Part D – The End Times

Book 14 LESSON TWO * PART I

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

In other words, when the Body of Christ is finally finished and the last one has been brought in, there is going to be an out-calling of those who are alive and remain, by virtue of a change from this body to the new glorified body. All of those who have died in Christ during this Church Age will be resurrected with their new bodies. And we call that the Rapture of the Church.

After that happens, we find God picking up where He left off with the Nation of Israel. Remember, out of the 490 years that had been determined on the Nation of Israel, 483 of those years ended at the Crucifixion of Christ. Daniel 9:26. That left seven more years to make the prophecy complete. We call it the seven years of Tribulation. And that is what the whole Book of Revelation is all about. It is the unfolding of this final seven years of God dealing with the human race in general. But the Nation of Israel in particular. Then, as we found in the Book of Revelation, tying it all in with Daniel, we find that the very opening event of this final seven years, is the appearance of the Anti-christ. He will sign a seven-year peace treaty with the Nation of Israel. The treaties that have been signed by Israel with Palestine and Jordan, have caused a lot of confusion. Some people think that this is the peace treaty that Daniel speaks of in Daniel 9:27. But as far as I'm concerned, this treaty they have just signed is nothing but an agreement to agree or disagree. I don't think it will hold much water for long. But we know the Anti-christ is going to come on the scene, and he will be born of woman, flesh and blood. He will be much like Judas and will be used of Satan to fulfill Satan's aspirations. He will come on the scene as a tremendous political manipulator. He will be a charismatic type individual. He will be able to walk into any kind of summit meeting and command attention. They will listen to him, and, consequently, he will bring himself to a place of having the power of making that peace treaty with Israel as we referred to earlier.

The opening of the seven years will not only reveal the Anti-christ, but also his letting the Nation of Israel resume their Temple worship, with their animal sacrifices, and other Law-related rituals. We know that, even as we speak, the Nation of Israel has everything ready to resume Temple worship. However don't have the place where the Temple must be built. But they will have when the right time comes. It may take an act of war or nature for the Mosque of Omar to be destroyed. But we do know that Israel will have Temple worship for the first 3 1/2 years, all with the approval of this man Anti-christ. So today, this is Israel's anticipation, that they will have their Messiah and their Temple worship. But remember, Israel is looking for their Messiah to come the first time, because they don't recognize that Jesus Christ was the Messiah.

At the opening of the Tribulation, there will be the two witnesses (Revelation Chapter 10). We studied how these two will be on the streets of Jerusalem. They will begin a witness of Jehovah God to Israel. Out of their preaching will come the sealing of the 144,000 young Jews who will come on the scene, but not to preach the Gospel of Grace, Faith in the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ for salvation, we have had here in the Church Age. They will be preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, that Jesus, John the Baptist, and the twelve preached that the King is Coming. Repent and be baptized. That certainly will be good news for that period of history. They will preach this message all over the world. I think that shortly after the Tribulation begins, the Russian confederation will invade Israel. God will destroy them on the hills of Israel, so that will be a quick removal of those nations as enemies of Israel. And as we studied about the seals being removed, we found that one-fourth of the human race will be destroyed. By the time we come to the mid-point of the Tribulation, we find that the two witnesses will be killed and their bodies will lie on a street in Jerusalem for 3 days. Then they will be resurrected and the whole world will see them ascend back to Heaven.

Then at the mid-point of the Tribulation, the Anti-christ will come into the Temple in Jerusalem, and make war on the Jews. He will defile the Temple and set himself up as God, and force the Jew to worship him. Consequently, they will come under the horrible persecution of this man. Also at the mid-point, we find that Satan is cast down from Heaven for the final time. He knows his time is short (3 1/2 years) so now not only must the earth endure the wrath of Satan, but also in the Scriptures, this last 3 1/2 years is known as the Wrath of God. That is going to be a double-barreled unloading upon this planet. On one hand, from the Satanic forces, and on the other from a righteous God. You and I as human beings can't comprehend what that last 3 1/2 years will be like. The scenes we see in Rwanda, and what we saw in the Holocaust, as awful as they were, will only be a drop in the bucket as compared to these final 3 1/2 years. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 24.

"For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."

As those various judgments come to pass, don't forget that the whole reason for all of this is to pay off the mortgage that Satan is holding on the earth. Remember, Satan picked up the mortgage on the earth when Adam lost it the moment he sinned. We saw in Revelation Chapter 5, a scroll that has the seven seals on it (the mortgage that Christ will pay off). Paying off the mortgage is really the whole scope of the Tribulation. As a result, the curse will be lifted from the whole planet. Having now consummated these seven years, Christ will return at His Second Coming, and destroy the remaining armies at Jerusalem in the battle of Armageddon. As a result of the curse being lifted, and the defeat of Satan, the earth will be made for a renovation project, which God will accomplish in short order, making it ready for the Kingdom.

Christ will then set up His Kingdom on earth and it will be glorious. The earth will be brought back like it was in the Garden of Eden. Now comes the thousand-year reign and rule with Him upon this earth. I remind my classes that the Kingdom has been spoken of and prophesied all the way through the Old Testament. The coming of the King and the Kingdom. But it isn't until we get to Revelation that we have a time frame attached to it of a thousand years. The Old Testament speaks of it as being forever and eternal. Well, we have to reconcile some things then: why does Revelations speak of a thousand years? The reason the first part of it must be limited for a thousand years is this: as a result of the events of the Tribulation, most of the world's population is going to lose their lives. Most of those who have become believers as a result of the preaching of the 144,000 will have been martyred, and they will be resurrected with the Old Testament saints at a later time.

By the time we come to the end of the seven years, Isaiah 24:6 says, "There will be few men left." However, there will be survivors. Some of whom have heard the message and believed will be mostly Gentiles. They will become the seed stock for the Gentile nations to repopulate during this thousand-year rule. And the rest who survive will be lost. We then find these two groups standing before God as the Kingdom is set up in Matthew 25:32-46. They are noted as sheep and goats. One group, the sheep, will inherit the Kingdom. The other group, the goats, will go into everlasting punishment. We will also have another flesh and blood group that will go into the Kingdom, and that is the remnant of Israel. We saw that they went down into the mountains Southeast of Jerusalem at the mid-point of the Tribulation, and we found that in Matthew 24:16. God will feed, clothe, and protect them there for the final 3 1/2 years. They go out in unbelief, but will believe when they see Christ at His Second Coming. They will then be the seed stock to go into this Kingdom to repopulate it for the Nation of Israel.

Coming into the Kingdom with Christ ruling and reigning as King, we have the Gentile believers, and the believers from the remnant of Israel. These two flesh and blood groups will be responsible to repopulate the whole world. There will be a tremendous population explosion. The curse is lifted, there will be no pain in childbirth, and these children that are born will live the entire thousand years. There will be no sin, and Satan will have been locked up these 1000 years. It will be like the Garden of Eden, but on a world-wide basis. The children coming from these believers, though they are born with the old sin nature, do not have a tempter to exploit it, since Satan is locked up during that time. However, keep in mind that they have been living under the rule of the King, Who is benevolent. Also, these children have not had to make a choice for, or against God, as you and I and the rest of the believers had to make. So we find at the end of the thousand years that Satan must be released just for a little season. This will be a time of testing for the children. They will have to exercise their free will even as we did. And to give a choice, there has to be more than one option.

So Satan is brought back for the sole purpose of giving these new generations of children that choice to choose between Christ or Satan. Satan is given the opportunity to present his options to these children. And just like he did to Eve in the Garden of Eden, it will be that same type of temptation. Because the Kingdom has been so glorious, who could want anything different? Remember, Eve had it that good, but what was Satan's ploy with Eve? "You can be like God." And I think the same thing will happen here. I think he will say, "You've got it perfect, but you're still not God. Wouldn't you like to be like God?" And the vast majority will follow him hook, line, and sinker. After they have made their choice, and when they try to come against God, He will destroy them with fire. That then will be the end of time as we know it. After all that has happened, it's time for the Great White Throne judgment, where all the lost will be resurrected out of hell to be judged by Christ, and then sent to their final doom in the lake of fire. Jesus tells us there will be degrees of punishment for those going into the lake of fire, depending on their works here on earth. Now in our next lesson we will be going into Revelation Chapter 21 and verse 1:

"AND I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea." That means the Kingdom will be lifted off the planet long enough for a whole new planet to come on the scene. I think I'll have the reason for that in our next lesson.

Now, let’s look at how the Church Age is going to end. Just turn on over in Corinthians to Chapter 15, and we’ll quickly look at this. There’s coming a day, and we think it’s real soon, the way things are happening in the world, I don’t see how it can be put off much longer. But, we are fast approaching the day when the last person will be brought into the body, and that vessel will be full, and God’s going to have to take it out of the way.

Now, here again, these teachings you won’t find anywhere but Paul. Nowhere has it ever hinted that there’s ever going to be a day when living people are suddenly going to be translated. "Behold I show you another mystery,..." another secret. "We (that is believers) shall not all sleep (or die), but...", we have to be what?..."Changed" "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye," in the split second of an eyelash, (at) "...the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead in Christ" Those who have been part and parcel now of the Body of Christ. Not the Old Testament saints. Daniel says he has to wait. We’ll look at that in another lesson. But now, it’s the Church Age saints. These who are in the body. "At the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we... Paul says (and he expected to be alive) ...shall be changed." In other words, when the trumpet sounds, and if we’re living – and I think we will be, the dead in Christ will rise first and then we will suddenly take flight and we will go up with him. Now, in order to culminate all of this we have to go to 1 Thessalonians Chapter 4. Here, some people just simply refuse the concept of the Rapture; and when they do that, they have to throw Paul away first. This is because Paul makes so much of it, and here is probably the clearest language in I Thessalonians:

"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren (same language), concerning them which are asleep," (that is our loved ones who have died),"that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope." In other words, if we, as believers, have lost loved ones, we don’t have to weep and wail and carry on like the heathen do. Because we’re going to see our loved ones again someday.

