The End Time Bible Commentary

(Battle Hymn of the Kingdom)

This is my adaptation of the classic hymn by Julia Ward Howe, "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory of the Coming of the Lord", also known as the "Battle Hymn of the Republic", to the tune written by William Steffe and played on the piano by Tim Spencer (youtu.be/yZeXFFBsOis)

With 22 verses, this adaptation is long as hymns go, but think of it more as a sermon in the form of a hymn, and at less than 8 minutes it is quite compact as a sermon!

The lyrics are followed by my commentary, in which I explain the biblical basis for each verse. Clicking a verse number will take you to my commentary for that particular verse. You can then use the 'up' arrow to return to the top of the page.

The second line of the original hymn says, "He is tramping out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored". This allusion to Christ's end-time judgments, as prophesied in Isaiah 63, is cloaked in poetic language. People happily sing along to a jolly tune with little thought as to what it actually means. My adaptation of this hymn is in much plainer English. Please be warned that such end-time events presented in plain English may be shocking to some.

1
We soon shall see the glory of the coming of our king.
Even now he is right at the door, the bell's about to ring.
Though the day and hour may not be clear let's celebrate and sing.
Jesus is coming soon!

Chorus
Glory, glory hallelujah!
Glory, glory hallelujah!
Glory, glory hallelujah!
Jesus is coming soon!

2
Learn this lesson from the fig tree, when its leaves begin to show,
then summer's round the corner as you very likely know.
Since Israel was restored a generation or so ago,
His coming must be due.

3
Through trials and tribulation by God's grace be strong and cope.
Just believe and do not fear, instead trust in the blessed hope.
It's for real and is no fiction, far more gripping than a soap,
He's coming back again.

4
He gave us many signs to watch for, one by one they are fulfilled.
Soon the sun shall lose its brightness and the moonlight shall be veiled.
When we see the stars a-falling all God's people should be thrilled.
He's coming as he willed.

5
He will split the Mount of Olives so his people can escape,
while the city falls and evil men the women try to rape.
Jacob's trouble will not last and all their enemies will gape
at Jesus on the clouds.

6
They'll cry "May the mountains fall on us and hide us from God's face
for who can stand his wrath to come, it's picking up the pace".
There'll be trumpets and then bowls of wrath, they missed the time of grace,
Oh what a dreadful waste!

7
God's angels with the seal of God will place upon the heads
a mark so Israel's ancient tribes can sleep upon their beds,
while the lawless one and all his men receive the fate he dreads
All Israel will be saved.

8
Then we shall stand before him in the twinkling of an eye.
Oh what rapture we'll experience as we are lifted high.
Every nation, tribe and langu-age shall join him in the sky,
Never again to die.

Chorus
Glory, glory hallelujah!
Glory, glory hallelujah!
Glory, glory hallelujah!
Never again to die.

9
Seven trumpets and then bowls of wrath bring chaos on the earth.
They'll be like the plagues of Egypt making rebels lose their nerve.
No matter what the devil tries, his side will lose their turf.
Woe, woe the angels cry.

10
Now Satan knows his time is up, from heaven he'll be thrown.
For a thousand years in heavy chains in Hades he'll be bound.
To deceive the world no more and let the truth of God resound,
The judge will send him down.

11
When the seventh trumpet sounds angelic voices will proclaim,
That the kingdoms of this world are being taken in Christ's name.
But woe to earth and sea for Satan plays a dirty game.
He's running out of time.

12
Meanwhile Jesus has a mission that he planned in days of old.
He'll break out the Jews from Bozrah, lead them out of the sheepfold.
As their king he'll march ahead of them and they will all be bold,
Like Exodus retold.

13
He'll arrive at Armageddon shocking all by his attire,
having crushed the skulls of Moab and torched Edom with his fire.
Royal robes completely splattered with his enemies' blood and gore,
he comes to end the war.

14
They'll be fools if they take aim at him or target him with rockets.
Their tongues will melt within their mouths, their eyes rot in their sockets.
The road to hell is wide and there will be no lack of tickets.
Best choose the narrow way.

15
Now do not be deceived for many antichrists will come.
They'll deny God is our father and that Jesus is his son.
There'll be one who in particular is Satan's chosen one,
He'll end up in the fire.

16
Long ago the Roman Empire was too weak to still restrain
the hidden power of lawlessness, what followed caused great pain.
An antichrist arose and their resistance was in vain,
And many fell away.

17
He taught the cross is all a lie, Christ wasn't crucified,
His sacrifice for you and I emphatically denied,
But in truth Christ hung and died and it's Mohammed who has lied.
Don't trust him as your guide.

18
On the third day Jesus rose again, triumphant o'er the grave,
He had died from sin to rescue us and make a way to save
the sinner who will trust in him, hell's punishment to waive
In love his life he gave.

Chorus
Glory, glory hallelujah!
Glory, glory hallelujah!
Glory, glory hallelujah!
In love his life he gave.

19
The end-time Antichrist will force the world to take a mark
that separates those of the light from those who love the dark,
It's the number of a man and Bismillah in Arabic.
Avoid it like the plague.

20
You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink,
and however much you tell some folk you cannot make them think.
Don't be like them, do not wait until the world is on the brink.
There is no time like now.

21
Yes now's the time to put your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord,
to turn from sin, believe the truth, and know that you're adored.
It's the most exciting life there is, you never will be bored,
and oh what great reward!

22
To see the kingdom of God's son you must be born again.
Just open up your heart and let his Holy Spirit in.
You'll become a child of heaven and a full-fledged citizen.
So why not enter in?

Chorus
Glory, glory Jesus loves you
Glory, glory Jesus loves you
Glory, glory Jesus loves you
So why not enter in?

1
We soon shall see the glory of the coming of our king.
Even now he is right at the door, the bell's about to ring.
Though the day and hour may not be clear let's celebrate and sing.
Jesus is coming soon!


Many Christians around the world have an heightened sense of expectancy that we are now very close to the second coming. In his book, 'Witnessing the End', Christian Widener gives a great overview of all the reasons why. I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in biblical end times and the second coming of Christ. You can buy a copy on Amazon, or download it as a free pdf.

In his Olivet Discourse, Jesus says in Matthew 24:33, "So also you, when you see all these things, know that he is near, right at the door." But then in verse 36, he says, "But as for that day and hour no one knows it – not even the angels in heaven – except the Father alone." We need to hold these two statements in balance. If we are watching the signs as he commanded us to do, then we should at least know when the day is near. But it is a waste of time to try to predict a precise date for his coming.

Also in Matthew 24:42-44, Jesus says, "Therefore stay alert, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have been alert and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."

2
Learn this lesson from the fig tree, when its leaves begin to show,
then summer's round the corner as you very likely know.
Since Israel was restored a generation or so ago,
His coming is now due.


The Fig Tree Metaphor - Jesus says in Matthew 24:32-34, "Learn this parable from the fig tree: Whenever its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also you, when you see all these things, know that he is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place".

The fig tree and its figs are used as symbols of Israel in the bible. Fig trees are native to Israel, and in several scriptures are used as a picture of prosperity and security. For example, Micah 4:4 says "Each will sit under his own grapevine or under his own fig tree without any fear". In Jeremiah 24, some time after the deportation of Jews to Babylon in 597 BC, Jeremiah likened the Jews to good figs and bad figs. To understand his comparison, it is helpful to know that the figs from the early crop are the sweetest and tastiest ones. The figs from the late summer crop tend to be more bitter and if they are not good enough to eat they are thrown out or used as animal feed. Jeremiah likened those Jews who were part of the early deportation to good figs. Those who remained until the later deportation of 586 BC, he likened to bad figs. In Hosea 9:10 God says, "When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the wilderness. I viewed your ancestors like an early fig on a fig tree in its first season". In Luke 13:6-9, Jesus told another parable of a fig tree, in which the fig tree represented Israel, and Jesus warned the Jews that they had only one more year to produce the fruit of repentance, or they would be 'cut down'. Finally, Matthew 21:18-19 says, "Now early in the morning, as he returned to the city, he was hungry. After noticing a fig tree by the road he went to it, but found nothing on it except leaves. He said to it, “Never again will there be fruit from you!” And the fig tree withered at once". It's not as though Jesus was simply hungry or having a bad day and decided to take out his frustration on this poor fig tree. Rather, he was making a prophetic statement. He was looking for the nation to produce the fruit of repentance and faith, but because it was like the fig tree that produced leaves but no fruit, it was about to come under God's covenant curses (Deuteronomy 28). As such, it was likely to experience another military conquest and exile.

But in Matthew 24:32, when Jesus talks about the fig tree becoming tender and putting out its leaves, he is talking about Israel having a new beginning. And from verses 33 and 34 it seems like this new beginning for the nation of Israel marks the beginning of a future generation that would see 'all these things', in other words, all the signs he has just described that lead up to his arrival in glory upon the clouds.

It seems reasonable that we should recognise the creation of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948 as this new beginning, and also as the fulfilment of Isaiah 66:8 which says, "…Can a country be brought forth in one day? Can a nation be born in a single moment? Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons!"

3
Through trials and tribulation by God's grace be strong and cope.
Just believe and do not fear, instead trust in the blessed hope.
It's for real and is no fiction, far more gripping than a soap,
He's coming back again.


The bible is clear that Christians need to be ready to face persecution and even martyrdom in the difficult period just before Christ's return.

In Matthew 24:9-14, Jesus says, "Then they will hand you over to be persecuted and will kill you. You will be hated by all the nations because of my name. Then many will be led into sin, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will appear and deceive many, and because lawlessness will increase so much, the love of many will grow cold. But the person who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole inhabited earth as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come."

And in verse 21 he says, "For then there will be great suffering unlike anything that has happened from the beginning of the world until now, or ever will happen." While this particular verse may relate primarily to the Jews in Israel (based on verse 16), it is clear that Christians will also suffer intense persecution in the period just before his coming.

Revelation 6:9-11 says, "Now when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been violently killed because of the word of God and because of the testimony they had given. They cried out with a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Master, holy and true, before you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?” Each of them was given a long white robe and they were told to rest for a little longer, until the full number was reached of both their fellow servants and their brothers who were going to be killed just as they had been."

And Revelation 12:11 says, "But they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die."

In Luke 8, when Jesus was on his way to Jairus' house to heal his daughter, we are told in verses 49-50, "While he was still speaking, someone from the synagogue ruler's house came and said, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the teacher any longer.” But when Jesus heard this, he told him, “Do not be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed." Fear is the opposite of faith. As Christians, we should look forward in faith to Christ's coming, and not be afraid of the difficult times that will precede it.

Titus 2:11-13 (NIV) says, "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ."

In 2 Peter 3, the Apostle Peter describes his own hope in the second coming. He says in verses 2-13, "I want you to recall both the predictions foretold by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles. Above all, understand this: In the last days blatant scoffers will come, being propelled by their own evil urges and saying, “Where is his promised return? For ever since our ancestors died, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately suppress this fact, that by the word of God heavens existed long ago and an earth was formed out of water and by means of water. Through these things the world existing at that time was destroyed when it was deluged with water. But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, by being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, that a single day is like a thousand years with the Lord and a thousand years are like a single day. The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; when it comes, the heavens will disappear with a horrific noise, and the celestial bodies will melt away in a blaze, and the earth and every deed done on it will be laid bare. Since all these things are to melt away in this manner, what sort of people must we be, conducting our lives in holiness and godliness, while waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God? Because of this day, the heavens will be burned up and dissolve, and the celestial bodies will melt away in a blaze! But, according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness truly resides."

4
He gave us many signs to watch for, one by one they are fulfilled.
Soon the sun shall lose its brightness and the moonlight shall be veiled.
When we see the stars a-falling all God's people should be thrilled.
He's coming as he willed.


In his Olivet Discourse, as recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 17 and 21, Jesus gave us many signs to watch for in relation to his coming:

1) False Messiahs deceiving people (Matthew 24:4-5)
2) Wars and rumours of war (Matthew 24:6-7)
3) Famines (Matthew 24:7)
4) Earthquakes (Matthew 24:7)
5) Plagues (Luke 21:11)
6) Terrifying sights and great signs in the sky (Luke 21:11)
7) Hatred, persecution and martyrdom of Christians (Matthew 24:9)
8) Many Christians falling away from faith, and people betraying and hating each other (Matthew 24:10)
9) False prophets deceiving people (Matthew 24:11)
10) Increased lawlessness and the love of many growing cold (Matthew 24:12)
11) World-wide proclamation of the Gospel to every ethnic group (Matthew 24:14)
12) Some kind of restoration of the temple and sacrificial system (implied by Matthew 24:15)
13) The 'abomination of desolation' (Matthew 24:15)
14) Residents of Judea must flee to the mountains without delaying to collect possessions (Matthew 24:16-18)
15) Suffering (KJV: tribulation) greater than anything in history or that will ever occur again in the future (Matthew 24:21)
16) Jerusalem surrounded by armies (Luke 21:20)
17) Jews killed or led away as captives among all nations (Luke 21:24)
18) Mankind at risk of total annihilation (Matthew 24:22)
19) False Messiahs and false prophets deceive people with great signs and miracles (Matthew 24:23-26)
20) the sun will be darkened (Matthew 24:29)
21) the moon will not give its light (Matthew 24:29)
22) the stars will fall from the sky (Matthew 24:29)
23) the powers of heaven will be shaken (Matthew 24:29)
24) Tsunamis (Luke 21:25)
25) Worldwide fear of what is about to happen to the world (Luke 21:25)
26) His coming is visible from east to west like lightning (Matthew 24:27)
27) Vultures gather over the corpses (Matthew 24:28)
28) The sign of the Son of Man in the sky (Matthew 24:30)
29) The nations mourn (Matthew 24:30)
30) The nations see Jesus coming on the clouds with power and great glory (Matthew 24:30)
31) Angels blowing a trumpet (Matthew 24:31)
32) The elect are gathered from around the world (Matthew 24:31)
33) Fig tree sprouts leaves, a metaphor for Israel being restored as a nation (Matthew 24:32)

Those which I have numbered 1 to 25 precede his coming. In Chapter 7 of 'Witnessing the End', Christian Widener gives a compelling explanation as to how these are being fulfilled in our day.

Signs 1 to 4 are those which Jesus described as 'the beginning of birth pains' (Matthew 24:8), suggesting these are the earlier signs to look for, along with sign 33 which is arguably the greatest of all the signs that precede his coming. The fig tree sprouting leaves represents a new beginning for the nation of Israel which seems to mark the beginning of an end-time generation that will see all of the above signs, in accordance with Christ's words in Matthew 24:33-34, "So also you, when you see all these things, know that he is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place."

Signs 26 to 30 describe the second coming itself. Also see Revelation 1:7 which says, "Look! He is returning with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes on the earth will mourn because of him."

Signs 31 and 32 describe the last trumpet and the rapture of believers (see also 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). It may surprise you that Jesus places these after his visible coming in glory, not before it.

Signs 20 to 22 relate to the heavenly bodies, as Jesus said in Matthew 24:29, "Immediately after the suffering of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken." This accords with the prophecy of Joel 2:30-31, "I will produce portents both in the sky and on the earth – blood, fire, and columns of smoke. The sunlight will be turned to darkness and the moon to the color of blood, before the day of the LORD comes – that great and terrible day!" Also Revelation 6:12-13 says, "Then I looked when the Lamb opened the sixth seal, and a huge earthquake took place; the sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair, and the full moon became blood red; and the stars in the sky fell to the earth like a fig tree dropping its unripe figs when shaken by a fierce wind."

On the day that Jesus was crucified (most likely Friday April 3, 33 AD), the sun was darkened for three hours between noon and 3pm (Luke 23:44). And as the full moon rose that evening, it was a blood moon. The gospels don't record this, but Peter alludes to it in Acts 2:20, and it can verified using astronomy software that as the moon rose over Jerusalem that evening, there was a lunar eclipse. This is commonly referred to as a 'blood moon' as the moon appears red in colour. It is clear from the above verses that these signs will be repeated immediately before Christ's second coming.

