SPELLING EDITED X-6. DID THE GREAT TRIBULATION END in 1948?
I have just been made aware of a teaching that I have never heard before which is that the period of great tribulation spoken of in Matthew chapter 24 ended in 1948 with the Jews becoming a nation again. A brother in the Lord wrote to me concerned that I might be leading Christians to not be ready for the return of Jesus because I teach that there will be a 3 1/2 year period of great tribulation right before the return of Jesus. He pointed out that if we can know the time of the return of Jesus then some Christians might not be ready if what I teach turns out to be wrong and the great tribulation has indeed already been fulfilled in 1948. Then he sent me an article explaining why he believes what he believes. I read the article and several things came to mind from the Scriptures that contradicted what the article was teaching. I was thinking to myself that as soon as he reads these few verses that were brought to my remembrance that he would no longer believe that the great tribulation has ended and thus see the truth that there is yet coming a time of great tribulation right before the return of Jesus. But I was wrong. He respectfully accepted my point of view but said that he is still convinced that there will not be a 3 1/2 years of great tribulation right before Jesus returns. In all honesty, I thought to myself, how Christians can become so deceived to not see and understand the clear plain simple words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 24. And he might be thinking the same about me. Anyway, after several emails back and forth he made the motion to end the discussion due to his vacation had ended and he had to return to his work and so he did not have the time right now but we could stay in touch. I was going to leave it go but the Holy Spirit kept reminding me that all the Christians are QUESTIONING or struggling as what to believe. So as always, this study is not for those who have complete total peace with what they believe but rather it is for those who are struggling and trying to understand which teaching is the truth. So let us begin this study in God’s word with the reasons of why some Christians believe that there is no future period of great tribulation. Now there have been Christians know as Preterists who I have known about for quite some time. However, this brother in the Lord and other groups of Christians who I am learning are mostly seventh day of the week Sabbath keeping, Torah keeping Christians do not hold to what the Preterist Christians teach. The word “preterist” means past and a full Preterist believes that Jesus is already reigning right now from heaven. Thus a full Preterist is also an Amillennial which means that they do not believe is a LITERAL 1000 year reign of Jesus yet to come in the future. They still believe in the coming of Jesus but not before a literal 1000 year reign of Jesus. Please read the studies I have on Preterism for all the verses of why Preterism is not a sound Biblical teaching. Now there are Christians like myself who do indeed believe that SOME things in prophecy have already been fulfilled. This is called by some to be “partial” Preterism but I myself chose not to apply that name to what I teach. For example, this group of Christians that believe that the great tribulation BEGAN is 70 AD and ENDED in 1948 AD are also considered to be “partial” Preterist by mere definition of the term. In other words, they believe SOME things have already been fulfilled AND some prophecies are yet still FUTURE. And obviously, I and most all other Christians do NOT believe that the period of great tribulation has already been fulfilled in the past and that there is not yet future time of great tribulation. Here are the reasons of why some Christians believe the great tribulation began in 70 AD ended in 1948 AD with Israel becoming a nation once again. #1. There has been no great persecution of the Jews in the History of the world since 70 AD to the Jewish Holocaust. And since the Bible says the great tribulation will be a time such as has never been before and never shall be again there can only be ONE period of GREAT tribulation. #2. The Bible teaches that there will be signs in the heavens, in the sun, and in the moon at the end of the great tribulation. And then they argue that all the tetrads of the blood moons and the solar eclipses ARE those signs. They say how could the signs be anything else seeing that they all fell on a feast day of the Lord and dates related to Israel like 1948 and 1967. #3. They argue that if we can know the time of the return of Jesus then some Christians might not be ready for his coming. They argue that some Christians may be like those in the parable Jesus gave where the Lord delayed his coming and returned to their old sinful ways or thinking that Jesus is not coming because the great tribulation has not yet happened. And they quote the verse where Jesus says that he will come in an hour you think not. #4. They argue that the Roman Catholic Church is the antichrist beast system and the Pope is the beast. And thus they argue that the great persecution of the Christians by the Roman Catholic Church was the worst ever in the history of the church and thus it was the great tribulation spoken of by Jesus in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And again since it will never happen again there can be no future 3 1/2 years of great tribulation. #5. They say how could God not even mention anywhere in his word about these great persecutions of both the Jews and the Christians. And how can we ignore all the four in a row blood moons and the total solar eclipses all falling on the feast days, jubilees, and the dates Israel became a nation and the six-day war? And then how can we ignore the sign in heaven prophesied in Revelation 12 about the woman clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet and twelve stars on her head being fulfilled on September 23 in our day?
Now they begin their argument by showing that the Jewish temple has already been destroyed by the Roman army in 70 AD saying that it BEGAN the time of great persecution for the Jews and then ENDED in 1948 thus the great tribulation must be a LONG period of time and NOT just a 7 year or 3 ½ year period of time. So then, I myself have concluded by their line of reasoning that the great tribulation for the church began in the days of the first disciples of Jesus and thus ended with the persecution of the Roman Catholic Church during the dark ages or at least by 1948 as well. They themselves seem to focus more on Israel but then they, being Torah observers, believe that the church is Israel. Remember and keep in mind that the foundation of their argument or line of reasoning is that the Jewish Holocaust was SO GREAT and even said to be such as have never been before by some historian that there is no possible way some future persecution could be more horrific then what the Nazis did to the Jewish people during the Jewish Holocaust. And likewise the same goes for what the Roman Catholic Church did to the Christians during the dark ages. Nothing could be a great persecution, or so that is their line of reasoning and thus to them, there cannot possibly be a future time of great tribulation right before Jesus returns. Before we move to their next point let us consider their logic first. I mean HOW can anyone know that there cannot possibly be any persecution greater than those times of persecution that have already taken place in history? Are they able to see into the future? Did the one who began this teaching have a visitation from an angel or a vision or a dream? Well, if they did, then it was surely NOT of God because God’s word specifically states as a fact with absolutely no interpretation needed that IMMEDIATELY after the tribulation of THOSE days there will be signs in the sun, in the moon and in the stars, the powers of heaven will be shaken and there will be a great earthquake AND Jesus will RETURN. THESE signs are a ONE TIME event directly CONNECT to the 3 1/2 years of the great tribulation, the rapture of the church, the first resurrection, the second coming of Jesus and the wrath of Almighty God immediately followed by the 1000 year reign of peace with NO more war. And none of these things have happened at any time in history. Matthew 24:29-31. “IMMEDIATELY after the tribulation of THOSE days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30. And then (Speaking of right after these signs whatever they may be there) shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Every Christian and I know not one who denies that these words of Jesus speak of his second coming. I am talking about EVERY Christian no matter what the end time theology they believe all agree that Matthew 24:29-31 is speaking about the second coming of Jesus. So how can anyone DENY these words of Jesus when he clearly states as a fact with no interpretation needed that he will return IMMEDIATELY after the tribulation of THOSE days which he just described in verse 21 as being such as have never been before nor ever shall be again. Matthew 24:15-22. “When YOU (Speaking to the disciples of Jesus, the CHURCH) therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso reads, let him understand:) 16. Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: (Now it is our responsibility to do the best we can to WARN the Jewish people that when they see the Islamic Muslim armies surrounding Jerusalem to flee to the mountains quickly because this time great destruction like never before nor shall ever be again is about to take place. Now I agree that a “parallel” or what prophecy teachers call a dual fulfillment has already taken place in 70 AD with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish temple. But this does not mean that a yet future and even GREATER destruction will never happen.) 17. Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house: 18. Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20. But pray you that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21. For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22. And except THOSE days should be shortened, there should NO FLESH be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.” Let us take a moment to consider what Jesus means by THOSE days being shortened. Some say that Jesus means that except those days are “limited” to a 7 year or a 3 1/2 year period of time then none of the “elect” would be saved alive. Obviously, the pre-trib and mid-trib believers claim that the elect speaks only to the Jews because to them the church is raptured up to heaven before the GREAT tribulation begins. But in truth, the word elect speaks of both the Christians and the Jews. However, ONLY the good and faithful Christians will be given eternal life at the coming of Jesus. Let me explain what I mean by this as briefly as I can. The two witnesses in Revelation 11 are the Christians and the Jews. Not ALL the Jews will be called up to be taken up into the clouds but rather it will only be the 144,000 sealed Jews spoken of in Revelation 7 who will be taken up in their mortal bodies to be kept safe from God’s wrath. The remaining natural born Jews will remain on the earth and go through the WRATH of God. Yes, a REMNANT of Jews will call upon the Lord to be saved during the wrath of God and they will be delivered or be saved alive to go into the Millennium to be taught of the Lord along with those left alive of the nations who also call upon the Lord to be saved. I cover all the verses that support what I just said in the other studies I have on the end times. One such study is “WHO ARE THE TWO WITNESSES? Part 2” But my main point right now is what does Jesus mean by the days being shortened. When you read this verse 22 in the LITERAL you will see that it says, except those days “shall be being LOPPED”, as in, cut out, eliminated and not to be included as a part of the judgments. Please read Revelation 10:1-6 where the seven thunders are “LOPPED OFF” and NOT written down as a part of the judgments. Revelation 10:1-6. “And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: 2. And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, 3. And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. 4. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. (In other words, except those days be LOPPED off or not added there shall no flesh be saved. And not just speaking about the elect being saved but NO flesh left alive. Keep reading and you will see what I mean or rather what the word of truth means when it is correctly interpreted in the light of the WHOLE word of God.) 5. And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, 6. And sware by him that lives for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:” To me, if this angel or messenger would not have interceded for mankind saying basically that if the seven thunder judges are added there shall no flesh be saved and time shall be no longer. So I am pleading with you Father to shorten or lop off these thunder judgments and not have John write them down. And we see how a voice came from heaven to NOT write down the seven thunder judgments. Now I want you to pay close attention as you read the remainder of the study so you can see for yourself that every time we see the 3 1/2 year verses which speak of the time of the GREAT tribulation such as has never been before nor shall ever be again that the CONTEXT of those verses are ALL connected in some way with the second coming of Jesus and the WRATH of God. This is why some Christians have confused the 3 1/2 years of GREAT tribulation as being one and the same event as the WRATH of God which is NOT the case. Yes, they are connected together, as in, the wrath of God occurs very quickly right after the 3 1/2 years of great tribulation. Please see the study “THE GREAT TRIBULATION VERSUS THE WRATH OF GOD” but for now I want you to notice that these seven thunders were lopped off right before the seventh trumpet shall BEGIN to sound. What I mean to say is that the NUMBER of days is not shortened but rather the severity of the judgments was lopped off for the sake of the elect so that the MYSTERY of God will be finished just at the very moment the seventh trumpet BEGINS to sound. Please read Revelation 10:7 and then I will connect the dots for you. Revelation 10:7. “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall BEGIN to sound, the MYSTERY of God should be finished, (Accomplished, come to pass, it is done) as he has declared to his servants the prophets.” So then, this MYSTERY is something that we have ALREADY been taught about by the disciples of Jesus. Let us now read 1 Corinthians 15:51-54. “Behold, I show you a MYSTERY; (Or listen very carefully for I am revealing to you a secret the was hidden by God until now) We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be CHANGED, 52. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, AT the LAST TRUMP: (Or when the voice of the SEVENTH angel shall BEGIN to sound the first resurrection and our change will come to pass and be accomplished) for the TRUMPET shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be CHANGED. 53. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, THEN shall be brought to PASS the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” Again, all Christians agree that there MUST be a resurrection at the time of the rapture of the church. And we all agree that AT the LAST trumpet those who are IN Jesus Christ shall be changed from being mortal to immortal and the second death will have NO power over US. And we all agree that only those IN Jesus Christ shall receive eternal life or be changed from mortal to immortal. And we all agree that our change will take place AT the second coming of Jesus. But what some Christians do not agree upon is when the rapture of the church will occur. I am not talking about a date the rapture will take place but when, as in, before the great tribulation, in the middle of the great tribulation or IMMEDIATELY AFTER the great tribulation as Jesus teaches us in Matthew 24:29-31. For all my pre-trib and mid-trib readers please consider all the verses about the rapture of the church and the word “trump or trumpet”.
Matthew 24:31. “And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a TRUMPET, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Jesus clearly teaches us that at his SECOND coming there will be a great sounding of a TRUMPET. In other words, plain and simple, a PRE-trib trumpet cannot possibly be the LAST trumpet. Likewise, a MID-trib trumpet cannot possibly be the LAST trumpet. There can only be ONE LAST trumpet and it is the SEVENTH trumpet in the book of Revelation that sounds at the coming of Jesus as we are plainly told by Jesus himself in Matthew 24:31 which we just read. Let us now read Revelation 11:7-19 when the SEVENTH or LAST of the seven angels shall sound his trumpet. And while reading this passage of Scripture I want you to see what takes place right BEFORE the seventh and last angel sounds the last trumpet and what takes place during the judgment of the seventh trumpet after it is sounded. Little words like “AT” and “BEGIN” are very important words and must not be read over like they are not there. Revelation 11:7-19. “And when they shall have FINISHED their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. (This means that many if not all the Christians and the Jews IN the city of Jerusalem will be killed during and at the very end of the 3 1/2 years of great tribulation. See the next verse.) 8. 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. (Jesus was crucified just outside the great city of Jerusalem) 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. 10. And they that dwell upon the earth (Or they that dwell upon the land or that region of the world around Jerusalem which in our day right now are most all Islamic Muslims of the seed of Ishmael who SAY that THEY are the true “Jew” or seed of blessing) shall rejoice over them (The Jews and the Christians whom they have slain in their war against Israel), and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth (The land or that region in the middle east. Read Revelation 16:1-11 where the first through the fifth vial is poured out on those who have and take the mark of the beast.). 11. And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. (This is a RESURRECTION) 12. 