Category: End Times Prophecy

Is Travel and Technology a Last-days Bible Prophecy?

travel technology

“But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.” – Daniel 12:4

You hear about this one all the time – in the last days people will be traveling all over the world because of jet airliners.  Also, because of technology (meaning internet), knowledge is going to increase exponentially.   This is how many in the mainstream interpret this passage.

In other words, going back and forth means increased travel capabilities, and knowledge increasing refers to having instant access to information.  This is a perfect example of putting something into a passage that has no business being there.  The verse is saying no such things.

The last 4 chapters of Daniel are visions pertaining to Daniel’s people (Dan. 9:24).  Who are Daniel’s people?  They are the Jewish people.  Daniel was Jewish, taken into captivity by the Babylonians.

In chapter 9, Daniel discovers, in the book of Isaiah, Israel’s judgment prophecy that resulted in the captivity in Babylon.  Then Daniel makes a deep and impassioned prayer for God’s mercy on Israel.  As a result of Daniel’s supplication, Gabriel comes to Daniel and lays out the future of Israel with respect to the coming kingdoms of Persia, Greece and Rome.  These visions span chapters 9-11. 

After revealing these visions, Daniel is told to conceal these words and seal them up until the end of time. 

So how does one extrapolate the idea that the verse is talking about airplanes and technology (internet)?  One does this by going off the rails and making wild speculations rather than staying in context.  Verse 12:4 has the answer right in it.

Going back and forth simply means searching the Scriptures and other reference material for understanding of the visions that Daniel was told to conceal.  In fact, some may even stumble on this article, after the rapture and before the antichrist shuts down the internet, and consider it in context with Scripture. 

And the ‘knowledge’ that will increase is that understanding of the prophecy.  It is all about Daniel’s people, the Jews, coming to an understanding of the Messiah and all of the events that are occurring during the 70th week of Daniel, or the tribulation period. 

In fact, the previous verse explains just this very thing.  In 12:3, it says that many of Daniel’s people (Jews) will lead other Jews to righteousness.  Leading to righteousness means leading them to the true Messiah and salvation.  They will lead other Jews to righteousness because they have searched the Scriptures, gained understanding, and shared this ‘knowledge’ with many other Jews.  Ergo, knowledge will increase.

This will happen during the last part of the vision of the Roman empire, the empire that will be revived under the antichrist.  Daniel 12 is specifically and exclusively a prophecy about the 70th week of Daniel, otherwise known as the 7 year tribulation. 

Daniel 12:4 is not about planes, trains and the internet.  It is about seeking, finding and proclaiming knowledge of the truth. 

Dan Baker

The Days of Noah

noah days

“For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.” Matthew 24:37

Before reading this, please read my previous post “Times and Epochs”. It will be very helpful in understanding this article.

There are many ideas on what the ‘Days of Noah’ actually means.  I think everyone agrees that it is referring to the period of time which immediately precedes the return of Christ.  The question becomes whether or not it is the period of time before the rapture, or Jesus’ actual return to earth. 

As always, I believe the context will reveal the correct meaning. So, let’s first start with understanding who Jesus is speaking to in this chapter and what the subject matter is.  Follow along in Matthew 24.  It is one of the most incredible, jam-packed end times passages in all of Scripture. 

Jesus is speaking to his Jewish disciples. Remember, Jesus said that His focus is the children of Abraham. These people are whom Jesus made a priority to preach to and disciple. “But he answered and said, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.'”  Matt. 15:24

He trained others to reach the rest of the world. His focus was Israel.  It is critical that Christians resist inserting the Church into passages where it doesn’t belong. Matthew 24 is one of those passages.

The subject matter is the ‘70th Week of Daniel’, otherwise known as the 7 years of tribulation.  This period occurs after the rapture.  I’m not going to go into a pre-tribulation rapture defense in this article.  I believe Scripture is perfectly clear that the Church will be evacuated prior to the beginning of the tribulation.  Read my previous posts, “Michael the Restrainer?”, and “Who or What is the Restrainer?”.  The Restrainer is key to understanding the rapture.

In Matt. 24:3 the disciples ask Jesus to tell them (1) when the Temple will be destroyed, and (2) what will be the sign of His coming and end of the age.  There are 2 questions.  Matthew only records Jesus’ answer to the 2nd question.  Luke records answers to both questions in Luke 21. 

In vs. 4, Jesus begins describing the ‘signs’ that will lead to His return to earth on Mt. Zion.   Vss. 4-8 is the description of the birth pangs described in Revelation 6-8, otherwise known as the 7 seals.  It’s important to realize that Jesus is prophesying in this context.  He is speaking past the immediate audience to a future generation of Jewish believers in the tribulation.  Why do I say that?  Because his disciples will not be on the earth during the 7-year tribulation period.  This prophesy is for a generation that turns to the Lord during the 70th Week of Daniel.

In vs. 13, Jesus tells this future generation that if they survive the 7 years they will be saved or rescued.  They will go on to live forever beginning with the 1000 year Millennial Kingdom.  This verse has nothing to do with the salvation of their soul.  See my post “The One Who Endures to the End”. 

Continuing on in vs. 15, Jesus tells this future generation that when they see the Abomination of Desolation standing in the holy place, they are to flee Jerusalem immediately.  The Abomination of Desolation is the antichrist standing in the Holy of Holies in the Temple that has yet to be re-built (Daniel 9:27, 2 Thess. 2:3-4).  This will occur in the middle of the 7 year tribulation.

Jesus tells this future generation that they are not to come out of hiding in the wilderness if they hear that Jesus has come to earth (vss. 23-26).  He tells them that there will be no doubt when He comes because they will see the Shekinah Glory in the sky when Jesus comes on the clouds!  (vss. 27-30) 

Upon His return and the destruction of the armies of Satan (Rev. 19), He will gather all the righteous Jews on earth and bring them to the Promised Land to dwell during the Millennial Kingdom (vs. 31).  He then promises that the generation that sees all of these events take place, from the opening of the seals to His coming in the clouds, will not pass away before everything takes place.   That is what He is saying in vs. 34. 

“Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near;  even so you to, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door.  Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”  Matt. 24:32-34

Jesus’ reference to the parable of the fig tree pertains to Messiah returning to earth and ruling from Jerusalem.  It is another Jewish idiom, it is not for the Church.  In other words, it is not about Jesus’ coming for the Church, it is about Jesus coming to rule from Zion and fulfilling all of the prophecies regarding Messiah and Israel going back to Abraham. 

Jesus is saying that when the believing Jews see all of the ‘signs’ of His return to earth – from the seal judgments, to the gospel of the kingdom preached to every corner of earth, the abomination of desolation to the false reports of Messiah when they are in the wilderness – they are to know and believe that they will NOT pass away before He sets foot on Mt. Zion.  That is the importance of the “Truly I say to you”.   He is saying that a remnant will survive.  You must stay in context! 

Then, in vs. 36, Jesus pivots and now speaks directly to His present company.  The next part of the chapter is specifically directed at the disciples.  Consequently, this part of the message is also for the Church.  (Mark 13:37) Why?  Because it is information relevant to all believers prior to the tribulation. 

“But of the day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” 24:36

What day and hour?  Here Jesus is referring to the “Day of the Lord” (1Thess. 5:2; 2Thess. 2:2; 2Peter 3:10).  The expression ‘Day of the Lord’ is an idiom or theme which references the period of the judgment of the world and the return of the Messiah to earth.  It is characterized as coming like a thief in the night.  The rapture is that singular event that there is NO sign for, and that cannot be predicted. 

The mistake that many in the Church make is trying to ascribe all the apocalyptic events in Matt. 24:6-8 as signs leading up to the rapture.  They are not.  They are signs that verify the tribulation is in full swing. 

So, Jesus tells them that the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.  What Jesus is referring to here in vs. 37 is the circumstances that will immediately precede and follow the rapture. 

What He tells His disciples (and in turn, us) is that life will actually be very mundane compared to the tribulation.  In the days of Noah, people were living their lives as if there was no judgment coming, all the while as Noah is building the Ark over a period of 120 years.  When Noah went into the Ark, Jesus said they didn’t understand. 

In other words, they undoubtedly looked upon Noah as a fool.  It was not until the floodwaters were raging that they realized what was going on.  So it will be when the Church is rescued and disappears.  They – the unsaved earth dwellers – will be perplexed for a time, and will probably even forget about the disappearance of a billion people from the earth, until the seals are opened (1Thess. 5:3; 2Thess. 2:8-12).  Then they will realize that destruction is upon them and it will be too late.

In vss. 40-41, Jesus describes that day and hour of the rapture – 2 men in the field and one will be taken, 2 women at the mill and one will be taken. 

The point that Jesus is making is that the ‘Days of Noah’ is a reference to people being hard-hearted and surprised when the Day of the Lord finally does come.  It is not about apocalyptic events leading up to His return.  It is about people not believing that Jesus is coming and living watchfully and alert.  This is what Jesus tells his disciples and it is the exact same thing that Paul told the Thessalonians – “But you brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day.  We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober”  1Thess. 5:4-6.

“And what I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert!'”  Mark 13:37 

We are not to be overtaken.  

Dan Baker

 

The First Resurrection

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“The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed.  This is the first resurrection.”  Revelation 20:5

I watched a video that was sent to me by a friend who asked me my thoughts about it.  It was a teaching by a minister named David Asscherick.  He has a very hyper-frenetic style of preaching that was hard to listen to.  But that aside, his topic was the Millennial Kingdom – it’s description and nature.   He made quite a few incorrect assertions but the one I’m going to focus on is that there will be no living mortals during the Millennial period.

His basis for saying that there will be no living people is the verse above.  He said all of the righteous (ever) will be resurrected at Jesus’s return, and all of the believers who are alive at that time (who survive the Tribulation) will be ‘translated’ up to meet Jesus in the air.    This is not true.

He also said all of the wicked who are alive at His return will be slain.  This much is true (Rev. 19:15, 21).

What Asscherick did was declare that the resurrection in Rev. 20:5 is the same resurrection as 1 Thess. 4:14.  This is something many Christians make the mistake of doing.  He based that on the fact that Rev. 20: 5 says it is the ‘first’ resurrection, therefore it has to be the same resurrection as 1 Thess. 4:14.  It follows, he asserts, that all of the righteous will be glorified and all the wicked will be dead, and thus there will be no mortal living beings during the Millennial.

To boil it down, Asscherick is saying that the rapture happens at Jesus’ return to earth (post-trib rapture).   According to Asscherik, right before Jesus lands on the Mount of Olives all of the dead in Christ are raised and those believers who are alive at that moment are ‘translated’ or raptured, and meet the Lord in the air (and then do an immediate U-turn to follow Christ to earth).

The problem, however, is that Asscherick completely skipped over Rev. 20:4:

– “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them.  And I saw the souls of THOSE WHO HAD BEEN BEHEADED BECAUSE OF THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS and because of the Word of God, and THOSE WHO HAD NOT WORSHIPPED THE BEAST OR HIS IMAGE, AND HAD NOT RECEIVED THE MARK UPON THEIR FOREHEAD AND UPON THEIR HAND;  and THEY CAME TO LIFE and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”

This verse makes perfectly clear that the ‘first’ resurrection stated in verse 5 is the resurrection of the righteous who die during the tribulation (Rev. 6:9; 13:12-17; 14:9-11).  All he had to do was look at the cross references in the margin of his Bible.

The context determines the meaning of ‘first resurrection’.

The resurrection in Revelation 20:4-5  is not the first resurrection EVER, it is the first resurrection in the context of the 2nd coming of Christ right before the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom.  Clearly this is not the first resurrection.  The first resurrection was Jesus Christ!  So the context must define the statement.  The second resurrection in this context is the resurrection of the unsaved dead (those whose names are not in the Book of Life) at the end of the Millennial Kingdom (Rev. 20:13).

He also completely overlooks Rev. 20:7-8 with regard to no living mortals during the Millennial Kingdom.  These verses clearly point out that there will be ‘nations’ all over the earth whom Satan tempt and gather for war when he is released at the end of the 1000 years.  Asscherik’s explanation for this is that these people are the wicked who are raised from the dead in Rev. 20:12-13.  The problem is that this resurrection takes place AFTER Satan’s brief uprising.

It’s always amazing how doctrines and teachings can come about by taking things out of their proper context or chronological order.

See also my post ‘Eternal Torment or Eternal Destruction‘.

Dan Baker

Jerusalem

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Jerusalem

“Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the people around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah.  And it will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured.  And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.”  –Zechariah 12:2-3

Today I watched with amazement President Trump’s press conference where he declared that the United States formally recognizes Jerusalem to be  Israel’s capital, and will move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.  It truly is a historic moment.

It is also a relevant moment in terms of Bible prophecy.

Now, I am not saying that this move by the President specifically fulfills Zechariah 12.  In fact, it does not.  Zechariah 12 is referring to a time immediately preceding the return of Jesus – this is the context of the passage.  It is talking about a time when all the surrounding nations and more will attack Jerusalem to destroy it.  You must continue reading the chapter through the next 2 chapters.

Zechariah 12:3 says all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it and God himself will save Israel (vs. 12:7-9).  Then Israel will ‘look upon Him who they have pierced and they will mourn’ (12:10). 

Who will they mourn? 

It is Jesus who has returned to earth to save the remnant.  (see my posts “The Gog-Magog War IS Armageddon” and “Every Eye Will See Him“) 

They will see Him and mourn over him as He is coming in the clouds.  They will mourn because they realize He is the Messiah whom they crucified. 

But many will also cry out ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord’, as Jesus prophesied when He told Israel they would not seem Him again until they recognize Him (Matthew 23:39). 

Zechariah 14 elaborates on this event. 

God will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured.  But Jesus will ‘go forth’ and fight against those nations as His feet set down on the Mount of Olives and He will be victorious.  Thus He will begin the 1000 year reign of the Millennial Kingdom. 

So this is the context of Jerusalem being a ‘cup that causes reeling’ to the whole world.  What we are witnessing is not the precise fulfillment of Zechariah 12.  What we are witnessing is a foreshadowing of what is coming.

“The whole world is against it.”  …Turkish Prime Minister

This quote from the Turkish Prime Minister referring to President Trump’s  declaration may be a bit of an overstatement, but it illustrates the level of consternation in the world as a result of the President’s move. No doubt there will be uprising and increased violence in the region as a result.  It is also safe to say that the world in general holds a great deal of animosity towards Israel and that it is going to increase as we draw closer to the Day of the Lord. 

The President’s move to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and re-locate the embassy is good and right.  It should have been done a long time ago.  But God has ordained it to take place now, or at least declare it now. 

God continues to signal that time is growing short.   Israel will continue to be the focal point.   Maranatha. 

The Gog-Magog War IS Armageddon

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armageddon (2)

I was listening to a podcast by Michael Heiser on Ezekiel 38 and 39.  You can find it here.  Heiser asserts that the Gog Magog war takes place at the end of the Millennial Kingdom.  He puts this war in Rev. 20:7. 

I disagree. 

I will make the case that the Gog Magog war of Ezekiel 38-39 is the final battle when Jesus returns as prophesied in Revelation 19 (which is the same battle mentioned in Rev. 16:14,16).  It is not my intention to try and determine who Gog and Magog are.  They are from the north, that’s all we can say conclusively.

I agree with many things that Heiser teaches.  His knowledge and understanding of ancient Hebrew and other ancient languages is fantastic.  But I think this issue is pretty simple and I believe Heiser, respectfully, kind of gets lost in his own vast amount of knowledge.

Let’s start in Ezekiel 36. 

Here God tells Ezekiel to prophesy to Israel that God is going to bring Israel back into His land that He gave to them and cleanse them, and give them a new heart, and remove the heart of stone from them.  This ‘cleansing’ is key because I don’t believe this is talking about the regathering that has taken place now.  It is the 2nd regathering as prophesied in Is. 11:11 and Matthew 24:31, that occurs after Jesus physically returns to earth. 

Read Ezekiel 36:22-38.  This describes a time that does not exist now:  ALL of the Jews will be back in the promised land and they will be cleansed, holy and following the Lord with a new heart, being careful to observe all of God’s statutes and ordinances. 

Does this describe Israel today?  No.  Israel is a secular nation with a heart of stone as described in Ezekiel 36:26.

Why is this important?  Because if the battle takes place at the end of the Millennial Kingdom, as Heiser asserts, Israel would not be described as having been profaning God’s name among the nations (Ezek. 36:22-23).

Moreover, the passage mentioned above describes how all the other nations will know that the Lord is with Israel.  If the Gog Magog war takes place at the end of the Millennial Kingdom, as Heiser believes, then the new earth and eternal state would follow it.

Does the passage in Ezekiel 36 describe the new eternal state, after the Lord has created a new earth as written in Rev. 21?  No it does not.  There will be no nations in the eternal state, and there will be no state of Israel.  There will only be the kingdom of God on a new earth.

Ezekiel 37 continues to prophesy about the future of Israel in the Millennial Kingdom.  Again, it is not about the 1st regathering of Israel which occurred in the last century and ongoing up until now.  The way to know this is in the passages. 

Ezekiel 37:21-28 once again clearly describes a scenario that is not present today:  Israel will no longer follow any other gods, they will live in ALL the land that was promised to Abraham and Jacob.  The Son of David will be ruling and His sanctuary will be permanent. 

This has not happened yet.  It will happen when Jesus returns to earth after the 7 year tribulation and it will be an immediate and complete regathering (Matt. 24:31).  And again, it does not describe the Eternal State of Rev. 21.

Ezekiel 38-39 is a recapitulation.  It is a way of explaining things by reversing and going back over what has been said already but with greater or different details.  Here God tells Ezekiel to prophecy about the Gog Magog war which happens right before what has been prophesied in Ezek. 36 and 37.

At the time of this war, there is a regathered nation of Israel that exists.  God is going to bring Gog up against Israel.  But it is not the Israel that God describes in Ezek. 39:22-29 – the Israel of the Millennial Kingdom.  It is the Israel with a heart of stone that exists today.  This is the conclusion of the war:

‘And the house of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God from that day onward.  And the nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity because they acted treacherously against Me, and I hid My face from them; so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and all of them fell by the sword.  According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I dealt with them”.  Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Now I shall restore the fortunes of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I shall be jealous for My holy name.  And they shall forget their disgrace and all their treachery which they perpetrated against Me, when they live securely on their own land with no one to make them afraid.  When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them from the lands of their enemies, then I shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the many nations.  Then they will know that I am the Lord their God because I made them go into exile among the nations, and then gathered them again into their own land; and I will leave none of them there any longer.  And I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel’, declares the Lord God.”   Ezek 39:22-29

Clearly, this describes a regathered Israel that does not exist today.  The Israel of today is the rejected Israel that does not recognize Jesus as the Messiah.  The Israel described above is the purged and cleansed Israel that will enter the Millennial Kingdom. 

The 2nd re-gathering of Israel is that of the angels (Matt. 24:31) when Jesus returns to save the elect – the righteous Jews who survive the tribulation and recognize Jesus as Messiah.  The nations will see and know that the King of Kings is in Zion.

Also, notice in this passage in the second to the last verse above that God says He will bring all of the Jews into the land again and none will be outside of Israel after the regathering. 

This confirms that it is talking about a 2nd re-gathering which immediately precedes the Millennial Kingdom and it happens after the war, not before.  The first regathering does not include all of the Jews which is the situation now.  

Another reason we can know that this battle is right before the return of the Lord and not at the end of the Millennial Kingdom is Ezekiel 38:16.  It says that this will take place in the last days.  That does not refer to the last days of the Millennial Kingdom.  “Last days”  or “latter days” always refers to the end of time before the Lord returns to earth and restores His kingdom.

Also, the ‘Great Supper’ of God in Rev. 19, and the ‘Great Sacrifice’ of God are the same.  In Ezekiel 39:17-20, God tells Ezekiel to declare something.

“And as for you , son of man, thus says the Lord God, ‘Speak to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field, “Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice which I am going to sacrifice for you, as a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood.  So you will eat fat until you are glutted, and drink blood until you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.  And you will be glutted at My table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all the men of war, declares the Lord God.”

Now read Revelations 19:17-21.  Remember, Ezekiel said this was the last days and it is in connection with the complete restoration of Israel and rule by the Lord Jesus in the Millennial Kingdom.

“And I saw one standing in the sun; and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in mid-heaven, ‘Come, assemble for the great supper of God; in order that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great’. 

The similarities in these passages cannot be dismissed.

I believe that the ‘one’ referred to in Rev. 19:17 is Ezekiel and not an angel.  Yes, the word is ‘aggelos’ or angel but it literally just means messenger or one sent.  Every translation makes this word angel, but I believe the messenger in this case will be Ezekiel because the commandment to speak this herald to the birds and beasts in Ezekiel 39 was given to him.

I agree with Heiser that this battle will be on Mt. Zion.  You’ll have to listen to his podcast or even read his book “The Unseen Realm”.  It’s a great read and gives fantastic insight into the spiritual realm of the Bible.  He explains why Armageddon is Har Magedon which is Mount of Assembly and not the Valley of Meggido.  I won’t go into it here.  He also summarizes it in the podcast which I provided the link for above.

During this battle, there will be a great earthquake.  It will be the mother of all earthquakes.  This earthquake, according to Ezekiel 38:19, will be so massive it will literally cause the mountains to collapse.  Revelation concurs saying that it will be the largest earthquake since man was created (Rev. 16:18).  According to this verse, Jerusalem will be split into 3 parts.  Every nation will feel it and all the mountains on earth will topple.   Isaiah 2:2 says that, “in the last days, the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills”.   

This does not occur at the end of the Millennial Kingdom, but in the ‘last days’.  The passage goes on to say that “all the nations will stream” to the mountain of the house of the Lord be taught. This is not the eternal new earth, as Dr. Heiser’s position would dictate.  There will be no nations in the eternal kingdom.

Then, all the nations will know that God has won this battle (Ezek. 38:16,20,23; 39:7,21) because they will see Jesus coming in the clouds to earth with His army to save Jerusalem (Rev. 1:7). 

After the victory, the House of Israel will be cleaning up the litter of the battle and disposing of the bodies for seven months (Ezek. 39:12).  It is another proof that this takes place at the end of the age before Jesus returns, not the end of the Millennial Kingdom.  The ‘clean up’ at the end of the Millennial Kingdom is performed by the Lord Himself when He burns up everything and creates a new heaven and earth (2Peter 3:10). 

Finally, Revelation 20:7-9 says Satan will be released from prison briefly at the end of the 1000-year kingdom and he will deceive the nations and gather them with Gog and Magog.  This is undoubtedly the primary passage that Heiser is considering for his belief that Armageddon takes place at the end of the Millennial Kingdom.  But this is not a battle. 

This is a crucial point.  Armageddon is a battle, but Revelation 20:7-9 is not.  It is just a gathering and a surrounding of Jerusalem.  This uprising is ended in one fell swoop by God sending down fire and devouring the entire army that Satan has gathered.  There is absolutely nothing left of them.  The verse says they are “devoured”, totally consumed!  There is nothing to bury or clean up.

Revelation 12 Sign

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From everything I have read, the celestial display that John saw in Revelation 12:1 will be visible this September 23, 2017.  The sign includes the constellation Virgo with the sun visible on her body and the moon under her feet.  Virgo will also be crowned with 12 stars, which are the 9 stars of the constellation Leo plus Mercury, Mars and Venus.  It also has Jupiter, the king planet, in Virgo’s womb and over time it passes out past her feet as if giving birth.  Clearly this display is presenting the virgin Mary pregnant and giving birth to Jesus, which is what verse 2, 4 and 5 describe.  The question is, if this is the precise presentation of the stars that John saw (and all indications are that it is), then what does it mean?

Always, we must go to the Scriptures before we do anything else.

To understand the Revelation 12:1 sign (there is another sign in 12:3) we must consider the context.  If you remove the chapter break, John is continuing his thoughts after describing events in the middle of the 7 year tribulation in Chapter 11.

The Book of Revelation is a chronological narrative with pauses to shed light in more detail on certain periods of the narrative.  Chapters 11-12 is one of those pauses, or side-bar.  These 2 chapters provide expansive details of prophecies focused on the middle of the 7 year tribulation.

We know from Daniel as well as Revelation that the 70th week of Daniel is referred to as two 3 1/2 year periods.  Revelation 11:3 says that God is going to grant authority to His 2 witnesses for 1260 days or 3 1/2 years.  This covers the first half.  Then they are going to be killed.  This will be right before the antichrist takes his seat in the Holy of Holies in the middle of the 7 year tribulation (Daniel 9:27, Matt. 24:15).  Jesus tells the Jews that when you see this, flee Jerusalem into the hills (Matthew 24:15-18).  These refugees will be a major part of the Jewish remnant that will be saved out of the Great Tribulation.  (See my previous post on The Greatest Sign)

Nothing to do with the Church

Here we now come to Revelation 12.  Revelation 12 describes what is going to happen during the last 3 1/2 years.  The focus in this chapter is on the Jewish elect or remnant.  It is NOT about the Church.  The Church is gone!  It was raptured before the 70th week began.  (see my post on The Restrainer).  It is exegetical malpractice to attempt to insert the Church into this passage.

The woman is Israel.  She flees into the wilderness just as Jesus warned in advance in Matthew 24.  There the Jews will be protected and cared for by God for the 2nd half of the tribulation – 1260 days (Rev. 12:6).  It is at this time that Satan realizes his time is short and his rage explodes (Rev. 12:12).  His focus now becomes exterminating the Jews, which he has been attempting to do throughout history.  Why?  Because of the promises to Abraham and David. 

If there are no descendants of Abraham left then God will have failed in his promise regarding the land and the throne of David.  If there are no Jews to welcome the coming Messiah, then there is no kingdom to restore.  Remember, Jesus told the Jews right before He was killed, “You will not see me again until you say ‘blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord'”.  If there is no one of the literal Abrahamic DNA, then Jesus seemingly would not return.  Satan wants this domain for himself.  If he can wipe out Israel once and for all, then the Son of David will not be able to restore the kingdom of God as promised.

So Satan goes all out against the Jews.  Rev. 12:15 says that he will literally try to drown all the remnant in the wilderness with a great flood, but God will protect them by opening the ground and diverting the water.  In Rev. 12:17, Satan then becomes even more enraged and goes to make war with all the other believing Jews.  All of the unbelieving Jews will undoubtedly be killed, which is why Jesus warned the believing ones to flee when antichrist declares himself to be God (2 Thess 2:4) in the Holy of Holies of the coming rebuilt Temple.

I believe the significance of the sign being mentioned in Revelation 12:1 is simply to set the context for the rest of the chapter.  I don’t believe the intent in this chapter was to say that this sign will appear as a herald of the immediate return of Jesus. 

In other words, John uses the celestial picture to emphasize that he is summarizing the Gospel story and to preface what Satan is going to try to do to believing Israel after the ‘abomination of desolation’ takes place.  Rev. 12:1-5 is the summary: Mary was with child, she gave birth, Satan (who rebelled with a large contingent of angels – verse 4) was waiting for the birth and tried to kill the child (Herod killed all the males 2 and under), Jesus died and was resurrected and taken up.  Verse 6 fast forwards to mid-tribulation.

The Revelation 12:1 sign evidently was also visible when Jesus was born.  My research says that it appears quite often in history, although perhaps not as precisely as it may this Sept. 23rd.  What the constellation depicts has ALREADY HAPPENED!

So, my conclusion is that it IS a sign.  David said ‘the heavens are telling of the glory of God’.  I can confidently say it is a sign of God’s glory, majesty and wisdom.  It is a sign that God fulfills everything in His Word down to the tiniest detail, which means it is a sign that Jesus is alive and will return to reign from Mt. Zion.

Dan Baker

Times and Epochs

Times and epochs

“Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you.  2. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.  3. While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’, then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.  4. But you, brethren are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief;” 1 Thessalonians 5:1-4

There is a lot to unpack in these four verses.  Paul summarizes what is going to happen with regard to 1) the Church and the rapture, 2) those who do not know the Lord at the time of the rapture and 3) the beginning of the tribulation. 

First, what is Paul referring to in verse 1?  To find out, all you do is go back to the preceding verses.  5:1 is referring to when the rapture will take place.  Look at 4:16-18.  Here Paul describes what is going to happen at the rapture, how things are going to happen and the sequence of things. 

In 5:1 he tells the Thessalonicans that they have no need of him writing anything to them about the timing of what he just talked about in 4:16-18.  Paul has most certainly explained everything in extensive detail when he was with them in person (1 Thess. 2:1; 2 Thess. 2:5). 

So, in 5:1 he is referring to the rapture.  In verse 2 he says it will come like a thief in the night.  The ‘Day of the Lord’ is the rapture, but it is also much more. 

The ‘Day of the Lord’ is an idiom.  It means the time when the judgment of Yahweh is going to come to earth.  It is referring to the 70th week of Daniel, or the 7-year tribulation that precedes the physical return of the Son of David to earth.  It is a term that represents the beginning day (rapture – thief in the night), all the events of judgment and wrath throughout the period of the tribulation and the very day that Jesus sets foot on the Mount of Olives. 

It is signaled by the rapture, however, and that is what Paul is specifically referring to in 5:2.  The rapture will happen like a thief in the night.  No one knows when the thief will come.  But when He does, it is the beginning period of what will become the most terrible ever on earth.  5:3 describes what happens next.

Peace and Safety

“While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’, then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” 

The first thing we need to determine is who are ‘they’? To find the antecedent we must go back to 4:5. In the context, Paul is talking about the Gentiles who do not know God.  You can’t really say he is talking about ‘outsiders’ in 4:12 because the Greek word there essentially means ‘whoever’. 

So, unbelievers would be the general definition of ‘they’ in 5:2. They will be saying that the world has finally achieved peace and safety.  We know that when the Church is evacuated the Holy Spirit will be removed and the antichrist will be revealed (see my posts on the Restrainer). 

When the Holy Spirit is removed and perhaps as many as a billion people disappear, then literally all hell will break loose on earth.  It will undoubtedly be a time of chaos and economic collapse on a scale the world has never seen. But it is NOT the tribulation – yet. 

This is the stage that the antichrist will step up on and the events that will allow him to ascend to total world power.  In 2 Thess. 2:8-10 Paul says he will come with ‘all power, signs and wonders and every deception of wickedness’.  The antichrist will ‘miraculously’ stabilize all the upheaval, violence and economic chaos.  He is going to usher in a golden age and he will be viewed as the savior of the world.  How long this ‘golden age’ of peace and prosperity lasts, we don’t know.

So, the world will be dwelling in peace and safety (physical and economic) such as never before.  This is what Paul is saying in 5:3. Then the tribulation will begin.

Suddenly like birth pangs

It sounds like an oxymoron or paradox – suddenly but gradually.  But this describes exactly what Jesus said in Matthew 24.  The tribulation comes on like birth pangs.  The judgments or wrath of God will be poured out in increasing intensity and frequency over the 7-year period.  It is the first pang that comes suddenly and surprisingly. 

This is the first seal in Rev. 6:1. This will happen after the antichrist has facilitated some grand treaty with Israel, which will be the technical beginning of the 7 years (Daniel 9:27).  When the first seal is opened the peace on earth will end.  And it only gets worse from there.

Remember ‘they’?  Well, Paul says they will not escape.  Why?  Because there is no rescue for those who are not raptured.  The Church escapes.  That’s what the word ‘delivers’ (Greek – ruomai) means in 1Thess. 1:10.

“(We) wait for His Son from the heavens, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who DELIVERS us from the wrath to come.”  

The word ‘ruomai’ literally means to be rescued by physically dragging someone out of the way. 

Every believer that is alive when the Thief in the night comes will be ‘dragged’ up to meet Him in the sky.  But the remaining earth-dwellers will not escape.

The Thief is coming. 

 

 

Who or What is the Restrainer?

Holding back

In my previous post I dispensed of the notion that the restrainer (2 Thess. 2:6-7) is the archangel Michael, as many incorrectly believe.  Daniel 12:1 is the only Scripture reference that I know of that is used to support that contention. 

So, who or what is it?  

Of all the other possibilities the only one that makes sense, considering all the requirements of restraining the evil one, is the Holy Spirit.  Here are the ways the Holy Spirit fulfills the role:

  • The Holy Spirit is God, and is therefore stronger than Satan
  • The Holy Spirit operates in the spiritual realm as does Satan.
  • The Holy Spirit dwells in His Church, which is His body. The Church is the salt of the earth, or preservative.
  • The whole world lies under the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19), yet the gates of Hades will not prevail against the Church (Matt. 16:18).
  • 2 Thess 2:6-7 Paul uses the word what and he to describe the Restrainer, which rules out Rome or government. The what is the power of the Holy Spirit and the He is the person of the Holy Spirit. 

Again, Michael has been ruled out – it is not that person.  Nor is it Caesar, or any other political figure or earthly government, because they can not transcend the centuries nor do they have worldwide power.

No other possibility makes as much sense.  That being the case, the only way the Restrainer can be removed is if the Church is removed.  This supports a pre-tribulation rapture.  Why?

The tribulation, otherwise known as the 70th week of Daniel, begins when a covenant or treaty is forged with Israel facilitated by the antichrist (Daniel 9:27).  Therefore, the antichrist is revealed at minimum at the time of the treaty/covenant.  Which means he is revealed at the beginning of the tribulation, not in the middle. 

Since the antichrist is revealed at that time, that means the Church has been evacuated prior to the 7-year tribulation.  The antichrist is not revealed until the Restrainer is taken out of the way.

When the Church is removed the Holy Spirit is taken out of the way and the antichrist will be revealed.  The Church will thus be raptured prior to the 7-year tribulation.

 

Michael the Restrainer?

Michael archangel

Recently I watched a video by a pastor by the name of Dean Odle.  He was teaching on a subject I was interested in hearing about.  At the outset of his teaching he laid out 4 principles of proper Bible interpretation. 

In a nutshell, those principles are reading the Bible literally unless it’s clear that a passage is metaphorical or allegorical; context; grammar and historicity.  I was encouraged to hear this from the pulpit because my experience tells me that this is a glaring weakness in the Church, at least in the U.S.. Most Christians simply do not know how to study the Bible.

Anyway, I continued to listen.  At one point in his teaching he said that he believed that the archangel Michael was the restrainer in 2 Thess. 2.  His basis for this position was Daniel 12:1. 

“Now at that time, Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise.  And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued.”

Mr. Odle said that Michael is going to arise and get out of the way and by doing so will allow God’s wrath to pour out on the earth.  According to him, as I understood it, this will happen after the 6th trumpet and this is when the antichrist is revealed.

Not withstanding the fact that the antichrist is revealed long before the 6th trumpet (he is revealed at least at the beginning of the 70th week of Daniel when he spearheads a treaty or covenant with Israel; Dan. 9:27), Mr. Odle violated all of the principles of interpretation that he said he believed were essential to understanding Scripture.  I wrote him the following email:

“Hello Dean,

I watched the video of your message on the coming great deception.   Prior to watching that I watched the video of your message on the firmament and the ‘skyfall’, which I enjoyed immensely. 

One of the things I appreciated was your walk-thru of how to study the scriptures accurately.  Most churches do not teach their members how to ‘rightly divide’ the word, which is a genuine shame. 

Along those lines of good hermeneutics that you spoke of, I wanted to challenge you on something you said, namely that the restrainer is Michael the archangel.  You cited Daniel 12 and I believe you are in error in your interpretation of that passage.  The context is key.  What you did is what many Christians do which is put the Church (and in the case of your teaching, the Church and the rest of the world) into passages where it doesn’t belong.  

The context is referring to Daniel’s people.  Michael is standing guard over them as it says in vs. 1.  Michael is not standing guard over the whole world.  What Michael is there to do is protect the righteous Jews – whose names are written in the book.  The verse says they will be rescued.  This verse is referring to Jacob’s Trouble, the Great Tribulation, which is the 2nd half of the tribulation (little t) or 70th week of Daniel (Chap. 9).  The passage says it will last a time, times and a half of time, which we know is 3 ½ years (Dan. 12:7). 

Notice it says it will be a time such as never occurred for a nation.  We know that a remnant will be rescued.  Jews will flee into the Judean hills east of Jerusalem the moment the antichrist takes his seat in the Holy of Holies, and be protected there for the 3 ½ years. (cf. Matthew 24:15-22 and Rev. 12:6)  Jesus speaks of the same thing regarding the last 3 ½ years in Matthew 24 with respect to Jacobs Trouble/Distress.   

Michael is charged with protecting Daniels people whose names are written in the book – they will be rescued.  The people in this passage are Daniel’s people – the Jews.  Rev. 12 says that during the last 3 ½ years Satan is going to try to wipe out Israel and the Jews, but he will fail.  Michael is not the restrainer in 2nd Thess – the context in Daniel 12 denies that.  That is NOT Michaels job. 

Thanks and blessings to you,”

Dan Baker

I haven’t heard back from him as yet.