The stars appearing to fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven being shaken, should be understood as the visible manifestation of Satan and his forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12) being thrown out of heaven down to the earth. This is described in Revelation 12:7-9, "Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But the dragon was not strong enough to prevail, so there was no longer any place left in heaven for him and his angels. So that huge dragon – the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world – was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him." There are several places in the bible where angels are referred to as stars. For example, Job 38:4-7 says, "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth…when the morning stars sang in chorus, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" Isaiah 14:12 (NIV) is another prophecy of Satan's end-time fall, "How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!" And Daniel 8:9-12 says, "From one of them came a small horn. But it grew to be very big, toward the south and the east and toward the beautiful land. It grew so big it reached the army of heaven, and it brought about the fall of some of the army and some of the stars to the ground, where it trampled them. It also acted arrogantly against the Prince of the army, from whom the daily sacrifice was removed and whose sanctuary was thrown down. The army was given over, along with the daily sacrifice, in the course of his sinful rebellion. It hurled truth to the ground and enjoyed success." This small horn which grew large is understood to metaphorically and prophetically depict Antiochus Epiphanes, a kind of Old Testament Antichrist figure who desecrated the Jewish temple in 168 BC, and setup the 'abomination of desolation' as prophesied in Daniel 11:31. However, Jesus clearly taught that Daniel's prophecies about the abomination of desolation (Daniel 9:27, 11:31 and 12:11) would also have a future end-time fulfilment, for he says in Matthew 24:15, "So when you see the abomination of desolation – spoken about by Daniel the prophet – standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains." It is not clear whether or not there was a visible manifestation of stars appearing to fall from the sky in 168 BC, but clearly there will be when this prophecy has its second fulfilment just before the second coming.

In addition to Christ's teaching in the four gospels, various other biblical passages give us descriptions of what the world will be like in the last days before Christ's return.

For example, Daniel 12:4 (KJV) says, "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." In 1952, BOAC became the first airline to offer a passenger service in a jet aircraft. Since then, international travel has taken off exponentially, with there now being approximately 40 million flights per year carrying about 4 billion passengers. People are flying to and fro around the world in a way that could not be imagined a hundred years ago. In 1969 Intel released its first microchip, setting of the computer age. In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web, with it becoming publicly available the following year. In 1998, Google publicly launched its search engine. And in 2022, OpenAI publicly released ChatGPT, making the power of AI available to the masses. These combined technological advances have facilitated an exponential growth and public availability of knowledge like never before.

The Apostle Paul says in 1 Timothy 4:1-5, "Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the later times some will desert the faith and occupy themselves with deceiving spirits and demonic teachings, influenced by the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared. They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every creation of God is good and no food is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. For it is sanctified by God's word and by prayer." In the last century or so there has certainly been a great falling away from faith in the West. Associated with that, many young people today no longer believe in the value or necessity of marriage. And there has also been a significant rise in vegetarianism and veganism. All these may be seen as fulfilments of what Paul prophesied.

And in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, Paul says, "But understand this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, savage, opposed to what is good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, loving pleasure rather than loving God. They will maintain the outward appearance of religion but will have repudiated its power." And in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 he says, "For there will be a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching. Instead, following their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves, because they have an insatiable curiosity to hear new things. And they will turn away from hearing the truth, but on the other hand they will turn aside to myths." Such descriptions seem like an accurate portrayal of the world today.

5
He will split the Mount of Olives so his people can escape,
while the city falls and evil men the women try to rape.
Jacob's trouble will not last and all their enemies will gape
at Jesus on the clouds.


Zechariah 14:1-8 says, "A day of the LORD is about to come when your possessions will be divided as plunder in your midst. 2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to wage war; the city will be taken, its houses plundered, and the women raped. Then half of the city will go into exile, but the remainder of the people will not be taken away. 3Then the LORD will go to battle and fight against those nations, just as he fought battles in ancient days. 4On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives which lies to the east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in half from east to west, leaving a great valley. Half the mountain will move northward and the other half southward. 5Then you will escape through my mountain valley, for the mountains will extend to Azal. Indeed, you will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come with all his holy ones with him. 6On that day there will be no light – the sources of light in the heavens will congeal. 7It will happen in one day (a day known to the LORD); not in the day or the night, but in the evening there will be light. 8Moreover, on that day living waters will flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea; it will happen both in summer and in winter."

This is certainly a sobering thought, that Jerusalem will fall to enemy forces and that many of the women will be raped, in another kind of October 7 event but on an even bigger scale. This fall of Jerusalem seems to be the trigger for the second coming, when Jesus personally intervenes to rescue the Jewish residents of Jerusalem. However, the description in verse 2 of half the city going into exile suggests a slight delay before Christ's intervention which is described in verses 3 and 4. But when he does intervene, Jesus sets his feet on the Mount of Olives, splitting it in two, with half the mountain moving north and half moving south. This creates a great valley that runs west to east and provides Jerusalem's refugees with an escape route to a place of safety. This mountain valley is said to extend to Azal. Most commentaries say this is an unknown location, but it should be noted that Azal is an ancient name associated with Sanaa, the capital of Yemen. So it is possible that after running west to east, allowing them to escape eastwards across the Jordan, it then turns south and runs almost the whole length of the Arabian Peninsula. Verse 5 tells us they will flee as they fled from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. This splitting of the Mount of Olives surely equates with the huge earthquake described in Revelation 6:12, "Then I looked when the Lamb opened the sixth seal, and a huge earthquake took place; the sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair, and the full moon became blood red." Zechariah's description of the heavenly sources of light congealing also equates with Revelation's description of the sun turning black and the moon turning red. Personally, I understand there to be a time interval in the middle of Zechariah 14:5, between the escape of the Jews through the mountain valley and the Lord then coming with all his holy ones. This time interval is made explicit in Revelation 12:6, which I will look at below.

However, first let me point out that according to Luke 24:50-51, Christ's ascension took place from Bethany, a village located on the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives, about two miles from Jerusalem. And according to Acts 1:10-11, "As they were still staring into the sky while he was going, suddenly two men in white clothing stood near them and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking up into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way you saw him go into heaven.” So it is fitting that when Jesus comes back, he returns first to the Mount of Olives, to the same place from which he ascended nearly two thousand years ago.

In Revelation 12:1-6, this initial return of Jesus is portrayed allegorically as a kind of rebirth, where Jesus is figuratively born again to the nation of Israel, portrayed as the woman in the allegory. Satan is portrayed as a dragon, ready and waiting, in hope that he might destroy Jesus at the moment of his return. According to verses 5-6, "So the woman gave birth to a son, a male child, who is going to rule over all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was suddenly caught up to God and to his throne, and she fled into the wilderness where a place had been prepared for her by God, so she could be taken care of for 1,260 days." So it seems that Jesus splits the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem's refugees escape through the mountain valley to a place of safety, and Jesus then ascends again, being caught up to God's throne. At that point, according to Revelation 6:15-17, God is visibly enthroned upon the clouds, together with Jesus, for everyone on earth to see as they look up at the sky.

The time interval of 1,260 days appears to equate to the time of Jacob's trouble, described in Jeremiah 30:7 (see below).

6.
They'll cry "May the mountains fall on us and hide us from God's face
for who can stand his wrath to come, it's picking up the pace".
There'll be trumpets and then bowls of wrath, they missed the time of grace,
Oh what a dreadful waste!


Jesus described his second coming in Matthew 24:29-30 saying, "Immediately after the suffering of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. 30Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."

This description corresponds closely with that in Revelation 6:12-17, "Then I looked when the Lamb opened the sixth seal, and a huge earthquake took place; the sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair, and the full moon became blood red; 13and the stars in the sky fell to the earth like a fig tree dropping its unripe figs when shaken by a fierce wind. 14The sky was split apart like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place. 15Then the kings of the earth, the very important people, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16They said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?"

When interpreting the book of Revelation, it is important to recognise that Christ's visible return in glory occurs at the sixth seal, and that from that point onwards, both God the Father and Jesus are visible to people on earth from every class, from the greatest down to the least. As Revelation 1:7 says, "Look! He is returning with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes on the earth will mourn because of him." Isaiah 2:17-19 also prophesies the same reaction of people during the day of judgment, "Proud men will be humiliated, arrogant men will be brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. The worthless idols will be completely eliminated. They will go into caves in the rocky cliffs and into holes in the ground, trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the LORD and his royal splendor, when he rises up to terrify the earth."

Presumably, when Jesus is seen here upon the clouds, together with God the Father who is seated upon his throne, he has already split the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4) and then been caught up to God's throne while Jerusalem's refugees escape to their place of safety (Revelation 12:6).

This picture of God seated on the throne and of the Lamb also corresponds with Daniel's vision of the second coming in Daniel 7:13-14, "And with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man was approaching. He went up to the Ancient of Days and was escorted before him. To him was given ruling authority, honor, and sovereignty. All peoples, nations, and language groups were serving him. His authority is eternal and will not pass away. His kingdom will not be destroyed." During his trial, Jesus referred to this vision in Matthew 26:64, "…But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven." From a New Testament perspective (e.g. Ephesians 1:20), Jesus was exalted to the right hand of the Father after his resurrection and ascension, but the sixth seal of Revelation is the point at which his exalted relationship with the Father becomes visible to all people, including those on earth.

The book of Revelation contains several chronological sections, including events unleashed by Jesus opening seven seals (chapters 6 and 7), another series of events unleashed by angels blowing seven trumpets (chapters 8 to 11), and finally a series of judgments unleashed by angels pouring out seven bowls of wrath upon the earth (chapter 16). These sections are interspersed with additional information that helps us to understand what is going on but should not be interpreted chronologically.

According to Revelation 6:17, Christ's coming at the sixth seal marks the beginning of the day of wrath, and we see this wrath worked out in the trumpet and bowl judgments which follow, and finally in his Armageddon campaign.

According to Luke 4:18-19, at the start of his earthly ministry, Jesus quoted from Isaiah 61:1-2a, using it as a kind of manifesto for his ministry. He says, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and the regaining of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Comparing this this Isaiah 61:1-2, we see that Jesus stopped abruptly in the middle of verse 2, which continues, "and the day of vengeance of our God". His first-coming mission was limited, and the rest of his messianic commission, as expressed in verses 2b and 3, await his second coming. At his first coming, Jesus ministered to the poor and needy, many of whom gladly followed him, whereas the rich and the leaders of the people largely rejected him. He healed the sick, and he freed people from demonic bondage by decreeing their release. By announcing the year of the Lord's favour, Jesus was announcing God's amnesty for sinners. 'Year' represents a relatively long period of time, and nearly 2,000 years later, this 'year' of amnesty still has not finished. Sinners can turn themselves in, to receive God's mercy and forgiveness instead of condemnation and judgment. By dying on the cross, Jesus made this amnesty possible, because he took the punishment for our sins, and paid the price for our forgiveness.

His second coming at the sixth seal marks the end of this amnesty, and the beginning of the day of wrath. God will no longer ignore those who reject his salvation. This time of wrath lasts for a 'day' which represents a shorter period of time. If the 'year' of the Lord's favour lasts about 2,000 literal years, you might expect the 'day' of wrath to last about 2,000 literal days. Various end-time prophecies specify a duration of 1,260 days (3 1/2 years), although Daniel 12:12 describes 1,335 days. During this time, Jesus will put an end to all rebellion, and usher in the Millennium, a golden age lasting 1,000 years when Christ will rule the earth from Jerusalem (Revelation 20:1-6).

Given the enormous price that Jesus paid upon the cross in order to save us, what a dreadful waste it is that so many reject him and turn down his offer of forgiveness. As 2 Peter 3:9-10 says, "The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief…" God has no wish to pour out his wrath upon anyone, but any amnesty must come to an end some time. And when the day of the Lord does finally come, those who have failed to take advantage of it must suffer the consequences. When a thief comes, you suffer loss, and great will be the loss that sinners experience after Christ returns to fully establish his kingdom rule upon the earth.

7
God's angels with the seal of God will place upon the heads
a mark so Israel's ancient tribes can sleep upon their beds,
while the lawless one and all his men receive the fate he dreads
All Israel will be saved.


Still as part of the sixth seal, Revelation 7:1-8 tells us, "After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so no wind could blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. 2Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, who had the seal of the living God. He shouted out with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given permission to damage the earth and the sea: 3“Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees until we have put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” 4Now I heard the number of those who were marked with the seal, one hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed from all the tribes of the people of Israel: 5From the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad, twelve thousand, 6from the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh, twelve thousand, 7from the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand, 8from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed."

Given that so many scriptures prophesy God's end-time restoration of the twelve tribes, and their reunification as one nation under Messiah's rule (Isaiah 11:10-16, 14:1-2, 19:24, 27:9, 65:9, Jeremiah 3:16-18, 30:1-24, 31:1-40, 33:1-26, Ezekiel 20:39-42, 36:1-38, 37:1-28, 39:21-29, Hosea 2:14-23, 3:5, Amos 9:11-15, Obadiah 1:15-21, Micah 5:3-9, Nahum 2:2, Zephaniah 3:8-20, Zechariah 9:10-16, 10:3-12, 12:1-14, 14:5-21, Romans 11:17-32), it seems clear to me that these are literal descendants of the twelve tribes of Israel. Why else does John name each of the twelve tribes?

In the Old Testament, under kings Saul, David, and Solomon, the twelve tribes were united as one nation. During the reign of Solomon's son, Rehoboam, the nation split in two. The northern kingdom of Israel comprised ten tribes, while the southern kingdom of Judah comprised the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The priestly tribe of Levi was never allocated a tribal territory but was spread among the other tribes, so existed in both kingdoms. In 722 BC, the northern kingdom was conquered and exiled to Assyria, and never returned. In 586 BC, the southern kingdom was exiled to Babylon, but its people were restored to their ancestral homeland after the Persian conquest of Babylon in 539 BC. Today's Jews are descendants of the southern kingdom of Judah. They were again exiled from the land by the Romans in 70 AD and in 135 AD. Despite being dispersed among the nations of the world for nearly 2,000 years, miraculously they retained their Jewish customs and identity. The descendants of the northern kingdom are often referred to as the lost ten tribes of Israel since they assimilated into the nations to which they were exiled and lost their Israelite identity. From my studies of biblical prophecy, it is clear to me that God promised to restore the Jews to their ancestral homeland before the second coming, and that after the second coming he will complete his restoration of the northern tribes, uniting all of Israel under the rule of Christ as king.

Since the late 19th century, God has been restoring the Jews to their ancestral homeland, leading to Israel's restoration as the State of Israel on May 14, 1948. The horrors of the holocaust, prophesied in Psalm 102:3-10, provoked widespread compassion towards the Jews after it was exposed at the end of World War II. This helped facilitate international support for the new Jewish state after its founding, much as Psalm 102:13 says, "You will rise up and have compassion on Zion. For it is time to have mercy on her, for the appointed time has come."

Israel's national restoration and renewed prosperity is seen in the prophecy of Isaiah 66. Verse 8 says, "Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen this? Can a country be brought forth in one day? Can a nation be born in a single moment? Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons!" Verse 10 calls us to rejoice over this, "Be happy for Jerusalem and rejoice with her, all you who love her! Share in her great joy, all you who have mourned over her!" And in verses 12 to 14a, God calls us to rejoice over her renewed prosperity, "Look, I am ready to extend to her prosperity that will flow like a river, the riches of nations will flow into her like a stream that floods its banks. You will nurse from her breast and be carried at her side; you will play on her knees. As a mother consoles a child, so I will console you, and you will be consoled over Jerusalem.” When you see this, you will be happy, and you will be revived." In verses 14b to 16, it is clear that this prophesied restoration takes place before the second coming, "The LORD will reveal his power to his servants and his anger to his enemies. For look, the LORD comes with fire, his chariots come like a windstorm, to reveal his raging anger, his battle cry, and his flaming arrows. For the LORD judges all humanity with fire and his sword; the LORD will kill many."

The modern day return of Jews to Israel may be seen as fulfilling many other prophecies, including Isaiah 11:12, Jeremiah 32:44, Ezekiel 11:17, 20:34, 28:25, 36:24, and Hosea 3:4-5.

Hosea 4-5 says, "For the Israelites must live many days without a king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred fertility pillar, without ephod or idols. Afterward, the Israelites will turn and seek the LORD their God and their Davidic king. Then they will submit to the LORD in fear and receive his blessings in the future."

Many Christians fail to recognise the Jewish return to Israel after nearly 2,000 years of exile as a fulfilment of these verses. A key reason for that is the fact that many Israelis are secular and non-religious. Although increasing numbers of Jews have been turning to Christ, these so-called Messianic Jews are still a small minority within Israel. But it is clear from several end-time prophecies that the Jews must first be restored to the land and then God will restore their faith. In a prophecy of Christ's second coming, Zechariah 12:10 (NIV) says, "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son."

