There are very few pastors who can understand and relate the doctrines and the deep mysteries of the Bible in a way that the ‘everyday Christian’ can ascend to and inculcate into their daily lives.

Pastor Greg Blosser, (pastor of Church Planting, Covenant Naples Church, Naples, Florida), is one of those men.

Today, pastor Blosser delivered a sermon from Isaiah 35, “Advent in the Wilderness – Hills and Valleys”, and it is God inspired.

I have just written a post named, “Out There?”. Pastor Blosser answers some of the questions I raised.

Please listen. Be informed. Be inspired. Be ignited – to action!

Your Brother and Friend

Mike Young

Also, a great article asking, “Are ‘They’ Out There?”

“Are ‘they’ out there?”

Let me tell you about a man. He is, or rather was just a man, but he is a man with extraordinary gifts, talents and abilities. His name is Chuck Missler.

Missler graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1956 and received a Master’s degree in Engineering from UCLA. He worked for several years in the aerospace and computer industries. He joined the Ford Motor Company in 1963. Missler joined Western Digital as chairman and chief executive in June 1977 and became the largest shareholder of Western Digital.

Additionally, Dr. Chuck Missler, was an internationally known author, is among the best-known Bible expositors in the world, and was a prominent speaker on the subject of Bible prophecy and is featured on many Christian radio and television stations worldwide. He is well known for his Biblical studies including most notably Learn the Bible in 24 Hours, The Book of Genesis, and The Book of Daniel, as well as his topical studies Return of the Nephilim and his Angels series.

If you ever listened to any of his lectures or sermons, you too, would probably agree that he was a gifted if not a brilliant man.

Chuck Missler was also a devout Christian, and he was not afraid to push the boundaries of tradition. One area of particular interest and peculiarity was his studies on the Return of the Nephilim, which has raised more than a few eyebrows and created a few more winces along the way, but no one questions Missler’s sincerity and ability to dig deep and uncover the mysterious hidden gems in the Word.

Missler postulates that there is a time coming that Satan’s access to ‘roam the earth seeking whom he may devour’ will be restricted as will his ability to remain invisible. This also applies to the many demons of his kingdom. This visible manifestation of Satan and his dominion may be the reappearance of the Nephilim spoken of in the Bible and the mistaken identity of current day UFOs.  (Koinonia House articles).

My reason for raising this subject is an attempt to rattle the ‘Church cage’. We have, in the opinion of many, become comfortable and complacent to a point of lethargy. It is hard to explain to a ‘church goer’ or a Christian that we have drifted so far from our early Christian moorings, (roots), that we have no idea that we have even drifted away nor do we have any inkling from whence we might have come.

Oswald Chambers, (July 24, 1874 to November 15, 1917), a current day enormously popular early-twentieth-century Scottish Baptist evangelist, best known for the daily devotional My Utmost for His Highest, wrote

“The feebleness of the church is being criticized today, and the criticism is justified. One reason for the feebleness is that there has not been this focus on the true center of spiritual power. We have not dwelt enough on the tragedy of Calvary or on the meaning of redemption.” (written around 1900).

Another pastor, teacher and author, A.W. Tozier, (April 21, 1897 – May 12, 1963), was an American pastor, author, magazine editor, and spiritual mentor. Tozier received honorary doctorates from Wheaton and Houghton colleges, commented

“If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference.”

Again,

“To great sections of the church the art of worship has been lost entirely, and in its place has come that strange and foreign thing called the ‘program.’ This word has been borrowed from the stage and applied with sad wisdom to the type of public service which now passes for worship among us.”

Finally,

“The church has lost her testimony. She has no longer anything to say to the world. Her once robust shout of assurance has faded away to an apologetic whisper. She who one time went out to declare now goes out to inquire. Her dogmatic declaration has become a respectful suggestion, a word of religious advice, given with the understanding that it is after all only an opinion and not meant to sound bigoted. Pure Christianity, instead of being shaped by its culture, actually stands in sharp opposition to it.” (written in the early-to-mid 1900s).

The state of the Church, according to these criticisms of the church in late 1800’s through the mid 1900’s, has only grown worse and more distant from her calling. (See “Shipwrecked“)

A recent class I attended,  titled, “Jesus Outside the Lines: A Way Forward for Those Who Are Tired of Taking Sides” from the book by the same name, is a discussion to consider what it means to live a Christian life in deeply divided times. The question asked is “How can we move forward with the Gospel in this postmodern world?”. Are we asking how we can remain relevant and relatable?

