Will 2012 Be the End of the Age?

Much like the Y2K hype that, well, fizzled after about 18 months of hype by the media and every two-bit marketing shyster that could put together a sentence, the 2012 doomsday hype machine is changing gears and, if nothing else, hoping to cash in on the Mayan prediction.  According to this Mayan prediction, the end of the current age will take place on December 21, 2012.  But is there any truth to this prediction that has snared the public?  Let’s take a look at what the Bible says about the end of the age.

In Matthew 24:3, the disciples asked Jesus about the sign of the end of the age.  Jesus replied to them in Matthew 24:4-28, describing the various events that will happen just before the end of the age.  Earthquakes in diverse places.  Famine.  Wars and rumors of wars.  Nation rising against nation.  False Christs and false prophets.  Persecution.  Lawlessness increased.  Betrayal and hatred of one another.  The antichrist declaring himself to be God in the Israeli temple, and a great tribulation to follow.

At this point in time, the third temple in Israel hasn’t been completed, so there is no temple for the antichrist to commit blasphemy (also called the abomination of desolation).  We also know from reading the book of the prophet Daniel that the antichrist comes on the scene making a covenant with many for one week of years, but will declare himself to be God in the middle of this covenant period, or the 3 1/2 year mark (Daniel 9:27).  Daniel 12:11 goes a little further and explains that from the day of the abomination of desolation, there will be 1290 days, or 3 1/2 years.

Without going into the book of Revelation and explaining the opening of the seals, the beast (which is also another name of the antichrist) and the false prophet, it’s clear that we’ve already passed the 3 1/2 year mark to December 21, 2012 (the 3 1/2 year point happened back in June of 2009).  No third temple exists in Israel.  No covenant has been made with many.  No one has declared himself to be God in the Israeli holy place.  I can say with all certainty that from a Biblical perspective, 2012 will not mean the end of the world.  However…

What I can tell you is this:  no one knows the day or the hour of the coming of Jesus (Matthew 24:36,42) except God, and He will come at a time when you don’t think He will.  (Matthew 24:44)  While Jesus outlined the signs of His coming in Matthew 24:4-28, He is also coming for those who believe in Him before the tribulation of the end of days “like a thief in the night,” according to 1 Thessalonians 5:2.  This event is most commonly referred to as the rapture of the church.  The rapture is a signless and imminent event.  In other words, nothing is required to happen prophetically-speaking and the Lord could call His believers to meet Him in the clouds at any second.  Are you ready?

Open your mouth and tell Jesus you’re a sinner.  Ask for His forgiveness and His free gift of salvation.  If you’re sincere and it’s coming from your heart, He will make you a new person on the inside that very instant and you will live with Him for all of eternity when you physically die or are raptured.

Folks, I have never witnessed so many pieces falling into place and prophetic words from 2000 years ago coming to pass so quickly.  I believe time is short.  If you haven’t given your life to Jesus, please do it today.  Even if there are years to go before the end of the age, no man is guaranteed another day.  A decision to follow Christ is the most important decision you will make because it determines your eternal destination.  A non-belief in Jesus is the same as rejecting Him.

Many Shall Run To and Fro, and Knowledge Shall Be Increased

I recently found another amazing blogger whose writings to date line up with what I understand to be Biblically-based. (You can follow her on Twitter at elizabethprata">@elizabethprata.) Elizabeth, on a recent entry in her blog, outlines the meaning of Daniel’s words about the end times, where many shall run to-and-fro, and knowledge shall be increased. It’s a good read with some great perspectives on what many think this means, as well as what else it could mean.

http://the-end-time.blogspot.com/2009/09/what-does-it-mean-many-shall-go-to-and.html

Signs of the Times: Euphrates River Drying Up

(h/t: @endtimesnews). Now when the New York Times is beginning to recognize the signs of the end of days, you know things are getting serious. A two-year drought, combined with the water policies of Turkey and Syria and misuse by Iraq have culminated in the Euphrates drying up. The river is drying up just as the book of Revelation predicts will happen during the Tribulation: “The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East.” (Revelation 16:12, NASB).

[Link:www.nytimes.com]

Forecast: The Son Will Reign Forever

I wish I could claim to have come up with the title of this week’s commentary, but the honors go to my Twitter friend @heiresstonya (website: Tonya’s Treasures). Her quick one-liner earlier this week was the inspiration for this article.

