Jerusalem Above/Jerusalem Below
Who Owns Jerusalem?
The Names of God

Psalm 2

Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together,
against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, 
"Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us." 
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: t
he LORD shall have them in derision. 
Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath,
and vex them in his sore displeasure. 
Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. 
I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, "
Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. 
Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance,
and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. 
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron;
Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."
Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way,
when his wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. (KJV)

The King James Version is familiar to many because the text is used in a well-known chorus in Handel's Messiah.

Handel's Messiah Why Do The Nations Rage?

Jerusalem, the Eye of the Storm

The Root Causes of War

There's a War on Folks

For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,  not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous. Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you.  We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.  Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. (1 John 3:11-19) >

Companion Studies

Babylon Past, Present, Future
The Man of Sin
Man's Lost Dominion

Isaiah 51
The Lord Comforts Zion

“Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness,
You who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were hewn,
And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug.
Look to Abraham your father,
And to Sarah who bore you;
For I called him alone,
And blessed him and increased him.”

For the Lord will comfort Zion,
He will comfort all her waste places;
He will make her wilderness like Eden,
And her desert like the garden of the Lord;
Joy and gladness will be found in it,
Thanksgiving and the voice of melody.

“Listen to Me, My people;
And give ear to Me, O My nation:
For law will proceed from Me,
And I will make My justice rest
As a light of the peoples.
My righteousness is near,
My salvation has gone forth,
And My arms will judge the peoples;
The coastlands will wait upon Me,
And on My arm they will trust.
Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
And look on the earth beneath.
For the heavens will vanish away like smoke,
The earth will grow old like a garment,
And those who dwell in it will die in like manner;
But My salvation will be forever,
And My righteousness will not be abolished.

“Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
You people in whose heart is My law:
Do not fear the reproach of men,
Nor be afraid of their insults.
For the moth will eat them up like a garment,
And the worm will eat them like wool;
But My righteousness will be forever,
And My salvation from generation to generation.”

Awake, awake, put on strength,
O arm of the Lord!
Awake as in the ancient days,
In the generations of old.
Are You not the arm that cut Rahab apart,
And wounded the serpent?

Are You not the One who dried up the sea,
The waters of the great deep;
That made the depths of the sea a road
For the redeemed to cross over?
So the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
And come to Zion with singing,
With everlasting joy on their heads.
They shall obtain joy and gladness;
Sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

“I, even I, am He who comforts you.
Who are you that you should be afraid
Of a man who will die,
And of the son of a man who will be made like grass?
And you forget the Lord your Maker,
Who stretched out the heavens
And laid the foundations of the earth;
You have feared continually every day
Because of the fury of the oppressor,
When he has prepared to destroy.
And where is the fury of the oppressor?
The captive exile hastens, that he may be loosed,
That he should not die in the pit,
And that his bread should not fail.
But I am the Lord your God,
Who divided the sea whose waves roared—
The Lord of hosts is His name.
16 And I have put My words in your mouth;
I have covered you with the shadow of My hand,
That I may plant the heavens,
Lay the foundations of the earth,
And say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’ ”

Awake, awake!
Stand up, O Jerusalem,
You who have drunk at the hand of the Lord
The cup of His fury;
You have drunk the dregs of the cup of trembling,
And drained it out.
There is no one to guide her
Among all the sons she has brought forth;
Nor is there any who takes her by the hand
Among all the sons she has brought up.
These two things have come to you;
Who will be sorry for you?—
Desolation and destruction, famine and sword—
By whom will I comfort you?
Your sons have fainted,
They lie at the head of all the streets,
Like an antelope in a net;
They are full of the fury of the Lord,
The rebuke of your God.

Therefore please hear this, you afflicted,
And drunk but not with wine.
Thus says your Lord,
The Lord and your God,
Who pleads the cause of His people:
“See, I have taken out of your hand
The cup of trembling,
The dregs of the cup of My fury;

You shall no longer drink it.
But I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you,
Who have said to you,
‘Lie down, that we may walk over you.’
And you have laid your body like the ground,
And as the street, for those who walk over.”