I would suggest that we don’t continue ‘moving forward’ for the sake of being relevant or relatable, at all. We have already gone too far. We have lost our way in a new and foreign land of paganism. It is time we go back to our roots, back to the teaching and the methods of Jesus. God-seeking, Jesus-believing, Counter-cultural, soul-saving, living a redeemed and miraculous life. (Out there, huh?)

Chuck Missler, I believe, was also shaking the cage of the Church. His detractors might say, “Giants? Aliens? Really? Come on Chuck!” But these same people would hardly blink at giants in the Bible, Nephilim, ghosts and demons, as if to say, ‘yeah, then, and in the Bible, but not now!’

I still hear people in the Church say that the miracles Jesus performed were just for then and not for now. But Jesus’ own words proclaimed that we should do His Works and greater works yet because He has gone to the Father!

Faithless doubters, skeptics, arrogant disbelievers, lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. These pastors, teachers and Christians are leading millions more astray.

So, of course we are not doing the works Jesus did, let alone greater works. We don’t even believe it any longer.

It is also no wonder that when we hear words like, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:29-31), that we create our own version of what this means and go on our merry way, saying something like, “well, if it does happen, I’ll be in the rapture to heaven, anyway”.

We have been falsely taught, that all I had to do was ‘say a little prayer’ and ‘accept Jesus’ and I would be saved. Saved that is, with my current belief system fully intact. Aside from going to church and modifying my behavior just enough to satisfy the socio-religious rules that I determine necessary.

Other than some distinct oddities such as praying in public, supporting my church with a small stipend periodically, and the long chance of going on a mission trip event (or more likely a comfortable cruise or a trip to Israel), We, calling ourselves Christians, are hardly distinguishable from any other ‘polite person’ nor from the person I was before I was saved.  We are not in the model nor of the ilk of a first century Biblical Christian. We are adrift without the fear of God.

So, if you think the idea of Nephilim or alien life is ‘out there thinking’, what do you think about the end of this world beginning with a cosmic cataclysm. The sun and moon stop giving light, asteroids crash into the earth and the very powers of the heavens shaking. Then, Jesus visibly appearing in the sky amongst the clouds to the sound of a trumpet call and ‘the Elect of Christ’ are gathered up and taken into the heavens? (see Matthew 24:29-31)

We know, or at least suspect these days are at hand:

Daniel 12:1, “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.”

Matthew 24:21, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.”

So, if you believe, then you must not only believe ‘in Him’, but you must believe Him – and do as He says, and do it quickly. The Bible says your redemption is drawing near, time is short.

We have been given remarkably clear instructions on how to avoid the coming wrath. Yet we seem to have lost the desire or will to ‘endure to the end to be saved’. (We must first confess with our mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, and you will be saved; this means then that you must ‘die to self’, that is, give up our old life and be completely transformed in our thinking, attitudes and behavior and follow Jesus, doing what He has done and taught, and then teach others the same.)

As you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.  Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts, or a bag for your journey, or even two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is deserving of his support. ¹¹ And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay at his house until you leave that city. As you enter the house, give it your greeting. If the house is worthy, see that your blessing of peace comes upon it. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace. And whoever does not receive you nor listen to your words, as you leave that house or city, shake the dust off your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment, than for that city.

And, please remember dear friends, He has said that those who begin this journey, then look back or shrink back, are not worthy of His Kingdom. Let’s endure to the end and overcome!

Your Brother and Friend,

Mike Young

Also: A great video sermon answering important questions

THE 7 BOWL JUDGMENTS

Revelation 16:2 , “So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth; and it became a loathsome and malignant sore on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.

Verse 3.  “The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man; and every living thing in the sea died.

Verse 4.  “Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood.

Verse 5.  “And I heard the angel of the waters saying, “Righteous are You, who are and who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things;

Verse 6.  “For they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it.”

Verse 7.  “And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.”

Verse 8.  “The fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun, and it was given to it to scorch men with fire.

Verse 9.  “Men were scorched with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory.

Verse 10.  “Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain,

Verse 11.  “And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds.

Verse 12.  “The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east.

Verse 13.  “And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs;

Verse 14.  “For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.

Verse 15.  (“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.”)

Verse 16.  “And they gathered them together to the place, which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.

Verse 17.  “Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, “It is done.”

Verse 18.  “And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty.

