As Ur Q. indicates a different "Frame of Reference" I am enclosing some "Background Data" to help U understand the A.! I know it's long. but U also have some incorrect ideas on the "Final Battle" that is the second Doctrine. Enjoy! John
THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD
A. There are three major characteristics of the attributes of God. The
attributes of God are eternal, functional, and directional. We can
illustrate these characteristics of the attributes of God using the
attribute of divine love.
1. The attributes of God are eternal.
a. There never was a time when each member of the Trinity did not
possess all of the divine attributes.
b. Divine love is one of the eternal attributes of God.
(1) Divine love is a part of divine integrity. Divine love
is one of three divine attributes found in the integrity of God.
(2) The love of God therefore must be compatible with the
absolute attributes of divine essence, and it is.
(3) Because God is absolute righteousness (perfect virtue
and integrity), His divine love is totally devoid of any sin, any human
good, altruism, or a source of any human reaction like bitterness, guilt,
fear, or other sins of emotion.
(4) Since God is perfect and eternal love, He does not fall
in love. Nor can God's love be patronized by human works or compromised by
any form of legalism or Christian activism.
(5) God's love cannot be complicated by ignorance or
absurdities, silliness or emotion. The spiritual life is thinking doctrine.
(6) Since divine love is a part of the integrity of God, it
functions in compatibility with divine righteousness and justice. Therefore
God's love is infinitely greater than we can imagine or think, because it is
based on God's righteousness and justice.
(7) No matter what happens to the believer in time from the
function of his self-determination, whether good or bad decisions, there is
no greater security than the personal love of God for each one of us. God's
love did the most for us in salvation. If God's love did the most for us in
salvation, it can now do only more than the most. Therefore, His love keeps
us forever.
2. The attributes of God are functional. The attributes of God
function in action. Function is the action of the divine attributes.
Functional means action or capacity for operation; the kind of action or
activity of the love of God. Capacity and capability of operation of the
love of God is what is meant by functional. The attributes of God are
functional under three subcategories.
a. The function of the love of God is personal toward each member
of the Godhead. The action of divine love functions in personal love toward
the other members of the Trinity. Personal love in God is His attitude
toward perfect righteousness in the other members of the Trinity and toward
every creature having the imputed righteousness of God.
b. The function of the love of God is also impersonal toward all
creatures without perfect righteousness. Jn 3:16, "For God loved the world
so much that He gave His uniquely-born Son, that anyone who believes in Him
shall never perish but have eternal life."
c. The function of the love of God is also personal toward
Himself in divine self-esteem. God loves His own righteousness and always
has. This is the basis for spiritual self-esteem in the unique spiritual
life of the Church Age. Divine self-esteem requires divine love as the
subject and divine righteousness as the object. As you grow in grace you
develop the only self-esteem which counts--the self-esteem based on humility
or spiritual self-esteem.
3. The attributes of God are directional. Direction is the object of
the divine attributes. The attributes of God must have a direction toward
which they function. Anything that functions should have a direction. When
the attributes of God function, they must do so in a direction. Direction
is the result of the function of God's attributes. Direction also has three
subcategories: the point of responsibility, the point of contact, and the
point of reference. The doctrine of divine impersonal love is part of the
functional category of the divine attribute and not part of the directional
category of divine attributes.
a. The point of responsibility in the attributes of God is the
righteousness of God directed toward all sins of the human race.
Responsibility denotes something within one's power to control. The
integrity of God has the eternal capacity expressed in the righteousness of
God in eternity past to know the knowable, including sin, and to program one
PROM chip in the computer of divine decrees with all human sins of both
cognizance and ignorance, along with the act of volition in every case that
produces the sin. God the Father had the responsibility of knowing all sins
of human history and programming them into the divine decrees and then
imputing them to Christ on the Cross. Jesus Christ took the responsibility
to do something about those sins. He made four decisions in eternity past:
unlimited substitutionary atonement (He had to become true humanity),
propitiation, reconciliation, and redemption.
b. The point of contact in the attributes of God is the justice
of God toward the unbeliever in salvation and toward the spiritual believer
in divine blessing and toward the carnal believer in divine discipline.