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. (And this is the rapture of the church as seen by the Islamic Muslims, the enemies of the one true God and God’s people the Christians and the Jews the ONLY two witnesses or two groups of people who stand up for the one true God of the Holy Bible.) 13. And the SAME hour (Or at the same time the resurrection and the rapture takes place) was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: (I also believe that the Dome of the Rock will be destroyed during that yet future earthquake at the second coming of Jesus) and the REMNANT were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. 14. The second woe is past; and, behold, the THIRD woe comes QUICKLY. (The third woe is the WRATH of Almighty God that Jesus will execute or pour out at his second coming. And we are specifically told in the very next verse that this takes place at the sounding of the SEVENTH angel.) 15. And the SEVENTH angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. 16. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, 17. Saying, We give you thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which are, and was, and are to come; because you have taken to you your great power, and have reigned. 18. And the nations were angry, and your WRATH is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that you should give reward unto your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear your name, small and great; and should destroy them which destroy the earth. (This tells me that at the end of the war against Israel where the Islamic Muslim armies will be seeking to wipe Israel off the face of the earth have planted or set up an atomic weapon in God’s Holy City Jerusalem or some nuclear bombs during this yet future war are destroying the land and Jesus returns to make war with those who are destroying the earth and killing the Jews and the Christians.) 19. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.” In verse 13 we see that the REMNANT will be afraid and they gave glory unto the God of heaven. Now the way this verse sounds is that the remnant gives glory to God the moment the wrath of God begins with the great earthquake and all the other signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars falling from heaven. These signs strike FEAR in the hearts of mankind. Jesus will make war with those nations making war against Israel but there will be the REMNANT of the Jews left alive during this great war. I personally do not see this great war against Israel that leads to the battle of Armageddon as “world war III” as some Christians are teaching. Russia and China may join with the Muslims, but the Scriptures to me point to ten united Islamic Muslim countries who seek to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth. Some of the Jews will be taken captive in the surrounding Islamic Muslim countries during this war. Jesus prophesied that his people the Jews would not see him again until they say, blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord. So when the remnant of Jews see the signs in the heaven in the clouds of great glory they will recognize Jesus as their Messiah and call upon him to be saved giving glory to the God of heaven. However, the raptured will have just taken place so it will be TOO LATE for them. The remnant of the Jews who call upon the name of the Lord to be saved, will not be rewarded with eternal life but they will be delivered from their enemies and saved alive and gathered together from the four corners of the earth back to their homeland. My main point is that the time of great tribulation is CONNECTED directly to the second coming of Jesus. And IMMEDIATELY after the 3 ½ years of great tribulation there will be SIGNS in the sun, in the moon, in the stars, the powers of heaven being shaken, and a great earthquake. Then the nations AND those who pierced Jesus will see him coming in great clouds of glory. So just ask yourself the question, did Jesus return in 1948? No he did not! Therefore the “3 ½ years” of great tribulation such has never been before nor shall ever be again did NOT end in 1948 or any other year in history. The great tribulation is yet future at the time I am writing this study in God’s word and we are told to WATCH lest Jesus come upon us as a thief in the night. See revelation 3:3. Now we, the church, will most likely see these signs BEGIN to take place. Let us search the verses where we read about these signs in the sun, moon and stars beginning with Luke 21:20-28.
Luke 21:20-28.
“And when YOU shall SEE Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. (Remember that Jesus is speaking to his disciples privately which means Jesus is speaking to the church and that we, the church shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, which will be Jerusalem surrounded by ARMIES. Again, yes, 70 AD was indeed the fulfillment of the Jewish TEMPLE being destroyed and “a” fulfillment of the city of Jerusalem being surrounded by armies and being destroyed, but this does not mean that Jerusalem will never be surrounded by armies ever again to be destroyed) 21. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. 22. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. (This passage of Scripture in Luke is like the book of Revelation so it is not written in perfect chronological order. Luke states some things and then comes back and fills in some more detail. Some confuse this verse and wrongly interpret the wrath of God as being the time of great tribulation. They are CONNECTED but separated by the coming of Jesus. These days to me refer to BOTH the day of great tribulation AND the day of God’s wrath being separated by the second coming of Jesus and the rapture of the church. Vengeance also mean restitution and this time of Jacob’s trouble God will be making an END of their transgressions as prophesied in Daniel’s vision of the seventy sevens. Please read the studies “A NEW LOOK AT DANIEL’S 70th WEEK” and “WHEN IS THE MIDST OF THE 70th WEEK?”) 23. 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. (The church is NOT appointed to the WRATH of God but Israel will go through the wrath of God and a REMNANT will be delivered.) 24. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: (The pronoun they here is speaking primarily of the Jews but there will also be Christian slain by the sword and taken captive as well during the 3 1/2 years of great tribulation. The Christians will be raptured but the Jews who are held captive in the Muslim nations will remain on the earth and go through the wrath of God. BOTH the Christians and the Jews will be persecuted during the 3 1/2 years of great tribulation) and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, UNTIL the times of the Gentiles be FULFILLED. (Again, ask yourself the question, did the Gentiles STOP being saved in 1948? No they did not! Therefore the time of great tribulation was NOT fulfilled to come to an END back in 1948.) 25. And there shall be SIGNS in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; (Now some Christians have INTERPRETED these signs in the sun and the moon as being total solar eclipses and four blood moons happening real close together. But in the next verse we see that these signs cause FEAR in the hearts of mankind. Even so much fear that some people’s hearts fail them for the fear of what is coming upon the earth. So to ME, I myself do not see these signs as being solar eclipses and blood moons no matter how rare and how unlikely the odds of them falling on the Jewish feast days and dates related to the Jews like 1948 and 1967. I agree that these solar eclipses and blood moons are signs but not these fearful signs that usher in the coming of Jesus and the WRATH of God. Keep in mind that THESE signs are a ONE TIME event that ushers in the second coming of Jesus and again Jesus did NOT come back in 1948. No, THESE signs cause GREAT FEAR to those who do not know the truth.) 26. Men's hearts failing them for FEAR, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for (Or BECAUSE) the powers of heaven shall be shaken. (Now to ME, I am seeing this sign as the war in the heavens between Michael and his angels against Satan and his angels and the STARS falling from heaven like ripe figs shaken in the wind. Remember that stars are likened to the angels. Please read the study “THE WAR IN HEAVEN-REVELATION 12” and “WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT UFOs?”) 27. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28. And WHEN THESE things BEGIN to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draws nigh.” In other words, when we, the church, see THESE things BEGIN to take place then we will KNOW that the coming of Jesus is very near. Some Christians have interpreted the THESE things as the armies surrounding Jerusalem so they can still hold fast to their pre-trib and mid-trib teachings. But I believe Jesus is speaking of the ALL the SIGNS and more particularly to the signs in the sun, moon, stars and heavens that usher in his coming as being the THESE things that will tell us our redemption draws very near because THESE signs usher in the second coming of Jesus. Let us see if the other verses speaking of these signs tell us the same thing. Please read Revelation 6:9-17.
