Chapter 16.0
Eschatology
A word study on the last things to happen on
earth during this present age
Angels – Antichrist – Armageddon – Babylon –
Catholic Church – Christ Killers – 5 Crowns Dead Sea Scrolls – Devine Election – The Emergent Church
– Eternity – Jehovah’s Witnesses Judgment - Lake of Fire – Mark of the Beast –
Millennium - Missionaries – Mormon Church Muslims – The New Age
movement – New earth - New heaven – New World Order – Nimrod Nostradamus – Our
Nation – Predestination – Prophecies of
Jesus Christ – Queen of Heaven The Rapture – Replacement Theology – The Return
of Christ – The Roman Numerals – Satan Seventh Day Adventist – Temples – Holy Spirit –
The Nation Israel – The Scroll – Terrorism
Tribulation - Unification Church
– Where is Satan
Warning – Rapture – Tribulation - Return
Millennium – War – Judgment – Eternity
The
Bible is the inspired, inerrant, unchanging Word of God. There is no other Book.
Jesus
Christ is the way, the truth and the life.
There is no
other Way.
Fortune Tellers - Soothsayers, Clairvoyants and Prognosticators.
The probability of picking who
will win a football game is a 1
in 2 chance of picking the right
one. Picking the actual score, the
probability jumps up to 1 in 5000.
Predicting just eleven future
events in
sequence is one chance in
10,000,000,000,000,000,000.
Ten Billion times a Billion; that’s the accuracy of the Prophets.
ü
Be
born in Bethlehem – Micah 5:2. Be preceded by a messenger – Isaiah
40:3
ü
Enter
Jerusalem on a colt – Zechariah
9:9. Be betrayed by a friend – Psalms 41:9
ü
His
hands and feet pierced – Psalms
22:16. Wounded and whipped – Isaiah
53:5
ü
Sold
for 30 pieces of silver – Zechariah
11:12. Spit upon and beaten
– Isaiah 50:6
ü
Betrayal
money thrown in the temple - given for a potter’s field – Zechariah 11:13
ü
Be
silent before His accusers – Isaiah
53:7. Crucified with thieves
– Isaiah 53:12
I think we are pretty safe in believing the prophecies
in the “Revelation” of Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:20-21- No prophecy came by any prophets
own interpretation
20 Above all, you
must understand that
NO PROPHECY OF SCRIPTURE CAME ABOUT
BY THE PROPHET'S OWN INTERPRETATION.
21 For prophecy
never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke
from God as they were carried along BY THE HOLY SPIRIT.
NIV
Interpretation
The
smart people say there are four ways to interpret the Bible
1)
Literally…What is says,
is what it is… and is the first and most desired interpretation.
2)
Figurative
Language… What did the
“saying” mean during their time in history?
3)
Symbolically… What could the
symbolism mean based on other verses in the Bible and can the rest of the
paragraph or thought be interpreted symbolically and still make sense.
4)
Parenthetical... A story that
reflects on the time period and people hearing the story that has another
meaning or teaching based on other supporting scriptures in the Bible.
“When the plain sense of Scripture makes
common sense, seek no other sense;
Therefore, take every word at its primary,
ordinary, usual, literal meaning unless
the facts of the immediate context,
studied in the light of related passages and
axiomatic and fundamental truths, indicate
clearly otherwise”. (Hal Lindsey)
Approach
– The Belief System
There are a number of Belief Systems or approaches
to interpreting the Revelation. Here are a few.
ü
Belief
that the Revelation is just Historical, or Futuristic.
ü
Belief
in a Rapture; Pre, Mid and Post Tribulation, or no Rapture.
ü
Belief
that Christ’s return is at the beginning, the middle or the end of the
Tribulation
ü
Belief
that Christ’s reign is at the beginning of the Millennium or at the End
I am entering the arena with a BS of a Historical, Present & Futuristic mind set;
§
Believing in the taking away of the church
before the tribulation
begin...
§
Believing Christ’s return will be before the Millennial
Reign begins...