Contact with the unbeliever is our Lord's substitutionary atonement on the
Cross, by which spiritually dead mankind entered into association with God
through faith alone in Christ alone. The justice of God did something about
judging our sins on the Cross, so that the point of contact for the
unbeliever is faith alone in Christ alone. The filling of the Spirit is the
basic function of the spiritual life which follows salvation. The justice
of God administers to the carnal believer family punishment for grieving and
quenching the Holy Spirit. Heb 12:6, "Whom the Lord loves, He punishes, and
He skins alive with a whip every son whom He receives." Punishment comes
from the justice of God as our point of contact but the love of God is our
point of reference after rebound. You are being loved by God when you are
being punished by God.
c. The point of reference in the attributes of God for the unique
spiritual life of the Church Age is the love of God. Reference means to
direct attention to something important, something of personal interest.
Reference means recourse for the purpose of information. Reference means to
endorse a person or course of action. The point of reference from the love
of God directs attention to something important--the postsalvation spiritual
life of the Church Age believer. The point of reference from the love of
God provides something of personal interest--New Testament Bible doctrine.
Point of reference means recourse or access to the infallible word of God
from accurate Bible teaching for the purpose of information about the unique
spiritual life of the Church Age. The point of reference endorses a course
of action related to virtue-love and metabolization of Bible doctrine. The
point of reference is the love of God, the sponsorer of the greatest life
that ever existed. Since the love of God is the point of reference for the
postsalvation spiritual life, it is imperative that the love of God be
involved in our punishment when we are carnal. Whether we are carnal or
spiritual God's personal love for us does not change.
ABSOLUTE ATTRIBUTES: SPIRITUALITY, INFINITY, PERFECTION
A. Spirituality: God's Life and Personality.
1. The true theistic concept of the universe is that the universe is
composed of material and immaterial, having its source from God.
2. Matter is material, but God is immaterial, Jn 4:24, in contrast to
all living creatures who are both material and immaterial, 2 Cor 4:7, 16.
3. Spirituality implies life. God is life, Jer 10:10; 1 Thes 1:9.
God does not possess life as we do, but He is life, He lives. All life is
from Him, but not of Him (as pantheism claims). God's life is eternal life,
having no beginning and no end. God is eternal. Technically we have
everlasting life.
4. The eternal life of God is imparted through Jesus Christ to all who
believe in Him (Christ). Jn 3:36, 16, 5:24, 10:10, 14:6, 20:31; 1 Jn
5:11-12.
5. God is a person, Ex 3:14. personality connotes both self-
consciousness and self-determination (God has a plan).
6. God recognizes Himself to be a person and as such He always acts
rationally and logically.
7. Animals are conscious but not self-conscious. They have
determination, but not self-determination.
8. Man is a person possessing to a limited degree self-consciousness
and self-determination. But God is infinite personality with infinite
self-consciousness and self-determination.
9. His absolute will and perfection characterize His motivation,
design and execution of all that He does, Eph 1:9, 11.
10. God is to an absolute degree all that constitutes personality. He
is Himself. He knows Himself to be beyond comparison with any other being.
He has perfect, eternal personality.
B. Infinity: Self-existence, Immutability, Unity.
1. God invented space and time and exists outside of these. By
infinity is meant that God is without boundary or limitation. These, united
with His perfection, are part of His character.
2. God can't tempt, be tempted, or sin.
3. God cannot be complicated with ignorance, absurdities or fantasies.
God doesn't care for emotion.
4. Though God may be self-limited as in the case of the incarnate
Christ in the Hypostatic Union under kenosis, His infinity is intensive
rather than extensive. [God's personality is infinite and omnipresent but
not in everything (extensive), as says pantheism].
5. God has infinite energy and power, Ps 8:3.
6. Infinity characterizes all that God does: His integrity, love,
veracity.
7. The divine motive is for His own pleasure and glory, but not His
own self-praise. God recognizes His glory and claims it in the interest of
absolute truth. Creatures are designed for His glorification. God's glory
is the sum total of His attributes.
8. Because of this fact all things exist Ex 33:18; Ps 19:1; Isa 6:3;
Mt 6:13; Acts 7:2; Rom 1:23, 9:23; Heb 1:3; 1 Pet 4:14. God's glory was
before all creation, Jn 17:5.