"For if we..." what’s the word? Believe! It doesn’t say if we are repenting and are baptizing. It doesn’t say if we join the church. It says if we believe. But we’ve got to be careful what we believe. Don’t just believe in God. We believe that Jesus died and rose again. There’s the Gospel. So, if we believe the Gospel, even so them also who sleep, or who have died, in Jesus; God will bring them with him. Now, watch the language. We know that the believer, as soon as he dies; his spirit and soul take flight to where? The presence of Christ in Heaven. And there they wait for this day of resurrection to be reunited with the believers resurrected body.

"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..." – or go ahead of,"...them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven," now you remember Isaac. He met Rebecca where? Part way, away from home. "...The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:..."

"Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them (everybody) in the clouds (that is in the atmosphere), to meet the Lord (Where?)... in the air:..." And then we go back into Heaven with Him to go before the Judgment Seat of Christ, and have the marriage of the Lamb; and then we’ll be ready to come back with Him seven years later, as time reckons it, at His Second Coming; as He comes then to ...stand on the Mount of Olives... as it says in Zechariah 14. Read it when you have a minute at home. Those first six or seven verses. It says in part, "...in that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives."

The other night I was teaching in Acts Chapter one, "...and there he stood with the eleven, and he went up, and the angels said, 'why stand ye gazing up into Heaven, this same Jesus in like manner as you have seen him go, shall come again.'" I don’t say these things to be funny; I try to make it clear. He left how? Head first! He’s coming, how? Feet first. And He’s going to stand on the Mount of Olives just as sure as it’s there tonight; and that will usher in the Kingdom. And when He comes, we’re going to come with Him. In fact, I always like to use two prepositions – and that probably helps you remember as well as anything. When He comes at the Rapture, He’s going to come for us. When He comes at the Second Coming, He comes with us.

Editor's Note: Les further explains in Book 25, Lesson Two, Part I that it is from the words "caught up" that we have coined the word "rapture" - caught up to meet the Lord in the air. We are not told when in the timeline the rapture will occur, only that it will take place before the seven-year tribulation period begins.

Now let’s come back and continue our study about this mystery given to Paul in Romans 11:25. Nothing in Scripture foretold that there would be a long 1900 + period of time that Israel would be spiritually blinded as we have seen them be. But now let’s see when the Scripture says that will be. Looking at the last part of verse 25 again we find:

Now those of you who have heard me teach for a long time know that "until" is a time word. I shocked one of my classes a couple of weeks ago. They all know that I’ve always taught that there is no way we can know the day, month or year that The Lord is coming for the Church. It’s an eminent return, but we never set dates. Then I just shocked that class when I said, you’re all wondering when the Church is going to be raptured. Well I’m going to tell you exactly when it will be raptured, and some thought that I had gone out into left field. When is the Church going to be raptured? When the last person has been saved and completes the "Body." Now I don’t know what day, month, and year that will be, but that is the "until." Israel is going to remain blinded "until." The rest of the verse reads:

Now what’s the fulness of the Gentiles? The Body of Christ.

Consider it is also in conjunction with Genesis Chapter 1 in which the creation of the world, the universe, and all that is in them, including mankind is described as being completed in six days.

Notice that the first six days of creation were for man's benefit (Isaiah 45:18 says that the earth was formed to be inhabited), but the seventh day was for God - a day of rest. So, consider the following hypothesis: If 1,000 years is to God as a day, according to the timeline, we can see that man has just about used up his "six days" or 6,000 years (if our calendars are at all accurate). Are we about to enter into God's day - the "seventh day" or the final 1,000 years?

We are seeing the signs of the times in the wars, earthquakes, famines, and pestilences we hear about on the news daily. Terms being used today such as "global economy," "global politics," and "new age" are all indicative of the fact that we are very close to the end of our age. The stage is being set for Daniel's 70th week (see Daniel 9).

"Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, `How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.'"

Move on to Chapter 11. We've come through the blind man which was healed of blindness which he had since birth; sin is mentioned as well as with the impotent man; they were next to the pool which indicated a need for cleansing. Now to Lazarus and he's dead.

"Then when Jesus came, he found that he (Lazarus) had lain in the grave four days already."

What does I Peter say in regard to a day in God's mind? A thousand years is but a day, and a day is but a thousand years. So, picking up the analogy that we are dealing with the Nation of Israel just like the blind man who had been blind since birth, how long has the Nation of Israel literally been spiritually dead? 4000 years. That takes you back to Abraham at 2000 BC So, I think the four days of Lazarus' death is an indication that Israel, nationally, is spending 4000 years spiritually dead. But what will happen at the end of the 4000 years? She will be brought back to life. I realize this is a little bit backwards, but come back to verse 6; hopefully you are getting the picture. But here in verse 6, word came to Jesus that Lazarus was sick, and they knew that if Jesus would come that He could heal him.

"When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he (purposely) abode two days still in the same place where he was." And then what will He do? He will go to where Lazarus is and raise him from the dead. Look at the Book of Hosea for a moment:

"COME, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up." The pronouns here are the Nation of Israel.

What are the two days? Well the two days since the Cross is how long? 2000 years. What's going to be the third thousand years? The Kingdom. See how beautifully this all fits. Now, back to Lazarus for a moment. He calls Lazarus forth. Does Lazarus contribute anything? Nothing. Remember he came out of the tomb. And that is the picture of Israel. One day they are going to be called back to life, nationally, and we will get to it in our next lesson.

Now after Peter goes through all his explanation, you come down to verse 12:

"Then all the multitude (that is of these Jewish believers there at Jerusalem) kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. And after they had held their peace, (they finally settled down and listened to some common sense approach to all of this) James (who was moderating the meeting) answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: Simeon (or Peter) hath declared how God at the first (that would be at the house of Cornelius) did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them (the Gentiles) a people for his name."

Now what is that? The Church, which is his Body. So for the last 1900+ years now the Church is being formed mainly by Gentiles who are being called out from among what they are, pagans or whatever, and becoming members of the body of Christ. Now as we've already seen then, as soon as that began, the Jews got envious and began to oppose it everywhere that Paul went. And God put a blindness upon the Nation. Remember, I'm always teaching and always reminding people, God deals with the Jew on two levels: National and personal. Now when he blinds them nationally, that does not take away the personal opportunity for Salvation. So don't ever think that God's being unfair. A Jew still has every opportunity for Salvation that we do, but it's on a personal basis and not on a national. So God is now calling out Gentiles as a people for His name, which is what we refer to now from Paul's epistles, as the Church which is His Body, the Body of Christ.

Now I'd like to use this analogy. I had just read an article, written by a physiologist, or he might have been an embryologist. He dealt with the fetus in the womb. And of course I'm not going to tell you anything you don't know, but I think it's such a beautiful analogy. At the beginning of pregnancy, that mother's body immediately begins to put all kinds of different cells into exactly the right place. And by the time that 9-month period is over, that little fetus has got all of his little fingers, fingernails, the eyes and everything now complete. And isn't it amazing, as this author pointed out, that the body rarely makes a mistake by making one finger much longer than it should be or making toes longer. But everything stops its cell-making process at exactly the right time. And when it's all completed and that little baby is complete and the cell-making process stops, then what? Delivery!

Now the Church is the same way. God has been adding individual believers from all around the world; Chinese, Japanese, Russians, Burmans, French, British, Americans, Canadians, whatever. Believers are coming into the Body one at a time. But isn't it amazing, just like the fetus in the mother's womb, one day the Body of Christ is finally going to have the last person in place. We don't know where it will be, but one day the last person is going to be put into the Body of Christ - It's complete. Now what's God going to do? He's going to deliver it from it's confines here on earth and we're going to Raptured out, as we saw in our last program, and that then becomes the "until" of Romans 11:25. Because you see, as soon as God has completed His work with the Gentile Body of Christ, where is He going to turn to? The Jew! Now of course, the Jew is going to have to go through those seven years of Tribulation before he enjoys all the blessings of Christ's return.

"I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in."

But nevertheless, we know from II Thessalonians Chapter 2, that as soon as the Church is gone, the Anti-christ is going to make his appearance and the world is going to go into that seven years, which is predominately the time that God starts dealing with Israel. And so that's when their blindness is going to fall away. As soon as the Church is gone and the Tribulation begins. Now at the same time, since we have the times or fulness of the Gentiles here in Romans 11, go back with me to Luke 21 and we have the other side of the coin, so far as Gentiles are concerned. And this of course is the unbelieving element. Now the fulness of the Gentiles here in Romans are the Church-Age believers, but Luke 21 speaks of another group of Gentiles who will be the unbelievers. The unsaved world of Gentiledom. Let's look at verse 23 and Jesus is speaking.

"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."

Now he is speaking in Palestine, he's speaking to Jews, and so this is where all of this is going to take place, isn't it? But he's not talking about the end-time, He's talking about 70 AD here. He's talking about Titus' great invasion and destruction of the temple. We pick that up now in verse 24.

"And they (the Jews of Jerusalem) shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: (now there's the clue that this is 70 AD and not the last of the Tribulation, because at the end of the Tribulation the Jews are not going to be led captive into all the nations. They're going to just survive until their Messiah appears. But here they were and we know they were. They were emptied out of the land and they were dispersed into every nation on the face of the earth.) and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, (what's the next word?) until (there's your time word. How long is Jerusalem going to be under the boot of the Gentile armies?) the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled."

