In Matthew 24:6 the Lord instructs us that prior to seeing the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place we will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. We are not to be frightened. Why? He says, “…for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.” He has ordained that these things are going to occur before He returns and gathers the wheat, His true church, into the barn. (Mt. 13:30, 39) Comparing scripture with scripture always gives us the bigger, clearer picture.
Ok, so how well do you know Matthew 24? Here’s a quiz question. What does the Lord say will come before He mentions the wars and rumors of wars? (Sorry, the teacher in me is pops up every now and then.) If you know your seals many understand it to correspond to the first seal.
After the wars and rumors of wars the Lord says that nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. Next quiz question. In which seal do we get a picture of famine conditions because it is going to take a day’s wages to buy a quart of wheat? (Have you noticed the price of milk and eggs lately?!) I’m not going to give you the answer. A good teacher makes their students hunt for the answers! I’ll give you the chapter in which you can find the seals however, six…uh, you do know the book, right?!
So, we’ve got, ok, I’ll tell you the answer to the first question, false Christs…then wars and rumors of wars, and famines and earthquakes. Jesus calls these birth pangs. He uses the word “beginning” prior to identifying these birth pangs. That means there is more to come before the end. Remember, He says those things must take place but that is not yet the end…when those who endure will be delivered…and comparing scripture with scripture those who endure to the end are the wheat who will be gathered into the barn when He returns. (Ten extra credit points if you can tell me what verse in Mt. 24 says the one who endures to the end will be saved.)
What are believers, the wheat, going to have to endure before the end comes? Jesus uses the pronoun “you” so He is referring to His followers. His followers are going to have to endure tribulation and being killed and hatred because of the name of Christ. (Mt. 24:9) We will also witness false prophets misleading many (know your Bible!) and you will be surprised to learn that those who you thought loved the Lord really didn’t because when Antichrist demands worship and then begins His killing spree, first against Israel and then against believers, those who called themselves Christians are going to fall away. Basically Jesus is saying in Mt. 24:10 and 12 that during that time the tares and the wheat are going to become more evident.
I mentioned in the comment section of my previous post that a true watchman is one who responds appropriately to Christ’s warnings and instructions.
In verse fifteen Jesus gives us a really big sign for which to be watching before the end comes. “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through
Has the end occurred yet? No, not yet. That means we are still here, the wheat has not yet been gathered into the barn.
What are the other things we are to watch for according to Mt. 24:24? False Christs and false prophets showing great signs and wonders. Also there will be those saying Jesus has returned, that He is over here or over there! And the true watchman’s appropriate response? They are not to be believed!!! Do not go forth!!!
The final sign we are to watch for, signaling the end of the age, that the Lord is about to return with His reapers, His angels, who will then gather the wheat, His true church, the elect, into the barn…the final sign is when He turns off all the lights! (I know, too many commas and sentence fragments…I didn’t teach grammar.) Comparing scripture with scripture, in Revelation 6:12, along with the lights going out there will be one, last, final, huge, earthquake birth pang before we are delivered…and Luke tells the true watchman the appropriate response at the time the lights go out…”straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (
I understand Scripture to teach that the church will be gathered after the great tribulation. According to Matthew 24:22, Christ's return will cut the days of great tribulation short for the sake of the elect otherwise no life will be saved. On a day and hour known only by the Father Jesus will return and gather the elect. Does Jesus give instruction as to how we, the elect, are to pray during that difficult time? I believe He does.
Beginning at Luke 17:22 and then on through chapter eighteen, verse eight, Jesus is discussing with His disciples things pertaining to His revealing and His coming. In Luke
Luke then writes that Jesus said first He must suffer many things and be rejected. (Luke 17:25)
Next Jesus jumps ahead to what the days will be like prior to His revealing when He returns. It will be just like in the days of Noah. People, unbelievers, will be eating and drinking and marrying without any concern of impending judgment. (Remember, believers are to be aware of the false Christs and false prophets performing great signs and wonders and are to stay put!) It will also be like it was for those prior to the judgment that fell on
An additional thought, to make Mt. 24 and this passage in Luke Christ’s appearance at Armageddon makes no sense whatsoever to me. Why? Follow the logic. At Armageddon the trumpet judgments will have already occurred. A third of the earth will be burned up with the first trumpet. (Rev. 8:7) With the second trumpet a third of the sea will become blood. (Rev. 8:9) With the third trumpet a third of the fresh water will become bitter and many will die because of it. (Rev. 8:11) I don’t think there will be frivolity during this time. There will be no eating and drinking and buying and selling and marrying. Men will be longing for death from their scorpion like bites after the fifth trumpet sounds but will not be able to find it. (Rev. 9:1-6) No, if unbelievers, like in the days of Noah and Lot, are eating and drinking and buying and selling and marrying before Christ returns, and believers, the elect, are not destined for His wrath, His initial presence must occur sometime prior to Armageddon.
In Luke 17:33-36 we see the “twos”. Two will be in bed, two will be grinding, two will be in the field. In each instance one is taken and one is left.
Chapter seventeen closes with the vulture idiom which is also found in Mt. 24:28. This is imagery speaking of the judgment that will accompany Christ’s return. Because of the vulture idiom, my position on the “twos” is that the ones taken are received near to Christ at His coming and the ones left remain on the earth to face the day of the Lord judgments.
Then, chapter eighteen begins with Jesus telling the disciples a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart. It is the parable of the persistent widow and the unjust judge. The persistent widow kept coming to the judge asking for legal protection. Her persistence pays off and the judge ends up giving her legal protection.
Look what Jesus says to His disciples in 18:6-8:
“…Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now shall not God bring about justice for His elect, who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? I tell you that He will bring about justice for them speedily. However, when the Son of man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”
Though we are in a new chapter, remember the chapter breaks are man-derived, the context is still the return of Christ!
I have never heard this passage, Luke 18:1-8, taught as an end times passage, but looking at the context, it sure appears to be an end times passage. It starts (Luke 18:1) by saying that Jesus was teaching them to pray at all times and not to lose heart – believers are the ones who pray and He is encouraging believers not to lose heart – what would they lose heart over? The difficulty of the end times during the great tribulation. What are we instructed to do? Call out to our heavenly Father/Judge – cry out for justice for the ELECT! (There’s that word again!)
Isn’t it interesting…We learn in Rev. 6:10 that the fifth seal martyrs in heaven underneath the altar will cry out “How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
The elect on earth are instructed to cry to Him day and night for justice! We are assured that justice will be brought about for the elect speedily.
How sad are Jesus words however at the end of verse eight, “However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”
Beloved, He wants us to endure and to not lose heart…to the end.
Hebrews 12:3: “For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart.”
I live outside of the city in the beautiful
I love Psalm 19. Here are the first six verses:
“The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
Day to day pours forth speech,
And night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words;
Their voice is not heard.
Their line has gone out through all the earth,
and their utterances to the end of the world.
In them He has placed a tent for the sun,
Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;
It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.
Its rising is from one end of the heavens,
And its circuit to the other end of them;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.”
Did you notice the simile that
Then it hit me. Someday, the sun, moon, and stars, those celestial lights which were hung in the expanse of the heavens by the word of the Son’s power and are upheld there by that same power, that for millennia have been telling of the glory of God, are going to be extinguished. Those myriads of sparkling stars are going to fall from the sky as they bow to their Maker and announce the coming of the Radiance of God’s glory, the Bridegroom coming for His bride! (Matthew 24:29-31, 25:1-13, Hebrews 1:3,10)
The six words in the above title are the entire eighteenth verse in the second chapter of Isaiah.
Verse seventeen reads, “And the pride of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men will be abased, and the LORD alone will exalted in that day.”
To what day was Isaiah referring? To the day of the Lord.
We’re going to drastically change gears, but in a moment I believe you’ll see how it all fits together.
Revelation thirteen speaks of two beasts. The first beast is obviously Antichrist for in verse five we are told, “there was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies; and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him.” We also learn from verse three that the first beast had a fatal head wound that was healed and the whole earth is amazed concerning this and follows after the beast.
The second beast is mentioned just six verses later. He exercises all the authority of the first beast and he makes the earth worship the first beast. Verse fourteen is very interesting.
“And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given to him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life.”
Did you see that? The second beast is going to require the earth dwellers to make an image of the first beast. There are going to be millions of these little idols all over the world.
Then it gets really scary.
Verse fifteen: “And there was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast might speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.”
I’ll say it again, scary!
There are a couple of things I’d like to point out. There are some who teach that the day of the Lord encompasses the entire 70th Week of
Now watch what
See how it all fits now?
Joel
Matthew 24:29 has this cosmic sign cutting short the great tribulation which follows the abomination of desolation. We all understand the abomination of desolation to refer to Antichrist’s exaltation of himself in the temple at the midpoint of
Revelation 6:12-17 has the cosmic sign in the sun, moon, and stars occurring at the opening of the sixth seal. Men run to the caves and rocks of the mountains to hide and cry out to the mountains and rocks to fall on them and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb.
Do you really see now how it all fits?
Here’s Isaiah 2:17-22:
“And the pride of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men will be abased, and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. But the idols will vanish. And men will go into caves of the rocks, and into holes of the ground before the terror of the LORD, and before the splendor of His majesty, when He arises to make the earth tremble. In that day men will cast away to the moles and the bats their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship, in order to go into the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs, before the terror of the LORD and the splendor of His majesty, when He arises to make the earth tremble. Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils; for why should he be esteemed?”
And of course if you’ve read my blog before you know where I understand Scripture to place our gathering in relation to all of this…at the day of the LORD!
Luke 21:25-28: “And there will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars, and upon the earth dismay among the nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN A CLOUD with power and great glory. But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
1 Thessalonians 5:1-4: “Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” (because they are worshipping the image of the beast!) then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief…”
You may have noticed that I changed my post regarding the plurality of images. I started out saying that every earth dweller will make one, then went to one image being made. I am now back to every earth dweller making an image. Since first posting I learned "image" can either be a singular or a collective noun. Based on the Isaiah 2 passage and on Rev. 9:20, I'm holding to the position that each earth dweller will make an image - "And the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk..."