\

I remember the Great Depression (having been born in 1932). I remember Pearl Harbor and FDR's Fireside Chats by coast-to-coast radio. And the short-wave broadcasts from Winston Churchill still come to mind. The detention of Japanese Americans was traumatic as the owner of the Rexall Drug Store in Shoshone, Idaho was a wonderful man--his son, Clarence Tanaka, was my best friend. As WW 2 unfolded my dad at age 39 was drafted into the Navy. My mom, sister and I moved to San Diego in 1944 where blackouts were frequent and Japanese subs were prowling just off the coast. VE Day on May 8, 1945 and VJ Day on September 25, 1945 were very big deals with the troops coming home and economy transitioning from war to peace.

I almost was drafted to serve in the Korean Way (25 June 1950 - 27 July 1953) because of my plans to go to college and become and Electrical Engineer, I escaped being in the Army in the Vietnam War (November 1, 1955 – April 30, 1975), a year at a time because I landed a job in essential Cold War (1947 – 1991) Research. the threat of a nuclear war was on everyone's mind. back then only two major players had nuclear weapons. But a bit later with Nuclear Proliferation on our tiny planet housed a dozen rogue states with bombs and crazy leaders. Since then most everyone has relaxed his or her guard believing, against all the evidence that Planet Earth is a safe place. Earth's citizens are assumed to be rational, peace-loving and moral!

World War III and the Third World War are names given to a hypothetical third worldwide large-scale military conflict subsequent to World War I and II. The term has been in use since at least as early as 1941. Some have applied it loosely to refer to limited or smaller conflicts such as the Cold War or the War on Terror, while others assumed that such a conflict would surpass prior world wars both in its scope and in its destructive impact.

Due to the development and use of nuclear weapons near the end of World War II and their subsequent acquisition and deployment by many countries, the potential risk of a nuclear devastation of Earth's civilization and life is a common theme in speculations about a Third World War. Another major concern is that biological warfare could cause a very large number of casualties, either intentionally or inadvertently by an accidental release of a biological agent, the unexpected mutation of an agent, or its adaptation to other species after use. Large-scale apocalyptic events like these, caused by advanced technology used for destruction, could potentially make the Earth's surface uninhabitable.

Prior to the beginning of the Second World War, the First World War (1914–1918) was believed to have been "the war to end all wars", as it was popularly believed that never again could there possibly be a global conflict of such magnitude. During the inter-war period, WWI was typically referred to simply as "The Great War". The outbreak of World War II in 1939 disproved the hope that mankind might have already "outgrown" the need for such widespread global wars.

With the advent of the Cold War in 1945 and with the spread of nuclear weapons technology to the Soviet Union, the possibility of a third global conflict became more plausible. During the Cold War years, the possibility of a Third World War was anticipated and planned for by military and civil authorities in many countries. Scenarios ranged from conventional warfare to limited or total nuclear warfare. At the height of the Cold War, the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction ("MAD") had been developed, in which determined an all-out nuclear confrontation would cause the annihilation of all of the states involved in the confrontation. The potential absolute destruction of the human race may have contributed to the ability of both American and Soviet leaders to avoid such a scenario. (Wikipedia)

The Last great world war, with every nation taking part will probably be mostly old-fashioned land armies, (with modern weapons). These armies will invade Israel in concert to solve the "Jewish problem" once and for all. One facet of the Campaign of Armageddon will be a huge army from China and the East. It's described for us cryptically in Revelation 16. I am quoting my mentor Ray Stedman here. This is a good place to mention that about a third of the Bible is prophecy concerning future things that will happen in God's good time. I am quoting extensively in this article knowing the terrible Bible illiteracy of our day. Lots of related material is in the links.

Event	Casualties lowest estimate	Casualties highest estimate	Location	From	To	Duration (years)
Nine Years' War	680,000		Europe, North America, South America, Asia	1688	1697	9
War of the Spanish Succession	700,000	1,251,000	Europe, North America, South America, Africa	1701	1714	13
War of the Austrian Succession	359,000		Europe, North America, South America, India	1740	1748	8
Seven Years' War	992,000	1,500,000	Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Asia	1754	1763	9
American Revolutionary War	217,000	262,000	North America, Gibraltar, Balearic Islands, India, Africa, Caribbean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean	1775	1783	8
French Revolutionary Wars	663,000		Europe, Egypt, Middle East, Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean, Indian Ocean	1792	1802	9
Napoleonic Wars	1,800,000		Europe, Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Río de la Plata, French Guiana, West Indies, Indian Ocean, North America, South Caucasus	1803	1815	13
World War I	15,000,000		Global	1914	1918	4
World War II	40,000,000	85,000,000	Global	1939	1945	6
Cold War			Global	1947	1991	44
War on Terror	4,500,000	4,600,000	Global	2001	Ongoing	21+