It is my intent
to provide scriptures
and background information that supports this Belief System.
God wants us to know and understand what’s in this Book.
Revelation 1:3 - BLESSED is the one who reads the words of
this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is
written in it, because
the time is near.
NIV
Revelation 22:7 - "Behold, I am coming soon! BLESSED is he who keeps the words of the
prophecy in this Book." NIV
Rabbit
Trails
Rabbit Trails have been included in
this study so the student can see that the Revelation is not just a “someday in the
future” story, but a dynamic story that’s unfolding all around us NOW, TODAY as we speak.
In the last days there will be a falling
away from the church, false teachers will
creep into the church with false teachings that
delude the Bible
scriptures.[1] Some will deny the supernatural of the
scriptures. Others will point to another person other than Jesus Christ or
teach “Christ
plus” another person who has special enlightenment... Or point to a
different god... Or you too can become a god.
Some will point to another Book other than the Bible or teach the “Bible plus”
another book. Many will teach “cross pollination” of religious TRADITIONS OF WORSHIP, and a “deconstruction”
of Christian doctrines. I have included historical information, statistics,
doctrines, and fun folklore that will pull the student back full circle to
the relevance of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
Credits
§ The Stage is the World where life is played out before all creation to watch.
ü
In the Old
Testament, God is center stage with Jesus and the Holy
Spirit in the wings
ü
In the New
Testament, Jesus
is center stage with God and the Holy Spirit in the wings.
ü
Today, in Modern
Times, The
Holy Spirit is center stage with
God and Jesus in the wings.
ü Past, Present and Future, the Trinity is
always present.
§ The Play Title: REVELATION - Apocalypse – (Greek) a revealing
or unveiling
(of Christ).
This is the
last recorded writing from the mouth of God to the pen of man.
§ Author - God
§ Written down by – John,
known as “The
Beloved Disciple” - He was one of the 12 Apostles... Jesus
committed his mother into John’s care as he stood at the foot of the cross...
He was the Pastor of the Church in Ephesus where he brought Mary,
mother of Jesus, for her care... He was the son of Zebedee... The brother of James...
James
and John
were called “Sons
of Thunder” His mother was Salome who was believed to be the sister of Mary,
the mother of Jesus... This would make
John a cousin of Jesus... John
was a fisherman by trade, he was a relative of
the High Priest who was a supplier of fish... His fishing partners
were Peter
and James...
He is the writer of Revelation as
well as the Fourth Gospel and three epistles.
He penned more of the New Testament than any other Apostle. (This is not John
the Baptist)
§ Directed By – God through
Jesus Christ by an Angel to John to help steady the Church during the awful
days ahead.
§ On Location – John was in a
Roman penal camp where he had been sent by Emperor Domitian to silence him,
being afraid that killing him would make him a martyr to the Christian Jews. The prison was on Patmos, a barren, windswept,
rocky island about 10 miles long and six miles wide, located about 35 miles
southwest of the coast of Asia Minor in the Aegean Sea.
§ Time Line: The vision
took place on “The
Lord’s Day” (not the Sabbath) A.D.95 during
the Persecution by the Roman Emperor Domitian. John worked at hard labor in the prison mines
and quarries until A.D.96. When Domitian
was assassinated, John was released from prison and returned to his home and
lived to an old age and his body was buried in Ephesus.
§ Past Setting - 1st Imperial Persecution: Roman
Emperor Nero Cesar, (A.D.64-67) had persecuted both Jews and
Christians 30 years before the Revelation was penned by John. The Christians were crucified, thrown to wild
beast or wrapped in combustible garments and burned as human torches at Nero’s
parties.
§ Present Setting – 2nd Imperial Persecution: Roman Emperor
Domitian (A.D.81-96) was even
more fierce and fiery; over 40,000 Christians were tortured and slain. He promoted Emperor Worship. Everyone was forced to address him as “Lord
and God Domitian”. He was the
one that exiled John to the Isle of Patmos because of his testimony of Jesus.