Verse 19.  “The great city was split into three parts, and the ‘cities of the nations’ fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.

Verse 20.  “And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.

Verse 21.  “And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe.”

Armageddon –

7^th Bowl of Wrath – “It is done.”

What follows:

Revelation 17.

The Doom of Babylon,

Victory for the Lamb,

 Revelation 18.

Babylon Is Fallen,

Lament for Babylon,

The Fourfold Hallelujah,

Revelation 19.

Marriage of the Lamb,

The Coming of Christ,

Doom of the Beast and False Prophet,

 Revelation 20.

 Satan Bound,

Satan Freed, Doomed,

Judgment at the Throne of God,

 Revelation 21.

 The New Heaven and Earth,

The New Jerusalem,

 Revelation 22.

 The River and the Tree of Life,

The Final Message:

Revelation 22:6 “And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”

Verse 7. “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

Verse 8. “I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, verse 9, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

Verse 10. “And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Verse 11. Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”

Verse 12. “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. Verse 13. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Verse 14. “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Verse 15. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

Verse 16. “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

Verse 17. “The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

Verse 18. “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, verse 19, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

Verse 20. “He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

“The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.” – Revelation 22:21.

Your Brother and Friend,

Mike Young

PREVIOUS: Part 4 – The 7 Trumpet Judgments.

Part 3 – Where are we on the End Times Clock?

Part 2 – Daniel’s 70 Weeks.

Part 1 – The beginning of the End of the Age: Harbingers.

DEAR FRIENDS, PLEASE NOTE:  If you are a devoted follower of Jesus, please pray and consider what you have read, and be concerned that, by all accounts, it appears that the first 5 Tribulation Judgment Seals are broken, and that we are nearing the 6th Tribulation Seal being opened. Time is very short. All Christians have a responsibility which we cannot escape, and dereliction of our calling and duties will reveal the true nature of each of our hearts and of our salvation. The advent of the 6th Tribulation Seal is the beginning of the Days of Wrath, to which you are not appointed if you are truly a follower of Jesus.

*If you are not a believer and follower of Jesus, I thank you for reading this far, but I must warn you that your fate at this moment is almost sealed. If you die before the 6th Tribulation Seal, you will suffer unimaginable sorrows and loss. And, if by some reason you manage to live during the coming cataclysms, and you fail to repent (by the 6th Judgment Trumpet) and surrender yourself to Jesus by seeking Him as your Savior and your salvation, you are doomed to an eternity in the Lake of Fire – an eternity in hell. This is deadly serious. Please, turn to Him today.

The Tribulation Seals Completed – The announcement of the 7 Trumpet Judgments.

The first 5 Seal Judgments are completed and the 6th Seal Judgment is the beginning of the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord and the Wrath of the Lamb. Next comes the Trumpet Judgements:

Revelation 8:7 says, “The first (trumpet) sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.”

Verse 8.  “The second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood,

Verse 9. “and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed.”

Verse 10.  “The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters.

Verse 11. “The name of the star is called Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter.”

Verse 12.  “The fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way.

Verse 13.  “Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”

Revelation 9:1.  “Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him. 2He opened the bottomless pit, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. 3Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

Verse 13. ”Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,

Verse 14.  “one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”

Verse 15. “And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released, so that they would kill a third of mankind.

Verse 16. “The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.

Verse 20. “The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; 21and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.”

(* “How Long?”) This is very complex and confusing for almost every reader. This is meant to be a footnote: There will be 1,290 days of desolation)

Daniel 12:11.  “From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.

Verse 12.  “How blessed is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1,335 days! 13“But as for you, go your way to the end; then you will enter into rest and rise again for your allotted portion at the end of the age.”

Both of these prophecies deal with specific time periods associated with the seven-year tribulation. The tribulation begins with the signing of a peace treaty between the Antichrist and Israel, intended to be for one “seven,” that is, a set of seven years.

But the “seven” is divided into halves: midway through the seven years, the Antichrist breaks the treaty and sets up in the temple a sacrilegious object (the “abomination that causes desolation”).

The phrase “in the middle” indicates that the first half of the tribulation lasts for 3½ years (1,260 days, using a “prophetic year” of 360 days). Likewise, the second half of the tribulation lasts another 1,260 days (another 3½ years), for a total of seven years.