Military Spending

Armageddon

Ray Stedman

The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty. (Revelation 16:12-14 NIV)

The "I am god" Problem

As for the nature of the human heart Jesus Christ taught:

"For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery,coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man."(Mark 7:21-23)

James, the half-brother of Jesus came to know God after the resurrection of Jesus. He went on to become the pastor of the early Jewish-Christian church in Jerusalem. His epistle is probably the earliest letter we have in the New Testament. In Chapter Four, James puts his finger squarely on the reason why violence, fighting and wars are in the world:

What causes wars, and what causes fightings among you? Is it not your passions that are at war (stratos) in your members? You desire and do not have; so you kill. And you covet and cannot obtain; so you fight and wage war. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

The Greek original is interesting because "wars" (machomai) and "fightings (polemos) in this passage are military terms in the original. They refer to the individual campaigns and skirmishes as well as a war as a totality. "Members" is melos in Greek--from which our English word "melody" is derived! "Passions" (or pleasures), hedone, is the root for our English word "hedonism."

James bluntly states that the pursuit of pleasure, living for self- choosing false gods and the resulting spiritual adultery is what causes our unfulfilled search for pleasure and happiness to turn into hatred, violence and murder! We were made to find our fulfillment living in union with God. When we choose other gods instead, we act contrary to the way the universe was made to function--our idolatry leads to emptiness and despair. It can not be otherwise.

Unfaithful creatures! (Greek: adulteresses, feminine, plural)

Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is in vain that the scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit which he has made to dwell in us"? But he gives more grace; therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

Finally James urges us to turn wholeheartedly to God--for therein in our salvation and the means of repairing and restoring a broken social order. Without God's help we as a people have no defense against the forces of darkness which seek to erupt and destroy us all.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you men of double mind. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you. (James 4:1-10)

During the Cold War, many countries built fallout shelters for high-ranking government officials and crucial military facilities, such as Project Greek Island and the Cheyenne Mountain nuclear bunker in the United States and Canada's Emergency Government Headquarters. Plans were made, however, to use existing buildings with sturdy below-ground-level basements as makeshift fallout shelters. These buildings were placarded with the orange-yellow and black trefoil sign designed by United States Army Corps of Engineers director of administrative logistics support function Robert W. Blakeley in 1961.

The National Emergency Alarm Repeater (NEAR) program was developed in the United States in 1956 during the Cold War to supplement the existing siren warning systems and radio broadcasts in the event of a nuclear attack. The NEAR civilian alarm device was engineered and tested but the program was not viable and was terminated in 1967. In the U.S. in September 1961, under the direction of Steuart L. Pittman, the federal government started the Community Fallout Shelter Program. A letter from President Kennedy advising the use of fallout shelters appeared in the September 1961 issue of Life magazine. Over the period 1961-1963, there was a growth in home fallout shelter sales, but eventually there was a public backlash against the fallout shelter as a consumer product. (Wikipedia)

I looked when He opened the sixth seal,  and behold, there was a great earthquake; and  the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood.  And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and  every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the  kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man,  hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who  sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come,  and who is able to stand?” (Revelation 6:12-17)

36 “Then the king (the false prophet ruling as Messiah in Israel) shall do according to his own will:
he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods,
and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done.
37 “He shall regard neither the God (elohim ab) of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god;
for he shall exalt himself above them all.
38 “But in their place he shall honor a god (eloah, dual) of fortresses; (maol, protection, forces)
and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things.
39 “Thus he shall act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god, which he shall acknowledge, and advance its glory;
and he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide the land for gain.
40 “At the time of the end the king of the South (Egypt) shall attack him;
and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships;
and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through.
41 “He shall also enter the Glorious Land, (Israel) and many countries shall be overthrown;
but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon.
42 “He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 “He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt;
also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels.
44 “But news from the east and the north shall trouble him;
therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many.
45 “And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain;
yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him.” 