Another problem is that many Christians have embraced 'replacement theology'. They see the Church as having permanently replaced Israel, such that God's many promises to Israel are now fulfilled through the Church, with no need for them to be fulfilled through the physical descendants of Jacob. In Romans 9 to 11, the Apostle Paul discusses various questions relating to the relationship between Jews and the Church. In Romans 11:17-24, he used the analogy of an olive tree, with some of the Israelite branches being broken off because of their unbelief in Christ, and Gentile branches being grafted into their place. But he makes it clear that Israel's partial rejection is temporary, and that in the end God will restore the broken off branches. In Romans 11:25-27, he says, "For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion; he will remove ungodliness from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins.” The time when 'the full number of Gentiles has come in' is just before the second coming, for Jesus said in Matthew 24:14, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole inhabited earth as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come." Paul has confidence that God will then restore all Israel. By 'all Israel', he means all the tribes of Israel, as promised in so many scriptures. He is not saying that every individual Jew will be saved as though they have some special back door to salvation.

According to Jeremiah 31:31-34, the restoration of all Israel, including the tribes of the northern kingdom, to faith and to their land, is an integral part of the New Covenant, "Indeed, a time is coming,” says the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I delivered them from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,” says the LORD. “But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel after I plant them back in the land,” says the LORD. “I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts and minds. I will be their God and they will be my people. “People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” says the LORD. “For I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.” While Jesus instituted the New Covenant nearly 2,000 years ago at the Last Supper, this part of it, the restoration of all Israel, is set to be fulfilled at his second coming.

The sealing of the 144,000 is surely the beginning of this restoration of all Israel, and it occurs within the backdrop of the Great Tribulation, a time when the Antichrist and his followers are attempting to take over the world. The Apostle Paul calls this individual 'the man of lawlessness', and 'the lawless one' in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-9. The book of Revelation, from chapter 8 onwards, portrays the end-time war between Jesus and Antichrist's Empire. In chapter 19, we see their ultimate defeat and judgment.

8
Then we shall stand before him in the twinkling of an eye.
Oh what rapture we'll experience as we are lifted high.
Every nation, tribe and langu-age shall join him in the sky,
Never again to die.


After the sealing of the 144,000, and still as part of the sixth seal, Revelation 7:9-17 continues, "After these things I looked, and here was an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb dressed in long white robes, and with palm branches in their hands. They were shouting out in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God, to the one seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels stood there in a circle around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Praise and glory, and wisdom and thanksgiving, and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!” Then one of the elders asked me, “These dressed in long white robes – who are they and where have they come from?” So I said to him, “My lord, you know the answer.” Then he said to me, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb! For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple, and the one seated on the throne will shelter them. They will never go hungry or be thirsty again, and the sun will not beat down on them, nor any burning heat, because the Lamb in the middle of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

This is a scene that was first prophesied in Daniel 7:13-14, "I was watching in the night visions, “And with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man was approaching. He went up to the Ancient of Days and was escorted before him. To him was given ruling authority, honor, and sovereignty. All peoples, nations, and language groups were serving him. His authority is eternal and will not pass away. His kingdom will not be destroyed."

Jesus referred to this event at his trial, according to Matthew 26:63-64, "But Jesus was silent. The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

The Apostle Paul described this event in 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17, "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also we believe that God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep as Christians. For we tell you this by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not go ahead of those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be suddenly caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord." In the latin translation of the bible, 'caught up' in verse 17 is translated with the word 'rapturo', from which we get the English word 'rapture'. It is important to note that the rapture is of living Christians who are 'left until the coming of the Lord'. So the rapture comes after the second coming, not before it, just as we have already seen from the order of events at the sixth seal in Revelation 6 and 7. In 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, Paul says, "For God did not destine us for wrath but for gaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that whether we are alert or asleep we will come to life together with him." We see from Revelation 6:17 that the Day of Wrath is ushered in by his coming at the sixth seal, and we see it worked out in the events that follow from Revelation 8 onwards. So Christians should expect to be present on Earth up until the sixth seal when he comes. Us not being destined for wrath is not a reason to believe in a pre-tribulation rapture before all the trouble starts.

In Matthew 24:29-31, Jesus also descried his second coming and the rapture in this same order, "Immediately after the suffering of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet blast, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2, the Apostle Paul also describes them in this same order, "Now regarding the arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to be with him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to be easily shaken from your composure or disturbed by any kind of spirit or message or letter allegedly from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here."

Revelation 7 omits to describe the resurrection of dead Christians, but from Paul's epistles it is clear that dead Christians are resurrected first and are included in the gathering of the elect upon the clouds at Christ's coming. He also describes this resurrection and rapture of believers in 1 Corinthians 15:50-53, "Now this is what I am saying, brothers and sisters: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I will tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality."

The common belief that the rapture precedes Christ's coming has arisen out of dispensationalist teaching, introduced by John Nelson Darby in the 1830's. I discuss dispensationalism in my commentary on Matthew 24.

Christ's promise to us in the gospels is that through him we may receive eternal life. He says in John 3:16-18 (NIV), "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." At his coming, his followers, including those who have died, will join him upon the clouds, to be with him forever. From that point on, we will never again experience death. Starting with Christ's one thousand year reign on earth, the bible tells us that we will reign with him (Romans 8:17, 2 Timothy 2:12, Revelation 5:10, 20:4-6, and 22:5).

Our ultimate destiny is to live with him forever in the new heaven and earth, as revealed in Revelation 21:1-4, "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had ceased to exist, and the sea existed no more. And I saw the holy city – the new Jerusalem – descending out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Look! The residence of God is among human beings. He will live among them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will not exist any more – or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the former things have ceased to exist.” And Revelation 22:1-5 says, "Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life – water as clear as crystal – pouring out from the throne of God and of the Lamb, flowing down the middle of the city's main street. On each side6 of the river is the tree of life producing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month of the year. Its leaves are for the healing of the nations. And there will no longer be any curse, and the throne of God and the Lamb will be in the city. His servants will worship him, and they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. Night will be no more, and they will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will shine on them, and they will reign forever and ever."

10
Now Satan knows his time is up, from heaven he'll be thrown.
For a thousand years in heavy chains in Hades he'll be bound.
To deceive the world no more and let the truth of God resound,
The judge will send him down.


According to Matthew 8:29, as Jesus approached two demon-possessed men in the region of the Gadarenes, the demons cried out, "Son of God, leave us alone! Have you come here to torment us before the time?" Satan and his demons are aware that one day they are going to end up in torment, and they seem to have at least a general sense of when that will be.

In two different ways, Revelation 12 describes Satan and his fallen angels being cast out of heaven onto the earth.

Revelation 12:1-6 describes two great astronomical signs, "Then a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and with the moon under her feet, and on her head was a crown of twelve stars. 2She was pregnant and was screaming in labor pains, struggling to give birth. 3Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon that had seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadem crowns. 4Now the dragon's tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. 5So the woman gave birth to a son, a male child, who is going to rule over all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was suddenly caught up to God and to his throne, 6and she fled into the wilderness where a place had been prepared for her by God, so she could be taken care of for 1,260 days."

Please refer to my commentary on Revelation 12 for a detailed analysis of these two heavenly (astronomical) signs. Briefly here though, the first great sign depicts an alignment of the sun, moon and planets with the stars in the constellation Virgo, that was fulfilled on September 23, 2017. In Luke 21:11, Jesus included 'great signs from heaven' among the signs that his coming is near, and this is certainly one of them. In the second sign, we see in verse 4, "Now the dragon's tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born." Christ's coming, beginning with him setting his feet upon the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4), is portrayed allegorically as a kind of rebirth (see also my commentary on the birth metaphor in Matthew 24), and just before that, Satan is seen to cast a third of the angels down to earth in preparation for an attempt to destroy Christ the moment he returns. This third of the angels are understood to be fallen angels.

In Luke 10:17-18, Jesus prophesied Satan's eventual fall from heaven, "Then the seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name!” So he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven."" He also said in Matthew 24:29, "Immediately after the suffering of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken." It seems that Satan's fall from heaven, along with a third of the angels, will be visible on earth just before Christ's coming, and will look as through the stars are falling, presumably like a dramatic meteor shower. What resembles falling stars is actually the powers of heaven being shaking. These are the same powers that the Apostle Paul describes in Ephesians 6:12, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens."

Revelation 12:7-10, presents this same fall from heaven from a different perspective, "Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8But the dragon was not strong enough to prevail, so there was no longer any place left in heaven for him and his angels. 9So that huge dragon – the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world – was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him. 10Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, “The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the ruling authority of his Christ, have now come, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, the one who accuses them day and night before our God, has been thrown down."

Revelation 19 portrays Christ's defeat of Antichrist and his armies at the battle of Armageddon. Then Revelation 20:1-3 says, "Then I saw an angel descending from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the abyss and a huge chain. 2He seized the dragon – the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan – and tied him up for a thousand years. 3The angel then threw him into the abyss and locked and sealed it so that he could not deceive the nations until the one thousand years were finished. (After these things he must be released for a brief period of time.)

Satan being bound and cast into the Abyss for 1,000 years will facilitate the fulfilment of Habakkuk 2:14 (NIV), "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea."

According to Revelation 20:7-10, God's final judgment of Satan comes at the end of the Millennium, "Now when the thousand years are finished, Satan will be released from his prison 8and will go out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to bring them together for the battle. They are as numerous as the grains of sand in the sea. 9They went up on the broad plain of the earth and encircled the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and devoured them completely. 10And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are too, and they will be tormented there day and night forever and ever."

11
When the seventh trumpet sounds angelic voices will proclaim,
That the kingdoms of this world are being taken in Christ's name.
But woe to earth and sea for Satan plays a dirty game.
He's running out of time.


Revelation 11:15-18 says, "Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.” 16Then the twenty-four elders who are seated on their thrones before God threw themselves down with their faces to the ground and worshiped God 17with these words: “We give you thanks, Lord God, the All-Powerful, the one who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and begun to reign. 18The nations were enraged, but your wrath has come…"

Although Christ is visible upon the clouds from the time of his coming at the sixth seal, Antichrist and his followers remain very much at large and in political control for a considerable time afterwards. God's wrath is unleashed upon the earth in the form of the seven trumpets, with more to follow in the form of the seven bowl judgments. It is during the seventh trumpet that Jesus begins to actually impose his reign upon the earth, requiring him to start forcibly taking over earth kingdoms.

The statement in verse 18, "The nations were enraged," is a reference to Psalm 2 which will reach its prophetic fulfilment at this point, "Why do the nations rebel? Why are the countries devising plots that will fail? 2The kings of the earth form a united front; the rulers collaborate against the LORD and his anointed king. 3They say, “Let's tear off the shackles they've put on us! Let's free ourselves from their ropes!” 4The one enthroned in heaven laughs in disgust; the Lord taunts them. 5Then he angrily speaks to them and terrifies them in his rage, saying, 6“I myself have installed my king on Zion, my holy hill.” 7The king says, “I will announce the LORD's decree. He said to me: ‘You are my son! This very day I have become your father! 8Ask me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the ends of the earth as your personal property. 9You will break them with an iron scepter; you will smash them like a potter's jar!'” 10So now, you kings, do what is wise; you rulers of the earth, submit to correction! 11Serve the LORD in fear! Repent in terror! 12Give sincere homage! Otherwise he will be angry, and you will die because of your behavior, when his anger quickly ignites. How blessed are all who take shelter in him!"

Revelation 8-11 portrays the chronological sequence of events associated with the seven trumpets. Later Revelation 16 portrays the chronological sequence of events associated with the seven bowls. Between these two chronological sections, Revelation 12-15 is what might be described as a 'parenthetical' section. It gives us additional insight into what is going on during the end times, but not necessarily in chronological order. So Revelation 12 begins with the two great heavenly signs and the fall of Satan and his angels, events that actually take place before Christ's coming at the sixth seal. After describing Satan's fall, Revelation 12:10-12 says, "Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, “The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the ruling authority of his Christ, have now come, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, the one who accuses them day and night before our God, has been thrown down. 11But they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die. 12Therefore you heavens rejoice, and all who reside in them! But woe to the earth and the sea because the devil has come down to you! He is filled with terrible anger, for he knows that he only has a little time!”

12
Meanwhile Jesus has a mission that he planned in days of old.
He'll break out the Jews from Bozrah, lead them out of the sheepfold.
As their king he'll march ahead of them and they will all be bold,
Like Exodus retold.


Micah 2:12-13 (NIV) says, "I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob; I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place will throng with people. 13One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate and go out. Their king will pass through before them, the LORD at their head."

This is surely an end-time prophecy of Jesus rescuing the remnant of Israel. In Hebrew, verse 12 contains the word 'Bozrah', translated here as a sheepfold or pen. But Bozrah was also the name of Edom's ancient capital, and it suggests that this 'Bozrah breakout' takes place somewhere within the geographical region know as Edom in biblical times. Today, ancient Bozrah is an archeological ruin near Petra in Jordan. So Ancient Bozrah seems an unlikely location for Israel's end-time safe place in the wilderness, although end-time commentators often suggest Petra as a possibility. Personally, I understand 'Bozrah' to be used figuratively here in Micah to indicate a location somewhere within Edom, and that we need to look for other biblical clues to try to figure out where that might be.

In a prophecy of the end-time fall of Jerusalem and of the second coming, Zechariah 14:4-5 says, "On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives which lies to the east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in half from east to west, leaving a great valley. Half the mountain will move northward and the other half southward. 5Then you will escape through my mountain valley, for the mountains will extend to Azal. Indeed, you will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come with all his holy ones with him."

And Revelation 12:5-6 says of Christ's second coming, "So the woman gave birth to a son, a male child, who is going to rule over all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was suddenly caught up to God and to his throne, 6and she fled into the wilderness where a place had been prepared for her by God, so she could be taken care of for 1,260 days." In this allegorical depiction, the woman is the nation of Israel, and the baby is Jesus whose second coming arrival allegorically delivers Israel from the agonies of labour when she is under attack by Antichrist and his armies.

Connecting these three passages together, when Jerusalem falls to Antichrist's armies (Zechariah 14:1-3), Jesus arrives on the Mount of Olives, creates an escape route for Israel's refugees, and is then caught up to the clouds from where he can be seen by all on earth who look up at the sky (Revelation 6:14-17). The mountain valley through which Israel escapes extends as far as Azal. Although most commentaries say this is an unknown location, Azal is in fact an ancient name for Sanaa, the capital of Yemen. So it is likely that the place that God has prepared for them in the wilderness (Revelation 12:6), referred to as 'Bozrah' in Micah 2:12, is somewhere in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula between Israel and Yemen. Ancient Edom was located within this same region, with its northern border starting at the southern tip of the Dead Sea, in what is now southern Jordan. Its southern border originally ended at Aqaba, such that Edom was equivalent to the mountainous region of Seir (Joshua 24:3-4). But Ezekiel 25:12-13 says, "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: ‘Because Edom took revenge on the house of Judah and became very guilty by doing so, therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will stretch out my hand against Edom and kill its men and their animals. I will lay it waste, and from Teman to Dedan they will fall by the sword." Written in the 6th century BC, this prophecy indicates that by Ezekiel's time, Edom was seen to extend to Dedan, which is modern-day Al-Ula in Saudi Arabia, far south of Edom's original southern boundary. Teman's location within Edom is not known. If one assumes that Ezekiel's prophecy relates to all of Edom and that Dedan is at Edom's southern extremity, then Teman would logically be near its northern extremity.

Micah 2:12 (NIV) says, "I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob; I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place will throng with people."

This 'Bozrah breakout' may relate primarily to Christ's rescue of the Jews from their safe place in the wilderness (Revelation 12:6 and 14) after they have fled from Israel when Jerusalem falls to Antichrist's armies (Zechariah 14:1-5). But it is part of the much larger regathering of the remnant from all the tribes of Israel. This end-time Exodus, with Jesus as the end-time Moses restoring all the tribes of Israel, is a major theme within biblical end-time prophecy.

13
He'll arrive at Armageddon shocking all by his attire,
having crushed the skulls of Moab and torched Edom with his fire.
Royal robes completely splattered with his enemies' blood and gore,
he comes to end the war.


Revelation 19:11-16 says, "Then I saw heaven opened and here came a white horse! The one riding it was called “Faithful” and “True,” and with justice he judges and goes to war. 12His eyes are like a fiery flame and there are many diadem crowns on his head. He has a name written that no one knows except himself. 13He is dressed in clothing dipped in blood, and he is called the Word of God. 14The armies that are in heaven, dressed in white, clean, fine linen, were following him on white horses. 15From his mouth extends a sharp sword, so that with it he can strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod, and he stomps the winepress of the furious wrath of God, the All-Powerful. 16He has a name written on his clothing and on his thigh: “King of kings and Lord of lords.”"