Folks, I’m here to tell you something today that is of extreme importance. Jesus is going to reign forever and ever. There won’t be elections when Jesus takes the throne. There won’t be petty squabbles between Democrats and Republicans. There won’t be signs and posters pasted to every telephone pole and occupying every street corner attempting to influence your vote. I’m not a prophet, but I can read the scriptures and tell you this: the Son will reign forever.

In Luke 1:26-38, the angel Gabriel visited the virgin Mary. He told her that she would become pregnant with a son, whom she should name Jesus, and that He would rule over the house of Jacob forever and that His kingdom would have no end.

There is significant importance to this message. It’s not enough that the Bible tells us that Jesus would rule over the house of Jacob forever. The scripture also says that His kingdom would have no end. The Son will reign forever, my friends.

In Exodus 15, Moses and the sons of Israel sang out a song to the Lord and, in it, proclaimed, “The Lord shall reign forever and ever.”

Psalm 146 tells us, “The Lord will reign forever.”

Now let me tell you how it’s going to come about. At the end of the seven-year tribulation on planet Earth, the armies of the world are going to be gathered together in Meggido to battle Jesus. Jesus will come out of heaven on a white horse dressed in a robe dipped in blood with eyes aflame. He will come in righteousness to judge and wage war. Jesus will open His mouth and slay the nations with the Word of God. Revelation 19:15 tells us, “From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.”

Christ will rule on earth for 1,000 years, after which Satan will be released for a time and will deceive nations from the four corners of the earth. But his armies will be devoured by fire from heaven. Satan and his followers will then be cast into the lake of fire and God will bring about a new heaven, a new earth and a new Jerusalem and will reign over us for eternity.

There are only two roads. One is to eternal life with Jesus. The other road is the combination of every other road that doesn’t lead to Jesus. If you’ve been taught that all roads lead to heaven, you’ve been fed a lie. If you’ve been told that Muslims and Christians worship the same God, you’ve been deceived. If you’ve been told all your life that praying to Mary, the mother of Jesus, can help you get an intercession with Him or protection, you’ve been deceived. There is only one way to heaven, and all other roads lead to eternal torment in the lake of fire. Pick up the absolute truth of God’s word today and make a decision to come to Christ today by asking Him to come into your heart, admitting that you’re a sinner and asking that your sins be washed away. If you’re sincere, He’ll do it and He’ll do it instantly. You’ll instantly become a new creation in Christ Jesus and be born again.

The Son will reign forever. My question to you is, where will you be?

Is the Rapture Pre-Tribulation?

I had an interesting conversation with another believer in Christ over the last few days regarding the timing of the rapture.  While the belief in the rapture and its timing is insignificant for salvation, the exchange was certainly an inspiration for this week’s commentary.

There are four major camps when it comes to the timing of the rapture, or the event when Christians will be “caught up” to meet the Lord in the air as described by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:17.  The post-tribulation rapture, the mid-tribulation rapture, the pre-wrath rapture and, finally, the pre-tribulation rapture.

To better understand the rapture, you have to realize that the second coming of Christ is not the rapture.  How do we know the difference?  There are two main differences between the rapture of the church and the second coming of Christ.

First, the location is different.  In the rapture, as described in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, Christians ascend from the ground and meet the Lord in the air.  During the second coming, those who have been with the Lord in heaven descend with Him to earth for the battle of armageddon and Jesus sets foot on the Mount of Olives, which subsequently splits in two from east to west and creates a very large valley (Zechariah 14:4).

Second, the reason is different.  The rapture is an event used to raise the bodies of believers from their graves as well as those who are alive on Earth and give them incorruptible bodies.  In Paul’s first letter to those in Corinth, he said “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”  (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).

The Revelation of Jesus Christ given to John gives us a very clear indication that the second coming of Christ will not be about meeting us the clouds and providing us with imperishable bodies:  ”And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.  His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.  He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and HIs name is called The Word of God.  And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.  From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.  And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.’”  (Revelation 19:11-16)

As you can see, the rapture is Jesus taking the faithful back to heaven with Him.  The second coming is Jesus returning to Earth to wage war on the nations that oppose Him.

While I believe scripture provides evidence of a pre-tribulation rapture, let me give a brief synopsis of the other popular scenarios.