9. Infinity involves three characteristics: self-existence,
immutability, and unity or consistency.
a. Self-existence. God exists eternally unsustained by Himself
or by any other source. God can't be better or worse because of His
character. JHWH means "self-existing One." God's existence is unalterable.
God is the cause of all existence outside of Himself but there is no cause
for Himself.
b. Immutability. God is unchanging. He cannot change, cannot be
better or worse than He is. The problem is that anthropomorphic
representations of God in the Bible are misunderstood. They really
represent the perfect attitude of God toward variations in man or history in
human language, so that man can understand God's policy. God doesn't hate,
get angry, change His mind, have hands or eyes. When man changes God seems
to change, but in reality God is remaining consistent with His own essence.
This can be illustrated by a weather vane, which changes direction depending
on the direction of the wind, yet it is still a weather vane. Immutability
is consistent with God's freedom and His ceaseless activity. God is free to
do anything according to His own essence. Therefore, salvation is not God's
second best, but a part of His eternal purpose.
c. Unity. This means that all of the attributes of God are
consistent with each other and there is never a compromise. When God
blesses us His unity is not destroyed. "JHWH our Elohim is one JHWH," Deut
6:4. There is one perfect, infinite absolute Spirit, says Isa 44:6; Jn
5:44, 17:3; 1 Cor 8:4; 1 Tim 1:17. Unity applies only to divine essence,
not to the persons of the Trinity. Your relationship with God is secure
because it is based on God's consistency.
C. Perfection: Truth, Love, Integrity. The intellect, character and
affections of God are perfect. Divine perfection involves His truth, love,
and integrity, which is perfect righteousness and justice.
1. Truth. This is not merely veracity toward other persons, but God
is true to Himself, His own essence, His character. Man says, "I speak the
truth," but God says, "I am the truth," Jn 14:6. God does not hold the
truth as being acquired. He is the truth from eternity past. In God every
truth in every form of knowledge dwells in absoluteness. This accounts for
the dogmatism of the Word of God. This attribute guarantees the genuineness
of divine revelation, Deut 32:4; 1 Jn 5:20; Jn 6:32, 15:1; Heb 8:2. Bible
doctrine, or truth, is the expression of His integrity. God's truth is
directed toward Himself and revealed to us. God is never unfaithful to
Himself.
2. Love. God is motivated by His love. Love is His problem solving
device. Like all of divine attributes, love belongs to God's being. God is
and always was love regardless of having an object to love. This is perfect
love whether there is an occasion to bestow it or not, 1 Jn 4:8.
Subjectively God loves His own integrity; objectively He loves the other
members of the Trinity. God can only love God or another being with perfect
righteousness.
3. Integrity. God is absolute integrity from all eternity past, Ex
15:11, 19:10-16; Isa 6:3. Man's relationship to God comes on the basis of
His justice. We must adjust to the justice of God. This integrity is
required of men, 2 Cor 7:1; 1 Thes 3:13, 4:7. God's integrity is maintained
by His will. It is part of His unchangeable self. It includes perfect
righteousness and justice, which is His perfection.
RELATIVE ATTRIBUTES
A. There are three categories of relative attributes:
1. Those related to time and space - eternity and immensity.
2. Those related to creation - omnipresence, omniscience, and
omnipotence.
3. Those related to moral beings - veracity and faithfulness, mercy
and goodness, and righteousness and justice.
B. Relative Attributes Related to Time and Space.
1. Eternity.
a. Eternity applied to God means He has always existed and always
will exist. He has always existed totally apart from time.
b. God is not subject to time, because He is the cause of time,
Deut 32:40; Ps 90:2, 102:27; 1 Cor 2:7; Eph 1:4; 1 Tim 1:17.
c. Both time and space, though without substance, are both
objects of His creation.
d. God is not in time but time is in God; He is the origin of
time.
e. God transcends all creation including time, therefore, has
always existed.
f. God is logical, therefore, He does not need to be
chronological as we do, Rom 4:17.
g. Time, which is finite, has both succession and duration.
h. Eternity, which is infinite, has duration only. Time is a
line of procedure, while eternity is a circle reaching into infinity.