Armageddon is the final battle in which Jesus defeats the Antichrist and his armies, with the Antichrist then being thrown into the lake of fire. But it is certainly not his first battle. Verse 13 says his clothing is 'dipped in blood'. A better translation might be 'soaked' or 'splattered'. Verse 15 says, "and he stomps the winepress of the furious wrath of God", which points us to Isaiah 63.

Isaiah 63:1-6 says, "Who is this who comes from Edom, dressed in bright red, coming from Bozrah? Who is this one wearing royal attire, who marches confidently because of his great strength? “It is I, the one who announces vindication, and who is able to deliver!” 2Why are your clothes red? Why do you look like someone who has stomped on grapes in a vat? 3“I have stomped grapes in the winepress all by myself; no one from the nations joined me. I stomped on them in my anger; I trampled them down in my rage. Their juice splashed on my garments, and stained all my clothes. 4For I looked forward to the day of vengeance, and then payback time arrived. 5I looked, but there was no one to help; I was shocked because there was no one offering support. So my right arm accomplished deliverance; my raging anger drove me on. 6I trampled nations in my anger, I made them drunk in my rage, I splashed their blood on the ground.”

It seems that Jesus arrives at Armageddon after the Bozrah breakout, and has marched up through Edom (northern Saudi Arabia and southern Jordan) and Moab (central western Jordan) to Israel, fighting and slaughtering enemy armies who resist him along the way. So by the time he arrives in Israel, his royal robes are splattered with enemy blood and his appearance is like someone who has been stomping grapes in a winepress. This will certainly be a shocking sight!

Numbers 24:17-19 is a very old prophecy of Christ's second coming in which Balaam said, "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not close at hand. A star will march forth out of Jacob, and a sceptre will rise out of Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab, and the heads of all the sons of Sheth. 18Edom will be a possession, Seir, his enemies, will also be a possession; but Israel will act valiantly. 19 A ruler will be established from Jacob; he will destroy the remains of the city."

This portrayal of Jesus crushing heads actually originates in Genesis 3, in the first prophetic passage in the bible. In verse 15, which is the foundational messianic prophecy, God says to the serpent (NIV), "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." If a venomous snake strikes your heel, it is usually fatal, and Christ's death upon the cross, with nails driven through his wrists and ankles, clearly fulfilled the latter part of this prophecy. At the same time, at least to some extent, Jesus fulfilled the former part, for Hebrews 2:14-15 says, "Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil), and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death." But it is clear from various other end-time prophecies that there is still more to come in Jesus crushing the heads of Satan's seed. For example, Psalm 110:5-6 says of Jesus, "O sovereign LORD, at your right hand he strikes down kings in the day he unleashes his anger. He executes judgment against the nations; he fills the valleys with corpses; he shatters their heads over the vast battlefield."

Balaam specifically foresaw Jesus crushing heads in Moab (part of modern-day Jordan). Moab is singled out in several end-time prophecies for defeat and humiliation. Isaiah 11:13 says, "Ephraim’s jealousy will end, and Judah’s hostility will be eliminated. Ephraim will no longer be jealous of Judah, and Judah will no longer be hostile toward Ephraim." This describes the end-time restoration and reunification of the tribes of Israel. Then verse 14 says of this united Israel, "They will swoop down on the Philistine hills to the west; together they will loot the people of the east. They will take over Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will be their subjects." Isaiah 25:10-11 gives a particularly graphic portrayal of Moab's end-time humiliation, "…Moab will be trampled down where it stands, as a heap of straw is trampled down in a manure pile. Moab will spread out its hands in the middle of it, just as a swimmer spreads his hands to swim; the Lord will bring down Moab’s pride as it spreads its hands."

Jesus is portrayed as using fire to torch his enemies in several end-time passages. For example, 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 says, "…when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. With flaming fire he will mete out punishment on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will undergo the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his strength, when he comes to be glorified among his saints and admired on that day among all who have believed…" Also see Psalm 50:3; 97:3, Isaiah 10:17; 13:8; 29:6; 30:30-33; 33:11-12; 66:15-16, Joel 2:3 & 30, Amos 1, Obadiah 1:18, and Nahum 1:6; 2:13; 3:13-15.

Edom (modern-day south Jordan and northern Saudi Arabia) is also especially singled out for end-time judgment and destruction. Psalm 137:7-8 says, "Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. They said, “Tear it down, tear it down, right to its very foundation!” O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated! How blessed will be the one who repays you for what you dished out to us!" In an end-time context, Edom is figuratively named "daughter Babylon". We see this again in Isaiah 21. In verse 9 we hear, "Babylon has fallen, fallen! All the idols of her gods lie shattered on the ground!" But in the verses that follow, we see that it is a prophecy not about ancient Babylon in Mesopotamia, but rather about Seir (southern Jordan) and northern Saudi Arabia. Revelation 18:2 repeats the lament, "Babylon has fallen, fallen!" and it is reasonable to assume that the depiction of "Mystery Babylon" in Revelation 17 and 18 relates again to Edom in Arabia as in Psalm 137 and Isaiah 21. Jeremiah 49:17-18 prophesied Edom's end-time fall, "Edom will become an object of horror. All who pass by it will be filled with horror; they will hiss out their scorn because of all the disasters that have happened to it. Edom will be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah and the towns that were around them. No one will live there. No human being will settle in it,” says the Lord." Amos 1:11-12 says, "This is what the LORD says: “Because Edom has committed three crimes – make that four! – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. He chased his brother with a sword; he wiped out his allies. In his anger he tore them apart without stopping to rest; in his fury he relentlessly attacked them. So I will set Teman on fire; fire will consume Bozrah's fortresses.”" In God's pronouncement of Edom's future judgment in Isaiah 34, verses 4 to 5 clearly place it in the context of Christ's second coming, "All the stars in the sky will fade away, the sky will roll up like a scroll; all its stars will wither, like a leaf withers and falls from a vine or a fig withers and falls from a tree. He says, “Indeed, my sword has slaughtered heavenly powers. Look, it now descends on Edom, on the people I will annihilate in judgment.”" Matthew 24:29, Revelation 6:13-14 and 12:7-9 describe these same phenomena shortly before Christ's coming. Isaiah 34:6-12 then continues, "The Lord’s sword is dripping with blood, it is covered with fat; it drips with the blood of young rams and goats and is covered with the fat of rams’ kidneys. For the Lord is holding a sacrifice in Bozrah, a bloody slaughter in the land of Edom. Wild oxen will be slaughtered along with them, as well as strong bulls. Their land is drenched with blood, their soil is covered with fat. For the Lord has planned a day of revenge, a time when he will repay Edom for her hostility toward Zion. Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch and her soil into brimstone; her land will become burning pitch. Night and day it will burn; its smoke will ascend continually. Generation after generation it will be a wasteland and no one will ever pass through it again. Owls and wild animals will live there, all kinds of wild birds will settle in it. The Lord will stretch out over her the measuring line of ruin and the plumb line of destruction. Her nobles will have nothing left to call a kingdom and all her officials will disappear."

In Isaiah 9:6, Jesus is described as 'the Prince of Peace'. But it is clear from many end-time passages that he establishes peace throughout the earth by first winning the war and defeating all who oppose his kingdom. Perhaps this is most clearly portrayed in Revelation 19. He arrives as a warrior, his clothes already soaked in enemy blood, but he has come to end the war once and for all.

14
They'll be fools if they take aim at him or target him with rockets.
Their tongues will melt within their mouths, their eyes rot in their sockets.
The road to hell is wide and there will be no lack of tickets.
Best choose the narrow way.


The bible depicts nations and their armies resisting Christ at his coming. For example, Psalm 2:1-6 says, "Why do the nations rebel? Why are the countries devising plots that will fail? 2The kings of the earth form a united front; the rulers collaborate against the LORD and his anointed king. 3They say, “Let's tear off the shackles they've put on us! Let's free ourselves from their ropes!” 4The one enthroned in heaven laughs in disgust; the Lord taunts them. 5Then he angrily speaks to them and terrifies them in his rage, saying, 6“I myself have installed my king on Zion, my holy hill.”"

Acts 4:27-28 interprets the above verses in relation to the opposition Christ faced leading up to his crucifixion, "For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, 28to do as much as your power and your plan had decided beforehand would happen." But in relation to his second coming, it seems that Psalm 2 will be fulfilled much more literally, with armies literally attacking him with weapons of modern warfare. And given the description in Revelation 6:15-17 of people, including kings and their generals, looking up at the sky and trying to hide from the face of him who is visibly enthroned upon the clouds, the description in Psalm 2:4-6 of God laughing and taunting them may also be quite literal.

Zechariah 14:1-3 says, "A day of the LORD is about to come when your possessions will be divided as plunder in your midst. 2For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to wage war; the city will be taken, its houses plundered, and the women raped. Then half of the city will go into exile, but the remainder of the people will not be taken away. 3Then the LORD will go to battle and fight against those nations, just as he fought battles in ancient days."

Revelation 19:11-16 gives a dramatic portrayal of Jesus arriving to do battle, "Then I saw heaven opened and here came a white horse! The one riding it was called “Faithful” and “True,” and with justice he judges and goes to war. 12His eyes are like a fiery flame and there are many diadem crowns on his head. He has a name written that no one knows except himself. 13He is dressed in clothing dipped in blood, and he is called the Word of God. 14The armies that are in heaven, dressed in white, clean, fine linen, were following him on white horses. 15From his mouth extends a sharp sword, so that with it he can strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod, and he stomps the winepress of the furious wrath of God, the All-Powerful. 16He has a name written on his clothing and on his thigh: “King of kings and Lord of lords.”"

The opening statement in verse 11 gives the impression that Jesus comes riding out of the sky on his white horse. In practice, John may simply be describing the manner in which he received this open vision, as though he looked up at the sky and it became like an enormous cinema screen showing him what will one day take place. The likelihood is that Jesus is actually riding his horse along the ground, not along the clouds, and likewise the armies of heaven that follow him. Various prophecies portray Jesus mustering this great army. It appears to include resurrected and raptured believers (Psalm 50:4, Isaiah 13:3-5, 33:4, Joel 2:1-11, 3:11, Revelation 19:14), those identified as 'godly' or as God's chosen people (Psalm 110:3, Psalm 118:10-27, Revelation 17:14), redeemed exiles from Judah and Israel (Psalm 149:5-9, Isaiah 11:10-14, Ezekiel 25:14, Zechariah 9:13, 10:6-9, 12:6), Jews liberated by Jesus from their safe-place in Bozrah (Micah 2:12-13), and Jews liberated from Jerusalem (Micah 4:13, Zechariah 12:5, 8). The clean white fine linen portrays their Christ-given righteousness, but also contrasts them with Christ's blood-splattered clothing. This is their first battle, or they too would have blood-splattered clothing. It is clear from Isaiah 63:5 that Jesus fights alone during his Edom campaign. It is also possible that his army includes angels. In his parables in Matthew 13, Jesus spoke about the role of angels in separating the wicked from the righteous in his kingdom. And in Matthew 16:27 he says, "For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done". So angels come with Jesus and are involved in dealing out judgments and rewards. And they will be involved behind the scenes in spiritual warfare surrounding end-time events (.e.g. Zechariah's vision of four horses, and of four chariots in chapters 1 and 6). But it is not clear whether angels also fight and kill people in the physical earthly realm of Jesus' end-time battles.

Revelation 19:19 says, "Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to do battle with the one who rode the horse and with his army." This is a clash of two enormous armies.

Initially, it might seem that Antichrist and his armies have a chance of winning. But the bible leaves us in no doubt about the outcome of this battle. Seemingly describing the same battle, Zechariah 14:12-13 says, "But this will be the nature of the plague with which the LORD will strike all the nations that have fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will decay while they stand on their feet, their eyes will rot away in their sockets, and their tongues will dissolve in their mouths. 13On that day there will be great confusion from the LORD among them; they will seize each other and attack one another violently."

Revelation 19:17-21 continues, "Then I saw one angel standing in the sun, and he shouted in a loud voice to all the birds flying high in the sky: “Come, gather around for the great banquet of God, 18to eat your fill of the flesh of kings, the flesh of generals, the flesh of powerful people, the flesh of horses and those who ride them, and the flesh of all people, both free and slave, and small and great!” Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to do battle with the one who rode the horse and with his army. 20Now the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf – signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur. 21The others were killed by the sword that extended from the mouth of the one who rode the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves with their flesh."

Jesus anticipated this same battlefield scene in Matthew 24:27-28, "For just like the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. 28Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather."

In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus said, "Enter through the narrow gate, because the gate is wide and the way is spacious that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14But the gate is narrow and the way is difficult that leads to life, and there are few who find it."

At the end of the Millennium, in the great white throne judgment, Revelation 20:14-15 says, "Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death – the lake of fire. 15If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, that person was thrown into the lake of fire."

15
Now do not be deceived for many antichrists will come.
They'll deny God is our father and that Jesus is his son.
There'll be one who in particular is Satan's chosen one,
He'll end up in the fire.


Now do not be deceived for many antichrists will come.
They'll deny God is our father and that Jesus is his son.
There'll be one who in particular is Satan's chosen one,
He'll end up in the fire.

In his Olivet Discourse, Jesus repeatedly warned us about deception in the end times. In Matthew 24:3, his disciples asked, "Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" In verses 4 to 5, Jesus first replies, "Watch out that no one misleads you. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,' and they will mislead many." In verse 11, he adds, "And many false prophets will appear and deceive many." And in verse 24 he adds, "For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect." Clearly we need to take his repeated warnings seriously.

In 2 Peter 2:1-2, the Apostle Peter warns, "But false prophets arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. These false teachers will infiltrate your midst with destructive heresies, even to the point of denying the Master who bought them. As a result, they will bring swift destruction on themselves. And many will follow their debauched lifestyles. Because of these false teachers, the way of truth will be slandered."

In 1 Timothy 4:1-2, the Apostle Paul warns, "Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the later times some will desert the faith and occupy themselves with deceiving spirits and demonic teachings, influenced by the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared." And in 2 Timothy 3:12-13 he adds, "Now in fact all who want to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil people and charlatans will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived themselves." Here, Paul seems to be talking about deception on various diverse topics, but ultimately the goal and consequence of such deceptions is to turn people away from the truth of the gospel. And those who reject such deceptions will inevitably face persecution for doing so. In 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 he says, "The arrival of the lawless one will be by Satan's working with all kinds of miracles and signs and false wonders, and with every kind of evil deception directed against those who are perishing, because they found no place in their hearts for the truth so as to be saved. Consequently God sends on them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false. And so all of them who have not believed the truth but have delighted in evil will be condemned."

It is worth noting that Jesus makes a distinction between 'false messiahs' and 'false prophets'. Similarly, Revelation 13 describes two individuals who are metaphorically portrayed as 'beasts', firstly the 'beast out of the sea' and secondly the 'beast out of the earth'. Verses 11 to 14 warn us about this second beast, "He had two horns like a lamb, but was speaking like a dragon. He exercised all the ruling authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and those who inhabit it worship the first beast, the one whose lethal wound had been healed. He performed momentous signs, even making fire come down from heaven in front of people and, by the signs he was permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, he deceived those who live on the earth." While the first beast appears to be the political leader behind the end-time Antichrist empire, the second beast has a more religious role and is described as 'the false prophet' in 19:20 and 20:10.

It is the Apostle John who pens the term 'antichrist'. He says in 1 John 2:18, "Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared." Notice that although he applies this title to a particular end-time individual who is coming, he sees it as one that can also be applied to many historic or contemporary individuals." And in verse 22 he adds, "Who is the liar but the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the person who denies the Father and the Son."

Although John describes antichrists as individuals, he also talks about the antichrist as a spirit. He writes in 1 John 4:1-3, "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses Jesus as the Christ who has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God, and this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now is already in the world."

We see from John's descriptions that by definition, as it were, an antichrist is an individual or spirit that denies:
1) the incarnation of Christ, that Jesus is God who became a man
2) that Jesus is the Son of God
3) that God is our Father
4) that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, in all its full meaning as revealed in the bible. Biblically, the term Christ, which is the Greek equivalent of the title Messiah, implies that Jesus is God, that he is the Jewish king from David’s line who will rule eternally, and that he is the saviour and deliver of Israel, primarily, but also of the whole world.

However, when the Apostle Paul talks about 'the man of lawlessness', he is talking about a very particular individual whose coming is prophesied in many Old Testament passages, starting in Genesis 3:15 which says, "And I will put hostility between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring; her offspring will attack your head, and you will attack her offspring’s heel."