The Last King of the North

Zechariah 12-14

1 The burden of the word of the Lord against Israel. Thus says the Lord,  who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and  forms the spirit of man within him: 2 “Behold, I will make Jerusalem  a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. 3 And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem  a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it. 4 In that day,” says the Lord,  “I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. 5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in the Lord of hosts, their God.’ 6 In that day I will make the governors of Judah  like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place—Jerusalem. 7 “The Lord will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah. 8 In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall  be like God, like the Angel of the Lord before them. 9 It shall be in that day that I will seek to  destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. Mourning for the Pierced One 10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will  look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him  as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. 11 In that day there shall be a great  mourning in Jerusalem,  like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 And the land shall mourn, every family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of  Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; 13 the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by itself, and their wives by themselves; 14 all the families that remain, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves.

13:1  “In that a day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.

2 “It shall be in that day,” says the Lord of hosts, “that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered. I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to depart from the land. 3 It shall come to pass that if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who begot him will say to him, ‘You shall not live, because you have spoken lies in the name of the Lord.’ And his father and mother who begot him shall thrust him through when he prophesies.

4 “And it shall be in that day that every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies; they will not wear a robe of coarse hair to deceive. 5 But he will say, ‘I am no prophet, I am a farmer; for a man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.’ 6 And one will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your arms?’ Then he will answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.’

7 “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, Against the Man who is My Companion,” Says the Lord of hosts.

“Strike the Shepherd, And the sheep will be scattered; Then I will turn My hand against the little ones.

8 And it shall come to pass in all the land,” Says the Lord “That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, But one-third shall be left in it: 9 I will bring the one-third through the fire, Will refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people’; And each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ ”

14:1 Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, And your spoil will be divided in your midst. 2 For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses rifled,And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

3 Then the Lord will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle. 4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east.
And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south.

5 Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, For the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee As you fled from the earthquake In the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the Lord my God will come, And all the saints with You.

6 It shall come to pass in that day, That there will be no light; 7 It shall be one day, Which is known to the Lord—Neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen,That it will be light.

8 And in that day it shall be That living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, Half of them toward the eastern sea, And half of them toward he western sea; In both summer and winter it shall occur.
9 And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be—“The Lord is one,” And His name one.

10 All the land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be raised up and inhabited in her place from Benjamin’s Gate to the place of the First Gate and the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses.

11 The people shall dwell in it;
And no longer shall there be utter destruction,
But Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.

12 And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet,Their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, And their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths. 13 It shall come to pass in that day, That a great panic from the Lord will be among them. Everyone will seize the hand of his neighbor, And raise his hand against his neighbor’s hand;14 Judah also will fight at Jerusalem. And the wealth of all the surrounding nations, Shall be gathered together: Gold, silver, and apparel in great abundance. 15 Such also shall be the plague, On the horse and the mule, On the camel and the donkey, And on all the cattle that will be in those camps. So shall this plague be.

16 And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. 17 And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain. 18 If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. 19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

20 In that day “HOLINESS TO THE LORD” shall be engraved on the bells of the horses. The pots in the Lord’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar. 21 Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holiness to the Lord of hosts. Everyone who sacrifices shall come and take them and cook in them. In that day there shall no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts.

Matthew 24

1 Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” 3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.

23 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 28 For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.

29 “Immediately after the tribulation 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 the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

32 “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! 34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. 36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven,but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

45 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food n due season? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. 47 Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. 48 But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, 51 and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The Olivet Discourse

From the Book of the Revelation

Now I saw heaven opened, and behold,  a white horse. And He who sat on him was called  Faithful and True, and  in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns.  He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called  The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven,  clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now  out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And  He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron.  He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And  He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. 17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven,  “Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, 18 that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.” 19 And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. 20 Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and  those who worshiped his image.  These two were cast alive into the lake of fire  burning with brimstone. 21 And the rest  were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse.  And all the birds  were filled with their flesh." (Revelation 11:19-21)

The End -- and a New Beginning

The Gog/Magog Invasion of Israel

The clearest predictions that God would bring His people back to Himself in due time were given through the prophet Jeremiah in their nations darkest hour. See Ray Stedman, Death of a Nation

The Prophet Zechariah

Gog and Magog 

Rosh = Russia
Magog = Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan
Persia = Iran
Cush = Sudan
Put = Libya
Meshech, Tubal, Gomer, and Beth-togarmah 

Time Frame: Seven Years, the Tribulation period 

In the “Latter Days” a great land invasion of Israel is depicted. Previously attacks from the North by the “king of the North”-- (usually Syria)-- and the king of the South (Egypt) happened again and again in ancient Israel. See Daniel 11 for the series, and see Ray Stedman, The Time of the End

The Last “King of the North,” “The Assyrian,”  is mentioned 12 times by Isaiah. Probably he leads “the campaign of Armageddon seven years after the Gog/Magog invasion.