The post-tribulation belief espouses that Christians who have managed to survive all seven years of the tribulation will be taken into the air to meet Jesus along with the dead in Christ.  The problem with this theory is that it doesn’t conform with Jesus’ teachings in Matthew 24:42, “Therefore be on alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.”  If the post-tribulation rapture were true, we could know the exact day in which our Lord is coming.  The Old Testament prophet Daniel wrote about the Anti-Christ:  ”And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”  (Daniel 9:27).  One week in Daniel is representative of one week of years, so “one week” means “seven years”.  From the day the Anti-Christ makes a firm covenant with the many, there are seven years left before Christ returns.  After the first 3 1/2 years of the Anti-Christ’s reign, he will enter the Temple of God and declare himself God, also known as the abomination of desolation.  In Daniel 12:11, we learn that, after asking how long will it be until the end of these wonders, “From the time that the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.”  If the rapture was post-tribulation, we could calculate the exact date of Christ’s return.  But there’s one more problem with a post-tribulation rapture.  Paul tells us not once, but twice that Jesus will not put us through wrath.  In 1 Thessalonians 1:10, Paul wrote, “and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.”  In 1 Thessalonians 5:9, Paul wrote, “For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  I think the argument is pretty convincing that the rapture will not take place after the tribulation.

The mid-tribulation belief espouses that Christians who have managed to survive the first half of the tribulation will be taken into the air to meet Jesus along with the dead in Christ.  The mid-tribulation rapture theory doesn’t compute either, if, for no other reason, the exact date can be known.  The last seven years of the world as we know it begins when the Anti-Christ confirms a covenant with many for seven years.  If the rapture were to happen at the mid-point of the tribulation, we would know with excited anticipation of the day of the Lord’s return.  This, much like the post-tribulation rapture position, goes against the word given to us by Jesus in Matthew 24:42.  The other problem with a mid-tribulation rapture is that Christians will have to undergo the wrath of God, which begins soon after the Anti-Christ confirms the seven-year covenant.  Revelation 13:5 gives us more insight into when the abomination of desolation will take place:  ”There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him.  And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His image and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.”  When the abomination of desolation takes place with 42 months remaining for him to rule, that means 42 months have already passed.  In other words, half of the tribulation is over.  Christians would be able to know the day of the Lord’s return just by counting the days since the covenant was signed and the mid-point of the tribulation.  But wrath has already been brought upon the earth in the first 42 months of the tribulation including death, which killed one-quarter of the earth, famine, war, hail and fire and locusts.  Christians are not destined for wrath, according to Paul’s writing to those in Thessalonica.

The pre-wrath belief espouses that Christians who have managed to survive some of the events foretold in the book of Revelation will be taken into the air to meet Jesus along with the dead in Christ.  The pre-wrath rapture theory doesn’t work, either, because we Christians will have already recognized the Anti-Christ from his signing of the seven-year covenant and will be able to follow the order of the seals as they are opened in heaven by Jesus.  We’ll certainly not be surprised by His coming in the clouds to gather His own, even though Paul, in his first letter to the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 5:2-3), tells us, “For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.  While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.”  The pre-wrath scenario has the church being raptured after the opening of the sixth seal in Revelation 6:12.  But, when looking back at Paul’s writing to those in Thessalonica, will everyone be saying “peace and safety” when the sixth seal is opened?  I doubt it.  By the time the sixth seal is opened, the red horse has been released and, according to Revelation 6:4, “and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him”  The third seal will bring severe economic inflation.  The fourth seal will bring about an ashen horse, who was given to it to kill a fourth of the earth by sword, famine, pestilences and wild beasts of the earth.  Is this a time of peace and safety?  If the second seal took peace from the earth, how will anyone be saying “peace and safety”?  While some pre-wrath proponents argue that the seals don’t constitute judgements from God but rather actions of men, one must remember that God is ultimately in control and, besides, the pre-wrath argument about these being actions of men rather than God don’t account for the fourth seal, which causes the deaths of one-quarter of the earth’s population though famine, pestilence, war and wild beasts of the earth.  Three of those death-inducing items are hardly under the control of man.