§ Future Setting – 3rd Imperial Persecution: Roman Emperor
Trajan (A.D. 98) -
Persecution of the Christians was just around the corner. John had lived through the first two and now
about to enter the third. The Church was
starting to show signs of corruption and apostasy Language: Symbols and
numbers speak of a certain
reality; as an example, our flag’s configuration speaks of the existence of our
particular nation. The spiritual
symbolism would be clear to
Christians, but would make no sense to the Roman persecutors. Persecution was
so great that the Christians met often quietly and in secret. If you
are into symbols
and numbers,
there are over 300
symbols. Throne is used 44
times, King, Kingdom or rule about 37 times, Power and Authority is used some
40 times.
§ The Omega Code: The Levitical
system of the Old Testament was built on cycles of seven... The number
seven was a number of fullness,
totality, completeness such as; 7 Churches, 7 seals, and 7 vials, 7 candlesticks, 7
trumpets, and
7 signs, 7 last plagues, 7 dooms, and 7
new things.
§ The Players: Angels, Spirits,
a Lamb
with 7
horns and 7
eyes, a Red Dragon with 7 heads and 7 crowns, A Leopard
like beast with 7
heads, a Scarlet covered beast with 7 heads, 7 mountains,
and 7
kings.
§ The Villain: Satan or the Devil... Also known as the Tempter,
Prince of Demons, Prince of the Power of the Air, The Great Dragon, The Old
Serpent, The Evil One, The Father of Lies, The Thief, a Murderer and our
Adversary... He can
produce false miracles, and is the source of demonical possession... He has angels and a kingdom... He is thrown
out of heaven.
§ The Hero: JESUS CHRIST who is mentioned
as the Lamb
26 times in The Revelation... Also known as “The Messiah” - The Anointed One - Son of Man - First Born of the Dead, - Prince of the
Kings of the Earth and Jehovah.
God has determined from the beginning that His Son would be the ruler of
the Universe. In John’s Vision, Christ
receives the Title
Deed to all creation; He returns
and judges
the world and then reigns in Power
and Glory.
§ Plot: The Revelation focuses on the coming reign of
Jesus Christ on this earth which Satan wants to control. It deals with events surrounding His return
& the readiness or un-readiness of the Church to receive Him, a description
of tremendous events that will take place in heaven & on earth &
describes Christ’s
complete and eternal victory over
Satan
& Satan’s
punishment:
§ The Story Episodes begins with; Warnings to the Church’s... then the Rapture of the Church... The Tribulation period... The Second coming of Christ... His Millennium Reign...The Battle of Armageddon... The Great White Throne Judgment... New Heaven... New Earth... then Eternity.
Time Line - Reader’s Digest Cliff Notes Version
FIRST EARTH AGE - This is eternity past
§ In the beginning
God creates the Heavens and the Earth. He sees that it is good - Genesis 1:1
§ Man and animals
are created and given free will...
They are good
§ The angels are
created with free
will, including Satan... They are good
§ There is NOT a Law: If you sin, you will die.
§ Satan is given dominion
over all of the Earth... But he wants to be worshiped as God
§ Time did not exist... but probably
millions of years as we know it would pass by.
§ Satan rebels... so does 50,000,000 angels and
they leave their assigned post to follow Satan
§ Man’s heart
becomes filled with evil and violence and man wants to do his own thing.
§ All of Heaven is WITNESS and sees what’s happening and waits to see if Satan
will succeed.
§ God gives eons
of time for Satan
and man
to come around, but they don’t.
§ Darkness covers the earth as God’s judgment floods the earth wiping out
everything.
§ The earth
becomes without form and void – Genesis
1:2
§ Heaven is WITNESS and watches to see what Satan is going to do about it.
SECOND EARTH AGE – This is the present age... but before Jesus Christ is born.
§ The earth is
still void and the spirits of the dead
are still alive, but they have no bodies.
§ They become Satan’s demonic
followers.
§ Time as we know it Begins... Satan has
been unable to give life or create anything.
