“Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.
10 “At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.” Matthew 24:9
Consider what is happening WORLD WIDE. Look at the atrocities being committed by ISIS and I ask, “Are we are seeing a worldwide precursor to this prophecy in our day?
Islam is saying it will ‘cleanse’ the world of infidels and usher in the prophetic
END OF DAYS.
http://biblehub.com/joel/2-31.htm
Now, before you click off this page because this proposal doesn’t fit your brand of ESCHATOLOGY or ‘doctrines of the Last Things’, PLEASE consider the following possibilities. It could make a big difference. Please…
Is the current persecution and slaughter of Christians a return to the type of persecution the early church suffered?
The book of Revelation puts it this way:
Rev 5: 9 ¶ When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained;
10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
11 And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.
We saw a great persecution of the early Christians and we have seen terrible persecution of Christians throughout our brief history and those Christians will be included in this SEAL, Jesus is clearly referring to a ‘falling away’ or an apostasy in the latter days. We must remember to keep these scriptures and Jesus discussion in the context it was given.
Jesus is describing to terrible times. But they practically pale in comparison to what is getting ready to happen. (Go to the bottom of this page for more on this)
Revelation 8 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Is it possible that we have entered the Seal Judgments and nearer a “Rapture” than previously thought?
Through out scriptures, we see that ‘mankind’ and religious experts have missed the significance of what they were seeing becuase they had framed prophecies in terms of thier own experience or their own religious veiws.
Interestingly, the idea or doctrine of a biblical ‘Rapture’ was introduced and made popular in the early 1900’s. Since that time, most doctrines of eschatology (the study of Biblical End Times) have been constructed to fit particular denominational belief systems. So, it is no wonder that there are multiple views of the timing of the rapture and the tribulation period. And because the plain language of the bible has been rearranged to fit certain denominational belief systems most views of the rapture have become impossibly confusing and irrational.
If we follow Biblical reason, then the facts, timing and warnings related to biblical eschatology begin to make sense.
If the subject of the Rapture and a seven-year Tribulation are kept in context of the entire Bible and, whenever possible, are taken at face-value, an amazingly clear picture emerges. The Bible teaches and warns about
- A “tribulation period”, also known as “Times of Distress” followed by
- “A GREAT TRUMPET sounding” and “GATHER(ing) TOGETHER (of) His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other”, followed by
- “A Great Tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.”, also known as the “Wrath of the Lamb” or the “Great and Terrible Day of the Lord”
But, for this section, I want us to focus on events described Matthew 24:9 and Revelation 5:9 (corresponding events related to the Tribulation period.
Jesus says, in Matt 24:9
“Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.
10 “At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.
Consider what is happening WORLD WIDE. Look at Islam and I ask, “Are we are seeing a worldwide precursor to this prophecy in our day?
A return to the type of persecution the early church suffered?
The book of Revelation puts it this way:
Revelation says, in the FIFTH SEAL, Rev 5:9
Rev 5: 9 ¶ When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained;
10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
11 And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.
We saw a great persecution of the early Christians and we have seen terrible persecution of Christians throughout our brief history and those Christians will be included in this SEAL, Jesus is clearly referring to a ‘falling away’ or an apostasy in the latter days. We must remember to keep these scriptures and Jesus discussion in the context it was given.
The next verses give us an interlude or a recapitulation which we can use to define the chronology of these events.
The next EVENTS are so terrible that Jesus seems to stop is discourse to emphasize what is next and how to GET READY.
Read more on this “alternate view” in light of events of the last 50 years and current events, click on the image of the sky being peeled back (above) or click this arrow:
Jesus is describing terrible times. But they practically pale in comparison to what is getting ready to happen after the 6th and 7th seals.
The Seventh Seal—the Trumpets
Revelation 8:1 When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
3 Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, so that he might [a]add it to the prayers of all the [b]saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense, [c]with the prayers of the [d]saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel [e]took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, and threw it to the earth; and there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
6 And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them.
7 The first 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.
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, 9 and a third of the creatures which were in the sea [f]and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed.
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.
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.
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.
13 Then I looked, and I heard [g]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!”
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+8&version=NASB
Your Brother and Friend,
Mike Young
Whitestone Fellowship 