This anticipates perpetual enmity between Eve's offspring (literally 'seed') and Satan's offspring (seed). Firstly, who are Eve's offspring? In the Hebrew text, the word 'seed' is singular, which can be understood both collectively and individually. Understood as a collective singular, Eve's offspring represents all human beings. The same singular word for 'seed' is used in Genesis 12:7, 13:15 and 24:7 where God promises the land of Canaan to Abraham and his 'seed'. Understood as a collective singular, Abraham's seed represents the people of Israel, his physical descendants. However in Galatians 3:16, the Apostle Paul stresses that Abraham's 'seed' being singular also points to its fulfilment through a particular individual. That individual is Jesus the Messiah who will one day rule the land as king. By the same argument, Eve's seed also points to an individual, and once again, this individual is Jesus. Figuratively speaking, Satan the serpent would one day bite his heel as he hung on a cross at Calvary. The bite of a venomous serpent is fatal, and Jesus would die. In the more literal sense, the nails driven through Jesus' 'feet' were likely driven through his ankles just above the heel.

Secondly, who are Satan's offspring? In a collective sense, Satan's offspring are all those who follow him, including demons and also human beings who choose to disobey God. In John 8:44, Jesus accused his opponents of being children of Satan, saying, "You people are from your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires". Similarly, in the Parable of the Weeds in Matthew 13:38, Jesus describes the weeds as the 'sons of the evil one'. Satan's seed also points to an individual. In Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 this individual is portrayed as a man who is an incarnation of Satan. In Ezekiel 38, he is given the name 'Gog'. Verse 17 of that chapter says, "Are you [not] the one of whom I spoke in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days that I would bring you against them?" In other words, the one called Gog in that chapter appears in many other places throughout the bible, but with different names.

Genesis 3:15 also says, "her offspring will attack your head". Ezekiel 38 and 39 describe the end-time Antichrist invading Israel from the North, and being defeated. Ezekiel 39:4 says, "You will fall dead on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the people who are with you. I give you as food to every kind of bird and every wild beast". This is revealed as the battle of Armageddon in Revelation 19:11-21, where Jesus defeats the Antichrist and his followers. In Numbers 24:17-18, Balaam prophesied about this battle, saying, '“I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not close at hand. A star will march forth out of Jacob, and a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab, and the heads of all the sons of Sheth. Edom will be a possession, Seir, his enemies, will also be a possession; but Israel will act valiantly". Jesus crushes the heads of Antichrist's followers, who are Satan's seed in a collective sense. Jesus also kills the Antichrist, as in Habakkuk 3:13, "thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck" (KJV). Metaphorically, and in the singular sense, the Antichrist is the head of Satan's seed, the house of the wicked. Jesus slits him open from groin to neck and then throws him, still alive, into the lake of fire (Revelation 19:20).

So Genesis 3:15 prophesies not just the Cross, but also the battle of Armageddon, when Eve's seed (Jesus) crushes the head of Satan's seed, the Antichrist and his followers. This verse is also fundamental to understanding the role of Satan in the world, and the course of history. God has pronounced a death sentence upon Satan, and Satan therefore does all that is in his power to prevent this sentence being executed, or at least to delay it. In Genesis 12, God promised to give the land of Canaan to Abraham's seed and to make his seed into a great nation through whom all the families of the earth will be blessed. It implies that the promise of Eve's seed in Genesis 3:15 is to be fulfilled through Abraham's seed. Consequently, Abraham's descendants have become the primary focus of Satan's attack. Throughout history, he has made attempts to wipe out the Jews (Abraham's literal descendants) and to persecute Christians (Abraham's spiritual descendants).

Various other Old Testament passages add prophetic detail to this end-time Antichrist whom Paul calls 'the man of lawlessness'. In Daniel 7:1-14, Daniel has a vision of four beasts coming up from the sea. Particular detail is given about the fourth and most terrifying beast, which has ten horns, and then grows another eleventh horn. Daniel then seeks the meaning of this vision, and in particular of the fourth beast. In verses 23 to 27 an angel explains, "The fourth beast means that there will be a fourth kingdom on earth that will differ from all the other kingdoms. It will devour all the earth and will trample and crush it. 24The ten horns mean that ten kings will arise from that kingdom. Another king will arise after them, but he will be different from the earlier ones. He will humiliate three kings. 25He will speak words against the Most High. He will harass the holy ones of the Most High continually. His intention will be to change times established by law. They will be delivered into his hand For a time, times, and half a time. 26But the court will convene, and his ruling authority will be removed – destroyed and abolished forever! 27Then the kingdom, authority, and greatness of the kingdoms under all of heaven will be delivered to the people of the holy ones of the Most High. His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; all authorities will serve him and obey him." Antichrist is this eleventh horn who arises as ruler of this end-time empire. Revelation 13 picks up on this imagery, describing a 'beast out the sea' who is this political leader, but also a 'beast out of the earth' who assists him as a spiritual leader and false prophet. So there we see a kind of Antichrist-Duo.

In Daniel 9:26-27, the angel Gabriel tells Daniel, "…As for the city and the sanctuary, the people of the coming prince will destroy them. But his end will come speedily like a flood. Until the end of the war that has been decreed there will be destruction. 27He will confirm a covenant with many for one week. But in the middle of that week he will bring sacrifices and offerings to a halt. On the wing of abominations will come one who destroys, until the decreed end is poured out on the one who destroys." This is part of Daniel's prophecy of seventy 'weeks' or literally 'sevens', understood to mean periods of 'seven years'. It is this prophecy that forms the primary basis for Christ's Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24, where Jesus prophesies the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple (the 'city and the sanctuary') as was fulfilled in 70 AD, and also the end of the age when Antichrist will set up the 'abomination of desolation'. Interestingly, the people who would destroy Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD are said to be the people of this 'coming prince'. This is one reason why many expect the Antichrist to emerge as the ruler of a revived Roman Empire. But while it is true that Jerusalem was destroyed under the command of General Titus, later to become Emperor of Rome, the legions involved were not from Italy. Jerusalem was besieged by an army comprised of four Roman legions, plus various Arab auxiliaries. The legions were Legion 10 from Turkey and Syria, Legion 15 from Syria, Legion 12 from Eastern Turkey and Syria, and Legion 5 from Serbia and Bulgaria. The legion in particular that breached the walls of Jerusalem and destroyed the temple was Legion 10. This legion was comprised of four cohorts: one from Syria, one from Turkey, one of Arabs from Petra in Jordan, and one of Arabs from Arabia. If these are the people of the coming prince (the Antichrist), then it implies that the Antichrist will come from Turkey or Arabia.

This conclusion is consistent with Ezekiel 38 in which Antichrist is referred to as 'Gog'. In verses 2 to 6, Ezekiel is told, "Son of man, turn toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him and say: ‘This is what the sovereign LORD says: Look, I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and bring you out with all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them fully armed, a great company with shields of different types, all of them armed with swords. Persia, Ethiopia, and Put are with them, all of them with shields and helmets. They are joined by Gomer with all its troops, and by Beth Togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops – many peoples are with you." This is a very significant prophecy for two reasons. Firstly, it identifies Antichrist as a ruler of Meshech and Tubal which are ancient names for parts of Turkey. Secondly, it identifies the nations that are his allies in his end-time invasion of Israel. These appear to include Iran, Sudan and Lybia, among others. For a detailed explanation of these conclusions, please see my Ezekiel 38 commentary. Verses 8-9 clearly identify this as an end-time prophecy, "After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come to a land restored from the ravages of war, with many peoples gathered on the mountains of Israel that had long been in ruins. Its people were brought out from the peoples, and all of them will be living securely. You will advance; you will come like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the earth, you, all your troops, and the many other peoples with you." This seems an accurate description of Israel, today, its people having been restored to their land after nearly 2,000 years of exile. In verse 17, God asks rhetorically (implying that he is), "Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days that I would bring you against them?". This indicates that Gog is not some isolated character, but one of whom the bible speaks repeatedly, even though other passages may refer to him using different names and titles.

Antichrist is referred to as 'the Assyrian' by Isaiah (10:17, 14:25 and 30:31) and by Micah (5:5). Micah 5 is a messianic passage which predicted Christ's birth in Bethlehem, but also looks forward to his second coming when he is seen to deliver and restore Israel after invasion by the Assyrians. Micah 5:2-8 says, "As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, seemingly insignificant among the clans of Judah – from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf, one whose origins are in the distant past. 3 So the Lord will hand the people of Israel over to their enemies until the time when the woman in labor gives birth. Then the rest of the king’s countrymen will return to be reunited with the people of Israel. 4 He will assume his post and shepherd the people by the Lord’s strength, by the sovereign authority of the Lord his God. They will live securely, for at that time he will be honored even in the distant regions of the earth. 5 He will give us peace. Should the Assyrians try to invade our land and attempt to set foot in our fortresses, we will send against them seven shepherd-rulers, make that eight commanders. 6 They will rule the land of Assyria with the sword, the land of Nimrod with a drawn sword. Our king will rescue us from the Assyrians should they attempt to invade our land and try to set foot in our territory. 7 Those survivors from Jacob will live in the midst of many nations. They will be like the dew the Lord sends, like the rain on the grass, that does not hope for men to come or wait around for humans to arrive. 8 Those survivors from Jacob will live among the nations, in the midst of many peoples. They will be like a lion among the animals of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep, which attacks when it passes through; it rips its prey and there is no one to stop it. While Christ's literal birth in Bethlehem is portrayed in verse 2, verse 3 portrays his second coming as a kind of metaphorical rebirth, "So the Lord will hand the people of Israel over to their enemies until the time when the woman in labor gives birth." Revelation 12:1-6 and 13-18 picks up on this metaphorical birth imagery, where the woman who gives birth is not Mary, as in Christ's literal birth, but the nation of Israel. Israel is delivered from her birth pains by the second coming arrival of Jesus.

The historic Assyrian Empire had its capital in Nineveh, located in modern-day Iraq near Mosul. But its territory extended over Eastern Turkey, Syria and the Near East. So Antichrist's identification as 'the Assyrian' is consistent with his association with Turkey in Ezekiel 38, and with the legions of the Eastern Roman Empire that destroyed Jerusalem and its temple in 70 AD in fulfilment of Daniel 9:26.

In Old Testament times, the Assyrians and Babylonians were thought of as Israel's enemies from the north as they approached via the fertile crescent and attacked Israel from the north. In Daniel 11:40-45, Antichrist is the 'king of the north', "At the time of the end the king of the south will attack him. Then the king of the north will storm against him with chariots, horsemen, and a large armada of ships. He will invade lands, passing through them like an overflowing river. 41Then he will enter the beautiful land. Many will fall, but these will escape: Edom, Moab, and the Ammonite leadership. 42He will extend his power against other lands; the land of Egypt will not escape. 43He will have control over the hidden stores of gold and silver, as well as all the treasures of Egypt. Libyans and Ethiopians will submit to him. 44But reports will trouble him from the east and north, and he will set out in a tremendous rage to destroy and wipe out many. 45He will pitch his royal tents between the seas toward the beautiful holy mountain. But he will come to his end, with no one to help him."

Because he conquers various nations, he is referred to as the king of several of these. In Isaiah 14 he is 'the king of Babylon'. This is one the passages that presents him as a kind of Satan-incarnate. After his defeat and death, he is pictured descending to the world of the dead. Verses 9-11 say, "Sheol below is stirred up about you, ready to meet you when you arrive. It rouses the spirits of the dead for you, all the former leaders of the earth; it makes all the former kings of the nations rise from their thrones. All of them respond to you, saying: ‘You too have become weak like us! You have become just like us! Your splendor has been brought down to Sheol, as well as the sound of your stringed instruments. You lie on a bed of maggots, with a blanket of worms over you." In verses 16-20 it is clear that this 'king of Babylon' is a man, "Those who see you stare at you, they look at you carefully, thinking: “Is this the man who shook the earth, the one who made kingdoms tremble? Is this the one who made the world like a desert, who ruined its cities, and refused to free his prisoners so they could return home?”' As for all the kings of the nations, all of them lie down in splendor, each in his own tomb. But you have been thrown out of your grave like a shoot that is thrown away. You lie among the slain, among those who have been slashed by the sword, among those headed for the stones of the pit, as if you were a mangled corpse. You will not be buried with them, because you destroyed your land and killed your people." And yet verses 12-15 imply this 'king of Babylon' is also Lucifer himself, "Look how you have fallen from the sky, O shining one, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O conqueror of the nations! You said to yourself, “I will climb up to the sky. Above the stars of El I will set up my throne. I will rule on the mountain of assembly on the remote slopes of Zaphon. I will climb up to the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High!” But you were brought down to Sheol, to the remote slopes of the pit." Mount Zaphon was to the ancient Canaanites what Mount Olympus was to the ancient Greeks. So Satan is pictured trying to usurp God's place and to figuratively set up his throne upon the seat of the gods. But instead of ascending to the highest of heights, he is cast down to the depths of the pit.

Habakkuk 2:17 says of Antichrist, "For you will pay in full for your violent acts against Lebanon; terrifying judgment will come upon you because of the way you destroyed the wild animals living there. You have shed human blood and committed violent acts against lands, cities, and those who live in them." This indicates that Lebanon is one of the nations he conquers. So it is appropriate that in Ezekiel 28:1-10, Ezekiel is told by God to prophesy to 'the prince of Tyre', "Your heart is proud and you said, “I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods, in the heart of the seas” – yet you are a man and not a god, though you think you are godlike. 3Look, you are wiser than Daniel; no secret is hidden from you. 4By your wisdom and understanding you have gained wealth for yourself; you have amassed gold and silver in your treasuries. 5By your great skill in trade you have increased your wealth, and your heart is proud because of your wealth. 6“‘Therefore this is what the sovereign LORD says: Because you think you are godlike, 7I am about to bring foreigners against you, the most terrifying of nations. They will draw their swords against the grandeur made by your wisdom, and they will defile your splendor. 8They will bring you down to the pit, and you will die violently in the heart of the seas. 9Will you still say, “I am a god,” before the one who kills you – though you are a man and not a god – when you are in the power of those who wound you? 10You will die the death of the uncircumcised12 by the hand of foreigners; for I have spoken, declares the sovereign LORD.'" So Antichrist is a man who declares himself to be God, but he will end up dying a humiliating death. Then in verses 11-19 we see him as Satan-incarnate, for Ezekiel is told to prophecy to 'the king of Tyre', "You were the sealer of perfection, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering, the ruby, topaz, and emerald, the chrysolite, onyx, and jasper, the sapphire, turquoise, and beryl;16 your settings and mounts were made of gold. On the day you were created they were prepared. 14I placed you there with an anointed guardian cherub; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked about amidst fiery stones. 15You were blameless in your behavior from the day you were created, until sin was discovered in you. 16In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence and you sinned; so I defiled you and banished you from the mountain of God – the guardian cherub expelled you from the midst of the stones of fire. 17Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom on account of your splendor. I threw you down to the ground; I placed you before kings, that they might see you. 18By the multitude of your iniquities, through the sinfulness of your trade, you desecrated your sanctuaries. So I drew fire out from within you; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth before the eyes of all who saw you. 19All who know you among the peoples are shocked at you; you have become terrified and will be no more." Here we see the origins of Satan, that he started out as a mighty and perfect angel, but then sinned against God and became a fallen angel. In the end times he incarnates himself as a man and attempts to defeat Jesus and usurp his place as God.

According to Isaiah 10:34 (KJV), "…and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one." So it seems that Jesus will personally liberate Lebanon.

So it is with all of this biblical background that the Apostle Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12, "Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not arrive until the rebellion comes and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. 4 He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, and as a result he takes his seat in God’s temple, displaying himself as God. 5 Surely you recall that I used to tell you these things while I was still with you. 6 And so you know what holds him back, so that he will be revealed in his own time. 7 For the hidden power of lawlessness is already at work. However, the one who holds him back will do so until he is taken out of the way, 8 and then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will destroy by the breath of his mouth and wipe out by the manifestation of his arrival. 9 The arrival of the lawless one will be by Satan’s working with all kinds of miracles and signs and false wonders, 10 and with every kind of evil deception directed against those who are perishing, because they found no place in their hearts for the truth so as to be saved. 11 Consequently God sends on them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false. 12 And so all of them who have not believed the truth but have delighted in evil will be condemned."

Revelation 20:20-21 describes the final end of the Antichrist-Duo, "Now the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf – signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur. 21The others were killed by the sword that extended from the mouth of the one who rode the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves with their flesh."

16
Long ago the Roman Empire was too weak to still restrain
the hidden power of lawlessness, what followed caused great pain.
An antichrist arose and their resistance was in vain,
And many fell away.