The pre-tribulation rapture is the only scenario that makes sense.  Christians are not appointed to wrath, so they will not undergo any of the seals, bowls or trumpets described in the book of Revelation.  Christ will return like a thief in the night for His people.  A pre-tribulation rapture means Jesus’ words remain true as it is imminent and no one knows the day or the hour.  Two other bits of scripture make the pre-tribulation rapture scenario a slam-dunk.  First, the church isn’t mentioned anywhere in the book of Revelation between chapter four and chapter 22, which is before the tribulation events begin and after Jesus has returned to Earth to wage war against the nations that oppose Him.  Second, the restrainer is still present on Earth.  2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 tells us, “And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revelaed.  For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.  Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;”  I believe that which restrains him now is the Holy Spirit and the church.  Once Christians are taken from Earth, the restrainer has been removed and the Anti-Christ can reveal himself.  Why do I think the Holy Spirit is the restrainer?  When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the Gospel of Mark, Mark 1:9-10 reads, “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him.”  If the Holy Spirit dwells in those that have accepted Christ as their savior, will the Holy Spirit be present in anyone on earth after all believers are taken in the rapture?  After all, if someone is indwelled with the Holy Spirit, they will be taken in the rapture.  If the Holy Spirit is no longer indwelled in anyone on earth, what restrains evil besides God the Father and His Son Jesus, who dwell in heaven?

As I mentioned in the paragraph above, the rapture of the church is an imminent event.  There is no other prophetic items that must take place prior to the rapture.  To escape the wrath to come to those on Earth after the rapture, you have to believe that Jesus died for your sins and is your Savior.  Ask Jesus to come into your heart, repent of your past transgressions, and turn away from your sins.  In the blinking of an eye, we Christians will immediately be in the presence of the Lord and will spend an eternity with Him in complete joy.  Give your life to Jesus today.  Remember, no man knows the hour or the day.  This could be the day and this could be the final hour.

Jesus is Coming! Are You Ready?

I was reading a thread over at my favorite online fellowship forum and I really began wonder how much longer the Lord will tarry before He sends His only begotten Son to remove the church from the earth. No man knows the day or the hour, according to Jesus in Matthew 24:36. But we also know from Jesus’ teachings in Matthew 24:44 that the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.  The thread starter over at the Rapture Ready forum mentioned how quiet world events have gotten lately, taking it as a lull in birth pangs.  And I absolutely agree with him.

One of the purposes of this site is to demonstrate the signs of His coming as outlined in Matthew 24:5-8 and in other parts of the Bible. There will be false Christs, wars and rumors of wars. Kingdom will rise against kingdom and nation against nation. Earthquakes and famine will occur in various places. But these, according to Jesus, “are merely the beginning of birth pangs.”

Birth pangs come and subside, then return a little quicker and a little more intense, then subside again. This happens all the way up until the birth occurs.

While we have seen major earthquakes, reports of drought, wars and rumors of wars in the last few weeks, things have settled a bit lately. North Korea hasn’t fired off any new missiles in weeks. Iran has toned down its rhetoric in the last few days. Earthquake activity and intensity has slowed. Hurricane activity has dropped off a cliff.

Again, no man knows the day or the hour.  But I wonder how much longer it will be before Jesus comes from heaven to meet us in the clouds.  Here are a few recent news items that should get everyone thinking about the prophecies of the Bible:

• Iran is racing feverishly to finish its nuclear facilities.  Ezekiel 38 and Ezekiel 39
• Israel submarines were recently spotted passing through the Suez Canal.  Ezekiel 38 and Ezekiel 39
• Israel recently conducted a successful test of its missile defense program . Ezekiel 38 and Ezekiel 39
• IAEA inspectors found undeclared uranium in Syria.  Isaiah 17:1
• China boasts world’s largest army and has increase military spending by double-digits every year for the last two decades.  Revelation 9:16 and Revelation 16:12
• Many calls for one-world government and one-world currencies.  Revelation 13:7 and Revelation 13:16-18
• European Union looking more and more like the Revived Roman Empire.  Daniel 7:15-27
• Russia and Iran working together on Iran’s nuclear facilities.  Ezekiel 38:2 and Ezekiel 39:6
• Obama working on Mideast peace deal for Palestinian state and may include dividing Jerusalem.  Zechariah 12:2-3
• Euphrates River drying up.  Revelation 16:12

Is it me, or do current news events look like they read directly from the prophets of the Bible?  From Ezekiel to Isaiah to Daniel to John, things are lining up just as was predicted thousands of years ago.  Don’t believe me?  Read Isaiah 66:7-8.  Isaiah foreshadows the rebirth of Israel as a nation in one day, which occurred on May 14, 1948.  Isaiah is understood to be written around 700 BC, or 2600 years before Israel became a nation.

Folks, I believe time is short.  All of the activities going on in this world that point to the end days scenarios predicted by the prophets of the Old and New Testaments centuries ago are no coincidence.  Jesus is coming back soon.  Are you ready?  Ask Him to forgive you of your sins and come into your heart.  Believe that He died for your sins and rose on the third day.  Believe that He is your Savior.