§ God starts
over...All
of Heaven is WITNESS and is watching to see what Satan
will do next.
§ The plan of salvation of man is put
into effect. “The law of sin and death”.
§ A mystery is also put into effect. A new ruler of the earth will come and defeat
Satan.
§ Everything is recreated
or “brought
forth” starting in Genesis
1:3... Man has free will.
§ God put Adam and Eve in the Garden... Everything is
put under Adam’s authority.
§ Satan
is
determined he will not report to a man made lower than him, one made out of dirt.
§ God tells Adam
“don’t eat of
the fruit of the tree of good and evil”, or you will die.
§ Satan tricks Adam into eating the fruit... God knew he would... Adam is now a
sinner.
§ Adam now has Kids... Satan thinks Able
will be the new ruler and gets Cain to kill Able.
§ Now everybody is
a sinner... Satan
is home free... He is now king and worthy of praise.
§ About 2,000 years passes... Man is
hopelessly evil... Heaven is WITNESS; what’s next?
§ God gets Noah and his family to
build an ark... fills it with pairs of God’s creation.
§ God Floods the
earth for over a year... Only 8 people are saved... This is God’s remnant.
§ Noah’s family
and the animals and creatures start over again populating the earth.
§ About 1,000 more years pass... Satan hears
the Prophets
talk about a hidden
MYSTERY.
§ A Messiah is
prophesied to come from the Jewish nation to rule the earth.
§ Satan gets Pharaoh to kill all the male
children, but Moses
is saved... Moses
must be the one.
§ Satan gets Moses to kill an Egyptian... Now Moses
is a sinner... Satan
thinks he is home free.
THE CHURCH AGE BEGINS – Jesus the Messiah prophesied.
§ Another 1,000 years pass... Satan
hears more talk about a “MYSTERY that’s been hidden”.
§ A Messiah
is coming, a new ruler of earth; all creation is
WITNESSING what
will happen.
§ Satan gets the king to kill all the babies two years old and under; But, Jesus is saved.
§ Jesus is found at age 12 in the
temple, but does not start His ministry till He
is about 30.
§ Satan tries to tempt Jesus into sinning... but is
unsuccessful... Satan
needs another plan.
§ The Jews are
excited... They are looking for a REIGNING Messiah to set up a kingdom.
§ Jews are
disappointed... Jesus comes as a SUFFERING Messiah with a message of
salvation.
§ Jews don’t
understand and reject
Jesus as the Messiah... Satan is ecstatic.
§ Satan enters Judas and tricks him into
forcing Jesus to take action as a REIGNING Messiah.
§ It didn’t work... This was not God’s Plan...
Judas
sees he made a mistake and kills himself.
§ The prophets say everyone that hangs on a tree is a sinner.
§ Jesus is crucified on a tree... Sinless Jesus
takes all of man’s sins... Satan is dumbfounded.
§ All Heaven, Hell, demons and angels both good
and evil are
WITNESS to what happened.
THE CHURCH AGE CONTINUES – More prophecy revealed
§ Jesus goes to a
compartment of hell
know as paradise or Abrahams Bosom.
§ Jesus preaches
to the good
guys and takes them to heaven along
with the keys of death & hell.
§ Jesus after His resurrection,
spends time with His disciples and about 500 others.
§ Jesus is translated
to Heaven and sits at the right hand of God
§ The prophets foretell
that the Messiah
is coming back... This time to be a reigning Messiah.
§ Satan is upset... He knows his
time is short. All
Creation is WATCHING & giving WITNESS.
§ Time is given to Satan and
all in the earth to hear Christ’s message of salvation and repent.
§ John is thrown into
the prison on the island of Patmos - Satan starts killing the Disciples
§ God gives a vision
to John...
He cryptically writes it all down and sneaks it out to the believers.
LAST OF THE CHURCH AGE – John is given a Vision; the Rapture - the
Tribulation – the Future
§
Warnings are given to
the Churches of all ages; the body of Christ, about the end times.
§
2000 more years
pass; time enough for Satan and all living to
respond to Christ’s message.