Now what are we talking about? Beginning way back here in 606 BC, way back at Nebuchadnezzar's invasion of Jerusalem, is the first time that Jerusalem falls under the complete control of a Gentile empire, Babylon. All the way up through human history. All the way to the time of the Cross and at that time it was the Romans. And even as you come on into modern history, Israel has been under the control of various Gentile nations; the Moors, the Turks, and lastly before Israel finally made her independence, was Great Britain, under mandate. Britain was in charge of the Nation of Israel. Now of course, they've had a semblance of sovereignty, but for the most part, Israel is under the heavy hand of the U.N. or all the other nations and so forth.

And so they have been under the control of Gentiles ever since 606 BC and they will be until Christ returns at His Second Coming. Right now, running sort of parallel to that (not totally, but at least since the onset of the Church Age, which of course would be sometime between 30 and 40 AD, when the Church, the Body of Christ, had its beginning). For the last 1900+ years the Church has been accumulating, they've been brought into the Body, and it will be filled and Christ will take it out at what we call the Rapture. The Rapture will take place 7 years before the Second Coming. Here's what I want all of you to see, and even those out in television, that the Rapture will take place just before the Tribulation. All the way back here, we've had the out-calling of the Gentiles into the Body of Christ, which is the Church. It will end with the Rapture. These two processes, the times of the Gentiles, during which Jerusalem is under Gentile control, is going to end at the Second Coming. The fulness of the Gentiles will end at the Rapture.

I Corinthians 15:23, and we're using that text as a jumping off place, because we previously asked, "Who are Christ's at His coming that will be resurrected in the largest part of the resurrection harvest?" Remember from the Old Testament economy we had the firstfruits - the sampling - that's Christ and those who came out of the graves after He came out in Matthew Chapter 27. Then we have the main harvest, which is the Church resurrection and includes the Rapture. Then we have the gleanings and the corners, and if we have time we'll go back to Daniel Chapter 12 and we'll see this is the resurrection of the Old Testament saints shortly after the Kingdom here on earth is established. So I teach the resurrection of the Just (the believers of all the ages) will be in three distinct separate stages.

"But every man in his own order: (Or his own company) Christ the firstfruits; afterward (It's now been almost 2000 years.) they that are Christ's at his coming."

That's not a reference to His Second Coming but since Paul is writing about this he's talking about Christ's coming for the Body of Christ, "The Rapture of the Church," two completely different events that are separated by 7 years. Remember, all the Old Testament promises and programs never considered the out-calling of the Church. It was never in there because God had kept it secret. So all the Old Testament prophecies spoke of the coming of Christ to be their King, and they would have to go through the Tribulation and then they could have the King and the Kingdom. You can find that in Psalm Chapter 2, Joel Chapter 2, and Zechariah Chapter 14. They all speak of this kind of a Biblical timeline. However, Israel rejected the King back at the Cross and the Tribulation did not come in, they did not get the Kingdom. So instead, after having crucified their Messiah, and Peter does not succeed in turning Israel into repentance (Acts 2:38).

God then brings forth the Apostle Paul and this is what we have been looking at for the past three lessons, and it's the calling out the Body of Christ primarily from the Gentiles. And since it has nothing to do with the Old Testament program or Tribulation, which is also tied to the Old Testament and primarily for the Jew, then we maintain that the Body of Christ is insulated from God's dealings with Israel either before or after the Cross, and so consequently this is why I teach the Rapture. The Body of Christ has to be off the scene before God can pick up dealing with Israel again. Always remember, if we could just take the Church out, which is in parentheses, then we can place the Tribulation back with the Old Testament economy of the Second Coming of the Messiah, the Tribulation, the King, and the Kingdom. However, when Israel rejected it, God went to Paul and the calling out of the Body of Christ, and it has to be raptured and then He will yet bring in the Tribulation to Israel. Now let's go back to Romans again. Turn to Chapter 11 verse 25 (that I always I maintain will be the triggering mechanism for Christ coming for the Church). Now we know there is no time element, we can never say that in five years He's coming. I certainly like to think He is, but we can't say that. We don't know if He's coming in a hundred years, but we do know that He's coming, and we do know that He's coming the moment that the Body of Christ is complete. When the last person is saved, and the Body is complete then Christ will come for the Church.

"For I would not, brethren,..." (Remember Paul is writing to the common ordinary believer out there in the pew. Every believer should be aware of these things, and that's why I teach. I don't have to teach the preachers and the seminarians, but rather I want to teach the common people out here in the everyday walk of life. Because God wants every one of us to drop our ignorance, and pick up on the wisdom of His Word).

Now define the word `ignorant.' When someone is ignorant it doesn't mean that they don't have the brain power. Someone who is ignorant isn't someone who is incapacitated to a degree, but rather ignorance is simply a lack of being taught. I consider myself ignorant regarding electricity. I know the ramifications of it, but to get right into the details of three-phase electricity, I'm lost, Why? Because I've never been taught about it. I'm sure I could learn it if I had to, and it's the same way with Scripture, most people are ignorant of the Scriptures not because they don't have the capacity but because no one has taught them. So this is what Paul is constantly advocating; learn, learn, gain knowledge, get wisdom from The Book.

"For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; (And here is the secret) that blindness (A spiritual blindness) in part is happened to Israel,..."

Well, what's Paul talking about? When Israel rejected the Messiah, why did they reject Him? Ignorance! They didn't know Who He was. I've been telling my classes for 25 years, over and over, Israel should have known Who Jesus was. Israel could have known Who Jesus was because it was in the Old Testament. Why didn't they? They didn't bother to study. The priests knew it, and they knew the stuff on the surface, but they didn't get right down into the nitty-gritty of the Old Testament prophecies. When the wise men came to Herod and asked about the King of Israel, Herod calls up the big-wigs of Judaism, and they had to go search the Scriptures to see where He was to be born. Did they find it? Sure they did. They said "He was to be born in Bethlehem," so they could have known, but they didn't. And do you know America is no better right now today? Every last person in these 50 states should know that we are in the end times, that we are approaching the very coming of Christ, and the Tribulation, the appearance of the Anti-christ and world government, but do they? No. Most of them don't even know what you're talking about. Why? Because they chose to remain ignorant. They don't have to be, but they are. Paul is admonishing the believers at Rome, "Don't be ignorant of this fact that God has literally dropped a spiritual blindness on the Nation of Israel." Remember the individual Jew can still have his eyes opened and believe, but nationally they are blinded, in fact, here in this chapter look at verse 7.

"What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; (What were they seeking? The King and the earthly Kingdom! How did they miss it? They were ignorant. How ignorant? Well, they were looking for a King Who would come in with pomp and power and circumstance, at least symbolically riding on a great white Arabian steed. Instead their King came riding in on a lowly donkey. And they missed it. Well, they were ignorant of Who He really was, and so Paul says, `that Israel did not obtain that which they were looking for,') but the election (Those few Jews who did believe) hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded." And that's the Nation of Israel to this very day. They are still blind to Who Jesus really was. Now coming back to verse 25, Paul says, "That we Gentiles are to understand that this spiritual blindness has fallen on the Nation of Israel, and it will remain on their spiritual eyes"

Well, what's the fulness of the Gentiles? The Body of Christ, the Church. So when the Body of Christ is full then God will take us out of the way and He will start dealing again with the Nation of Israel. Now when I say that the Tribulation is primarily Jewish, here's where I have to go back with you to Jeremiah Chapter 30, and of course this is just one verse. There are many, many others. However this one is so plain that I think anybody can comprehend it.

Let's turn to 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2. Now, just for a little recap from the last lesson. I hope I didn't leave any questions unanswered. The first resurrection of believers of all ages is really broken down into the three categories as indicated by Israel's harvest of grain. That is, first there were the 'first fruits,' which was of course epitomized by Christ, and those that came out of the graves in Matthew 27.

We have the Main harvest that came from the Church Age and the great resurrection day at the Rapture, or the trumpet sound when Christ shall leave Heaven and meet us in the air. The Old Testament believers as well as the Tribulation Believers who will have been martyred and died, seemingly are represented by the gleanings and the corners that were left in the Jewish harvest, and they will be resurrected shortly after the kingdom has begun.

Then, I hardly had time to explain at the end of the lesson, but you see this is why we have that picture in the parables, and in the Old Testament, that the Jewish believers will be the guests at the wedding feast. We won't take time to look at that, but if you want to, you can pick that up in Psalms Chapter 45, I think. It's also alluded to in the Song of Solomon. Lots of people don't understand the Song of Solomon as being so typical of Christ and His Bride, the Church. Now on our Time Line we're coming to that next event. The Church Age will have ended with the Rapture, and then we know that the Tribulation will be ushered in next. It will be that seven years not associated with the Church - because the Church Age has ended - it's gone. Instead, we'll be coming back to God's dealing with the Jew once again. I'll never forget a little lady in one of my classes, all of a sudden she just happened to see it. Then she exclaimed, "In other words God's going to pick up with the Jews where he left off." She hit the nail on the head perfectly.

Now, he has taken this Old Testament program, as we saw back in Psalms Chapter 2. God's time table stopped when He turned to the Gentiles with the Gospel of Grace. When that period has ended you will find Grace and Law cannot mix. Israel is going to have the Temple, she's going to go back under the Law. If ever I have any argument that we will not go into the Tribulation, it's that one purpose right there. You can not mix Law and Grace. Therefore, Grace cannot go into the Jewish economy, as it will pick up again in that seven-year Tribulation period. It has to be removed, so they cannot be mixed.