The 1,260 days of the second half of the tribulation begins as the Antichrist breaks the treaty, occupies the third Jewish temple, and sets up a profane and sacrilegious object of worship. This 1,260-day period ends when the Antichrist is defeated at the battle of Armageddon upon Jesus’ return to earth. At that time, the tribulation will be at an end.

NOTE: The Sixth Trumpet is a Key ‘Time Marker’ for the Mid-Point of the Great Tribulation. It is at this point that no one will be saved from the remaing Judgments.

Revelation 9:13. “Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,

Verse 14. “one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”

Verse 15.  “And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released, so that they would kill a third of mankind.

Verse 16.  “The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.

Verse 17.  “And this is how I saw in the vision the horses and those who sat on them: the riders had breastplates the color of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone; and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and brimstone.

Verse 18.  “A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which proceeded out of their mouths.

Verse 19.  “For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents and have heads, and with them they do harm.

Verse 20.  “The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; Verse 21, and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.”

The Angel and the Little Book – Key Time Marker

Mid-Point of the Tribulation

(*The first 3.5 years of the Great Tribulation have passed at this point)

Revelation 10:1  “I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire;

Verse 2.  “and he had in his hand a little book which was open. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land;

Verse 3.  “and he cried out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars; and when he had cried out, the seven peals of thunder uttered their voices.

Verse 4.  “When the seven peals of thunder had spoken, I was about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken and do not write them.”

Verse 5.  “Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven,

Verse 6.  “and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, WHO CREATED HEAVEN AND THE THINGS IN IT, AND THE EARTH AND THE THINGS IN IT, AND THE SEA AND THE THINGS IN IT, that there will be delay no longer,

Verse 7.  “but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He preached to His servants the prophets.

Verse 8.  “Then the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and saying, “Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land.”

Verse 9.  “So I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book. And he said to me, “Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.”

Verse 10.  “I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. 11And they said to me, “You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”

Revelation 11: 1  “Then there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, “Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it.

Verse 2.  “Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months.

Verse 3.  “And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”

Verse 4.  “These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.

Verse 5.  “And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way.

Verse 6.  “These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.”

Verse 7.  “When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them.

Verse 8.  “And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.

Verse 9.  “Those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb.

Verse 10.  “And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.

Verse 11.  “But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them.

Verse 12.  “And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” Then they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them.

Verse 13.  “And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

Verse 14.  “The second woe is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

The Seventh Trumpet — Christ’s Reign Foreseen

Verse 15.  “Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” 16And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God,

Verse 17 . “saying, “We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.

Verse 18.  “And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”

Verse 19.  “And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.

• • • Revelation 11:3 specifically mentions 1,260 days, which corresponds exactly with Daniel’s prophecy of the abomination of desolation.
    • In Revelation, we have an added detail: two divinely appointed witnesses will preach and perform miracles for half of the tribulation—the first half—according to the chronology of Revelation.
    • These two witnesses are killed at the midpoint of the tribulation; their bodies will lie in the streets for three and a half days as the world celebrates their demise; then they will be resurrected and taken up to heaven (Revelation 11:7–13).
    • The 1,260 days of the second half of the tribulation begins as the Antichrist breaks the treaty, occupies the third Jewish temple, and sets up a profane and sacrilegious object of worship.
    • This 1,260-day period ends when the Antichrist is defeated at the battle of Armageddon upon Jesus’ return to earth. At that time, the tribulation will be at an end.

Here is a summarization of the timeline:

• Sometime after the rapture of the church, which occurs at the 6th Seal, the Antichrist enters a treaty with Israel. This begins the seven-year tribulation period.
• At the midpoint of the tribulation, at the blowing of the 6^th Trumpet Judgment, (1,260 days later), the Antichrist breaks the treaty, desecrates the temple, and begins to persecute the Jews.
• At the end of the tribulation period, (1,260 days after the desecration of the temple), Jesus Christ returns to earth and defeats the forces of the Antichrist.
• During the next 30 days (leading up to 1,290 days after the desecration of the temple), Israel is rebuilt, and the earth is restored.
• During the next 45 days (leading up to 1,335 days after the desecration of the temple), the Gentile nations are judged for their treatment of Israel.
• The dispensation of the millennium begins, and it will last for a literal 1,000 years (Revelation 20:3, 5–6).

NEXT:  Part 5 – The 7 Bowl Judgments.

PREVIOUS:  Part 3 – Where are we on the End Times Clock?

The Bible’s “Daniel’s Seventy Weeks’ Prophecy” is one of the most significant and detailed Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. Starting around 538 B.C., it presents a prophetic path of earth’s history as it concerns God’s Plan of Perfection for humankind and the cosmos, to its fiery conclusion. This amazing prophecy is found in the Bible’s Old Testament book of Daniel, chapter nine.

The chapter begins with Daniel praying for Israel, acknowledging the nation’s sins against God and asking for God’s mercy. As Daniel prayed, the angel Gabriel appeared to him and gave him a vision of Israel’s future.

In verse 24, Gabriel says, “Seventy ‘Sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city.” Almost all commentators agree that the seventy “sevens” should be understood as seventy “weeks” of years, in other words, a period of 490 years. These verses provide a sort of “clock” that gives an idea of when the Messiah would come and some of the events that would accompany His appearance.

The prophecy goes into such detail as to divide the 490 years into three smaller units:

• one of 49 years,
• one of 434 years, and
• one of 7 years.
• The final “week” of 7 years is further divided in half. Verse 25 says,
  

• • • “From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem (445 BC)
    • until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, (30 A.D.)
    • there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and
    • sixty-two ‘sevens.’”
      

• Seven “sevens” is 49 years, and
• sixty-two “sevens” is another 434 years:

1. When did Daniel have his vision about the End of Days?                  

660 BC

2. What is Daniel’s Seventy Weeks?                     

The prophecy contains a statement concerning God’s six-fold purpose in bringing these events to pass. Verse 24 says this purpose is

1) “to finish transgression,”

2) “to put an end to sin,”

3) “to atone for wickedness,”

4) “to bring in everlasting righteousness,”

5) “to seal up vision and prophecy,” and

6) “to anoint the most holy.”

Notice that these results concern the total eradication of sin and the establishing of righteousness. The prophecy of the 70 weeks summarizes what happens before the End of the Age, and when Jesus sets up His millennial kingdom.  (From Gotquestions.org, seventy weeks)

3. When did the 70 Weeks (490 years) begin?

Gabriel said the prophetic clock would start at the time that a decree was issued to rebuild Jerusalem. From the date of that decree, 445 BC, to the time of the Messiah (30 AD) would be 483 years. We know from history that the command to “restore and rebuild Jerusalem” was given by King Artaxerxes of Persia c. 445 B.C. (see Nehemiah 2:1-8).

The first unit of 49 years (seven “sevens”) covers the time that it took to rebuild Jerusalem, “with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble” (see Daniel 9:25). This rebuilding is chronicled in the book of Nehemiah.

Using the Jewish custom of a 360-day year, 483 years after 445 B.C. places us at A.D. 30, which would coincide with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem (see Matthew 21:1-9). The prophecy in Daniel 9 specifies that after the completion of the 483 years, “the Anointed One will be cut off” (verse 26). This was fulfilled when Jesus was crucified.

Daniel 9:26 continues with a prediction that, after the Messiah is killed, “the people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.” This was fulfilled with the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. The “ruler who will come” is a reference to the Antichrist, who, it seems, will have some connection with Rome, since it was the Romans who destroyed Jerusalem.  (From Gotquestions.org, seventy weeks)

4. When does the final week, the 70th Week of Daniel, begin?

Read again, in Daniel 9:26, the prediction that, after the Messiah is killed, “the people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.” This was fulfilled with the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

This issue has been hotly debated for centuries.  Scriptures have been clear. A simple face-value reading of scriptures leads to the conclusion that the final 7 Weeks, the ‘birth pains’ also known as a period of tribulation (not to be confused with the Great Tribulation Period or the “Wrath of the Lamb”), will END with the breaking of the breaking of the Tribulation 6th Seal.

 After that, the Mid-Point of the Great Tribulation, (after 3 1/2 years) begins with the blowing of the 6th Tribulation Trumpet and will conclude after the pouring out of the 6th Tribulation Bowl Judgment.

5. What will happen to the people on earth?

All of those who, by faith, have repented of their sins, and who have confessed Jesus as savior and followed Him in obedience, will be saved. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 says, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Verse 17. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.”

6. Is there anything I need to do to get ready for these events?

Yes.  Romans10:9, says, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; verse 10. For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

Matthew24:42 also tells us, “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. Verse 43. “But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. Verse 44. “For this reason, you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

Verse 45.  “Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? Verse 46.  “Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.”