§
All
Creation is WATCHING as a WITNESS of God’s patience and
Satan’s total
rebellion
§
Satan enters into a man and he becomes his false prophet – The Anti-spirit.
§
Satan enters into another man and he becomes the Antichrist
§
Satan sees himself as
God;
he now has an UNHOLY TRINITY fooling many,
he is like God.
§
The Antichrist is shot in the head and appears dead...
is resurrected... similar to Christ
§
Many think he is the Messiah and follow and worship
him. Satan is ecstatic.
§
Jesus comes back and raptures
the believing church... It happens faster than you can blink.
§
Great confusion exists... Satan, the fallen angels, demons and the wicked are all that’s left.
§
This is the first part of CHRIST’S SECOND COMING...
Some
get saved because of this event.
§
God
seals and marks 144,000 Jews to preach the gospel of salvation one more time
§
All
creation sees God’s love for His creation and they are WITNESS to his patience.
§
SEVEN YEARS OF
TRIBULATION BEGINS ... Antichrist makes a peace treaty with Israel.
§
Wars,
famine, pestilence, boils, sickness, hail, earthquakes, natural disasters are prevalent.
§
Antichrist
seals his followers with the MARK
OF THE BEAST on
their forehead like God did.
§
The
Mark of the Beast shows his ownership... The Mark of God shows His ownership
§
They can now buy food and sell stuff... They
worship the Antichrist
as the Messiah.
§
THEY ARE DOOMED
FOREVER – UNPARDONABLE SIN - THEY CANNOT CHANGE THEIR MIND.
§
Some do not take the mark and many are
killed. Heaven is WITNESS... The angels
ponder it.
§
Antichrist breaks the Peace agreement with Israel
3 ½ years into the agreement
§
Antichrist stops the sacrifices in the Temple
§
Antichrist sets up an image
of Satan in
the temple to be worshipped. It can talk; it is worshiped
§
There
is war in heaven. Michael, God’s Archangel, defeats Satan and
his angels.
§
Satan and one third of the angels are thrown out
of heaven.
§
God
sends TWO WITNESSES to preach one
more time... They do miracles & many are saved
§
The two witnesses might
be Elijah
and Enoch,
both were previously raptured or translated.
§
They preach the Gospel for the last 3 ½ years of the tribulation
§
They are supernaturally protected during their
mission
§
They perform great miracles; call down fire from
Heaven, and cause droughts
§
When their mission is complete, God allows the
Antichrist to kill them
§
They lie in the streets of Jerusalem for 3 ½ days... It’s televised by satellite
§
People are happy and give each other gifts… It might
be at Christmas time.
§
The Heavens thunder - The TWO
WITNESSES are
resurrected and raptured or translated
§
A great earthquake hits... A tenth of Jerusalem
is destroyed
§
Seven Thousand men are killed... Survivors
recognize the power of God
§
God has everybody’s attention and see His
invitation to salvation.
All creation
is WITNESS.
THE THIRD EARTH AGE
PREAMBLE
– War of Gog and Magog; the millennium reign
§ Russia and its
allies attack Israel and are defeated by nature... They wind up killing each
other.
§ During the
entire tribulation period, one half of the world’s population is killed.
§ Birds are summoned
to eat the dead. It takes seven months
to bury the dead remains.
§ Antichrist and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire.
§ Satan is bound in chains for 1,000 years so he cannot deceive the
nations.
§ CHRIST RETURNS AND REIGNS... there is peace
and an abundance of everything for 1,000
years.
§ Those born
during the 1,000 years have borne WITNESSED to the love and peace of God.
§ Many embraced God because it was politically
correct, but they have no relationship.
§ This proves man’s heart is inherently evil and is doomed without the Holy Spirit’s drawing.
§ Satan is released after the 1,000 years for a short time and starts
all his deception
again.
§ There are a
bunch of people without a relationship with God just ripe for the picking by
Satan.