Paul, here in 2 Thessalonians, is coming as close to prophecy, if you want to call it that, as he does in any portion of his writings. He is introducing us to this seven-year period of time which Jesus in Matthew 24 calls the time of Tribulation. Now in 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2 verse 1 Paul writes to the Thessalonians believers who, believe it or not, had gotten to the place with all the persecution that they were under, and all the pressure, they were afraid that the Rapture had taken place, and they had missed it. So, Paul had to quickly come back with 2 Thessalonians and reassure them that they hadn't missed the Rapture, that, yes, things were going to get tough, but it wasn't their situation.

"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 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."

Do you see how that little bunch of words sets that completely apart from the second Coming. See, at the second Coming Christ won't be gathering people unto Himself. He's coming! But here Paul is referring to an act of Christ where He's going to gather His own unto himself, and that's the Rapture. Verse 2: "That you be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled." In other words, Paul is setting their mind at ease that they hadn't missed the Rapture. And he's going to give them points to look for so that they'll know that they haven't missed it. "Neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that day of Christ is at hand." Here is a time to stop and define. The Day of Christ is referring to that out-calling of the Church, the Rapture. The Day of The Lord, the Day of Jehovah, the Day of God; that is this period of time, including the Tribulation and into the Second Coming and the setting up of the Kingdom. That's all referred to as the Day of The Lord, etc. But, the day of Christ is that time when Christ will call the Body of Christ unto himself.

"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;..."

Let's look at what he says. "that day", the day of Christ, the calling out of the body, "shall not come except there come a falling away first." Now, that word in the Greek is 'apostasia,' from which we get the word, apostasy. Now, I'm afraid too many Christians, churchgoers and members, do not know what apostasy is. I can remember when I was young, I thought it had something to do with the Apostles, but I wouldn't doubt that a lot of other people think the same thing, because it is so close in pronunciation. But apostasy is that turning away from the revealed truth of the Word of God.

Isn't that exactly where we are today? The churches, for the most part, have apostatized. They have turned their backs on the basic truths of Scripture. And this is why all the false teachings are having such a free run in so many of our main-line denominations. And this is why so many theologians and pastors and preachers are denying the Virgin birth. They are denying the literal, physical, visible Resurrection of Christ as just so much methodology. They have turned their backs on the revealed truth of the Word of God. We're in it, so now then, what does that tell you and me? We could be expecting the Day of Christ at any time because the apostasy has now come about.

Let's look further. "..there shall come a falling away first...." (apostasy). There's also a second definition of apostasy. We see it here and other places in our New Testament. It is actually translated, "departure," as a person departing from one place to another. So, you might say that within verse three, you not only have the apostecia of Christendom turning it's back upon the truth of the Word of God, but also the departure of the Christian himself; we're going to be taken out. And then, as soon as the apostasy has come on the scene, there shall be the revealing of whom? That 'man of sin,' who will be revealed, the son of perdition. Who is that? The Anti-christ.

(5d) From what government will the Anti-christ ascend to power during the tribulation ?

"And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy."

Be careful. I'm sure you've all seen posters and books with all of these different looking animals that people have portrayed as the Anti-christ. But we are not talking about a beast per se; we are talking about a government. Remember, Daniel, Ezekiel, and John here in Revelation write in symbolic language. You have to search the Scriptures to reduce these symbolisms to a literal thing. It's going to be a government headed up by the one man, Anti-christ.

The beast here in Chapter 13 is first and foremost the revival of the old ancient Roman Empire. And the reason it is referred to as a beast here, as well as in Daniel, is that the government will be so bestial in its operation, there will be no concerns about individual or human rights. And then the seven heads and ten horns and ten crowns - this again is a twofold picture I think, as Satan is often referred to as the seven heads and so forth, referring I think to his power and his authority. But usually we think of the seven heads and ten horns as the revived Roman Empire. It will be a consortium of ten nations coming out of the Old Roman Empire territory. And I think we are seeing it coming on the scene even tonight as the Common Market, or European Community. At the present time, I think there are twelve nations that make up the EC (it may go a little higher), but when the peace treaty is signed between the Anti-christ and the Nation of Israel there will be only 10. And we will be showing that as we come through our study of Revelation.

Back in verse 1 of Chapter 13, John "stood upon the sand of the sea." And remember that the sea here is the sea of humanity, the masses of people around the globe. The world is getting "global." That's the word you hear and see lately. So out of this mass of humanity will come this empire that has been dead since about 300 AD and will be headed up by this man of sin, the Anti-christ. Now verse 2:

"And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon (Satan) gave him his power, and his seat (throne), and great authority."

Go back again to Daniel 7. When we studied Daniel several lessons ago I stressed then that when we studied Daniel we would have to study Revelation and Matthew 24 and 25. They just all fit together so nicely. You can't study one without the other two. Now that mandates a lot of repetition. But as I have learned over the years, repetition is one of the best tools of learning. Here, Daniel is describing a vision that he has had. Which, of course, is looking forward down through history, and he uses practically the same language.

"Daniel spake and said, `I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea." There's that symbolism again with the mass of humanity. And out of that sea of humanity the following happened:

"And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another." These were governments, not animals.

"The first was like a lion (that was Babylon)... And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear (that was the Medes and Persians empire)... After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard (that was the Greek empire under Alexander the Great)... After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast (or empire), dreadful and terrible (this was the Roman empire)..."

The Roman empire was noble in some aspects, but it was bestial in many others. It had no concern for the lower classes of people. They threw people to the lions and thought nothing of it. They also became grossly immoral, wicked and evil. And, consequently, the empire finally fell in on itself. If you compare this passage with Revelation 13, you will see that John doesn't list the Roman empire. He begins with the Greek, the leopard, because he is speaking at a time when the Roman empire is still on the scene. So he doesn't have to list that one. But out of this Roman Empire you are going to see the residue of the previous three great world empires. But here John lists the empires in reverse order. These four empires are the ones the Bible concerns itself with as the times of the Gentiles. We read about the Roman empire that faded off the scene, but now is coming back on the scene in verse 7:

"After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had (what?) ten horns."

Now back to Revelation 13:3. Let's take this slowly so that we don't lose the overall picture. We have ancient Babylon, the ancient Medes and Persians, Greek, and Roman empires. Daniel sees all the residue of those empires coming back together in the revival of that fourth (Roman) empire that was dreadful and terrible:

"And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast (this empire).

Let's bring it right up to the present time. Western Europe is coming together more and more as the United States of Europe. Tonight, I think they are at the number twelve, and like I said, they may go to thirteen or more. But whatever transpires, we know they will drop back to ten. This is a revival of that empire that existed what - almost 2000 years ago? It was dead, and yet here it is coming back full force. And the world is amazed. How can this be. Just fifty years ago most of the great cities of Europe were in heaps of rubble, ravished by war. Their industries had been destroyed. Yet where are they tonight. They are almost looking down on us.

I've said for years, that it almost seems that there was a conspiracy to destroy our United States of America. I still think there is. Right after World War II, when we had utterly demolished our enemies, the Marshall Plan came on the scene and we just literally rebuilt Europe with American dollars. Since then we have seen our industries leaving. We have all the oil resources we will ever need, but where do we get our oil? Foreign suppliers. Our industries are farmed out to Japan, Europe, Mexico, and Third World countries. Our steel business is almost gone. So you can see it seems there is a conspiracy to just bleed our beloved America dry. And all of it to enhance this revival of the ancient Roman Empire, or what we call the 10 nations of the European Community. But nevertheless, this is all in the end-time picture, and in this EC there will come this leader, this man, this human, who is the other aspect of the beast. So you almost use the term synonymously.

"And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off (now that completed 483 years of the prophecy that was determined in verse 24, which would still leave 7 years still to be fulfilled), but not for himself (He didn't die because He deserved it, but rather for the sins of the world. Now here comes the prophecy), and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;..."

That means that the prince that shall come, the Anti-christ, would come out of the empire that destroyed the Temple and city of Jerusalem in 70 AD and we know that was Rome. And that is why the Bible has been looking forward to the end-time when the Revived Roman Empire would once again come to power, and we see that even tonight with the E. C. They already have currency printed for the E. C. with the logo of a woman riding upon a beast as described in Revelation. Isn't it amazing how an ungodly world, (and Europe certainly is) is falling right into the very format of the Book of Revelation.

I just read a couple of interesting things about the European situation. A gentlemen sent me an article from the news magazine call "Europe" which is strictly a magazine to report the events in Europe, and out of that I picked up something that I had totally missed, and if I missed it I feel a lot of other people also missed it. Beginning in the late 50’s and through the 60’s and 70’s, we had those original 10 nations of western Europe which for the longest time, the world referred to as the "Ten," then later on they became the common market, and European union, but the connotation was that it was the "Ten."

So when I taught end time events of prophecy in this Through the Bible study a few years back I naturally referred to the "Ten" then as what I thought was the revived Roman Empire. It fits so beautifully with Daniel and Revelation that I was very comfortable with that, and then all of a sudden the "Ten" expanded to eleven and twelve, thirteen, and fourteen. I just explained to my classes, well maybe it will go on up to fifteen, sixteen, or seventeen, but by the time the anti-Christ is ready appear on the scene, it’ll drop back to "Ten."

Well now I learn from this magazine "Europe" that there are two separate organizations in western Europe. One of them is the original "Ten." And for our television audience, I’ll put it on the board, the "Ten" ever since the 60’s is equal to the western European union, it is now referred to now as the W.E.U., but it’s still the "Ten." But the organization we’ve been hearing the most about lately is the European union without the Western on it. But within that European Union are the original "Ten," but it’s now up to nineteen nations. So I’m still on solid ground because the "Ten" are still intact, they are a separate organization from these nineteen nations, and so they can still be the revived Roman empire out of which the anti-Christ will come.