However Dr. Andy Woods notes in his study of the Gog/Magog war that the events described in Ezekiel 38 and 39 seem to start after the Rapture but extend for seven years reaching a grant crescendo at the Battle of Armageddon and the Second Advent of Jesus Christ. 

God is the Commander-in-Chief, behind the scenes, assembling this great army to come against Israel from the North in the latter days. The armies will be gathered together into a fragile coalition -- because of their greed and a common hatred of the Jews. Israel's petroleum reserves and advanced social order make her the envy of most of the nations in the world, especially her neighbors. The desired plunder will include huge oil and natural gas reserves discovered in Israel in the past half century. Israel is an extremely bountiful economy in the Region, while her neighbors are languishing economically.

The enemy hordes will fall on the hills in the North of Israel (the Golan Heights?) No Jewish civilians or military forces appear to be involved. (There are, however, many settlers living in the North today.) The invading armies will essentially self-destruct as the Amorites and Moabites did in the days of King Jehoshaphat. See 2 Chronicles 20:1-33.

Great victories always come from God's hand! We can thank God in advance and praise Him ahead of time! With a simple, silent moving of His Spirit often turned Israel's enemies against their own kind. God will allowed His enemies to destroy one another while God's people Israel watch in wonder and awe with thanksgiving.

God never wins His battles by strength of numbers. He is ready to move and to act when a few of His people will trust Him, and in faith believing, ask Him to roll back the great evils of an age.

The invaders in the Gog/Magog campaign will apparently be all Sunni or Shiite Muslims--plus some opportunistic adventurers along for the ride. Deep, ancient hatred exists in the world of Islam.

Ezekiel 38:7 “Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are gathered about you; and be a guard for them.  After many days you will be visited. 

Here is a reference to the time frame of the invasion. Israel will be back in the land after 2000 years in the Diaspora. The “Last Days” refers to the two-thousand year interval between the First and Second Advents of Jesus.

In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people, on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely.

38:9 You will ascend, coming like a storm, covering the land like a cloud, you and all your troops and many peoples with you.”

‘Thus says the Lord God: “On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan: You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’— to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land. 

Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say to you, ‘Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?’ ” ’

38:14 “Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord God:
“On that day when My people Israel dwell safely, will you not know it?

Then you will come from your place out of the far north,
you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army. 

The imagery of horses and foot soldiers was state-of-the art warfare 2500 years ago. Updated to today’s weapons and military systems, the invading high-tech army will seem to be a coming holocaust of vastly superior legions bent on a final, final solution -- to exterminate the Jews once and forever. Indeed, within Islam there is a drive, a mandate, for one world under Allah, with a Caliphate in Jerusalem.

You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. 

It will be in the latter days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me, when I am hallowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes.” 

Here the God of Israel steps out of hiding. Israel should have known and been ready for her Final Redemption. 

38:17 Thus says the Lord God: “Are you he of whom I have spoken in former days by My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for years in those days that I would bring you against them?

“And it will come to pass at the same time, 
when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” 
says the Lord God, 
“that My fury will show in My face. 

38:19 For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken:  Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.’  I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains,” says the Lord God. 

“Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 

And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. 

Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.” (Revelation 16:17-21)

“Every man’s sword will be against his brother. And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.” ’

39:1 “And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal; and I will turn you around and lead you on, bringing you up from the far north, and bring you against the mountains of Israel.

Then I will knock the bow out of your left hand, and cause the arrows to fall out of your right hand. You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. 

The invading armies self-destruct! No Jewish blood will have been shed, apparently.

You shall fall on the open field; for I have spoken,” says the Lord God. 

Chuck Missler suggests that the imagery here is of a limited, tactical nuclear war within the ranks of the invading armies. Chuck described radioactive dead bodies and "hot" equipment scattered on the Golan Heights, requiring trained remediation experts with all radioactive debris buried in a special fenced zone East of the Dead Sea. Missler noted that the Hebrew words for the search and burial crews suggest they are trained technicians with radiation detectors and wearing special protective suits.