In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, the Apostle Paul writes, "Now regarding the arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to be with him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2not to be easily shaken from your composure or disturbed by any kind of spirit or message or letter allegedly from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. 3Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not arrive until the rebellion comes and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction."

By 'the arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ', Paul is talking about his visible second coming as described by Jesus himself in Matthew 24:29-30, "Immediately after the suffering of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. 30Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."

And by 'our being gathered to be with him', Paul is talking about the rapture which Jesus described in Matthew 24:31, "And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet blast, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

Notice the order of events here, 1) the second coming, and 2) then the rapture.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Paul gives his most detailed description of the rapture, "Now we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest who have no hope. 14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also we believe that God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep as Christians. 15For we tell you this by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not go ahead of those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then we who are alive, who are left, will be suddenly caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. 18Therefore encourage one another with these words."

Here we have Paul describing three events in the order in which they occur, 1) the second coming, 2) the resurrection of dead believers, and 3) the rapture of living believers. It is very important to understand that the rapture of living believers occurs after, not before, Christ's visible second coming in glory.

It is also worth noting at this point that in Revelation, we see Christ's visible return in Revelation 6:12-17, followed by the sealing of the 144,000 in Revelation 7:1-8, followed by the rapture of Christians in Revelation 7:9-17. So between the second coming and the rapture we see the sealing of the 144,000 instead of the resurrection of dead believers, but importantly the rapture still comes after the second coming.

In 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul is trying to correct a false teaching which asserted that the second coming and the rapture had already taken place, even in his day. So he adds in verses 3-8, "Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not arrive until the rebellion comes and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. 4He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, and as a result he takes his seat in God's temple, displaying himself as God. 5Surely you recall that I used to tell you these things while I was still with you. 6And so you know what holds him back, so that he will be revealed in his own time. 7For the hidden power of lawlessness is already at work. However, the one who holds him back will do so until he is taken out of the way, 8and then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will destroy by the breath of his mouth and wipe out by the manifestation of his arrival." 'Rebellion' is a translation of the Greek word 'apostasia' meaning a 'falling away from faith'. It is the word from which we get 'apostacy'. The 'day' he speaks of is the day when Jesus visibly returns and then gathers his church. So now we have a sequence of five events that must occur is this order, 1) a falling away from faith, 2) the removal of a restrainer who currently holds back the power of lawlessness, 3) the man of lawlessness being revealed by him taking his seat in the temple and claiming to be God, 4) Christ's second coming, and 5) the rapture of the church.

Paul says the Thessalonians knew what it was that was holding back the hidden power of lawlessness, but he omits to enlighten us in that regard. Today, there is a common teaching that it is the Holy Spirit, indwelling believers, who holds it back. Unfortunately, the argument then goes that for this restrainer to be taken out of the way, the rapture must occur first, not last! Those who propose such a view seem blind to the fact that it totally contradicts Paul's argument here. Then, based on Daniel 9:27, the argument goes that the rapture must occur either seven years before (a pre-trib position), or three and a half years before (a mid-trib position) the second coming, since at the beginning of Daniel's 70th week Antichrist confirms a seven year covenant, but then in the middle of that seven years breaks the treaty and sets up the abomination of desolation.

As I say, such an argument totally contradicts Paul's argument as to how we can know that the day of the Lord has not already come. The man of lawlessness has to be revealed first, before the second coming and rapture. And it contradicts the order of events that the bible gives, with the rapture coming after the second coming, according to Jesus in Matthew 24:29-31, to Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8, and to John in Revelation 6:12-7:17.

The idea of a pre-trial or mid-trip rapture is so dangerous because it fails to prepare the Church for the persecutions and challenges ahead, setting Christians up for disillusionment after the events of the Great Tribulation begin to unfold. In Matthew 24:9-13, after describing the 'birth pain' signs Jesus says, "Then they will hand you over to be persecuted and will kill you. You will be hated by all the nations because of my name. 10Then many will be led into sin, and they will betray one another and hate one another. 11And many false prophets will appear and deceive many, 12and because lawlessness will increase so much, the love of many will grow cold. 13But the person who endures to the end will be saved." We don't want Christians to be led into sin or for their love to grow cold. And in Matthew 24:21-27, after describing the abomination of desolation, he says, "For then there will be great suffering unlike anything that has happened from the beginning of the world until now, or ever will happen. 22And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!' or ‘There he is!' do not believe him. 24For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25Remember, I have told you ahead of time. 26So then, if someone says to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out, or ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe him. 27For just like the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so the coming of the Son of Man will be." Although in the context of verse 16 these verses especially apply to believers in Judea, they are surely applicable to Christians more generally. Proverbs 13:12 says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is like a tree of life." We don't want Christians to become sick of heart because of unfulfilled expectations of a pre-trib rapture before all the trouble starts. Rather we want to hold out for the ultimate hope, as described in Titus 2:13 (NIV), "…while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ". Christ's glorious appearing is no secret coming to whisk the Church out of harm's way before the trouble starts.

Also in Revelation, Christ's coming at the sixth seal is preceded by the fifth seal in which we see Christians being martyred for their faith. Revelation 6:9-11 says, "Now when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been violently killed because of the word of God and because of the testimony they had given. 10They cried out with a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Master, holy and true, before you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?” 11Each of them was given a long white robe and they were told to rest for a little longer, until the full number was reached of both their fellow servants and their brothers who were going to be killed just as they had been."

Another common argument for a pre-trib rapture is based on 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 in which Paul says, "For God did not destine us for wrath but for gaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that whether we are alert or asleep we will come to life together with him". They equate the whole of the Great Tribulation with the day of wrath and argue that if we are not destined for wrath then the rapture must happen before the Great Tribulation begins. However, according to Revelation 6:16-17, the sixth seal marks the beginning of the great day of wrath, "They said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?"" When we see the raptured church in Revelation 7:9-17, we are told in verses 14-17, "These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb! 15For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple, and the one seated on the throne will shelter them. 16They will never go hungry or be thirsty again, and the sun will not beat down on them, nor any burning heat, 17because the Lamb in the middle of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” In other words, they have been in the Great Tribulation and have suffered in it, but now they have been delivered and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. The Church must live through the seal events that are part of the Great Tribulation, but after being raptured at the sixth seal they are spared from the wrath to come in the trumpet and bowl judgments of Revelation.

So why does Paul say that the Thessalonians knew what was holding back the man of lawlessness from being revealed, but omit to tell us who or what that was? The most likely reason is that the answer was politically sensitive, and so he chose not to remind them in writing when he had already told them in person. Following that logic, it is likely that Paul was referring to the 'Pax Romana' (latin for 'Roman Peace'). This is a roughly 200-year-long period of Roman history that is identified as a golden age of increased and sustained Roman imperialism. Spanning from approximately 27 BCE to 180 CE, it stands as one of the longest enduring periods of peace in history.

In 330 AD, the Emperor Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire to Constantinople, formerly known as Byzantium, in what is now Turkey. Though Rome remained symbolically important, Constantinople became the new center of imperial administration, military command, and Christian authority in the eastern empire. In 395 AD, the empire formally split into the Western Roman Empire, and the Eastern Roman Empire. In 476 AD, the Western Roman Empire fell, when the Germanic chieftain Odoacer deposed the last Western Roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus, and declared himself King of Italy. The Eastern Roman Empire, also known as the Byzantine Empire, continued to exist for much longer, but suffered a slow and gradual decline after the rise of Islam in the 7th century AD. It eventually ended with the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453 AD.

So it was after the Pax Romana, when the Roman Empire was in a weakened state, that Islam arose, founded by the so-called Prophet Mohammed. Mohammed believed that his coming had been foretold by Moses in the Torah, and by Jesus in 'The Gospel'. Quran 7:157 says, "Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel…". In Deuteronomy 18:17-19, Moses wrote, "The Lord then said to me, “What they have said is good. 18 I will raise up a prophet like you for them from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth and he will speak to them whatever I command. 19 I will personally hold responsible anyone who then pays no attention to the words that prophet speaks in my name." Jesus claimed to be the fulfilment of this promise in John 5:46, "If you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me." The Apostle Peter also affirmed Jesus as the fulfilment of this promise in Acts 3:22. So Mohammed's claim to be this prophet makes him a fulfilment of Matthew 24:4-5, "…Watch out that no one misleads you. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will mislead many." Also Quran 61:6 says, "And [mention] when Jesus, the son of Mary, said: 'O Children of Israel, indeed I am the messenger of Allah to you confirming what came before me of the Torah and bringing good tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name is Ahmad." Ahmad is another title of Mohammed, meaning 'Praised One'. Muslims point to John 14:16 which says, "Then I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever," and claim that Mohammed is that promised Advocate. In the bible, it is clear from verse 17 that this Advocate is the Holy Spirit, "…the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it does not see him or know him. But you know him, because he resides with you and will be in you." However, Muslims claim the bible has been altered and corrupted, and that in the original Gospel, Jesus was foretelling the coming of Ahmad (Mohammed).

The core doctrine of Islam is 'tawhid', a strict form of monotheism that portrays Allah as distant and transcendent, and which categorically denies God as Father, or Jesus as the Son of God. As such, Mohammed and Islam perfectly embody the antichrist spirit as defined by the Apostle John in 1 John 2:22, "Who is the liar but the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the person who denies the Father and the Son." Islam also denies that Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected from the dead.

Consider the spread of Christianity up until the rise of Islam. It had spread all the way round the Mediterranean, and down into North Africa and especially Egypt.

And then consider the spread of Islam in the century of so after 622 AD (considered the first year of Islam when Mohammed moved to Median and his ministry took off).

Islam encroached massively upon the Eastern Roman Empire, leaving only Anatolia within its domain, and causing a massive falling away from the Christian faith in the regions it spread to.

Biblical end-time prophecies can have more than one fulfilment (prophecies of the abomination of desolation are a good example). If the Roman Empire with its Pax Romana was holding back the spirit of Antichrist in Paul's day, but after its demise a great Antichrist arose in the person of Mohammed, we need to ask ourselves what is holding it back in our day. Is there a modern-day equivalent of the Pax Romana?

17
He taught the cross is all a lie, Christ wasn't crucified,
His sacrifice for you and I emphatically denied,
But in truth Christ hung and died and it's Mohammed who has lied.
Don't trust him as your guide.


Quran 4:157 says, "And because of their saying, We killed the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the messenger of Allah, they did not kill him nor crucify him, but it seemed so to them, and indeed, those who disagree about this are in doubt about it, they have no knowledge of it except pursuit of a supposition, they did not kill him for certain."

As such, Mohammed directly and emphatically denied that Jesus died, and taught that anyone who believes in his crucifixion is confused. The phrase, "…but it seemed so to them" is interpreted by Muslims to mean that someone else was made to look like Jesus, or that the crucifixion was an illusion or misunderstanding. Quran 4:158 continues, "But Allah took him up to himself. Allah has always been mighty, wise." According to Quran 3:54-55, this illusion, in which Jesus appeared to die on the cross but instead actually ascended on high, was a deliberate act of deception by Allah himself, "And they schemed, and Allah schemed, and Allah is the best of schemers. 55 When Allah said, Oh Jesus, indeed, I am gathering you and causing you to ascend to me, and am cleansing you of those who disbelieve and am setting those who follow you above those who disbelieve until the day of resurrection. Then you will return to me, and I will judge between you regarding those things you used to disagree about." In his commentary on this verse in 'The Critical Quran', Robert Spencer writes, "Ibn Hisham, Ibn Kathir, Qurtubi [famous Islamic scholars], and others state that the reference to Allah as the "best of schemers" refers to Allah's plan to cause Jesus to ascend to him, as is stated in the following verse, and thereby foil the plot of the Jews to crucify him. The verse is also understood to have a general application, as in a hadith that depicts Mohammed praying to Allah: "My Lord…plot for me and do not plot against me." As for Allah being a schemer in general, this is also repeated at Quran 7:99, 8:30, and 10:21."

So in the context of Jesus not actually dying on the cross, but him only appearing to do so, Allah boasts that he is the 'greatest of schemers' and was the author of this confusion. This is a very strong clue as to who Allah really is. Although he claims in the Quran to be the God of the bible, the bible tells us who the schemer or deceiver really is. In John 8:44, Jesus said, "You people are from your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies." Revelation 12:9 says, "So that huge dragon – the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world – was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him." And Revelation 20:10 says, "And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur…" The evidence points to the obvious conclusion that Allah is simply a guise of Satan. And if Mohammed is Allah's prophet, it is appropriate to identify him as a fulfilment of the 'seed of the serpent' in Genesis 3:15.

I am not saying that Mohammed is the final end-time Antichrist. But as the Apostle John wrote in 1 John 2:18, "Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared." Since Christ's coming, there has arguably never been a more obvious fulfilment of an 'Antichrist', according to John's definition in 1 John 4:1-3, than the so-called Prophet Mohammed.

Muslims await an Islamic Messiah-type figure, known as the 'Mahdi', to appear in the end-times. According to Islamic eschatology, he will come 'in the spirit of Mohammed', conquer the world for Islam, bring it all under Islamic Law, and make Jerusalem its capital. Also, Isa al-Masih (the Quran's version of Jesus) is expected to come back as a radical muslim, to lead Muslim armies to wage war against the Jews and Christians, to kill those who do not convert to Islam, and to put an end to Christianity and every religion other than Islam. Joel Richardson, author of 'The Islamic Antichrist', expects that when the Antichrist appears, Muslims will recognise him as their awaited Mahdi. And when the false prophet appears, Muslims will recognise him as Isa al-Masih. Revelation 13:1-8 describes the 'beast out of the sea' who seems to equate to the 'Antichrist' or 'Man of Lawlessness'. And Revelation 13:13-18 describes the 'beast out of the earth' who seems to equate to the 'false prophet'. Verse 11 says of him, "Then I saw another beast coming up from the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but was speaking like a dragon." His appearance as a two-horned lamb who speaks like a dragon may be understood as a counterfeit of the true Jesus. He looks like Jesus but is actually Satan's spokesperson. When John sees the true Jesus in Revelation 5:5-6, the elders call him the lion of the tribe of Judah, but he appears as a lamb with seven horns. Jesus' seven horns represent his divine power and authority. But according to Islamic expectations, Isa will be subordinate to the Mahdi, and will serve him. Perhaps the two horns on this counterfeit lamb reflect the false prophet's subordinate status relative to the Antichrist. And at the second coming, when the true Jesus returns to deliver the Jews, it is likely that Muslims will recognise his as the Dajjal (the Antichrist according to Islamic eschatology).

So according to the Quran, anyone who believes that Jesus died on the cross is confused and deluded. While it might make sense to Muslims that Allah chose to rescue his obedient prophet from the Jewish plot to have him crucified, the bible is very clear that Jesus did die, and that he died on the cross according to God's plan as revealed in the Old Testament scriptures.

In about 700 BC, the prophet Isaiah wrote in chapter 53:1-12:

"Who would have believed what we just heard? When was the Lord’s power revealed through him?
2 He sprouted up like a twig before God, like a root out of parched soil; he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, no special appearance that we should want to follow him.
3 He was despised and rejected by people, one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness; people hid their faces from him; he was despised, and we considered him insignificant.
4 But he lifted up our illnesses, he carried our pain; even though we thought he was being punished, attacked by God, and afflicted for something he had done.
5 He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds, crushed because of our sins; he endured punishment that made us well; because of his wounds we have been healed.
6 All of us had wandered off like sheep; each of us had strayed off on his own path, but the Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him.
7 He was treated harshly and afflicted, but he did not even open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughtering block, like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not even open his mouth.
8 He was led away after an unjust trial – but who even cared? Indeed, he was cut off from the land of the living; because of the rebellion of his own people he was wounded.
9 They intended to bury him with criminals, but he ended up in a rich man’s tomb, because he had committed no violent deeds, nor had he spoken deceitfully.
10 Though the Lord desired to crush him and make him ill, once restitution is made, he will see descendants and enjoy long life, and the Lord’s purpose will be accomplished through him.
11 Having suffered, he will reflect on his work, he will be satisfied when he understands what he has done. “My servant will acquit many, for he carried their sins.
12 So I will assign him a portion with the multitudes, he will divide the spoils of victory with the powerful, because he willingly submitted to death and was numbered with the rebels, when he lifted up the sin of many and intervened on behalf of the rebels.”

In chapter 52, Isaiah describes the liberation of Jerusalem after Jesus' victory at Armageddon, and the shocked reaction of both Israel and the kings of the nations, when they recognise who their liberator is, and witness his extreme exaltation.