“Giving hem their food at the proper time” means you are to be teaching them about Jesus, His Gospel Message, and making them disciples of Jesus and teaching them to go and make other disciples.  (Click the link here for a timeline comparison chart:  Daniel’s 70 Weeks – A comparison of a World History Timeline, Daniel’s 70 Weeks Timeline, and A Biblical Timeline.

NEXT: Part 3 – Where are we on The End Times Clock?

PREVIOUS: Part 1 – The beginning of the End of the Age: Harbingers.

Whether you think of it as a joke or take it seriously, people ranging from doomsday prognosticators, Nostradamus followers, MIT grads who have build end-of-worlds computer predictive models, to climate-change-fatalists, there is intense interest in the End of the Age and the Last Days of earth. The most reliable source in terms of up-to-date accuracy and detailed prophecies, however, is the Bible. For example, the Bible tells that in the coming decades, there will be events which are harbingers to the end of this earth age. These events will occur in sequence, then begin to overlap and increase in intensify until a great cosmic cataclysm will occur, wiping clean the face of the earth and eventually, the both the heavens and the earth will be consumed in a fervent heat.

I have prepared this essay in 5 parts.

PART 1.

The Bible tells of the harbingers to watch for and of the events that will lead up to the End of the Age:

• False Christ’s and false Messiah’s,
• Wars,
• Famines,
• Earthquakes,
• Hatred, persecution and martyrdom of Christians,
• A great falling away from the Christian faith.
• The appearance of a charismatic leader who will seem able to solve the world’s worst problems, only to become a vile person of unimaginable evil, creating a global nightmare of unrivaled carnage, death and destruction.
• Cataclysmic cosmic events.
• Cataclysmic terrestrial events.

Here is the beginning of the discourse of the End of the Age between Jesus and his disciples:

Matthew 24:3 says,  “As He, (Jesus), was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

Verse 4, And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you.

Verse 5, “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many.

Verse 6, “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.

Verse 7, “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.

Verse 8, “But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

Verse 9, “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.”

So, when will these things happen?

Many of these harbinger events began as early as B.C. 2 and have progressively appeared, overlapping one another and increased in intensity and frequency:

I. Many will come IN MY (Jesus’) NAME:

This can be someone literally saying ‘I am the Christ’, but it is proving to be those who consider themselves as an emissary of Christ – such as ‘ordained pastors’ – who speak for Christ, but are blindly following ‘new age’ or errant doctrines; or, as we are clearly seeing, now, in our day, ‘institutional deception’, where entire denominations fall away from the clear teachings of Jesus and lead millions astray. (Also see“Shipwrecked”).

So, how can we know ‘which of the false Christs‘ Jesus is referring to, WHICH WILL MARK THE ‘END OF THE AGE’? Keep reading!

II. WARS and rumors of war:

There have been thousands upon thousands of wars and conflicts since the time of Christ. Most notable for their scope and breadth are the

• Religious Crusades (1095 – 1291, Muslims vs Latin Church, almost 2 million dead),
• WWI (1914 – 1918, 17 million dead), and
• WW2 (1939 – 1945, over 70 million dead).

Current wars and conflicts 2018: Interactive global conflict tracker.

So, how can we know ‘which wars and rumors of wars‘ Jesus is referring to, WHICH WILL MARK THE ‘END OF THE AGE’? Keep reading!

III. EARTHQUAKES & VOLCANOES:

Earthquakes are nothing new. In fact, they are so numerous that I can only give you a web link by period of time and let you view what has been recorded. But, Jesus did warn they would come.

Lists of earthquakes by period

• Before 1901
• 1901–2000
• 2001–present

Seismic Event List Index

Volcanoes are nothing new, either, but it would seem that seismic events (volcanoes) are on the rise.

Figure 1. Graph showing the number of volcanoes reported to have been active each year since 1800 CE. Total number of volcanoes with reported eruptions per year (thin upper black line) and 10-year running mean of same data (thick upper red line). Lower lines show only the annual number of volcanoes producing large eruptions (>= 0.1 km3 of tephra or magma) and scale is enlarged on the right axis; thick red lower line again shows 10-year running mean. See text for discussion.

Figure 2. Graph showing known historically active volcanoes, number of volcanoes reported to be active each year, and population. The line labeled “Known Historically Active Volcanoes” (right scale) is the cumulative number of volcanoes with an historically recorded eruption by that year. “Volcanoes Active Per Year” since 1400 CE (black line) and 10-year running mean of same data (thick red line) is also based on reported eruptions (those with uncertainty dates greater than 1 year are not included, nor are uncertain eruptions). “Population” (right scale) is the world’s estimated human population; data from McEvedy and Jones (1978) and (since 1750) Population Reference Bureau, Washington, D.C. See text for further explanation.