But God raining fire down on the “coastlands” is more ominous. (36 times in the OT, "The coastlands אִy mare also the “isles.”a habitable spot as desirable; dry land, a coast, an island:—country, isle, island.)

Chuck Missler suggests a nuclear exchange between Russia and the United States is triggered -- taking out both superpowers -- according to the scenario of Mutually Assured Destruction. Supporting this idea is Chuck's observation that Russia does not seem to be a major player in the campaign of Armageddon seven years later.

Also, America is not mentioned in Bible prophecy, apparently! Great stockpiles of nuclear weapons exist in the world today, no longer controlled by the two superpowers."Stored up Wrath" is a Biblical term that may prove relevant in the end.

39:6 “And I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in security in the coastlands. Then they shall know that I am the Lord. 

The unfolding events in the Golan Heights obviously will be watched on satellite television by all of Israel as well as by the outside world. The Golan Heights are only a hundred miles or so North of Jerusalem. The invaders from the North will be brought to their knees by the self-disclosure of the God of Israel. And, Israel will be jolted with a wake-up call from the God of their Fathers.

The nations of the world will be forced to see there is but one true God and Israel has been chosen by this God to represent Him by their life-style and example.

39:7 So I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them profane My holy name anymore. 

Then the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. 

Surely it is coming, and it shall be done,” says the Lord God. “This is the day of which I have spoken.

“Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and bucklers, the bows and arrows, the javelins and spears; and they will make fires with them for seven years.  They will not take wood from the field nor cut down any from the forests, because they will make fires with the weapons; and they will plunder those who plundered them, and pillage those who pillaged them,” says the Lord God.

“It will come to pass in that day that I will give Gog a burial place there in Israel, the valley of those who pass by east of the sea; and it will obstruct travelers, because there they will bury Gog and all his multitude. 

Therefore they will call it the Valley of Hamon Gog. For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land. Indeed all the people of the land will be burying, and they will gain renown for it on the day that I am glorified,” says the Lord God. “They will set apart men regularly employed, with the help of a search party, to pass through the land and bury those bodies remaining on the ground, in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they will make a search. The search party will pass through the land; and when anyone sees a man’s bone, he shall set up a marker by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog. The name of the city will also be Hamonah. Thus they shall cleanse the land.” ’

39:17 “And as for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God, Speak to every sort of bird and to every beast of the field:

“Assemble yourselves and come;
Gather together from all sides to My sacrificial meal
Which I am sacrificing for you,
A great sacrificial meal on the mountains of Israel,
That you may eat flesh and drink blood.
You shall eat the flesh of the mighty,
Drink the blood of the princes of the earth,
Of rams and lambs,
Of goats and bulls,
All of them fatlings of Bashan.
You shall eat fat till you are full,
And drink blood till you are drunk,
At My sacrificial meal
Which I am sacrificing for you.
You shall be filled at My table
With horses and riders,
With mighty men
And with all the men of war,” says the Lord God.

Here we have described “the Great Supper of God” (not to be confused the “Marriage Supper of the Lamb”),  The invited guests here are vast flocks of vultures, crows, carrion feeders. The generous food supplied will be the dead bodies of the invading army.

39:21 “I will set My glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day forward. The Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid My face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them, and hidden My face from them.” ’

“Therefore thus says the Lord God: Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name— after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt safely in their own land and no one made them afraid.

Here is a prophecy about all the Jews worldwide being brought back by God "on the wings of eagles" immediately after the Northern armies self-destruct. The number of Jews in the world today is about 16 million. About 30% live in Israel and 50% live in the United States. Jews make up only 0.2% of the world population yet have had an enormous impact in every nation where they have lived in the Great Diaspora. The seventy percent of Jews today who live outside of the Land are apparently destined to make Aliyah (immigrate) to Israel according to Ezekiel.