§ All Creation is WITNESS that God has let
man’s spirit FREELY
CHOOSE whom
he will serve
§ There is another
war – THE WAR OF ARMAGEDDON – 200 million
fight against the Antichrist
§ All are
defeated... There are no survivors
§ The unsaved
are judged and along with Satan are thrown into the lake of fire
forever.
§ All creation is WITNESS to the awesomeness of God and tells the story of
Satan’s
rebellion.
§ There is now no
doubt, only
the pure and faithful are in the presence of Jehovah God.
THE
THIRD EARTH AGE – Begins
§ There’s a “whole lot of
shakin’ is goin’ on”. God
does Urban Renewal
§ A New Heaven and Earth are created
§ The New Jerusalem comes down from
Heaven already constructed.
§ The HOLY TEMPLE looks like
crystal, but with colors like a rainbow.
§ Living water
flows out of the throne room both east and west. There is no more sea.
§ The walls are
transparent with its twelve gates, each made out of a single pearl.
§ The redeemed of
the earth live here. We the redeemed
rule and reign with Him forever.
§ The remaining
Nations of the earth make annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem to worship.
§ There is no sin – no tears, no trouble. Just peace and abundance of everything.
§ The fruit of the
Spirit for the healing of the nations is in everyone.
§ Love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
§ The story of Satan and fallen man is
told over and over again... It will never happen again
§ Time no longer exist ... Just
eternity.
The Revelation
of John
seems to address ONLY the Jewish nation
of Israel, His chosen seed,[2] but, as we move
through the scriptures, we find that the prophet Isaiah reported
that there would also be a COVENANT for the Gentiles
also,[3] that Christ “has sheep in another pasture”.[4] What good news!
The Apostle
Paul said THE MYSTERY OF THE GENTILES was made known
to him by the Holy
Spirit.[5] ... As sons of the light, we are not ignorant of
the coming of Christ, He has told us to be watchful, however it is different
for those in DARKNESS, (Unbelievers; Make believers) the message is veiled to them.[6]
Christ’s
FIRST coming on earth; knowing of His
death on the cross, came to be a “SUFFERING
MESSIAH”.[7] The Jews were looking for a “REIGNING MESSIAH”, giving them supernatural
signs. HE DID NEITHER, that’s why the Jews had a hard time
accepting Him as their Messiah.
Signs and wonders are to follow the
believer;
the believer is not to follow the signs
and wonders.
There is no supporting scripture that says Christ came to be a REIGNING MESSIAH, however, that
does occur at the beginning of His SECOND coming during the millennium.
NOTE: Some
chapters in Revelation are reflective and informative
thus they
are NOT all
presented in chronological order.
The
Revelation to John
The Apocalypse
The unveiling of Jesus
Now to the SLOW VERSION of the unpacking of the Revelation.
[1] 2 Timothy 3:1-7- in the last days Men will creep in having a
form of godliness, but denying the power
[2] Romans 11:24 - For if you
were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted
contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who
are natural branches, be grafted into their
own olive tree
[3] Isaiah 42:6-7 - I will
keep you and make you to be a COVENANT for the people and a
light for the Gentiles -- Ephesians 1:11 - In him we were also chosen, having been PREDESTINED according to the plan of
him who works out everything
[4] John 10:16 - Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them
also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold,
and one shepherd. -- Romans 11:17 – You, being a wild olive tree, were grafted
in among them, and with them became a partaker of
the root and fatness of the olive tree
[5] Ephesians 3:3-6 - The
mystery of the Gentiles was made known to me by revelation revealed by the
Spirit of God's This mystery is that through the
gospel is the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, and sharers together in
the promise in Christ Jesus
[6] 1 Thessalonians 5:1-7 -
For you yourselves know perfectly that THE DAY OF THE LORD so comes as a thief in the
night. But you, brethren, are not in darkness You are all sons of light and sons of the day
[7] Luke 24:46-47 - This is
what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise
from the dead on the third day -- John
3:14-15 - The Son of Man must be lifted up on the cross -- Mark 14:8-9 - She
poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial