teaching and following doctrines that are
clearly condemned in Scripture.
This is introducing an insidious poison into the churches that is rendering them ineffective.
Jesus didn't compromise on Scriptural teachings, and neither should we. In other words, if you
cannot back up a teaching or doctrine by solid Scripture in context, you should not teach it!
This problem will become so bad that Jesus Himself says,
LUKE 18:8b
Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
Paul states that the Antichrist cannot rise to power until the power of the church is diluted by
the great falling away. The Ecumenical movement is the beginning of this dilution, for if
Christians worship and fellowship with others who follow unscriptural practices, then the we
give approval to their actions. God never compromises the truth, and we can't either. And with
the church being his only real enemy here on earth, Satan has targeted the churches for
destruction. (See the story of the sheep and the tiger for more information)
And as Paul shows in II Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 4 below, the Antichrist will seat
himself in the rebuilt Temple, and will proclaim himself to be God, and will demand that all
worship him. It is that this point that the great three and a half year tribulation will begin.
II THESSALONIANS 2:1-10
1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and [by] our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [will let], until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 [Even him], whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received
not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
Here we come to one of the most controversial points of the entire rapture issue. In verses 6
and 7, we see that there is something that is holding the spirit of the Antichrist in check, and
will do so until he is taken out of the way.
Many people hold that it is the Holy Spirit that is holding the Antichrist in check, and that
when the rapture comes, the Holy Spirit will be taken from the earth along with the Christians,
and those left behind will face the wrath of the Antichrist.
First, Scripture gives no indication that it is the Holy Spirit that is withholding the spirit of the
Antichrist. I believe there has been an angel designated for this purpose, for Paul never states
that God Himself is performing this action.
Also, if the Holy Spirit is taken from the earth even for a nanosecond, this would be in direct violation of Jesus promise of the Holy Spirit being with us forever, making God a liar. Jesus Himself said,
JOHN 14:15-17
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17 [Even] the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither
knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
If the Holy Spirit is to dwell within us forever, then He will be with us until Jesus returns for
all of us. And as we have seen so far, there will be a single gathering of believers at His
return.
II THESSALONIANS 2:11-12
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness.
This is where many people will fall under the power of the Antichrist. God will give them up to
serve the master they choose, and will let them follow into his punishment and ultimate
destruction. We as Christians must be aware of what is happening around us, and keep faith in
our Master, lest we too fall under the deceit of Satan and his pawn!
We have seen that the rapture will occur AFTER the great Tribulation that Jesus warned us of. And as we have already seen in Daniel, the Antichrist will persecute and destroy the Christians for three and a half years, and will himself be destroyed upon the arrival of Jesus at Armageddon.
We have also seen that the wicked will be allowed to remain among the just until Jesus sends the angels out to sever the wicked out of His kingdom at His return. And we have also seen that the Antichrist cannot rise until the great "falling away" happens to the churches, an event already in full swing.
We as Christians need to be strong, and have our faith grounded now, so we are not caught by surprise when the persecution starts! And may God grant us the strength to endure until the end!
Final proof of the timing of the "rapture" and Jesus' return will be found in the End Times Part IV study.