The present world population is 8042 million persons and increasing. About 150,000 people die each day, 150 million babies are born. The net population growth per year is about 80 million. A great population decrease lies just ahead. Globalists suggest the optimum world population should be no more than 500 million, a fifteen-fold decrease. Since this can't be attained by voluntary efforts, one-world government will be necessary soon. After the Rapture of the true church, there will be a big population decrease because of the unloosed judgments of God described in the book of Revelation. This seven-year period will result in millions around the world coming into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ through the evangelist campaign of 144,000 Jewish evangelists --led by Jesus Himself. The majority of us ignore His detailed warnings and announced plans to recover and restore our plant and its inhabitants. God IS Love and He wishes no one to perish for any reasons. His program for the end of this age maximizes mercy. Many people today live in denial of the very existence of a Higher Power.

The grant given to Abraham is extensive. An outcome of the Gog/Magog war will probably mean a big increase in the borders of Israel with assimilation of non-Jewish “sojourners” living peacefully in the Land.

For two millennia God the Holy Spirit has been calling a people for Himself out of every nation. Before that great work began, God dealt with individuals or groups by means of covenants (conditional and unconditional). After Abraham, Elohim focused on an elect nation, Israel, and the Covenant with them given to Moses at Mt. Sinai. Everything God does is by covenants—even within the Three Persons of the Godhead.

Israel failed under the Old Covenant but Yeshua inaugurated the long-awaited New Covenant with his eleven disciples during His final Passover meal. The church and Israel each have current binding covenants with Yahweh but the United States and other gentle nations do not.

The Rapture of the Church must happen first. It will be a huge shock for the unprepared. Rapture Shock

Why the Rapture First

For two thousand years God has been calling out of every nation a Gentile Bride for His Son. When the last person in this group has been brought in, the departure of the church can occur. Then the spotlight will be turned again on Israel. The Jews were scattered abroad and denied the right to live in God's land leaving the Land empty and desolate until the last century.

The story of the regathering of people to the land (in a state of unbelief) is thrilling. But Israel achieved statehood in 1948 and has continued to flourish against all odds. The Gog/Magog War will result in yet another defeat for her enemies. Our covenant making God keeps all His promises.

“When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you,  and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.  Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly. But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire.

 “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.  The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

“Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face. Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them.' (Deuteronomy 7)

Times and Seasons

Dispensations are about periods of history during which God administrates the nations of the world differently. Ray Stedman notes: Though a dispensation has some relationship to time, time is not the essential element. I want to explain that in a few moments. I much prefer the use of the biblical terms age," and "times and seasons." These are biblical phrases which mark the way God works in the course of history. We have the "age of grace"---we are living in it today. Jesus, you remember, spoke of the "times and the seasons" to his disciples. He said they are in the Father's power---the Father administers these various times and seasons in human history.

But you can't study the Bible without realizing that undoubtedly there are time distinctions which must be recognized. God hasn't always done everything with man in the same way. There has been a progressive unfolding of truth across the course of history, and we must recognize the various steps God took in that process. All Bible students recognize this. Therefore, in some sense, all Bible students who take the Bible seriously are Dispensationalists. You are, for instance. You don't bring a goat or a sheep to church to offer as a sacrifice, which indicates that you are a Dispensationalist, because you understand that those requirements have now passed away and God isn't demanding this of men any longer. I doubt if you have a tree in your back yard which you feel forbidden to eat the fruit of. Yet Adam and Eve had such a tree. This marks a difference, a change of "dispensations" since that time. And we gather for church services on Sunday morning, instead of on Friday evening as the Old Testament saints did. This marks a recognition of God's differing dealings with men---a change of "dispensations".

This word, "dispensation," is a biblical word. It is found in the King James Version in several places. It comes from a Greek word, oikonomia, from which we get, in English; economy. In the Revised Standard Version it is usually translated "stewardship" or, in some places, "plan." It appears in Ephesians 1:10 where the apostle Paul speaks of "a plan for the fulness of time." In Ephesians 3 :9, Paul speaks of a "dispensation" or "stewardship" which was committed to him, which he calls, in the RSV, "the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things." This is the word we are dealing with. Literally, it really means "the law of the house"---oikos is house and nomus is law; so oikonomus is the law of the house. It has to do with order and regulation within a household. You have your house-law and I have mine. Mine is different from yours, I presume, and to that degree I live in a different dispensation in my house than you do in yours. 