Chapter 53 continues seamlessly in the same context. It begins with Israel's repentant confession before God the Father (v1-9) when they recognise who Jesus really is and what the Cross was really about. Isaiah then briefly prophesies about his resurrection (v10-11a). Finally God the Father speaks (v11b-12), prophesying the success of his servant's mission, and of him being honoured with the spoils of victory. This chapter is the core of the Gospel of Jesus according to the Prophet Isaiah, and is arguably the clearest explanation of the cross anywhere in scripture. Given the incredible detail and insight revealed in this prophecy, it is also a perfect demonstration of the claim that the Book of Isaiah makes repeatedly - God is unique among the 'gods' in that he alone accurately reveals the future before it comes to pass.

In verse 1, the Jews and the rulers of nations (see 52:15) express their utter amazement at what they have just heard. They ask "When was the arm of the Lord revealed through him?" The arm of the Lord is a metaphorical picture of God as a warrior, baring his arm, taking up his weapons and crushing his enemies. It is most often associated with God's crushing defeat of Pharaoh at the Red Sea crossing. When did they ever see Jesus portrayed in this way? In verses 2 to 3 they describe the portrayal of Jesus that they had been taught, and it was the total opposite of what they now see in his exaltation - he was someone of humble upbringing with nothing majestic about his appearance that should catch their attention. He was someone despised and rejected, someone who seemed insignificant.

In verses 4 to 5, the light has now been switched on, so to speak, and they recognise what his healing ministry (see Matthew 8:14-17) and crucifixion were really all about. They had thought he was being punished by God for some crime he had committed, but actually he was receiving the punishment they deserved for their sins, in order that they might be healed. This is end-time Israel describing her conversion experience.

In verses 6 to 7 they confess the truth about their sinfulness. In doing so, they speak not just for Israel, but for all of humanity. All of us are like sheep who have wandered off, choosing a path of sin instead of God's path of righteousness. A sheep that strays from the shepherd is vulnerable to attack by wild animals, but instead of leaving us to the fate we deserve, Jesus stepped in like a lamb and allowed himself to be led silently to the slaughter. When a predator attacks a flock of sheep, it tends to pick off the lambs who are the most vulnerable. Jesus willingly made himself the most vulnerable so that he would be attacked and we could escape. Verse 8 describes his unjust trial and subsequent execution. He was wounded (stricken) and cut off (killed) for the rebellion of his people (literally 'my people', but given that it is a Jew speaking in this verse, this refers primarily to the Jewish people). Verse 9 describes his burial in a rich man's tomb (Jesus was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea), because this rich man recognised correctly that Jesus had committed no violent deeds.

In verses 10 to 11a, the speaker appears to have switched to Isaiah, now speaking prophetically about future events from his 7th century BC perspective. Although it was God's will to crush Jesus so that restitution might be made (the sins of the world be paid for), Jesus will see long life and God's purposes will continue to be accomplished through him. Given that verses 8 and 9 have clearly described his death and burial (he really died), Isaiah is now clearly prophesying Jesus' resurrection from the dead. Jesus will look back on his suffering (which includes his death) and be satisfied with what he accomplished.

In verses 11b to 12, the speaker now switches to God the Father, who continues to prophesy about his servant's future work, from a 7th century BC perspective. He will acquit many, for he will carry their sins (v11). So God will reward him with a portion of the spoils of victory, which he will divide among the powerful. This is a metaphorical picture of Jesus as a victorious conqueror being rewarded and honoured by his emperor, so that he can divide up his conquests among his generals. In Luke 19:17, Jesus spoke about this division of his kingdom in the parable of the minas, "Well done, good slave! Because you have been faithful in a very small matter, you will have authority over ten cities." God gives Jesus the honour of dividing the spoils like this because he willingly submitted to death when he intervened on behalf of sinners and took up their sins (v12).

But if you are still in any doubt that Jesus really died on the cross and then rose again, I recommend reading 'Who Moved the Stone?' by Frank Morrison. You can read or download this for free online, or order the book on Amazon. When Frank Morrison set out to write this, he himself was a skeptic. But his comprehensive study of the events surrounding Christ's death and resurrection not only convinced him of the bible's teaching in this regard, but remains a powerful and convincing argument to any modern skeptic.

The truth is that Jesus really died, and it is Mohammed who has lied. I believe that the end times will be confusing for most people, but most especially for Muslims. I appeal to every Muslim, do not trust Mohammed as your guide. Instead look to Jesus who said in John 14:6, "“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

In Acts 4:8-12, after being accused by the Jewish authorities for healing a sick man in Christ's name, Peter said, "…Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today for a good deed done to a sick man – by what means this man was healed – let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, this man stands before you healthy. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, that has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved.”

So so-called Prophet Mohammed cannot save you. Neither can Buddha or any other religious figure - only Jesus can.

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On the third day Jesus rose again, triumphant o'er the grave,
He had died from sin to rescue us and make a way to save
the sinner who will trust in him, hell's punishment to waive
In love his life he gave.

Jesus' death on the cross was no accident, but part of God's plan to save us from the beginning. Jesus predicted his death and resurrection on at least five occasions beforehand.

Matthew 16:21-23 says, "From that time on Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him: “God forbid, Lord! This must not happen to you!” 23But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, because you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but on man's.” Peter's response seems very understandable, but Christ's rebuke makes it very clear that he is following God's agenda, not man's agenda.

Again, Matthew 17:22-23 says, "When they gathered together in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. 23They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised.” And they became greatly distressed."

And Matthew 20:17-19 says, "As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve aside privately and said to them on the way, 18“Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the experts in the law. They will condemn him to death, 19and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged severely and crucified. Yet on the third day, he will be raised.”"

John 2:18-22 says, "So then the Jewish leaders responded, “What sign can you show us, since you are doing these things?” 19Jesus replied, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.” 20Then the Jewish leaders said to him, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and are you going to raise it up in three days?” 21But Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body. 22So after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the saying that Jesus had spoken.

In John 10:17-18, Jesus says, "This is why the Father loves me – because I lay down my life, so that I may take it back again. No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down of my own free will. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back again. This commandment I received from my Father.” In other words, Jesus gave his life as a voluntary sacrifice, but claims the power to take up his life again.

In John 11:25-26 he says, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies, and the one who lives and believes in me will never die." In other words, as well as having to power to take up his own life again, he has the power to resurrect all who believe in him, and to give them eternal life so that they will never die again.


The New Testament records at least 13 post-resurrection appearances of Jesus to his followers:

1) to Mary Magdalene (John 20:11–18; Mark 16:9). Jesus appears to her outside the empty tomb.

2) to the other women (Mary the mother of James, Salome, etc.) (Matthew 28:8–10). As they leave the tomb, Jesus meets them and greets them.

3) to two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13–35; Mark 16:12–13). Jesus walks and talks with them, but they don’t recognise Him until He breaks bread.

4) to the Apostle Peter (Luke 24:34; 1 Corinthians 15:5). This is mentioned briefly without any detailed description of the encounter.

5) to the disciples (except Thomas) (John 20:19–23; Luke 24:36–43). Jesus appears in a locked room, shows them his wounds, and gives them peace.

6) to the disciples again (including Thomas) (John 20:24–29). A week after the previous incident, Jesus appears again and Thomas believes after seeing His wounds.

7) to seven disciples by the Sea of Galilee (John 21:1–14). Jesus provides a miraculous catch of fish and eats breakfast with them.

8) to the eleven disciples on a mountain in Galilee (Matthew 28:16–20). Jesus gives the Great Commission: “Go and make disciples of all nations…”

9) to over 500 people at once (1 Corinthians 15:6). Paul reports this large-scale appearance, though it’s not recorded in the Gospels.

10) to James, the brother of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:7). This is not described in the Gospels, but Paul includes it in his summary of appearances.

11) to the disciples at His ascension (Luke 24:50–53; Acts 1:3–11). Jesus gives final instructions, blesses them, and is taken up into heaven.

12) to Paul, after the ascension (Acts 9:3–6; 1 Corinthians 15:8). Jesus appears to him on the road to Damascus.

13) to John on the Island of Patmos, decades after his death and resurrection (Revelation 1:9-20).


The Apostles attest to the fact they were eyewitnesses of the resurrection in the following passages:

In Acts 2:32, the Apostle Peter says, "This Jesus God raised up, and we are all witnesses of it." And again in Acts 3:15 he says, "You killed the Originator of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this fact we are witnesses." Again in Acts 10:39-43 he says, "We are witnesses of all the things he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, 40but God raised him up on the third day and caused him to be seen, 41not by all the people, but by us, the witnesses God had already chosen, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42He commanded us to preach to the people and to warn them that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. 43About him all the prophets testify, that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” And in 2 Peter 1:16-18, Peter speaks as an eyewitness of Christ's glory on the Mount of Transfiguration, "For we did not follow cleverly concocted fables when we made known to you the power and return of our Lord Jesus Christ; no, we were eyewitnesses of his grandeur. 17For he received honor and glory from God the Father, when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory: “This is my dear Son, in whom I am delighted.” 18When this voice was conveyed from heaven, we ourselves heard it, for we were with him on the holy mountain."

In 1 Corinthians 15:3-10, the Apostle Paul writes, "For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received – that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, 4and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6Then he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8Last of all, as though to one born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also. 9For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been in vain."

In John 1:14, the Apostle John writes, "Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory – the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father." And in 1 John 1:1-3, he writes, "This is what we proclaim to you: what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and our hands have touched (concerning the word of life – 2and the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and announce to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us). 3What we have seen and heard we announce to you too, so that you may have fellowship with us (and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ)." And in Revelation 1:9-19 he wrote, "I, John, your brother and the one who shares with you in the persecution, kingdom, and endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony about Jesus. 10I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day when I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11saying: “Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches – to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.” 12I turned to see whose voice was speaking to me, and when I did so, I saw seven golden lampstands, 13and in the midst of the lampstands was one like a son of man. He was dressed in a robe extending down to his feet and he wore a wide golden belt around his chest. 14His head and hair were as white as wool, even as white as snow, and his eyes were like a fiery flame. 15His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp double-edged sword extended out of his mouth. His face shone like the sun shining at full strength. 17When I saw him I fell down at his feet as though I were dead, but he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last, 18and the one who lives! I was dead, but look, now I am alive – forever and ever – and I hold the keys of death and of Hades! 19Therefore write what you saw, what is, and what will be after these things."


In 1 Corinthians 15:50-57, the Apostle Paul expresses his believe in the resurrection of the dead, based on Christ's triumph over death, "Now this is what I am saying, brothers and sisters: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51Listen, I will tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – 52in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54Now when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will happen, “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 55“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” 56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!"

And again in 2 Timothy 1:8-12, Paul expresses his confidence in the Gospel, based on Christ's victory over death, "So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me, a prisoner for his sake, but by God's power accept your share of suffering for the gospel. 9He is the one who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not based on our works but on his own purpose and grace, granted to us in Christ Jesus before time began, 10but now made visible through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus. He has broken the power of death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel! 11For this gospel I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher. 12Because of this, in fact, I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, because I know the one in whom my faith is set and I am convinced that he is able to protect what has been entrusted to me until that day."


But why did Jesus have to die in the first place?

The bible is clear that God loves us and wants to have a relationship with us. However, because we are sinful and God is holy, our sins have separated us from him and left us with a broken relationship. As Isaiah 59:1-2 says, "Look, the LORD's hand is not too weak to deliver you; his ear is not too deaf to hear you. But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God; your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers." Our sinfulness is not a problem we are able to fix on our own. But God has chosen to provide a solution. As Romans 6:23 (NIV) says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." And as Ephesians 2:12-13 says, "…you were at that time without the Messiah, alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ." And as Colossians 1:21-23 says, "And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your minds as expressed through your evil deeds, but now he has reconciled you by his physical body through death to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before him – if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, without shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard."

Romans 3:23-26 says, "…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. God publicly displayed him at his death as the mercy seat accessible through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness, because God in his forbearance had passed over the sins previously committed. This was also to demonstrate his righteousness in the present time, so that he would be just and the justifier of the one who lives because of Jesus' faithfulness."

In 1 Peter 2:21-25, with Isaiah 53 in mind, the Apostle Peter writes, "Christ also suffered for you, leaving an example for you to follow in his steps. He committed no sin nor was deceit found in his mouth. When he was maligned, he did not answer back; when he suffered, he threatened no retaliation, but committed himself to God who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we may cease from sinning and live for righteousness. By his wounds you were healed. For you were going astray like sheep but now you have turned back to the shepherd and guardian of your souls."

God's justice requires that sin be punished. In order for him to forgive us, and waive the punishment we deserve, someone else had to first take that punishment. And because 'the wages of sin is death', that meant that a sinless man, who had no sin of his own, had to die for us as an atoning sacrifice. Hebrews 9 explains this in detail, including how forgiveness worked under the Old Testament, where Moses entered a man-made sanctuary, made according to the pattern of the heavenly temple, and used the blood of sacrificed animals to cleanse the people. Verses 21-28 say, "And both the tabernacle and all the utensils of worship he likewise sprinkled with blood. 22Indeed according to the law almost everything was purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. 23So it was necessary for the sketches of the things in heaven to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves required better sacrifices than these. 24For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands – the representation of the true sanctuary – but into heaven itself, and he appears now in God's presence for us. 25And he did not enter to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the sanctuary year after year with blood that is not his own, 26for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the consummation of the ages to put away sin by his sacrifice. 27And just as people are appointed to die once, and then to face judgment, 28so also, after Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many, to those who eagerly await him he will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation."

Romans 4:25 (NIV) says of Jesus, "He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification." In other words, his resurrection is proof that God accepted his sacrifice for our sins, and that we can therefore be made right with God through him. Similarly, 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God."

Christ's willing sacrifice of himself in order to save us is the ultimate demonstration of God's love for us. Romans 5:6-8 says, "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.) But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

And Romans 8:31-39 says, "What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, freely give us all things? 33Who will bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34Who is the one who will condemn? Christ is the one who died (and more than that, he was raised), who is at the right hand of God, and who also is interceding for us. 35Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36As it is written, “For your sake we encounter death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37No, in all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us! 38For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

19
The end-time Antichrist will force the world to take a mark
that separates those of the light from those who love the dark,
It's the number of a man and Bismillah in Arabic.
Avoid it like the plague.

Revelation 13:11-18 describes the 'beast out of the earth', also called 'the false prophet' in Revelation 19:20 and 20:10. It says, "Then I saw another beast coming up from the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but was speaking like a dragon. 12He exercised all the ruling authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and those who inhabit it worship the first beast, the one whose lethal wound had been healed. 13He performed momentous signs, even making fire come down from heaven in front of people 14and, by the signs he was permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, he deceived those who live on the earth. He told those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who had been wounded by the sword, but still lived. 15The second beast was empowered to give life to the image of the first beast so that it could speak, and could cause all those who did not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16He also caused everyone (small and great, rich and poor, free and slave) to obtain a mark on their right hand or on their forehead. 17Thus no one was allowed to buy or sell things unless he bore the mark of the beast – that is, his name or his number. 18This calls for wisdom: Let the one who has insight calculate the beast's number, for it is man's number, and his number is 666."

Together with the 'beast out of the sea' who is the end-time Antichrist, or 'man of lawlessness', these two individuals form a kind of 'Antichrist Duo', with the false prophet having a spiritual and miraculous role in support of the first beast who is the political Antichrist ruler. So the Antichrist's role is actually split into two roles, as it were. It is the false prophet who forces everyone to take a mark, but it is the 'mark of the beast', so it points to the identity of the political Antichrist ruler, not to the identity of the false prophet.

This mark of the beast is revealed in the Greek text as three Greek letters, Chi-Xi-Stigma, interpreted as 666 in English translations. But John tells us this mark needs to be understood in two different ways, not just as a number. It also reveals something about the name of the beast.

Let's first deal with the number '666'. Today we use letters for words and numerals for numbers. However, before the adoption of Arabic numerals in the Middle Ages, it was common for the letters of an alphabet to be assigned numerical values and also be used as numerals. This led to the mystical practice of gematria, which is a type of isopsephy. Gematria means to add up the numerical values of the letters in a word to form a single number, and to then look for associations between words that add up to the same number. This was a common practice among Jewish mystics, and translations of Chi-Xi-Stigma as 666 assume gematria to be implied. The numerical value of Chi was 600, Xi was 60, and Stigma was 6. Adding these together, you get 666. It is then argued that the number 6 represents man ('for it is man's number') and also sin, since man was created on the 6th day, and 6 falls one short of 7. Seven is a number that is repeatedly associated with God, and occurs a staggering fifty-five times in the book of Revelation. For example, Revelation 5:6 says of Jesus, "Then I saw … a Lamb that appeared to have been killed. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth". This triple repetition of the number seven is like Christ having the number 777 and points to him as one who is utterly perfect and divine. By contrast, the triple repetition of 6 in 666 points to the Antichrist as a man who is utterly sinful and satanic. He is the pure embodiment of evil.

It is currently too early to definitely identify any current world leader as the Antichrist. However, in Ezekiel 38:2, he is addressed as "Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal." For a detailed analysis of these titles, please see my commentary on Ezekiel 38. But briefly here, Meshech and Tubal are ancients names for regions within modern-day Turkey. So it seems that Antichrist arises first as a ruler of Turkey. Consequently, of all the current world leaders, President Recep Erdogan is certainly the most likely candidate. Erdogan is already recognised as the new Caliph of Islam by some Turkish Islamists (see the article 'Caliphate is Erdogan's' on Ahval News, 4 March 2019). Furthermore, according to English Gematria, the sum of the numerical values of the latin characters in his name equals 666, as per verse 18:

Let's now consider how Chi-Xi-Stigma reveals a name. In the Codex Vaticanus, considered to be the oldest complete manuscript of the Greek Bible and dated approximately 350 AD, Chi-Xi-Stigma in Revelation 13:18 looks like this:

Walid Shoebat is a former Palestinian terrorist who became a Christian in 1993. In his book 'God's War on Terror', page 370, he points out the similarity between the above image and the Islamic Bismillah and crossed swords of Islam:

Reading from right-to-left as in Arabic, Stigma reads as 'Bism' meaning 'In the name of'. Xi reads as 'Allah' oriented vertically, rather than horizontally as in the second image. In Arabic calligraphy, it is not uncommon for Allah to be oriented vertically, so this difference is not significant. 'Bism Allah' together is pronounced 'Bismillah' and means 'In the name of Allah'. And Chi matches the crossed swords that appear as a symbol of Islam on many Islamic flags. So to an Arab Muslim, the Greek letters Chi-Xi-Stigma are legible as Arabic script that says 'In the name of Allah' followed by a symbol of Islam. 'In the name of Allah' is a Muslim credal expression. Most chapters of the Quran begin with 'Bismillah'. Muslims say it at the beginning of every meal, or when beginning anything important. Its longer form is 'Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim' meaning 'In the name of Allah, the merciful, the beneficent one', but it is often said in its shortened form, as here in Revelation 13:18.

John tells us that the False Prophet will require everyone to obtain this mark (Greek: 'charagma') on their forehead or right hand (Greek: 'dexios'). Charagma referred to a branding or badge given to slaves to mark who they belonged to. The Greek word 'dexios' meant a person's right hand or arm. Today, in rallies and demonstrations, it is common for Islamic jihadists to wear a badge on their forehead or right arm like the child soldier in this picture:

As in this photo, this badge usually contains the full Muslim profession of faith, 'There is no god but Allah, and Mohammed is the messenger of Allah'. In Islam, conversion to Islam is demonstrated by confession of this creed. It is not difficult to understand the implication here. 'Bismillah' is a very concise and concentrated expression of the Muslim creed, but it points also to the fuller expression of Islamic faith. The False Prophet will force everyone to convert to Islam and to wear a badge that identifies them as a Muslim. Those who refuse to convert and to wear the badge will then be subject to harassment and persecution. As part of that persecution, no-one without the badge will be allowed to buy and sell. Effectively they will be locked out of their bank accounts and have their assets frozen. As Revelation 20:4 indicates, many of them will also be beheaded and martyred. Beheading is the primary method of execution prescribed in the Quran (Sura 47:4). It was practiced by Mohammed himself when he beheaded six hundred Jewish prisoners from the Qurayza Tribe, as recorded in the seventh century biography of Mohammed by Ibn Ishaq, paragraph 464.

Whether or not we will have a totally cashless society in the end times remains to be seen. But even today there are signs of the mark of the beast being applied. On 2 January 2019, Breitbart News published an article entitled, 'The Terrifying Rise of Financial Blacklisting'. It reveals cases of digital payment providers like Mastercard and Paypal blacklisting critics of Islam, like Robert Spencer. These are America-based payment providers, supposedly honouring free speech as guaranteed in the Constitution. Yet they bow to Muslim pressure groups who label critics of Islam as Islamophobes, hate preachers and right-wing terrorists. This may only affect the more vocal critics of Islam right now. But during the Great Tribulation, expect this kind of problem to affect anyone who refuses to convert to Islam. Today, Muslim pressure groups use the accusation of islamophobia to intimidate free institutions in free countries like America. Imagine what that intimidation might look like one day when Antichrist is ruler of an empire. The mark of the beast is applied through intimidation. Muslims do not need a totally cashless society to intimidate in this way. Neither do they need to own the financial institutions and payment platforms. Even today, imagine how restrictive it must be for someone like Robert Spencer who is denied digital payment options. The more we move towards a cashless society, the more painful such a blacklisting will become. That said, verse 17 does not necessarily imply a cashless digital society. It could simply imply that countries ruled by Antichrist will be run as police states, with so many secret informers and so much intimidation that merchants will simply not dare to sell to anyone unless they are visibly wearing the mark.

1 Thessalonians 5:2-11 says, "For you know quite well that the day of the Lord will come in the same way as a thief in the night. 3Now when they are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will surely not escape. 4But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the darkness for the day to overtake you like a thief would. 5For you all are sons of the light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of the darkness. 6So then we must not sleep as the rest, but must stay alert and sober. 7For those who sleep, sleep at night and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8But since we are of the day, we must stay sober by putting on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet our hope for salvation. 9For God did not destine us for wrath but for gaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10He died for us so that whether we are alert or asleep we will come to life together with him. 11Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, just as you are in fact doing."

As Christians, we belong to the light. The false prophet uses the mark to try and separate us visibly from Antichrist's followers, those who belong to the dark.

Revelation 12:5-10 says of the 'beast out of the sea', the political Antichrist ruler, "The beast was given a mouth speaking proud words and blasphemies, and he was permitted to exercise ruling authority for forty-two months. 6So the beast opened his mouth to blaspheme against God – to blaspheme both his name and his dwelling place, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7The beast was permitted to go to war against the saints and conquer them. He was given ruling authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation, 8and all those who live on the earth will worship the beast, everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world in the book of life belonging to the Lamb who was killed. 9If anyone has an ear, he had better listen! 10If anyone is meant for captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed by the sword, then by the sword he must be killed. This requires steadfast endurance and faith from the saints."

It is important that we recognise this in advance - being a Christian in the great tribulation is not going to be easy, and will require steadfast endurance and faith. This statement is repeated in Revelation 14:9-12 which says, "A third angel followed the first two, declaring in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and takes the mark on his forehead or his hand, 10that person will also drink of the wine of God's anger that has been mixed undiluted in the cup of his wrath, and he will be tortured with fire and sulfur in front of the holy angels and in front of the Lamb. 11And the smoke from their torture will go up forever and ever, and those who worship the beast and his image will have no rest day or night, along with anyone who receives the mark of his name.” 12This requires the steadfast endurance of the saints – those who obey God's commandments and hold to their faith in Jesus."

According to Revelation 16:1-2, the first of the bowl judgments releases a plague of painful sores upon those who receive the mark, "Then1 I heard a loud voice from the temple declaring to the seven angels: “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls containing God's wrath.”2So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth. Then ugly and painful sores appeared on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image."

So it is appropriate to say that Christians should avoid it like the plagues!

In Matthew 25:31-32, Jesus spoke of the coming judgment, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate people one from another like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats." Revelation 20:4 places this judgment after the battle of Armageddon, and says, "Then I saw thrones and seated on them were those who had been given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. These had not worshiped the beast or his image and had refused to receive his mark on their forehead or hand. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years."

Refusing to take the mark may cost you your life. But your reward will be great on judgment day!

20
You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink,
and however much you tell some folk you cannot make them think.
Don't be like them, do not wait until the world is on the brink.
There is no time like now.


Describing the period just before his second coming, Jesus says in Matthew 24:21-22, "For then there will be great suffering unlike anything that has happened from the beginning of the world until now, or ever will happen. 22And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short."

Truly, the world will be on the brink when Jesus comes back.

In Matthew 24:36-44, he exhorts us to get ready now, so that we are in right relationship with God now, and not to leave it until it is too late. He said, "But as for that day and hour no one knows it – not even the angels in heaven – except the Father alone. For just like the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. For in those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark. And they knew nothing until the flood came and took them all away. It will be the same at the coming of the Son of Man. Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one left. There will be two women grinding grain with a mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore stay alert, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have been alert and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."

And in Matthew 25:1-13 he told another parable to make this same point, "At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of the virgins were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish ones took their lamps, they did not take extra olive oil with them. But the wise ones took flasks of olive oil with their lamps. When the bridegroom was delayed a long time, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is here! Come out to meet him.' Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.' ‘No,' they replied. ‘There won't be enough for you and for us. Go instead to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.' But while they had gone to buy it, the bridegroom arrived, and those who were ready went inside with him to the wedding banquet. Then the door was shut. Later, the other virgins came too, saying, ‘Lord, lord! Let us in!' But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I do not know you!' Therefore stay alert, because you do not know the day or the hour." Believing in him is the most essential part of 'staying alert'.

Psalm 95:1-8 says, "Come! Let's sing for joy to the LORD! Let's shout out praises to our protector who delivers us! 2Let's enter his presence with thanksgiving! Let's shout out to him in celebration! 3For the LORD is a great God, a great king who is superior to all gods. 4The depths of the earth are in his hand, and the mountain peaks belong to him. 5The sea is his, for he made it. His hands formed the dry land. 6Come! Let's bow down and worship! Let's kneel before the LORD, our creator! 7For he is our God; we are the people of his pasture, the sheep he owns. Today, if only you would obey him! 8He says, “Do not be stubborn like they were at Meribah, like they were that day at Massah in the wilderness."

Reflecting on these words, Hebrews 9:7-8 says, "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks! 8“Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness." And verses 12-13 says, "See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has an evil, unbelieving heart that forsakes the living God. 13But exhort one another each day, as long as it is called “Today,” that none of you may become hardened by sin's deception."

There is no time like now to believe in Jesus and to make sure you are in a right relationship with God.

21
Yes now's the time to put your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord,
to turn from sin, believe the truth, and know that you're adored.
It's the most exciting life there is, you never will be bored,
and oh what great reward!


Mark 1:14-15 says, "Now after John was imprisoned, Jesus went into Galilee and proclaimed the gospel of God. He said, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the gospel!”"

The word 'gospel' simply means 'good news'. Jesus is good news! He loves us so much that he was prepared to come to earth and to die on the cross for us. As John 3:16-17 says, "For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him."

When Jesus said, 'the time is fulfilled', he was pointing to Daniel 9:26, which is part of Daniel's prophecy of 'seventy weeks'. According to that prophecy, the Messiah was due to come 483 years after the issuing of a decree to rebuild Jerusalem. When Jesus started his ministry in the Jewish year spanning 27/28 AD, it was 483 years after the decree of Artaxerxes I in 457/456 BC (Ezra 7:12-26, 9:9). He had arrived bang on time, just as had been prophesied over 500 years before.

By saying 'the kingdom of God is near', Jesus was presenting himself as God's Messiah whose promised kingdom would one day be established for ever, as prophesied in Daniel 2:44, "In the days of those kings the God of heaven will raise up an everlasting kingdom that will not be destroyed and a kingdom that will not be left to another people." In the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:10, Jesus taught us to pray daily, "may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." At his first coming he made it possible for us to enter into this kingdom in a spiritual sense. Wherever Jesus is present, his kingdom is present. By believing in him, we are inviting him to come and live within us by his spirit, and to establish his kingdom in our hearts. In Luke 17:20-21, Jesus spoke of this reality that exists in this present age, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!' or ‘There!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is in your midst." In Colossians 1:13-14, the Apostle Paul says, "He (God) delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." And in Philippians 3:20 he writes, "But our citizenship is in heaven – and we also await a saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform these humble bodies of ours into the likeness of his glorious body by means of that power by which he is able to subject all things to himself." At this second coming, Christ's kingdom will be established on earth in a geopolitical sense, as prophesied in Isaiah 9:6-7, "For a child has been born to us, a son has been given to us. He shoulders responsibility and is called Extraordinary Strategist, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His dominion will be vast and he will bring immeasurable prosperity. He will rule on David's throne and over David's kingdom, establishing it and strengthening it by promoting justice and fairness, from this time forward and forevermore. The LORD's intense devotion to his people will accomplish this."

John 6:28-29 says, "So then they said to him, “What must we do to accomplish the deeds God requires?” Jesus replied, “This is the deed God requires – to believe in the one whom he sent.”

The bible describes many rewards for those who believe in Jesus, including:

1) Forgiveness of sins. Acts 10:43 says, "About him all the prophets testify, that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."

2) Eternal life. John 3:16 says, "For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."

3) Peace with God. Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…"

4) Adoption as God's children. John 1:12 says, "But to all who have received him – those who believe in his name – he has given the right to become God's children…"

5) The indwelling of God's Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1:13-14 says, "And when you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation) – when you believed in Christ – you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit, who is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of his glory."

6) We are made righteous. Romans 3:21-22 says, "But now apart from the law the righteousness of God (which is attested by the law and the prophets) has been disclosed – namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe."

7) Spiritual rest. Hebrews 4:3 says, "For we who have believed enter that rest…"

8) Victory over death. Jesus said in John 11:25-26, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies, and the one who lives and believes in me will never die."

9) An inheritance in God's kingdom. James 2:5 says, "Did not God choose the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?"

10) Joy and assurance. 1 Peter 1:8-9 says, "You have not seen him, but you love him. You do not see him now but you believe in him, and so you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, because you are attaining the goal of your faith – the salvation of your souls."

22
To see the kingdom of God's son you must be born again.
Just open up your heart and let his Holy Spirit in.
You'll become a child of heaven and a full-fledged citizen.
So why not enter in?

John 1:9-13 says about Jesus, "The true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was created by him, but the world did not recognize him. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not receive him. But to all who have received him – those who believe in his name – he has given the right to become God's children – children not born by human parents or by human desire or a husband's decision, but by God."

In John 3:3-8, Jesus said to Nicodemus, "I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother's womb and be born a second time, can he?” Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above.' The wind blows wherever it will, and you hear the sound it makes, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

In other words, when we believe in Jesus, and allow his spirit to enter us, we experience a spiritual rebirth. As a consequence of this rebirth, we become God's children and citizens of Christ's heavenly kingdom.

Ephesians 2:12-22 says, "Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh – who are called “uncircumcision” by the so-called “circumcision” that is performed on the body by human hands – that you were at that time without the Messiah, alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, the one who made both groups into one and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility, when he nullified in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man out of two, thus making peace, and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, so that through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer foreigners and noncitizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God's household, because you have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit."

Romans 10:9-13 says, "…because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation. For the scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, who richly blesses all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

Believing in Jesus means that we need to get our heads around the bible's claims, that Jesus is the Son of God, that he died on the Cross to save us, and that he rose victorious from the dead. It means that we allow these truths to find acceptance in our hearts, such that we come to the point of acknowledging them with our mouths. It requires us to recognise that we have sinned and that we need the forgiveness he offers us. And it means that we commit ourselves to following Jesus as our Lord and God from this time onwards.

When you are ready to take these steps, you might like to pray the following prayer:

Heavenly Father,
I confess that I have sinned against You.
I have lived my life my own way, and I need Your forgiveness.

Thank You for sending Jesus to die on the cross for my sins and for raising Him to life again.
I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, my Saviour and Lord.
I turn from my sin and put my trust in Him alone for the forgiveness of my sins.

Come into my life by Your Holy Spirit and let me be born again.
Change my heart and help me to follow You from this day forward.
Thank You for Your love, mercy, and the gift of eternal life.

Amen.

If you have prayed this prayer, you can be sure that God has heard you and accepted you, and that his promises of eternal life now apply to you. Next, be sure to find a local church and to let another Christian know that you have put your faith in Jesus. As a new Christian, you need the support of other Christians to guide you in your new-found faith.

Believing in Jesus and being born again is the first step in becoming his disciple, as he said in Matthew 28:19-20, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Do you have a good sing voice?

If so, I would love to have a recording of you singing this hymn. If listen to the piano music through headphones while singing along and recording your voice, email me a copy of the mp3 and I can superimpose it over the piano music to make a sung version of the above video.

My email is pm@g.com

Also, feel free to email me if you have any questions or comments about this hymn, or about any aspect of the End Time Bible Commentary.