Revelation 6:9-17. “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: 10. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, do you not judge AND avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? (The DAYS of vengeance are the days of JUDGMENT that takes place during the 3 1/2 years of great tribulation AND the avenging the blood of the saints takes place during the WRATH of God. Judgment actually begins with the church and we are seeing many Christians getting right with God as we see the time growing short.) 11. 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 fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. (Here in the fifth seal we see all the souls of the dead saints up in heaven where some have been slain throughout the entire history of the church. Then we see them asking how much longer before God judges AND avenges their shed blood. God tells them not much longer and there are yet some more brethren who will be slain before the days of vengeance and wrath. So the fifth seal is showing us that the period of great tribulation is just about over.) 12. And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 13. And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casts her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 14. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16. And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the WRATH of the Lamb: 17. For the great day of his WRATH is come; and who shall be able to stand?” So in this passage of Scripture, we again see the great tribulation where God’s people are slain, then the SIGNS in the sun, moon, stars, and the heavens that usher in the WRATH of God that will be executed by Jesus AT his coming. Then in the next chapter, chapter 7, we see a picture of the rapture of the church where a great number of people who cannot be numbered from every nation and tribe are before the throne of God who have come out of GREAT TRIBULATION right before the SEVENTH seal is opened in verse 1 ONLY of the next chapter, chapter 8. You will see what I mean as you contiue reading. Revelation 7:14. “And I said unto him, Sir, you know. 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.” In some of my other studies, I give more detail but here in this study I will just say that between the sixth and the seventh is the rapture of the church and the seventh is the WRATH of God. The sixth seal announces the wrath of God the seventh seal we see that there is SILENCE in heaven for one half an hour. We know that God’s wrath will be poured out both before AND after the 1000 year reign of Jesus. Thus the ONE HALF an hour is the first HALF of the HOUR of God’s wrath. Basically, the book of Revelation will occur twice with the one exception of great PERSECUTION and GREAT tribulation against God’s people. In other words, there will be TWO wars, once before the literal 1000 year reign of Jesus and again right after the 1000 year reign of Jesus when Satan is loosed to tempt the nations one final time. The war before the 1000 year reign will take place with great tribulation and persecution upon God people, the two witnesses, the Christians and the Jews. However, at the end of the 1000 years Satan will deceive the nations to make war but the war will be cut off by the last half of God’s hour of wrath and fire will come down from heaven to devour those armies that number as the sands of the sea. Getting back on track and between the sixth and seventh seal is chapter 7 where we see the redeemed that came out of GREAT TRIBULATION before God’s throne. So obviously the rapture of the church takes place immediately after the 3 1/2 years of great tribulation and before the wrath of God just like Jesus teaches us in Matthew 24:29-31. We see this SAME pattern with the trumpets and with the vials. The first six trumpets are blown in chapter 9. We are told in Revelation 10 that the seven thunders were lopped off and that the mystery of the rapture of the church would be accomplished at the seventh trumpet. This all agrees perfectly with Matthew 24:29-31. Then in Revelation 16 we see the first six vials poured out and in the sixth vial we see the battle of Armageddon. And right after the sixth vial we see the coming of Jesus right before the seventh vial is poured out. Revelation 16:12-21. “And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. (This sixth vial matches up with the SIXTH trumpet) 13. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. (So the actual battle of Armageddon where Jesus returns to fight against those armies that are making war with Israel takes place at the very end of the 3 ½ years of great tribulation. The actual war between the Islamic Muslim nations and Israel will already be taking place before the coming of Jesus. The Messiah is coming to deliver his people the Christians and the Jews. The rapture takes place first. We are caught up into the AIR, and then we are gathered together by the angels from one end of heaven to the other from all over the earth and then taken to MEET Jesus in the AIR. The next verse tells us where we will meet Jesus in the AIR.) 15. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watches, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. (The “they” here are the angels that Jesus will send to gather us all together) 16. And he (Speaking of Jesus by sending his angels) gathered them (The good and faithful Christians who are watching and keeping themselves from sin. The “them” here is NOT the armies because they are already gathered together making war with Israel. Now the “them” here may also include those Islamic Muslim armies being gathered together to a more localized central place but to me there is no doubt that the angels will gather together the just raptured Christians to meet Jesus is the AIR where we will help Jesus execute the wrath of God from the AIR.) together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. (Remember in Luke 17:34-37 Jesus said one will be taken and one left and the disciples asked Jesus the question where will they be taken and Jesus answered, where the carcase is THERE will the EAGLES be gathered. Isaiah 40 we shall mount up as wings of eagles, Isaiah 31:5 as the birds flying. Then in Revelation 19:9-17 we are told about the eagles of fowls flying in the air to be gathered for the supper of our great God. Then in Psalm 149 we read the saints are given the HONOR of executing judgment. And in Revelation 18:4-6 God calls us up at the rapture of the church saying come out of her my people and give her double what she gave to you. In other words, all these and other verses teach us that we will be in the AIR helping Jesus to execute the wrath of God. The seventh vial is poured out from the AIR) 17. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the AIR; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. (Not the wrath of God is done but rather the MYSTERY spoken to the prophets is accomplished or finished AT the SEVENTH, the seventh SEAL, the seventh TRUMPET and the VIAL. Job 5:19-24 teaches us that we will be delivered in SIX troubles and that the SEVENTH trouble will not touch us. The SEVENTH is the WRATH of God and 1 Thessalonians 5:9 teaches us that WE, the church are NOT appointed to the WRATH of God but we, the church, will go through SIX troubles.) 18. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. 19. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 20. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21. And there fell upon men a great hail (See the great hail in the SEVENTH trumpet which is also the wrath of God, Revelation 11:18,19. Also please read Job 38:22,23 “Have you entered into the treasures of the snow? Or have you seen the treasures of the hail, 23, which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?”) out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.” So then, in the light of Job 38:22,23 I myself do not see the great hail from heaven as being bombs dropped from planes as some prophecy teachers have speculated in the past. Keep in mind that the plague of the hailstones is during the WRATH of God and not during the 3 ½ years of great tribulation, back to the SIGNS in the sun, moon, stars and the heavens. Isaiah 13:6-10. “Howl you; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. 7. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt: 8. And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travails: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. (Here we see great tribulation right before the day of the Lord’s wrath comes) 9. Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. 10. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.” Now, while it is true that a solar eclipse will darken the sun for a very short time. And a lunar eclipse can turn the moon to a blood red in color. Neither eclipse can occur at the same time in the same place. Nor can they cause darkness in the stars and here we see that the stars will not give their light. There are other things that can cause darkness by blocking out the light of the stars, the sun, and the moon and those things would be things that would strike FEAR in people. A volcano eruption may be a possibility. The mountains made low and melting like wax could be seen as volcanos erupting and the smoke of their ash could very well block the light of the stars, the sun and the moon. Also for a shorter period of time nuclear war could dust the earth to mix with the atmosphere polluting it so much that it causes darkness. And certainly we have seen how wild fires pollute the skies so densely that it causes darkness as well. Whatever causes the darkness there is no doubt that these signs are a ONE TIME event that take place AT the going forth of Jesus to return to rapture the church and execute the wrath of God. And again this did NOT take place in 1948 nor in any other part of history. Joel 2:10,11. “The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: 11. And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executes his word: (Remember that Jesus executes the wrath of God also called the wrath of the Lamb in Revelation 6:17 and we the saints are given the honor to help Jesus execute the wrath of God upon the wicked giving them double what they gave to us) for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” The day of the Lord is the wrath of God and here again we see these signs directly connect to the wrath of God to usher in the great and notable day of the Lord. Joel 3:1-17. “For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring AGAIN the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, (Judah here and in some other verses is speaking “prophetically” of the church being IN Jesus Christ of the tribe of Judah and Jerusalem is speaking of the natural born Jewish people. So during the 3 1/2 years of the great tribulation, there will be both Christians and Jews that will be taken captive by the Islamic Muslim armies. Please understand that natural Judah is also taken captive. But the whole meaning includes “spiritual” Israel and natural born Israel as well as the “land of Judah, or Judaea” and the “city” of Jerusalem) 2. I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them (The Islamic Muslim armies) there for my people (The Christians) AND for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, (The Islamic Muslim nations) and parted my land. 3. And they have cast lots for my people; (Both the Christians and the Jews taken captives of war during the 3 1/2 years of great tribulation, not that it is not already happening. But rather that this practice of sex slaves will increase like never before during the last 3 1/2 years of this present age.) and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink. 4. Yea, and what have you to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? (Not Russia, China and the revived Roman Empire but rather Islamic Muslim nations) will you render me a recompence? and if you recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head; (Muslims think that they are killing and taking captive the Christians and the Jew FOR God but in truth Muslims are worshiping Satan, the beast) 5. Because you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things: (The gold and silver are the Christians and the Jews. And carried into your temples speaks of some Christians and Jews being taken captive and may include God’s people being subverted and deceived to convert to Islam. God does not care about monetary things but his people are his jewels.) 