2. Immensity.
a. God is not subject to space. Like time, God created,
invented, and caused space to exist. Rom 8:29.
b. God cannot be more or less than what He is.
c. In relation to space God is both imminent (in space) and
transcendent (outside of space).
d. Omnipresence is the term descriptive of space in relationship
to God. Immensity is the term descriptive of God's relationship to space.
e. Since God is the creator of space, if space were defined in
boundaries, God would exceed those boundaries to infinity.
C. Relative Attributes Related to Creation.
1. Omnipresence.
a. God is personally present everywhere. The whole of God is in
every place.
b. This is not pantheism, since it denies the person of God.
c. God, in the total of His essence, is without diffusion,
expansion, multiplication, or division, and penetrates and fills the
universe, Ps 139:7-8; Jer 23:23-24; Acts 17:27.
d. God is also free to be local, as in the mountain with Moses,
or in the Holy of Holies above the mercy seat. He is free to become flesh
and dwell among us, Jn 1:14.
2. Omniscience.
a. God is all wise. He knows perfectly and eternally all that is
knowable, whether actual or possible. Ps 33:13-15, 139:2, 147:4; Mt 6:8,
10:29-30; Heb 4:3; Acts 15:8; Mal 3:16; Isa 46:9-10, 44:28.
b. There are three factors of divine knowledge:
(1) It is eternal, Acts 15:18.
(2) It is incomprehensible, Rom 11:33.
(3) It is wise, Eph 3:10.
c. Every detail of creation and history is in God's mind at all
times.
d. Therefore the future is as perspicuous to God as the past.
e. God foreknows the future. Since events take place according
to His councils, He foreknows. But God's foreknowledge is not
predetermination! He knows but doesn't interfere with your volition.
f. God foreknows the functions of every free will. He foreknows
what will be the choice of other beings.
g. Likewise He may determine their choice by gracious influence
through Bible doctrine, but He doesn't coerce.
h. God's knowledge is not subject to development, reasoning,
regretting, foreboding, or depression.
3. Omnipotence.
a. God is all powerful, infinitely able to do all things which
are the objects of His power within the range of His holy character or
essence. However, He will not make right wrong, nor will He act foolishly,
Isa 44:24; 2 Cor 4:6; Eph 1:19-21, 3:20; Heb 1:3. He will not abuse His
power and compromise His justice.
b. If God is limited at any time it is because of a
self-limitation consistent with His own essence. God can do all He wills to
do, but He may not will to do all He can.
D. Relative Attributes Related to Moral Beings.
1. Veracity and Faithfulness.
a. God is infinite perfection in truth and faithfulness. God's
truth is expressed to us in Bible doctrine.
b. God honors doctrine in the soul of the believer with spiritual
growth and blessing.
c. God provides divine logistical support to the believer during
his life regardless of how good or bad he is.
2. Mercy and Goodness.
a. Mercy is grace in action. Mercy is infinite love in action
toward the objects of divine affection, the expression of divine personal
love toward the believer.
b. God's judgments are perfect, demanding perfect righteousness.
So God is not only absolute good in contrast to the policy of Satan which is
evil, but He is also justice and righteousness.
3. Justice and Righteousness.
a. This is infinite integrity acting toward others. God's
perfect righteousness is perfect, therefore demands perfect righteousness.
His judgments are perfect, therefore demanding perfection. Perfect
righteousness demands Bible doctrine in the soul to understand His essence.
b. Justice administers the penalty which righteousness demands.
c. In perfect righteousness the divine love for integrity is
revealed. In perfect righteousness divine love exists, but in justice
divine love is expressed.
d. In justice the divine hatred for sin is revealed. Justice
demands justice.
e. In the function of the essence of God divine perfect
righteousness and justice always precede divine love. God cannot love
personally that which is not perfect.
f. God is not arbitrary in any way. Integrity demands integrity.
perfect righteousness demands perfect righteousness. Justice demands
justice. God's nature cannot change, we must change. He must demand
integrity and punish both sin and evil as long as He is what He is.
g. His penalties are not vindictive, but vindicating to His
essence and person. With unchangeable sin and evil there is unchangeable
condemnation and judgment. But in grace God provided through salvation all
that He demands. And through Bible doctrine and the rebound technique, sin
is handled for the believer.
h. In relation to Himself, His personality and spirituality are
supreme. But in relation to man, His integrity is supreme.
E. Other Characteristics of God.
1. The freedom of God. God must be consistent with Himself. He
cannot compromise His essence. The incarnation was the only way the free
will of God could provide salvation for mankind.
2. The affection of God. These are anthropopathisms. God repents,
Gen 6:6; loves and hates, Rom 9:13; gets angry, Rom 1:18; has scorn, Ps 2:4;
has benevolence, Rom 8:32; has compassion, Lam 3:33. God is absolutely happy
in Himself with absolute freedom from fear, anxiety, regret, foreboding, or
annoyance.
3. The authority of God.
a. God's absolute authority is over possible things and actual
things.
b. Over possible things God is sovereign in that He leaves them
as only possible and not actual, or has destined them to be yet future.
c. In this realm He renders no account to others but acts in
conformity with His own perfect character. God isn't responsible to anyone.
d. In relation to existing things God is the final and absolute
authority, Ps 145:14; Mt 20:15; 1 Tim 6:15.
e. The authority of God over creatures rests upon three facts:
(1) Because God is the creator. This authority extends to
every creature and to all things. However, it is restricted by His own
perfection. The right to save or punish belongs to God, but He restricts it
by His own essence. The right to discipline or reward the believer belongs
to God but is restricted by His own essence. God is compelled to discipline
the reversionist under the influence of evil, just as He is compelled to
reward and bless the believer with maximum Bible doctrine in the soul. This
is consistent with His own essence and plan. The creator's absolute and
sovereign ownership of all things is contrasted with secondary rights which
men recognize within the sphere of their own relationship. That is, the
cattle, gold, silver all belong to God, Ps 50:10, even though men recognize
among themselves the private ownership of property. This authority of God
rests on His infinite perfection.
(2) Because of redemption. God has purchased us; we are
bought with a price.
(3) Because of Bible doctrine. The authority of God is
related to the amount of Bible doctrine in your soul. God's authority is
paramount with the mature believer. The more metabolized doctrine you
possess, the more authority God has over you.
F. God's Essence Box.
SOVEREIGNTY OMNISCIENCE
RIGHTEOUSNESS OMNIPRESENCE
JUSTICE OMNIPOTENCE
LOVE IMMUTABILITY
ETERNAL LIFE VERACITY.
G. Summary of Divine Justice.
1. God is fair; it is impossible for God to be unfair.
2. Justice administers the penalty which perfect righteousness
demands. Perfect righteousness and justice always go together, Deut 32:4; 2
Chr 19:7; Job 37:23; Ps 19:9, 50:6, 58:11, 89:14; Isa 45:21; Rom 3:26, 12:3;
Heb 10:30-31.
3. Divine justice is portrayed in salvation. And the issue in
salvation is divine justice accepted or rejected.
4. You get divine justice sooner or later. You get it sooner by
believing in Christ. You get it later by the lake of fire.
5. Sin is not the issue in salvation, justice is. Because of
propitiation, God is now free to pardon and justify sinful humanity who
appropriates the saving grace of God by faith in Christ. God is free to
save those who believe because of His justice.
6. The basis for the unbeliever's indictment at the Last Judgment is
evil and human good, not sin, Rev 20:12-15. Evil produces more good than
sin. Evil is Satan's policy. Justice prevailed at the cross and will again
prevail at the Last Judgment.
ARMAGEDDON
A. Introduction.
1. The time of the Tribulation. Mt 24:21-22, "For then
there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since
the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall be. Unless
these days had been cut short, no life would have been delivered;
but for the sake of the elect those days shall be cut short."
There will be no believers on the earth. The Church will have
already received their resurrection bodies. Nothing that happens
in the Church Age can compare to what will happen in the
Tribulation.
2. Part of the Abrahamic covenant says that no one who
attacks the Jew will ever get away with it. Anyone who attacks
the Jew will be punished severely.
3. Jesus Christ prophesied concerning the Tribulation in
the Olivet Discourse.
4. The Tribulation is also mentioned by Daniel in a
slightly different form.
5. Jer 30:4-7 speaks of the Tribulation as the time of
Jacob's trouble.
6. Rev 12:1-4 compares the Tribulation to birth pains of
the woman.