At first glance the nearly exponential increase through recent centuries suggests that the planet may soon be overwhelmed by volcanic activity, but this increase tracks the striking growth of global population (dashed line on figure 1) that has spread potential observers of eruptions over much of the Earth and the technological advances that have facilitated reporting of those eruptions. Another indicator of the growth of the record is the increase in the total number of known historically active volcanoes (upper line on figure 2). These are not newly-formed volcanoes, but already established features (or volcanic fields) that clearly had numerous previous eruptions. If a list had been continuously kept, about 2000 years ago, it would have contained only the names of nine Mediterranean volcanoes and West Africa’s Mount Cameroon. In the next ten centuries, the list would have grown by only 30 names, 18 of them Japanese. Although newly settled Iceland soon added seven volcanoes, the list totaled only 63 by 1400 CE.

Global Volcanism Program, 2013. Volcanoes of the World, v. 4.8.5. Venzke, E (ed.). Smithsonian Institution. Downloaded 14 Jan 2020.

So, how can we know ‘which EARTHQUAKES‘ Jesus is referring to, WHICH WILL MARK THE ‘END OF THE AGE’? Keep reading!

IV. FAMINES:

Famines have taken hundreds of millions of lives since the time of Christ, so this is nothing new, either.

So, how can we know ‘which FAMINES‘ Jesus is referring to, WHICH WILL MARK THE ‘END OF THE AGE’? Keep reading!

V. PERSECUTION:

Jesus tells us there will be a worldwide persecution of Christians. A look at history shows us that In the first few centuries, Christianity grew quickly. By A.D. 325, an estimated 7 million people were Christians, with as many as 2 million killed for their faith in Jesus.

However, according to a Christian think-tank. The Center for the Study of Global Christianity (CSGC) says 900,000 Christians have been ‘martyred’ in the last decade, equating to 90,000 a year and one every six minutes.

This may be the most dangerous time in history to be Christian

At least 327 million Christians face persecution, according to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), which released its biannual report on Religious Freedom in the World in November 2018. That is 7 percent of the world’s 2.3 billion Christians, estimated by Pew Research Center in 2015.

245 million Christians in the top 50 countries on Open Doors USA’s 2019 World Watch List experience high levels of persecution (i.e.: torture, rape, sex-slavery, for conversion to Christianity, murder and genocide), an increase of 14 percent from 2018. Sixty percent of those enduring persecution are children; women and girls are most violated. Release International, a UK-based human rights watchdog in operation for the past 50 years who partner with U.S.-based “Voice of the Martyrs” said they expect global anti-Christian persecution is set to rise ‘sharply’ in 2019. – (Read the report here)

So, how can we know ‘which period of Christian Persecution‘ Jesus is referring to, WHICH WILL MARK THE ‘END OF THE AGE’? Yes, Keep reading!

So, where does all of this lead?

1. You will know when ‘The End of the Age’ is near, not when one or two of these events occur, but when ALL of ‘these things’ occur and converge concurrently, as Jesus said they would; then these things are the harbinger of ‘those things’ which have come to pass. (Also, see “The Tribulation of Those Days’).

2. The phrase “the beginning of birth pangs” is a statement made by Jesus in or around the year AD 30 and is a translation of the Greek archē _ ōdin . The meaning of the phrase, translated in the KJV as “the beginning of sorrows” is a direct reference to preliminary birth pangs that ultimately lead to the full scale contractions and travail, which leads to the actual birth.

Recognizing the Old Testament reference that Jesus was hearkening to is an essential, but often overlooked, key to determining the timing of the prophecy. Jesus was pointing his disciples to two key passages from the prophet Isaiah.

The first passage is Isaiah 26, a portion of Scripture found in the middle of what is sometimes referred to as “Isaiah’s little apocalypse”. There, the Lord speaks through Isaiah, specifically contrasting the expectations of the Jewish people regarding deliverance, redemption and physical resurrection with the reality of the pain, suffering and travail that they had corporately experienced. In verses 16-18, the complaint of Israel is raised that despite having endured the great suffering of labor, the expected “birth” of deliverance, redemption and resurrection had not arrived.

NEXT:  Part 2 – Daniel’s 70 Weeks.