Well when we left Indiana last Sunday, somebody had given me the Sunday edition of the New York Times, and one of the front page articles was that the "Ten" was frantically getting their own military established so that the next time something comes up they won’t have to depend on the American military for their power. As I read that I couldn’t believe my eyes. So they have already set a time table to have a real Czar, a real chairman of the board who by sometime in the year 2000 will be in total control of their military, their security, and they hope to have as strong a military force as we now have with the United States involved as well. They want to be able to do what we’ve done in consort, they want to be able to do it themselves. So that just tells me again that we’re getting so close to the time that out of that "Ten" nation complex which will be the real revived Roman empire, out of it will come then the anti-Christ.

So these are just little interesting items of tidbits and all I wanted to bring out of that is, Kosovo in itself, I don’t think, has a real implication on all this, but indirectly now, because of the Kosovo deal the western European union suddenly realized that they are inept militarily for such another fracas, so they’re going to have to really speed things up and get ready in case something else comes along and not have to depend on America. Always remember, there’s going to be three major areas of military power by the time we get to the Tribulation. That will be Western Europe, China, and Africa. I feel that Russia and the United States will somehow meet their demise and will no longer be a factor in the events of the Tribulation period.

The opening of the seven years will not only reveal the Anti-christ, but also his letting the Nation of Israel resume their Temple worship, with their animal sacrifices, and other Law-related rituals. We know that, even as we speak, the Nation of Israel has everything ready to resume Temple worship. However don't have the place where the Temple must be built. But they will have when the right time comes. It may take an act of war or nature for the Mosque of Omar to be destroyed. But we do know that Israel will have Temple worship for the first 3 1/2 years, all with the approval of this man Anti-christ. So today, this is Israel's anticipation, that they will have their Messiah and their Temple worship. But remember, Israel is looking for their Messiah to come the first time, because they don't recognize that Jesus Christ was the Messiah.

"...and power was given unto him to continue (which means to carry on. How long?) forty and two months (or 3 1/2 years)."

So how far does this verse bring us? To the mid-point of the Tribulation. I'm going to stop there in this portion concerning the Anti-christ. Now let's drop down to verse 11. A couple of lessons ago I mentioned the fact that during the Tribulation there would be an unholy trinity. A counterfeit trinity, with Satan as the counterfeit of God the Father, with the Anti-christ as the counterfeit God the Son, and with the False Prophet, the religious leader as we will see here in verse 11, the counterfeit of the Holy Spirit. Not so much in his make-up, but in his operations.

"And I beheld another beast (this also is a man, but it is also a system. Not a government but a religious system) coming up out of the earth; ..."

Stop a minute. The Anti-christ is described as coming up out of the sea, and since the Book of Revelation is dealing almost exclusively, or primarily with the Nation of Israel, it's God dealing with His Covenant people once again, in preparation for His return. Naturally all the Gentile nations are going to be affected by it, but it's Israel's seven-year treaty that concerns itself with the time factor and everything that is taking place here. Israel will be so quick to accept the Anti-christ and his treaty, his offers of protection, and the Temple worship. I don't say it to look down on the Jew in the least bit, but I feel that this man, Anti-christ, will be a Jew. An Apostate Jew to be sure. Otherwise I can't see Israel so readily accepting his offers that he will make to them.

"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 (in other words, the setting up of your kingdom); and the end of the world (as we know it)?' And Jesus answered and said unto them, `Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ;...'"

Or "I am the Messiah." Now stop a minute. Are we already seeing that? Sure we are. But to no extent that it will after that seven years has begun. And remember that just as soon as the Anti-christ signs that seven-year treaty with the nation of Israel, this seven-year Tribulation period is going to tick off, month by month, and day by day. And it will end exactly at the end of the seven years. Now someone asked the question at break, "Well, what will the Anti-christ offer the nation of Israel, that they will sign the seven-year treaty?" Well, what is Israel most hungry for tonight? Peace. They want peace with their neighbors. They want to be accepted into the family of nations of the world. And they have to maintain their defense structure. They have to keep their people taxed to death just to keep their enemies at bay. So if this man comes in, and I think he'll come out of the European Community with the power of N.A.T.O. behind him. And I think he'll come in and offer the nation of Israel absolute protection and a sovereignty that no one can approach. He'll say, "I guarantee your borders. You can dismantle you armed forces. I'll protect you." And Israel is going to fall for that, hook, line and sinker. And on top of that, he's going to give them permission to have their Temple worship. And he's going to guarantee them freedom in that.

And so they're going to have no qualms about signing this seven-year treaty. Because like I said a few lessons ago, they'll almost think he's the Christ, if they don't indeed. But as we see Jesus unfold the events of the Tribulation, remember this: even though we are seeing the beginnings of it; we are seeing the great increase in earthquakes; we're already seeing the potential of famine; and we are seeing famine in some places. Yet it's nothing compared to what it will be when these seven years begin to unfold.

"And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately (just the Twelve), saying, `Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming (remember in I Corinthians 1:22, the Jew requires a sign. They wanted to know when His Kingdom would be set up), and of the end of the world?'"

Jesus now begins to lay out the events of the seven years. It begins from the appearance of the white horse in Revelation 6 - the Man of Sin, the counterfeit christ, the Anti-christ.

"And Jesus answered and said unto them, `Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, `I am Christ;...'"

Do you see that? That's the white horse. He's will come on the scene and practically convince the world that he is Christ. He's what the world is looking for. And we are already seeing people like that. Sigma Moon from Korea, about 15 years ago, tried to tell the world that he was the Christ. And we've had others, and we will have still more. But it's going to be culminated by the real counterfeiter, the real Anti-christ, and he's going to convince the world that he is the Christ and he shall deceive many. Going back to Revelation, stop at I John, Chapter 2 for a moment. This is the same writer who wrote the Book of Revelation. Now let's drop down to verse 18. And here again, as I have stressed before, is the one place where this Man of Sin is actually called the Anti-christ.

"Little children, it is the last time (these writers of Scriptures had no idea there was going to be 1900 + years before this would happen. They thought it would be coming in a relatively short time): and as ye have heard that antichrist (here John is speaking of the real Anti-christ) shall come, even now are there many antichrists;..."

Of course there are. But they can't hold a candle to the one that is coming. Now let's go back to Revelation Chapter 6. So we see this Man of Sin comes on the scene and he begins to conquer and overtake nations. He is setting up his power base.

We are still at the mid-point here and Satan indwells the man Anti-christ. Think back a moment, when did Satan indwell Judas? It was in the upper room at the last supper, Matthew 26:25, "Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, `Master, is it I?' He said unto him, `Thou hast said.'" That's when Satan entered into Judas. From that moment on Judas became an instrument of Satan. As a result, Judas was able to betray Christ in the garden. But when Judas tried to resist the power of Satan and throw the silver at the feet of the priests there at the Temple, what happened? The language is kind of confusing. In one Scripture it says Judas hung himself, and in another it says that Judas fell head-long and his bowels burst forth. In reality both are correct. There are no contradictions in Scripture. When he tried to rebel against Satan, Judas's body almost exploded with the power of Satan. As he was catapulted, Judas' body burst asunder, and at the same time he hanged himself on a pole as the result of the catapulting. We will try to cover that before we go into the Book of Acts. So Satan is going to indwell the man Anti-christ, and from that point on everything the Anti-christ says and does will be a word and act of Satan himself.

"These (all these nations under the headship of the Anti-christ and the false prophet) shall make war with the Lamb (Christ), and the Lamb shall overcome them (at Christ's Second Coming): for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful." You and I are the ones that will be coming with him.

"And he saith unto me, `The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth (in other words, where this great religious system is operating), are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues,...'" It's a world wide religious system. Verse 16:

"And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these (now all of a sudden you have a change in language so watch it. Remember in verse 7 this religious system is riding on the back of the beast but now) shall hate the whore (or religious system), and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire."

That again is symbolic language. What is the Anti-christ going to do with the religious system? He's going to destroy it. Why? We must come back to II Thessalonians as we must compare Scripture with Scripture. We can also go all the way back to the Book of Daniel.

"Who (the Anti-christ) 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."

He's going to set himself up as God and won't let the world religion have anything to do with him anymore. He's going to take absolute control himself. And since he is going to sit in the temple of God, we know that Israel will rebuild her temple and it will be in Jerusalem. In Daniel Chapter 9 we find out what this fellow will do at the mid-point of the Tribulation. We find he's going to move into the temple in Jerusalem. He then will defile it. Verse 27, where the prince that shall come in verse 26 shall:

"And he shall confirm the covenant with many (the Jews) for one week; (seven years) and in the midst of the week (at the end of 3 1/2 years) he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,..."

In order for temple worship to cease, it has to be going. So it stands to reason that if the Anti-christ is going to go into the temple in the middle of the Tribulation, then the temple must be operating. So that tells us the Nation of Israel will get her temple rebuilt, and we know she is ready for it, even as I speak. So at the mid-point of the Tribulation the Anti-christ will go into the temple and suddenly turn on the Jew. And he will set himself up as God and force the Jew to worship him rather than the God of the Old Testament which they think that they worship. Just because Israel gets her temple back at the beginning of the Tribulation doesn't mean that God will be working in their lives. It will be much the same kind of religion as Judaism was during Christ's earthly ministry. They had the temple, the priest, the sacrifices. Was God in it? No. They were still practicing a religion. And so it will be again in those 3 1/2 years. Because they are still denying the Christ that died for them. Now back to Revelation Chapter 17:

"For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast (the Anti-christ), until the words of God shall be fulfilled." In other words, when the seven years will have finally come to its end. Then verse 18:

"And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth." Now there is a lot of speculation as to what city that is. Personally, I think by this time it will be Jerusalem.