Israel Will Be Restored

“On that day I will raise up The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, And repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, And rebuild it as in the days of old; That they may possess the remnant of Edom, And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,” Says the Lord who does this thing. “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, And all the hills shall flow with it. I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. I will plant them in their land, And no longer shall they be pulled up From the land I have given them,” Says the Lord your God. (Amos 9:11-15)

The Jerusalem Council c. AD 50

Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them:

“Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.”

Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles. And after they had become silent, James answered, saying,

“Men and brethren, listen to me: Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written: ‘After this I will return And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, And I will set it up; So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, Says the Lord who does all these things.’

“Known to God from eternity are all His works. Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood. For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.” The Jerusalem Decree Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas who was also named Barsabas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren.

They wrote this letter by them: The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings. Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, “You must be circumcised and keep the law”—to whom we gave no such commandment— it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth.

For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell. (Acts 15:6-29)

The Holy Spirit Will Be Poured Out

A great outpouring of the Spirit during the time of the end is predicted by the Prophet Joel. Usually this is associated with the last half of the week, or 3.5 years.

“And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;

Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.

And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. “

And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.

The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. (Joel 2:28-31)

The Campaign of Armageddon and the Second Advent Events are complex and merit a separate study

To anticipate: 

The burden of the word of the Lord against Israel. Thus says the Lord, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him: “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it. In that day,” says the Lord, “I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in the Lord of hosts, their God.’ In that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place—Jerusalem. “The Lord will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah. In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the Lord before them. It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. And the land shall mourn, every family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by itself, and their wives by themselves; all the families that remain, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves.

“In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness. “It shall be in that day,” says the Lord of hosts, “that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered. I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to depart from the land. It shall come to pass that if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who begot him will say to him, ‘You shall not live, because you have spoken lies in the name of the Lord.’ And his father and mother who begot him shall thrust him through when he prophesies. “And it shall be in that day that every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies; they will not wear a robe of coarse hair to deceive. But he will say, ‘I am no prophet, I am a farmer; for a man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.’ And one will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your arms?’ Then he will answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.’

The Shepherd Savior

“Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, Against the Man who is My Companion,” Says the Lord of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd, And the sheep will be scattered; Then I will turn My hand against the little ones. And it shall come to pass in all the land,” Says the Lord, “That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, But one-third shall be left in it: I will bring the one-third through the fire, Will refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people’; And each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ ”

The Day of the Lord

Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, And your spoil will be divided in your midst.

For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle.

And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south.

Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, For the mountain valley shall reach to Azal.

Yes, you shall flee As you fled from the earthquake In the days of Uzziah king of Judah.

Thus the Lord my God will come, And all the saints with You. It shall come to pass in th at day That there will be no light; The lights will diminish. It shall be one day Which is known to the Lord— Neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen That it will be light.

And in that day it shall be That living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, Half of them toward the eastern sea And half of them toward the western sea; In both summer and winter it shall occur. And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be— “The Lord is one,” And His name one. All the land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be raised up and inhabited in her place from Benjamin’s Gate to the place of the First Gate and the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses.

The people shall dwell in it; And no longer shall there be utter destruction, But Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, Their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, And their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths. It shall come to pass in that day That a great panic from the Lord will be among them. Everyone will seize the hand of his neighbor, And raise his hand against his neighbor’s hand; Judah also will fight at Jerusalem. And the wealth of all the surrounding nations Shall be gathered together: Gold, silver, and apparel in great abundance. Such also shall be the plague On the horse and the mule, On the camel and the donkey, And on all the cattle that will be in those camps. So shall this plague be. (Zechariah 12:1 - 14:15)

The Man of Sin Revealed || Behold the Messiah by Ray Stedman || And Then Comes the End by Ray Stedman  || The Royal Road to Wholeness
On Dispensations || Jewish Longings for a Temple || Chronology of the Times of the Gentiles  || The Seed Plot of the Bible || Babylon || The Antichrist
The Return of Jesus via Edom || The Return of Jesus: Edom to Jerusalem ||The Rescued Remnant at Bozrah || Jesus, The Shepherd King

Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy (2010)     

ʿOlam (עוֹלָם), a Hebrew word which means "world" or "eon", and which is used in the following Jewish phrases:

Adon Olam, meaning "Master of the World," one of the names of God in Judaism Tikkun olam (Hebrew: תִּיקוּן עוֹלָם), a Hebrew phrase that means, 'repairing,' 'healing,' or 'perfecting' 'the world.'

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