6. The children also of Judah AND the children of Jerusalem have you sold unto the Grecians, that you might remove them far from their border. (Radical Islam hates both the Christians and the Jews and they do not want them in their land. Keep in mind that Muslims believe that Israel is their land. We already see the land of Israel being taken little by little, piece by piece.) 7. Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither you have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head:(God in his yet coming wrath will slay the Muslims.) 8. And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the LORD has spoken it. (Basically the seed of Esau will serve the seed of Jacob or natural born Israel in the world to come.) 9. Proclaim you this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: 10. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. 11. Assemble yourselves, and come, all you heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause your mighty ones to come down, O LORD. 12. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. 13. Put you in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. 14. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. (The valley of decision is the place in the Hebrew tongue called Armageddon where Jesus will slay the Islamic Muslim armies) 15. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. (Again, I myself am not aware of any eclipse that causes the stars to not shine or give their light on the surface of the earth. And again all THESE signs in the sun, moon and stars are directly connected with the WRATH of Almighty God which did NOT occur back in 1948 or at any other time in history) 16. The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: BUT the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel. 17. So shall you know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: THEN (Or after God’s wrath) shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.” The heathen Gentiles still pass through the city of Jerusalem but after the wrath of God when God will gather ALL of Israel back to their land and they serve God wholly, THEN shall Jerusalem be holy. Now let us read Ezekiel 32:7,8. “And when I shall put you out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a CLOUD, and the moon shall not give her light. 8. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over you, and set darkness upon your LAND, says the Lord GOD.” So we can stop speculating about whether or not the stars, sun and moon are darkened by eclipses. Here in this verse we see that it will be a CLOUD that will cover the sun and the moon will not give her light and the stars as well made dark in YOUR land. The context is speaking of Egypt being put out so basically these signs will be in that region of the world known as the Middle East today which includes the land of Egypt. Again I am not saying that the four blood moons and the solar eclipses falling on the feast days and the Jubilee years are not significant. Genesis 1 teaches us that the sun, moon and stars are FOR times and season or in other words signs. These signs are certainly showing us that we are in the season of our Lord’s return but they are not the signs that usher in the coming of Jesus and the wrath of Almighty God. We have one more sign to cover before we move on showing from God’s word that the time of great tribulation, right before the coming of Jesus, is 3 1/2 years and NOT a long 1900 plus years long as some Christians are claiming. Nor does the entire seventieth week in Daniel belong to the last seven years as some Christians wrongly teach where the first half is mild called the beginning of sorrows and the last half is the great tribulation and after that seven years of Daniels seventieth week Jesus returns at his “SECOND” coming. As many of you may know there is much on the Internet and YouTube about the sign in heaven spoken of in Revelation chapter 12. Let us read Revelation 12:1,2 so you can see that John is NOT saying that there WILL BE a great sign in heaven but rather that John himself saw a great sign in heaven. Revelation 12:1,2. “And there APPEARED a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 2. And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.” In other words, there appeared to John a great wonder in heaven and he wrote down what HE saw. Now someone has INTERPRETED this great wonder that John saw as being a SIGN in the constellations. I do not doubt that the constellations move and that this alignment is rare but rather I am saying that we cannot take verses OUT of the CONTEXT and interpret them apart from the rest of God’s word. You see my dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, the same CONTEXT of this sign teaches us that ANOTHER sign appeared in heaven as well. But I myself have not seen anyone saying that this other sign John saw has appeared in the constellation as well. Maybe it has and none has considered this second sign. Or it may be that these great wonders that appeared to John to write down for us are not signs in the constellation at all. Revelation 12:3,4. “And there appeared ANOTHER wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 4. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.” The woman is Israel. And the male child born of the woman of Israel is Jesus whom Satan tried to kill by having Herod kill all the children two years and younger. Now IF SO BE that God has intended us to understand these wonders as being signs in the stars or in the constellations then the sign of the dragon would probably be the constellation Draco. And it MAY be that the alignment of the constellation Draco drawing one third of the stars with his tail occurred around the time Jesus was BORN. Or since John saw ANOTHER wonder in heaven the dragon constellation may appear after or at a later time perhaps months or even years after the constellation Virgo in 2017. And that is if that is God’s intended meaning. For me, I myself see that John GIVES us the interpretation of the second sign of the dragon. And by comparing Scripture with Scripture most Christians agree that the woman in the first sign Israel and the male child is Jesus born of the seed of the woman in the tribe of Judah. Please read Revelation 12:7-17. “And there was war in heaven: (This war in heaven has been going on even before the creation of mankind. When Lucifer rebelled he was cast out of the third heaven not being allowed to travel the stars or fiery stones anymore. Satan’s PLACE presently is in the first heaven, the atmosphere of the earth as the god of this present world ruling as the principalities and powers of the air.) Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8. And prevailed not; neither was their PLACE found any more in heaven. (This speaks of a yet future war where Satan is cast out of his present PLACE as ruling principalities and powers of the air. This does not mean that the war is over but rather that Satan’s HINDERING power that he has now is taken away at some point in time in the very near future. Satan will still have power to deceive but he will no longer be able to hinder our prayers like he did in Daniel chapter 10 hindering the answer to Daniel’s prayer for 21 days. We are told that God SENT the answer the very first day. I believe that the POWER God gives the two witnesses is nearly instant answers to our prayers. We will prophesy a plague upon the wicked and it will come to pass quickly.) 9. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: (John interprets the sign for us) he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (So the STARS drawn to the earth are the fallen angels) 10. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, (Or now is come saving. The later rain comes at the end of the end of days. As darkness becomes worse the light becomes brighter. Many Muslims are having dreams and visions of Jesus and becoming Christians. The early church turned the world upside down during the first 3 ½ years and the last 3 ½ years will be the same and even greater) and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ (Or power is given to his ANOINTED ones): for (Or because) the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 11. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. (It is only the Christians who OVERCOME Satan) 12. Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you that dwell in them. (The saints found worthy to dwell in heaven under the altar awaiting their change) Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has but a short time. (Namely, Satan will know that he has 1260 days, 42 months, 3 1/2 years, a time, times and half of time or a time, times, and a dividing of time to make war with the two witnesses, the Christians and the Jews. We will cover all the verses and their context having this 3 1/2 year period of time and you will see that every one of those verses speak of the same 3 1/2 years of the great tribulation right before the second coming of Jesus) 13. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. (Speaking of the Islamic Muslim armies making all out war against Israel.) 14. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. (Now to ME I myself see that some of the Jews, perhaps the women and the children will flee Judea when they see Jerusalem surrounded by armies. They may flee to the literal mountains and be divinely protected. Or they may be helped by the earth and airlifted out of Judea and the two wings of an eagle may represent the United States. The Isles are called the wilderness and mountains in prophecy represent kingdoms. Either way, some of Israel is protected from the Islamic Muslim persecution during the 3 1/2 years of great tribulation.) 15. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. (The flood speaks of an army of people WHO ARE MAKING WAR. Not NECESSARILY a professionally trained army but rather a large number of people. (Joel 3:10 beat your plowshares into spears. Daniel 9:26,27, the end shall be with a flood and unto the end of the WAR desolations are determined. Isaiah 59:19 the enemy shall come in like a flood.) 16. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. (This could be nations having compassion on Israel and coming to her aid to fight the Islamic Muslim armies with the army of Israel. Or this may be the earth opening up literally like an earthquake and swallowing up a multitude of the Islamic Muslim army. Either way God will DEFEND Israel from being completely wiped off the face of the earth.) 17. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Here in verse 17, we see TWO groups being persecuted. The devil’s anger is focus on the woman Israel but the dragon also goes to make war with the seed of the women, the church. Those who keep the commandments of God speak of Israel and those who have the testimony of Jesus are Christians, the church. So in this very context which we all agree has not yet been fulfilled we see two verses with the 3 1/2 year period of the great tribulation. Revelation 12:6.
“And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.” Israel will flee from Jerusalem and Judea because of persecution and war. In other words, GREAT tribulation such has never been nor shall ever be again for 1260 days or 3 ½ prophetic years of 360 days a year. Revelation 12:14. “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.” In verse 12, the devil knows that his time is SHORT and in verse 14 we are told that this short time Satan has left to persecute Israel is 3 1/2 years. A time is one year, times are two years and a half of time is a half a year. So then, one year plus two years plus one half a year is 3 1/2 years that Satan’s wrath will be great against Israel like never before because he knows his time is SHORT. So then in both of these verses having a 3 1/2 year period of time we can see great persecution like never before because Satan knows that this is his last chance to try and destroy God’s people, both the Christians and the Jews. Let us take a look at some more verses with this 3 1/2 year period of time to see if they all speak of the same period of great tribulation of God’s people. Revelation 11:2-12. “But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. (42 months equals 3 1/2 years and during this 3 1/2 year period of time we see Jerusalem being trodden under foot by the Gentiles. The Gentiles here speak of the Islamic Muslim army’s trodding down Jerusalem) 3. And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. (Again, 1260 days is 3 1/2 years at the end of days when Christians will be given power, including boldness like the early church. Many Christians and Jews will be martyred during this period of great tribulation refusing to convert to Islam. And telling Muslims the TRUTH that they are being led by Satan will infuriate the radical Muslims to persecute the Christians even more. The early church was persecuted by the Jews, the very people the disciples desired to be saved. The end of days will be the same but it will be the radical Muslims who will be doing the killing of the Christians and the Jews.) 4. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. 5. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. (We, as Christians, are not to take up arms against those who are killing Christians for our faith in Jesus.) 6. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: (Remember in James 5:17,18 that Elijah commanded it not to rain until he said it would rain and that span of time was 3 ½ years) and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. 7. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit (This phrase is an identifying clause for us to know who the beast is or more precisely who is behind or who gives power to the beast system, the radical Islamic Muslims. We are told in Revelation 20 that Satan shall ascend out of the bottomless pit but that is not the ONLY time Satan deceives the nations to make war with God’s people. In other words, the beast is Satan who gives power to the beast and it is the beast system of Islam who) shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. (At the end of the 3 ½ years of great tribulation most if not all of the Christians and the Jews IN the city of Jerusalem will be killed.) 8. 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. (Jesus was crucified just outside the city of Jerusalem.) 9. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, (Also speaks of 3 ½ years prophetically taking a year for a day) and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. (This shows how great and severe this war, persecution, or tribulation against Israel will be. So great a tribulation, that it is not safe to take time to bury the dead.) 10. And they that dwell upon the earth 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. (See Revelation 16 and the first five vials being poured out only on those who have or take the mark of the beast which is to call on Allah as their god exalting Allah to be greater than Yahweh, the one true and only Almighty God and creator of all.) 11. And after three days and an half (Or IMMEDIATELY after the 3 ½ years of great tribulation) the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. (This speaks of the first resurrection that takes place AT the second coming of Jesus and right before the WRATH of God is poured out upon the Islamic Muslim armies and the rest of the wicked of the world that are not obeying the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is ONLY the good and faithful believers IN Jesus Christ who are NOT appointed to God’s wrath that takes place right after the rapture of the church when the dead in Christ are resurrected. And in this verse we see the saints being resurrected.) 12. 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.” And in verse 12 we see the rapture of the church. In the verse that follows we see that in this SAME hour there is a great earthquake at the time the SEVENTH and LAST trumpet begins to sound. And in or during the seventh trumpet we see the WRATH of God. So far, everything we have covered agrees perfectly with the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 24, the Olivet discourse. Now in Matthew we are not told the length of the great tribulation, but in all these other verses we can clearly see that the time of great tribulation, such as never before nor shall be again, is a 3 ½ year period of time or 1260 days, literal 24 hour days. Let us continue to look at the rest of the verses that have this 3 ½ year period of time. Revelation 13:5-7. “And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. (Or 3 ½ years the beast will persecute God’s people both the Christians and the Jews continually because Satan knows his time is running out and he only has 1260 days left after he is cast out of his heavenly place as the god of this world down to the earth. Many Christian believe that Satan will possess a Muslim who will proclaim that he is God.) 6. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. 7. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, (Forty two months or for 3 ½ years of great tribulation because Satan knows his time is SHORT and he knows he only has 1260 days left.) and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.” Now let us go to the Old Testament prophecies to see what they have to say concerning this 3 1/2 year period of time. Daniel 7:21-26. “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; (The same horn here is the antichrist and his antichrist kingdom that will make war with God’s people at the end of the age for 3 ½ years UNTIL God brings his firstborn into the world, the second coming of Jesus.) 22. UNTIL the Ancient of days came, (In other words, this 3 1/2 year war against the saints will continue right up to the coming of Jesus) and judgment was given to the saints of the most High (The saints are given the honor to help Jesus execute the wrath of Almighty God giving double to the Muslims than what they gave to us) and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. 23. Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. 24. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. 25. And he (The FINAL antichrist and his Satanic antichrist kingdom, the radical Islamic Muslims) shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and THINK to change times and laws: (It is the intention of the radical Muslims to change the laws in the countries they have entered into peaceably to Sharia law, but they will NOT be successful. It is also their intention to change the prime meridian to go through Mecca but again they will NOT be successful. This FINAL antichrist is NOT the Roman Catholic Church) and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. (So again we see a 3 1/2 year of great tribulation right before the wrath of God is poured out on the ten Islamic nations that are making war with Israel killing the Christians and the Jews during the 3 1/2 years of great tribulation. A time is one year, times are two years and the dividing of time is one half of a year.) 26. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.” We have one more verse where this 3 1/2 year period of time is found. {space} Please read Daniel 12:6,7. “And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the END of these wonders? 7. And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that lives for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; (So the END of what is prophesied concerning this FINAL antichrist, the man of sin when he shall be REVEALED will be 3 1/2 years) and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.” The last part of verse 7 teaches us that this 3 1/2 years must be at the very end of the age because that will be when ALL these things prophesied will be accomplished. ALL these prophecies were NOT accomplished in 1948 or at any other time in history. Thus this 3 1/2 year period of time is right before Jesus returns. Now it is argued that Daniel 12 says nothing about any great tribulation. Yes, the immediate context does not speak of a great tribulation. But the immediate context gives us other clues. Please read Daniel 12:1-3. “And AT THAT TIME (At what time? The time Daniel just spoke about in the previous chapter concerning the final VILE person who will be the king of the north. We will come back to this in just a moment. And at that time) shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of your people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and AT THAT TIME (The time when there shall be great tribulation such as never has been before and never shall be again. It will be AT THAT TIME that) your people shall be DELIVERED, every one that shall be found written in the book. 2. And MANY of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, (Here we see a RESURRECTION. And we know from the rest of God’s word that there shall be TWO and only two resurrections, one right before the 1000 year reign of Jesus and one after the 1000 year reign of Jesus.) some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3. And they that be wise shall SHINE as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn MANY to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” Verse 3 teaches us that there will be a great revival at the end of the age during the 3 1/2 year of great tribulation where MANY people as the number of the stars will be saved. I feel that God showed me something I had not seen before while doing this study in his word. And that is that many Jews who are killed FOR their Jewish FAITH during this final 3 1/2 years of great tribulation will be resurrected as well but NOT in the FIRST resurrection. In other words, they will not receive eternal life at that second coming of Jesus because ONLY those who are IN Jesus Christ will receive eternal life to rule and reign with Jesus for a thousand years. The natural born Jews who will be killed for the Jewish faith and their rejecting Islam during the 3 1/2 years of great tribulation will be saved in the sense that they will be kept by the old covenant unless they have adequately heard the gospel and rejected Jesus as their Messiah. To say this another way, there will be two revivals. One revival will be among Christians and the other revival will be among the Jews seeking their Messiah's coming. And some of the Jews in the Middle East may very well be given an ultimatum to convert to Islam, as in, to take the mark of the beast, or die. And I am sensing in my spirit that those Jews who suffer martyrdom for their faith in God to not take the mark of the beast with be resurrected at the end of the 1000 years and judged out of the book of life for their righteousness. And the Jews who remain alive through the 3 1/2 years of the great tribulation and also the wrath of God will be gathered together and taken to their homeland promised to Abraham and his seed. Please read Ezekiel 37:1-14. “The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, (The valley of Armageddon where all the natural born Jews who were in their land will be slain for their faith in the one true God) 2. And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. 3. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, you know. 4. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O you dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. (Proverbs 17:22 teaches us that a broken spirit dries the bones. God’s people the Jews will be broken as they face death NOT seeing their Messiah coming to deliver them from their enemies.) 5. Thus says the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live: 6. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the LORD. 7. So I prophesied as I was commanded: (Jesus, the Son of MAN has been given the power and the authority to speak to the dead and they will hear his voice and be resurrected. See John 5:19-30.) and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. 8. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. 9. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus says the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these SLAIN, that they may live. 10. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. 11. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. (In other words, their spirit is broken, their Messiah did not come, their hope is lost, and their bones are dried up spiritually. Yet they will fight to the death holding fast to their faith in the one true God) 12. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus says the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, 14. And shall put my spirit in you, and you shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall you know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, says the LORD.”
Now some prophecy teachers have spiritualized this whole passage of Scripture and thus they have interpreted these verses to apply to the Jews returning to the land and Israel becoming a state, a nation again in 1948. However, when we read the whole context we find that this resurrection must be a LITERAL resurrection and not just a spiritual resurrection symbolizing Israel becoming a nation again in 1948 as we have previously been taught. Please read Ezekiel 37:21-28. “And say unto them, Thus says the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: 22. And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: 23. Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of ALL their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. (This takes place in the world to come. Clearly this did NOT happen in 1948.) 24. And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. 25. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. 26. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. 27. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28. And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, WHEN my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.” Ezekiel 39:27-29 teaches us of TWO gatherings of the Jews back into their land where the final gathering of ALL the natural born Jews takes place at the end of the age to begin the new age, the world to come, which is when they accept Jesus as their Messiah and God puts his Holy Spirit in them. Ezekiel 39:27-29. “When I have brought them AGAIN from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; (I myself do not see the Jews in America dwelling in their ENEMIES land. When they were captive in Babylon I can see that as their enemies land. And when they will be taken captive yet in the future in the Islamic Muslims or in the land of the Assyrians then I can see that land as their enemies land. It is the second time or the AGAIN time that God gathers Israel out of their enemies land that all the natural born Jews shall know their God and that it will be he who delivered them and not they who delivered themselves.) 28. Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. (In the first gathering there yet remains MANY natural born Jews all over the world, but in the next gathering NONE will be left in a foreign land.) 29. Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, says the Lord GOD.” This takes place after Israel calls on the name of the Lord during the WRATH of God. It is only after Israel repents and receives Jesus and their Messiah that the Holy Spirit will be poured out upon them. Again it will be ONLY the good and faithful Christians who are IN Jesus Christ who will be given eternal life in the world to come to rule and reign with Jesus over the Jews and those left alive of the nations. Please read Joel 3:1,2 and then read Joel 3:19-21. “For, behold, in those days, and in that time, WHEN I shall bring AGAIN the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, (Again Judah is both natural Israel but she is also symbolic for the church being the spiritual seed of Abraham through the lion of the tribe of Judah. You will see this in a moment in verse 19-20.) 2. I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people (The Christians) AND for my heritage Israel,(Natural born Jews) whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.” Now let us take a look at the context which is at the very end of this chapter and also ends this prophecy in Joel. Joel 3:19-21. “Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, BECAUSE they have shed INNOCENT in their land. (None of natural born Israel are INNOCENT of death. ONLY those who are IN Jesus Christ are INNOCENT of death.) 20. But JUDAH (Spiritual Judah speaking of faithful Christians) shall dwell for ever, AND Jerusalem from generation to generation. (Meaning that ONLY those who ARE Christ’s at his coming will be given eternal life and all those who call upon the name of the Lord to be saved after they SEE Jesus in great clouds of glory will be saved alive in their MORTAL bodies and live from generation to generation. The life span in the world to come will be 100 years of age. There will be no more premature death. And it appears to me that an old person ready to die will live to be 100 years old rather than die at seventy or eighty years old which is the years given to man in this present world.) 21. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwells in Zion.” This last verse teaches us that natural Israel is NOT saved. They are not yet cleansed of their sin because they have not yet accepted Jesus as their Messiah. The Jews as a nation will not see, truly understand, and call upon him as their Messiah to be saved until after the rapture of the church. And the Bible teaches us that only those who ARE Christ’s at his coming will receive eternal life. Jesus is the only name given among men whereby we MUST be saved. In other words, when a person accepts Jesus as their savior they do NOT become a Jew. The church is NOT Israel. We are a NEW creature IN Jesus Christ. Natural born Israel are NOT new creatures IN Jesus Christ. Let us now do a quick review of the reasons why some Christians believe the great tribulation began in 70 AD ended in 1948 AD with Israel becoming a nation once again. #1. There has been no great persecution of the Jews in the History of the world since 70 AD to the Jewish Holocaust. And since the Bible says the great tribulation will be a time such as has never been before and never shall be again there can only be ONE period of GREAT tribulation. This reason is based solely on an opinion and interpretation that nothing could ever be any worse than the Jewish Holocaust and the Roman Catholic persecution of Christians during the dark ages. Their view contradicts Scripture in so many places as you have just seen in this study. And as I have already said that whoever started this false teaching if that was a vision, dream, or a visitation from an angel, then it was definitely NOT of God because God does not contradict his own written word. #2. The Bible teaches that there will be signs in the heavens, in the sun and in the moon at the end of the great tribulation. And then they argue that all the tetrads of the blood moons and the solar eclipses ARE those signs. They say how could the signs be anything else seeing that they all fell on a feast day of the Lord and dates related to Israel like 1948 and 1967. I have shown you from God’s word that the signs in the sun, moon, and stars are a ONE TIME event directly CONNECTED to the second coming of Jesus and Jesus did NOT return in 1948 or any other date in history. #3. They argue that if we can know the time of the return of Jesus then some Christians might not be ready for his coming. They argue that some Christians may be like those in the parable Jesus gave where the Lord delayed his coming and returned to their old sinful ways or think that Jesus is not coming because the great tribulation has not yet happened. And they quote the verse where Jesus says that he will come in an hour you think not. If the fear of getting caught is the only thing that is keeping a Christian from sinning then they had better take a closer look at their relationship with Almighty God and his son Jesus. I can also say that knowing our Lord’s coming is near has caused me to get sin out of my life once and for all time. Please read the study “HOW YOU CAN LIVE FREE FROM ANY AND ALL SIN!” And the knowing that I only have a short time of 3 1/2 years has motivated me to do more for the Lord than I have done my whole life. And who knows how much harder I will work spreading the gospel when I know with absolute certainty that the final 3 1/2 years of this present age has indeed began. As I have said in this study and other studies I have on the end time that the 3 1/2 year period of great tribulation will begin when Israel is surrounded by Islamic Muslim armies seeking to make all out war with her. #4. They argue that the Roman Catholic Church is the antichrist beast system and the Pope is the beast. And thus they argue that the great persecution of the Christians by the Roman Catholic Church was the worst ever in the history of the church and thus it was the great tribulation spoken of by Jesus in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And again since it will never happen again there can be no future 3 1/2 years of great tribulation. Again, how can anyone know for sure that nothing can be any worse than the Jewish Holocaust and the Roman Catholic persecution against Christians in the dark ages? That is just an opinion and as I have shown from the Scriptures that opinion contradicts many verses in the Bible. I agree that the Roman Catholic Church “denomination”, as in, the leaders of the church that form the doctrine are being deceived and used by Satan. Thus the Roman Catholic Church is one of many antichrist systems used by Satan. However, I do not see the Roman Catholic Church becoming the ONE world religion. They, as in, the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church may merge with Islam and seduce or even make it mandatory for all Catholics to worship with the Muslims. But I truly believe that many if not most Catholics who are truly saved will NOT bow down to Allah, the false god of Islam. #5. They say how could God not even mention anywhere in his word about these great persecutions of both the Jews and the Christians. And how can we ignore all the four in a row blood moons and the total solar eclipses all falling on the feast days, jubilees, and the dates Israel became a nation and the six day war? And then how can we ignore the sign in heaven prophesied in Revelation 12 about the woman clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet and twelve stars on her head being fulfilled on September 23, 2017 in our day? First of all, God does speak many times of Israel’s judgments, punishment, and tribulations. The first error of interpretation made by those who believe that Matthew 24 has been fulfilled from 70 AD and completely fulfilled in 1948 is to group all three questions the disciples asked Jesus PRIVATELY as being related to ONE event. The second error of interpretation is interpreting the phrase in Daniel 9:24, “to FINISH the transgression” to mean that the Jewish people as a nation REJECTING Jesus as their Messiah. By doing this you miss the true meaning which is to bring an END to their transgression. The Jews are still yet paying for their sins because they have not yet received Jesus as their Messiah. The whole point of the entire seventy weeks is to SAVE Israel and Israel is NOT yet saved so it is impossible for the entire seventieth week to already be fulfilled. And to anoint the most Holy, in truth, is speaking of the Jews anointing Jesus as the King in the world to come and NOT the anointing of Jesus at his baptism. And that has not been fulfilled and will not be fulfilled until AFTER they call upon Jesus to save them from their enemies when they see Jesus coming in clouds of great glory. Also, the Seventh Day Adventist church and most all other Hebrew roots movement Torah keeping Christians use 457 BC as the starting date of the seventy weeks which they manage to make work out with the baptism of Jesus. However Daniel 9:24-27 says the decree to restore and rebuild the CITY of Jerusalem and NOT the decree to restore the TEMPLE or the HOUSE of God. The correct starting date is 445 BC as given in Nehemiah. And when we count forward 173,880 days, the number of lunar prophetic days in 483 solar years, from March 14th, 445 B.C. we arrive at April 6th 32 A.D. This is the very day that those who ACCEPTED Jesus as the King laid down palm branches as he came riding upon a donkey just a few days before Jesus was cut off or crucified. And if so be that the entire seventieth week was fulfilled by 34 AD then every thing prophesied concerning Israel has been fulfilled because the whole purpose of the seventy weeks was to SAVE Israel. So again, I am not ignoring the signs of the solar eclipses and the four blood moon landing on Jewish feast days and Jubilee years, as if, they have no signification whatsoever, but rather I am exposing the error of interpreting these signs in the constellation or being the fulfillment of the signs in the sun, moon, and stars. We have seen that THESE signs are a ONE TIME event taking place AT the second coming of Jesus. We have seen that some of the verses show that the stars are DARKENED and do not give their light and there is NO eclipse of the sun or moon that darkens all the stars. Then we saw in Ezekiel that God darkens the sun with CLOUDS and not the moon. So are you doing to believe Almighty God’s word or are you going to continue to cling to an OPINION of men in your church denomination. Now all the Christians who have been deceived by this teaching that the great tribulation has been fulfilled need to take a closer look at the other teachings of these church denominations. As I have said in this study, I am finding that the greatest majority of Christians teaching that the great tribulation has been fulfilled are seventh day of the week Sabbath keeping Christians. The NEW Testament does NOT teach us to observe ANY day of the week as a must keep day or we are not pleasing God. Please read the study “SABBATH KEEPERS ARE RIGHT!” and the other related studies I have shown from the Scriptures that the weekly Sabbath was a SIGN given to the children of Israel only that points to Jesus as their true Sabbath rest. I show that God has not rested a single day and the Lord’s Seventh day of rest is yet future. I have shown is the studies “WHEN IS THE MIDST OF THE SEVENTIETH WEEK OF DANIEL?” that the whole seventieth week has NOT been fulfilled as most seventh day of the week Sabbath keeping church denominations wrongly teach. Thanks for reading and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the truth of the whole word of Almighty God. Your brother in our Lord Jesus Christ, Brother Mark. RETURN TO HOMEPAGE AT |
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