"He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision."

That is where we are tonight. The nations think they are in control, but we know they're not. The world is falling apart completely, and I see no hope of the world returning to a stable condition. I'm not a pessimist, but rather an optimist; but on the other hand I see things that are going on in our beloved nation that we are no longer able to turn around. We are past that point of no return. So that tells me we are that much closer to the end and the calling out of the Body of Christ at the Rapture. I have a Jewish gentleman that lives in Hollywood, California, that watches the program, and we share with each other quite often. He's not a Christian Jew. He's an Orthodox Judaistic Jew. Anyway, he called so excited the other morning, and reported that He had just returned from a seminar of rabbis. He said the rabbis are all excited because they are convinced that we are right at the coming of the Messiah. He said they realized that they had some tough times ahead during the Tribulation. I always remind him that everything they are looking for in their Messiah coming the first time, is really the Anti-christ. And it is. The Jew is blind to that and they will accept Anti-christ. Remember Jesus said in John 5:43, "I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive."

"And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy (speak forth the Word. The word "prophesy" in Scripture can mean either one. To speak about the future or just speak forth the Word. They are His witnesses, and they are going to minister primarily to the Nation of Israel and the area of Jerusalem.) a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth."

That is 3 1/2 years. We know that is not the last 3 1/2 years, because you see when you come to end of their ministry in verse 12.

"And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, `Come up hither.' And they ascended up to heaven..." And then in verse 13:

"And the same hour was there a great earthquake,..."

This is at the middle of the Tribulation and not the end. These two witnesses will minister the first 3 1/2 years. That is why I've come to Chapter 11 (the middle of the Tribulation), after Chapter 6 (the beginning of the Tribulation) because again we are going to come right back to an event at the beginning of the Tribulation. It is the appearance of the two witnesses. I'll have to comment on who those two witnesses might be. We can't be dogmatic because the Scripture doesn't tell us. There's nothing in this verse that says that it's going to be so and so. But we can speculate. The one that I think is a little easier to decide on than the other, is Elijah. I think that it's very possible that one of these two witnesses will be Elijah, because Elijah was taken up without having died. And there is a good reason for that. Let's go to the Book of Malachi. It's the last book of your Old Testament. Malachi Chapter 4 and verse 5:

"Behold (the prophet writes. God is speaking through the prophet), I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:" That's plain English. I know it was originally in Hebrew, but for us it's in plain English. Before the great and terrible day of the Lord, Elijah will come.

"And he (that is, Elijah) shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."

Alright, flip back if you will to Matthew Chapter 11. Again, we are in Jesus' earthly ministry. Now in Chapter 11 he makes an unusual statement. Starting with verse 11. Jesus is speaking and he says:

"Verily I say unto you, `Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now (and remember that this is during Christ's earthly ministry) the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.'"

"For all the prophets and the law prophesied (of the coming kingdom) until John. And (what's the next word?) if (a little word like that is so easy to gloss over. but it's loaded) ye will receive it,..."

Who is Jesus talking to? Jews. He's talking to the Nation of Israel. If they would receive what? The King and the Kingdom. That's what He's offering. He's their King and He's ready to set up the Kingdom, if Israel would accept the King and the Kingdom at this point and time. Remember that it's an offer. We know according to prophecy that it couldn't have happened because Christ had to die. But nevertheless, it was still a valid offer. They had the opportunity to accept Him as their King. So read it in that light.

"And if ye will receive it (the Kingdom then), this is Elias,..."

Who is? John the Baptist. Think about that for a minute. Jesus is offering the Kingdom to the Nation of Israel in fulfillment of those Old Testament Covenants. The Abrahamic and all the rest of them. The Old Testament said, "that before the return of Christ or the setting up of the kingdom, Elijah had to come." But Jesus said, "If you accept the kingdom now, then what? John is the prophesied Elijah." That's hard for us to comprehend, but that's what He's saying. But since Israel did not accept the King, and did not accept the Kingdom, what has to happen? Elijah has to come. Come back to Revelation Chapter 11. I have to feel that on the basis of those two scriptures, one of these two witnesses will quite likely be the Old Testament Elijah brought back on the scene. He was also at the Mount of Transfiguration. Back to Revelation 11:4:

"These (the two witnesses) are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth."

In other words, they are God's messengers for that time. The candlestick refers to the light that a candlestick gives forth. In the midst of the Tribulation darkness and wickedness and iniquity, in the great cataclysmic events that are taking place, these two men will still be like a spiritual lighthouse. Now verse 5:

"And if any man will hurt them (or try to), fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies (they're going to have a special power for their protection as they proclaim the Word of God): and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed."

In other words, these two witnesses are going to have that kind of power. And then in verse 6, is another reason why so many people feel that one of these witnesses is going to be Elijah, because he's going to do the same thing that he did in his Old Testament experiences.

"These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy (or their speaking. Remember Elijah stopped the rain for three years back in the Old Testament.); and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will." Now that kind of language gives us an idea that it could be Moses. See? Now I never get dogmatic about this. Others say it has to be Enoch, because Enoch didn't die either. This isn't all that basic to our doctrine. All we have to do is believe that our Sovereign God is in control, and is going to bring these two men to the city of Jerusalem at the very onset of the seven years of Tribulation. Now verse 7:

"And when they shall have finished their testimony (their 3 1/2 years), the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit (I think the beast could either be the Roman Empire which is now the E.C. and is now back on the scene. Or the beast here could be in reference to the Anti-christ himself. I throw this out to get you to study. I remember years ago as our class was dismissed, a lady walked out the door and she had just been a visitor. She had come from another part of the country. And she said, "Well, I don't know that I agree with you, but I'll give you credit for one thing. I have already promised myself that starting tomorrow I'm going to study my Bible." And that is the only reason I teach. Then verse 7 winds up with this government that I think will be the Anti-christ or the revived Roman Empire) shall make war against them (They will try to destroy these two men. And they are going to succeed), and shall overcome them, and kill them." So these two men will be put to death.

"And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified."

So that was what city? Jerusalem. So they are going to be killed and left to rot on the streets of Jerusalem. Just because of their mortal hatred for these two men. Verse 9:

"And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves." They will just lie out in the hot sun for 3 1/2 days.

"And they that dwell upon the earth (not just Israel, but the whole earth, from one end to the other) shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth."

Well, how did they torment them? By simply pointing out their wickedness, and their iniquity. And the righteous judgment of God which is already to a certain degree upon them. And the world is going to hate them. But the amazing thing is that verse 11 says something that 50 or 60 years ago was almost hard to swallow, and the average Bible believers had problems with this. All you could say was that God in His wisdom knows how He is going to do it. And now you see it is so common. What is it?

"And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them (God brings them back to life), and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them."

Who saw them? The whole world. How do they see them? Television. We do that everyday. It is very common now to see a news broadcast from the other side of the earth. I can remember when I was a kid, I would hear a preacher preach on this, and I can still hear mom and dad talk about, how that was going to be possible. How can the people of the world see two dead people lying on the streets of Jerusalem. Now, we just take that for granted. It will probably be on the 5:30 national news. And the whole world will see these two witnesses suddenly ascend.

"And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, `Come up hither.' And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them."

Right in view of the cameras up they go, and this is going to shake people up. But remember this will be the time of the supernatural and God isn't going to hide it. And when these two witnesses who have been put to death, are suddenly made alive, and ascend right out of the midst of Jerusalem, the whole world will witness it. Now these are Tribulation days. The days of Supernatural. Alright let's go on to verse 13:

"And the same hour (remember this is the mid-point of the Tribulation) was there a great earthquake,..." You have to remember that Jerusalem and especially the valley of the Jordan, and the Dead Sea, and the Sea of Galilee, are sitting right on a tremendous fault line. It's historical. In fact, that's probably why the Dead Sea is so deep and why it is so far below sea level (approximately 12-1400 feet below sea level). Because at times the fault has literally dropped the surface of the earth in that area. Remember the whole Jordan valley is below sea level. Even the Sea of Galilee is 600 feet below sea level. So when the Bible speaks of great earthquakes in that part of the world it is not unusual.

So we know we are at the mid-point of the Tribulation. Remember I told you rather than go verse by verse chronologically, take Revelation by events. The beginning (the appearance of the Anti-christ and these two witnesses), and at the mid-point we have the end of these two witnesses and have a great earthquake. We studied earlier how the Anti-christ will come in and desecrate and defile the Temple at the mid-point. We will try to look at that in our next lesson. But for now let's look at Revelation Chapter 7. And here again is a portion of Scripture that has been so completely perverted that we have a lot of confusion and it doesn't have to be. It is so plain. Now since these two witnesses are beginning to proclaim Godly things, and I think again just like Jesus said, they are going to be proclaiming the King and the Kingdom is coming. Out of their preaching, almost immediately, they will have a response of their prophesying or speaking, by the 144,000 young Jewish men that we find in Chapter 7. Now let's read it:

"And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth (remember this is supernatural experiences in a supernatural time), holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree."

"And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt (or judgment on) the earth and the sea, Saying, `Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.'"

Now isn't that easy to understand? These servants, I feel, have been listening to the two witnesses and so they are responding. Now look who they are in verse 4:

"And I heard the number of them which were sealed (or designated or commissioned): and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand (now watch where they come from) of all the tribes of the children of Israel."

So that there are no mistakes, He names them in verse 5-8 except for one. And that question comes up often. Why aren't Dan and Ephraim mentioned in these 12 tribes? Remember, they moved up into the northern part of Israel, and what were the tribes guilty of? They were the first ones to go into idolatry. And, consequently, they are left out of these 12 tribes. So we have 12,000 from each of the other 12 tribes all sealed and they are given a particular mission.

Book 11 LESSON THREE * PART IV

So we know we are at the mid-point of the Tribulation. Remember I told you rather than go verse by verse chronologically, take Revelation by events. The beginning (the appearance of the Anti-christ and these two witnesses), and at the mid-point we have the end of these two witnesses and have a great earthquake. We studied earlier how the Anti-christ will come in and desecrate and defile the Temple at the mid-point. We will try to look at that in our next lesson. But for now let's look at Revelation Chapter 7. And here again is a portion of Scripture that has been so completely perverted that we have a lot of confusion and it doesn't have to be. It is so plain. Now since these two witnesses are beginning to proclaim Godly things, and I think again just like Jesus said, they are going to be proclaiming the King and the Kingdom is coming. Out of their preaching, almost immediately, they will have a response of their prophesying or speaking, by the 144,000 young Jewish men that we find in Chapter 7. Now let's read it:

"And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth (remember this is supernatural experiences in a supernatural time), holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree."

"And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt (or judgment on) the earth and the sea, Saying, `Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.'"

Now isn't that easy to understand? These servants, I feel, have been listening to the two witnesses and so they are responding. Now look who they are in verse 4:

"And I heard the number of them which were sealed (or designated or commissioned): and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand (now watch where they come from) of all the tribes of the children of Israel."

So that there are no mistakes, He names them in verse 5-8 except for one. And that question comes up often. Why isn't Dan and Ephraim mentioned in these 12 tribes? Remember, they moved up into the northern part of Israel, and what were the tribes guilty of? They were the first ones to go into idolatry. And, consequently, they are left out of these 12 tribes. So we have 12,000 from each of the other 12 tribes all sealed and they are given a particular mission. And here it comes in verse 9. As a result of their sealing:

"After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations (that indicates that the 144,000 will not limit their ministry to just the Nation of Israel), and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;"

Now remember back in Chapter 6 when we talked about that 5th seal, in verse 9-11 it reads:

"And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, `How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?' And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled."

This is where it all begins. These 144,000 young Jewish men will be encircling the globe in a miraculous way. They won't have to buy any airline tickets. I think they will be Spirit sent. They won't have to learn a language. They will know every language and dialect everywhere they go. And these 144,000 young Jews will circle the globe at least three or four years out of this seven. And here are the results of their ministry. Verse 13:

"And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, `What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?' And I said unto him, `Sir, thou knowest,' And he said to me, `These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

Now that is a vast number of people from every tribe and tongue and nation. And they will martyred almost as soon as they believe. But a few will survive. And we will pick them up in a later lesson. There will be some survivors, as we saw in the Book if Isaiah a couple of lessons ago. What I think we have here is sort of a compensation, or an evening out of what the Nation of Israel literally missed. They were originally going to be the vehicle to bring the pagan, Gentile world to a knowledge of their Jehovah. And they missed it. But the 144,000 will sort of make a compensation for that.

Turn to Revelation 7. The Book of Revelation primarily deals with those final seven years before the return of Christ at His Second Coming; then the setting up of His Kingdom upon the earth. This seven years is primarily God dealing with the Nation of Israel; however, all the world will become involved. Remember Jeremiah 30:7?

"Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it."

We'll look at this verse more in detail later. It's God dealing with His Covenant people and for this reason they are still coming back to their homeland, getting ready for these final seven years.

The best way to study Revelation is not to try to take it chronologically, but find the events at the beginning, at the middle, and at the end of the Tribulation, and then fill in the gaps. Chronologically it won't make all that much sense to you. The past several lessons we have been looking at things at the beginning. 1. The appearance of the Anti-christ when he will sign that seven-year peace treaty with the Nation of Israel, which will again kick God's time clock back in gear, as it has been stopped now all during the Church Age. 2. The appearance of those two witnesses. They will come to the Nation of Israel in Jerusalem. And they will begin proclaiming God's Word to the Nation of Israel, and out of the ministry of these two... 3. God is going to seal and commission the 144,000 young Jewish men whom God will use to circumvent the globe. They won't be preaching the Gospel of Grace as we know it, but, rather, they will be reverting back again to the Gospel of the Kingdom as it was being proclaimed at the time of Christ and Peter and the eleven.

There is a vast difference between the Gospel of Grace and the Gospel of the Kingdom. When you understand that, the Bible is much less confusing. At that time, the Age of Grace has ended and the Church is gone. A person will no longer have the opportunity to join a local congregation. But rather these 144,000 will be telling the world that the King is coming. After all, that was the message in Christ's earthly ministry. He Himself referred to it more than once as the Gospel of the Kingdom. The King and His Kingdom were about to come on the scene. Of course Israel rejected that, and the King was crucified. God raised Him from the dead, called Him back to heaven to sit at the Father's right hand until His enemies should be made His footstool. That `until' signifies the time when He will once again deal with His Covenant people of Israel.

We closed our last lesson with God sealing the 144,000 Jews (there were 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes). Remember, the reason that God set aside the Nation of Israel was to fulfill the promises of Genesis 3:15, that the Seed of the woman would come to be the Redeemer of mankind. In order to bring that to a fulfillment, He set aside the Nation of Israel, and promised Abraham that through that Nation of people would come the Messiah. So God begins to prepare the Nation of Israel for the roll of being the missionary to the nations. Exodus 19:6 says, "And ye shall be unto me a Kingdom of Priests and an holy nation." He put them under Law, I maintain, to prepare them for that tremendous role that would be theirs to carry out. But when the opportunity came and they could have had the King and the Kingdom, and they could have brought all the nations of the world to a knowledge of their God, they dropped the ball. In their unbelief they rejected the King and the Kingdom. They, in turn, were dispersed out into the world, lost their temple and worship, and God turned to the Gentiles through the Apostle Paul without using the Nation of Israel. Using that same analogy in order to get a sweet taste of some sort of a redeeming of themselves, God will let these 144,000 Jews at least get a taste of what the Nation of Israel missed. This 144,000 will see a multitude come to a knowledge of salvation through their ministry. Now verse 9:

"After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, `Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb,'" In other words they had been martyred almost as fast as they had been converted throughout the Tribulation. Now verses 13 and 14. And after John sees this multitude of converted people.

"And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, `What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?' And I said unto him, `Sir, thou knowest.' And he said to me, `These are they which came out of (the) great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.'"

"Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads."

That was like, I suppose, when God put a mark on Cain, that no one could take his life. And it's the same way with these 144,000. They were sealed so that they could not be killed. Suffer, yes, but they couldn't be killed. Reading on you will see that there were 12,000 sealed from each of the twelve tribes. To see how all of this fits with Matthew Chapter 25 come down to verse 16. These are the privations that Tribulation believers, as well as the 144,000, will suffer during this seven-year period.

"They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more;..."

Remember, if people don't take the mark of the beast during this time, they won't be able to buy or sell, and seven years is a long time if you can't buy groceries. Seven years is a long time if you can't make a house payment, buy gasoline, or pay a doctor bill. So they will end up hungry and thirsty, and naked. Come back to Matthew Chapter 25. So the 144,000 suffered these same privations during the Tribulation. They were thrown in prison and they're going to be hungry, and the only sustenance they had was from these believers. These believers, although they will have little to spare, will sacrifice to help these 144,000.

Editor's Note: More about the 144,000 and how their mission ties into chapter 25 of Matthew will be explained a few pages ahead under the question: "Will some people live through the tribulation?"

Revelation 5:1"And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book (or scroll is a better word. It was rolled up and sealed) written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals."

Just picture a scroll rolled up and then sealed with seven seals. On the outside are written details. This is alluded to in the Old Testament economy, going back to Israel. They had every right to mortgage their property. Some may think mortgages are strictly twentieth century, but mortgages are not something new. Even at the time of Ruth and Boaz, they could mortgage their property. If they got in a bind and the mortgage was due, and they couldn’t pay, they would either lose their property, or could go to a next of kin for help. If the next of kin had the funds, and wanted to, then the mortgage could be paid off. There you have the three requirements for paying off a mortgage. Next of Kin, Able, and Willing.

This was the whole idea in Israel, that the families would keep their inheritance. Now we have the same picture here of a mortgage. It says it was written inside as well as on the outside. The private details that were not for public scrutiny were written on the inside. But the things that needed to be made public were written on the outside – for example, who the property belonged to. We still do that at the court house today, so it’s not that much different. The lesson here is, there is a mortgage involved, sealed with seven seals, but only One can open the scroll and pay it off.

No one seemingly had the next of kinship, who had the wherewithal in wealth, and who was willing. And John says in verse 4:

"And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, `Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.' And the four beasts (creatures) said, `Amen (so be it).' And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever."

The stage is set. God the Son has taken the mortgage with the seven seals on it. And now He is going to open it and begin the process of paying it off. Now we come to Chapter 6, and the first thing we are introduced to is the four horsemen of the apocalypse; most have heard of it. They are very interesting. Verse 1:

"And I saw when the Lamb (God the Son) opened one of the seals,..."

He will take them off one at a time. And these seven seals are going to take us up to the mid-point of the Tribulation. Now the best way to understand the Book of Revelation is to realize that there are a whole series of sevens throughout the Book. The part we skipped was the seven letters to the seven churches. Now we will see the seven seals; the seven seal judgments. They will introduce the seven trumpet judgments. The seventh trumpet judgments will introduce the final seven bold judgments. Interspersed between, there are seven distinct persons, and seven woes.

The whole Book of Revelation is a breakdown of sevens. And seven is God's perfect number. The whole Book is not a book of myths and legends; it is a perfectly tuned Book that is definitely a part of the Word of God. What we have is the beginning of this final seven years. Several lessons ago from the Book of Daniel, we showed that this seven-year period of time, which we call Daniel's seventieth week, or the time of wrath and vexation, or primarily the Tribulation, will be opening when the Anti-christ signs that seven-year treaty with the Nation of Israel. That's back in Daniel Chapter 9. And when he signs that seven-year treaty, this is the beginning of the opening of the seals we see here in Revelation Chapter 6.

The first 3 1/2 years are not so much the wrath and vexation, although they will be bad enough. The last 3 1/2 years are going to be terrible for those who must go through it. Remember, as you study Revelation, that all through Scripture these seven years are divided 3 1/2 and 3 1/2; 42 months and 42 months; 1260 days and 1260 days

Let's continue in Revelation Chapter 6. We left off in verse 2. Christ has taken the scroll from God the Father. And that scroll includes the mortgage that Satan is holding over the planet as a result of the curse. And the curse is going to be lifted by the time all of this is over. As we see the first seal of this mortgage removed, it's the appearance of a white horse. There are many who feel that, because it is a white horse, it has to be Christ. But I'm convinced it is the false christ, because from Genesis Chapter 3, just as soon as man entered the scene, Satan came in as the master counterfeiter.

"...and he that sat on him had a bow;..."

"Bow" is hard to track down since it can be pronounced and mean different things. You can't really define this word from the Greek as to what is implied, so I'll have to follow in the tracks of men I've read, that most agree it's the bow that would shoot arrows. But, from our study of the Anti-christ out of Daniel, I trust I made it clear that Anti-christ is not coming in using power of military might or by fighting wars. How is he going to come in? Peaceably and with flattery. He is going to be a political maneuverer - a charismatic type individual. He doesn't have to use his ammunition, but may come with the threat of power behind him which he will have. Even Western Europe still has NATO. But he doesn't actually have the military power yet. He hasn't come that far along.

"...and a crown was given unto him:..."

The world is going to recognize him as their leader. Remember, he will come up out of the Common Market of Europe. The European Community (EC). There will be 10 nations in all and he will come up and usurp the power. Look at Matthew 24. It's the perfect parallel of Revelation Chapter 6. So always compare the two. Note that Matthew 24 is all prophecy about the Tribulation. There is no Church Age doctrine in here whatsoever. This is strictly Tribulation ground.

"And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. 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.'"

Jesus was looking toward the siege of the Roman armies under Titus. And that is just what the armies did. Once they got inside the city wall they devastated the city. Josephus recorded (and it's not Scripture), that the Roman soldiers had heard it rumored that between the very building stones of Herod's Temple, there was a lot of gold and other kinds of wealth. And soldiers being soldiers, tore it down stone by stone looking for that supposedly hidden wealth. But whatever the reason, we know that the Temple was destroyed just as Jesus said it would be. This Temple could not be destroyed by fire like King Nebuchadnezzar did to Solomon's Temple, but remember Solomon's Temple was built from the beautiful cedars of Lebanon. So it burned to a crisp. But Herod's Temple was predominately of stone and of course the precious gold and silver, etc. But anyway it was all destroyed except that little segment of the wall that is now known as the Wailing Wall.

"And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately (just the Twelve), saying, `Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming (remember in I Corinthians 1:22, the Jew requires a sign. They wanted to know when His Kingdom would be set up), and of the end of the world?'"

Jesus now begins to lay out the events of the seven years. It begins from the appearance of the white horse in Revelation 6 - the Man of Sin, the counterfeit christ, the Anti-christ.

"And Jesus answered and said unto them, `Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, `I am Christ;...'"

Do you see that? That's the white horse. He's will come on the scene and practically convince the world that he is Christ. He's what the world is looking for. And we are already seeing people like that. Sigma Moon from Korea, about 15 years ago, tried to tell the world that he was the Christ. And we've had others, and we will have still more. But it's going to be culminated by the real counterfeiter, the real Anti-christ, and he's going to convince the world that he is the Christ and he shall deceive many. Going back to Revelation, stop at I John, Chapter 2 for a moment. This is the same writer who wrote the Book of Revelation. Now let's drop down to verse 18. And here again, as I have stressed before, is the one place where this Man of Sin is actually called the Anti-christ.

"Little children, it is the last time (these writers of Scriptures had no idea there was going to be 1900 + years before this would happen. They thought it would be coming in a relatively short time): and as ye have heard that antichrist (here John is speaking of the real Anti-christ) shall come, even now are there many antichrists;..."

Of course there are. But they can't hold a candle to the one that is coming. Now let's go back to Revelation Chapter 6. So we see this Man of Sin comes on the scene and he begins to conquer and overtake nations. He is setting up his power base.

"... and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. And when he had opened the second seal,..."

Remember these seals are on that mortgage, that scroll. He signs the seven-year treaty with the Nation of Israel as we saw back in Daniel. The next event which may be within the first month or so after the seven years have begun, is another horse. This one is red.

"And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon (the red horse) to take peace from the earth (when you have the absence of peace, what do you have? War. I mean a real one. So this power entity, this rider of the red horse is going to bring war on the earth), and that they should kill one another:" I want you to underline those last three words, because I think this indicates what I'm going to show is the rider of the red horse. We won't have time to take it all the way through during this lesson. But here we have the rider of the red horse, and his battle ground is going to be epitomized by not killing the enemy, but what are they going to do? They are going to kill each other. To whet your appetite, and as you are turning to Ezekiel, I want you to be thinking what great power on earth is associated with the color red? Russia. For over twenty years I've been teaching that I think the rider of the red horse will be the Russian invasion of Israel. Just as in Ezekiel 38 and 39. So in Chapter 38, and again, Ezekiel begins as he does so many times:

"And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, `Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,"

Most Bible scholars are convinced that Gog and Magog, Meshech and Tubal are Russia and her satellite nations. I have told my classes for quite some time not to believe for a minute that the Russian bear is dead. The Russian bear is alive and well. They may be crimped a little economically, and be a little cold and hungry, but the Russian army is sitting there east of the Ural Mountains just as intact as it has ever been. I read again in one of the major news magazines recently, that Russia has not cut one person from their staff of espionage. They are just as busy with their spying activity as they have always been. They have not slowed down the production of any of their war materials. They recently sent another rocket into space. How are they doing all of this if they are destitute and broke? Listen, they are just as alive as can be. And we know they have their problems, but one day soon the Communist will come back in and take over and Russia will be right back on track.

Editor's Note: The events of Revelation 6:4-8 and Ezekiel 39:1-9, which will also take place in the first 3 1/2 years of the tribulation, are covered under a separate question "What will happen to America during the tribulation?" a few pages ahead. Keep that in mind as we now move down a few verses from Revelation 6:4 to verse 9.

Let's go back to the horsemen of the Apocalypse in Revelation Chapter 6 for a quick review. First we have the appearance of the Anti-christ. He signs the seven-year treaty with Israel which gives them relative peace and safety. Then I feel you will have that great invasion of the red horde from the north, which in turn will precipitate a great demise in the food supply. That will trigger the famine (or the black horse in verses 5 and 6), as well as the pestilences. And remember that we showed you in Matthew 24 that Jesus foretold that these things were just the beginning of sorrow or travail. These are the beginning days of the Tribulation. It's going to be the most awful seven-year period in human history. We will be seeing that, as Jesus spoke of it in Matthew 24. But now, turn to Revelation Chapter 6. Remember, these horsemen were also seals, and we have four of the seals off (there were seven seals on the scroll to begin with). Now He opens the fifth seal. And John, in his visionary experience, of course:

"And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:"

I have to feel he was making reference to the Tribulation martyrs. Later we're going to show that, yes indeed, there will be multitudes of non-Jews who will have a salvation experience during this turmoil. But they will not live very long to tell about it, because it's going to be a period of time where they are going to be martyred immediately. These are the ones I feel that John sees in a prophetic light, and these who have been martyred for their faith will cry:

"And they cried with a loud voice, saying, `How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?'" And, of course, we know that He's going to.

"And white robes were given unto every one of them (that is, these that had been martyred for their faith); and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled."

That's all part of the fifth seal. Now we come to the sixth seal. Remember there's only seven that are holding this scroll together, and Christ is the One that is opening it in order to be able to read that mortgage and pay it off. Okay, we're coming back to that scroll that was in Revelation Chapter 5:

"And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and , lo, there was a great earthquake;..."

In Matthew 24, that was one of the things that Jesus had mentioned, that there would be famine and pestilence and earthquakes in divers places. We're already seeing a tremendous increase in earthquake activity; thousands of percent in the last twenty or thirty years. There's so many earthquakes taking place every day that the media doesn't even bother to report them. I read recently in one of the daily papers there where three or four earthquakes; not huge, but 4.6 or 5 on the Richter scale. There was one in China, one in Southern Russia and one in Iran. They're taking place every day. This is contrary to history; it hasn't always been that way. In verse 12 we're approaching the mid-point of this seven years. We're about at the end of 3 1/2 years as we get to the sixth seal.

"...and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;"

All you have to do is know the circumstances. When there's tremendous earthquakes, there's more than likely volcanic eruptions as well. As we know from the past, volcanoes can spew out so much dust that the sun can almost be blocked out. I think that's what we have here. It isn't that God all of a sudden is going to blacken the sun, per se. But as a result of all these activities on the planet, the sun will almost become like we've seen it at times, like a little red glow. And the moon became as blood, again because of all the pollution that has been blown into the atmosphere. Then verse 13. This is God dealing primarily with the Nation of Isr