7. Ezek 20:34-38 refers to a time when Israel shall pass
under the rod. This will be the greatest misery Israel will ever
have.
8. The Tribulation is also represented as the melting pot,
where Israel will be refined as gold and the impurities of Israel
will be removed, Ezek 22:19-22; Zech 13:9; Mal 3:1-3.
9. The Tribulation is described as 'the indignation,' Isa
10:5, 13:5, 26:20; Dan 8:19.
10. It is called Daniel's seventieth week, Dan 9:20-27.
God told Daniel that the Jews would have seventy more weeks (each
day representing one year). Dan 9:24 says it will be a time for
making atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting
righteousness, and to anoint 'the Most Holy' the presentation of
Jesus Christ as the God of Israel. The seventieth week is the
seven year period of the Tribulation.
a. The total period of time is 490 years (70 weeks of
7 days each).
b. The decree of Artaxerxes (king of Persia) in 445 BC
to the Jews.
c. It was exactly 483 years (or sixty-nine weeks) from
the time that Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem and was hailed by
some as the promised Son of David, but was ridiculed by others,
which we call Palm Sunday.
d. The crucifixion of Christ was the beginning of the
interruption of the prophecy and left one week or seven years.
e. Therefore, the Church Age is intercalated between
the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks. During this time Israel is
set aside as a missionary agency.
f. Dan 9:26 demonstrates the silence of the Old
Testament prophets regarding the 'mystery age,' that is, the
Church Age, Eph 3:3. The age of the Church was always by-passed
by the Old Testament prophets. They knew nothing about the
Church Age.
11. The book of Revelation fills in the details of the
Tribulation that were not given to Daniel. Attempts to correlate
biblical passages with contemporary events always lead to
confusion when the dispensational aspect of God's plan is
ignored. The Tribulation cannot occur until the resurrection of
the Church occurs.
12. Armageddon is not just a series of battles or a
campaign, but a world war. A military campaign involves an
invasion into an unfriendly territory in order to locate the
enemy forces to annihilating, subjugating, or enslaving them. A
campaign is composed of a series of battles in a specific
geographical location, fought in chronological succession or
simultaneously. The location of where this battle is fought is
described in:
a. Jerusalem is the first area of this warfare. Zech
12:2-11, "On that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem,
like the mourning of Hadadrimmon (This refers to the death of
Josiah in a battle with Neco II of Egypt in 609 BC.) on the plain
of Megiddo (another name for Armageddon)." Isa 37:36; 2 Kg
19:35. Zech 14:2-3, "For I will assemble all nations against
Jerusalem for battle, and the city will be captured, the houses
plundered, the women raped, and half of the city will depart into
slavery, but a remnant of the people will not be cut off from the
city. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those
nations, as when He fights on a day of battle."
(1) Plunder, rape, violence, and enslavement is
the historical pattern for any nation defeated in war, especially
when the conquering nation is an evil nation. This is why the
laws of divine establishment mention the military as the guardian
of human freedom.
(2) Politicians cause wars; soldiers bring peace.
(3) Freedom means the sacredness of life and the
right of self-determination, but crime and slavery destroy that
right.
(4) God uses historical disaster to punish
believers with negative volition, in apostasy, reversionism, and
degeneracy. There is a total loss of freedom in Jerusalem
because of the Jewish unbelievers.
(5) The remnant are Jewish believers, who attain
spiritual maturity.
(6) Believers minus doctrine cannot survive
personal adversity.
(7) Believers minus doctrine cannot survive
historical disaster.
(8) Personal adversity and historical disaster is
used by the supreme court of heaven to discipline and punish
believers who have rejected doctrine.
(9) There is no substitute for metabolized
doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness. No one can
forced to do this; it requires positive volition.
(10) The alternative to perception and
application of doctrine is monstrous, disastrous, and
unthinkable.
(11) Woe to the believer who does not make Bible
doctrine number one priority in his life.
(12) God will permit Israel's enemies to gather
against them.
(13) As the armies sweep through Jerusalem, two-thirds of the city's population are going to capitulate, Zech
13:8.
(14) This group of people (who capitulate) will
be lulled into a false sense of security by treaties, by promises
couched in smooth words and religious phrases.
(15) People who are ignorant of the word of God
are easily led down the primrose path.
(16) Not only will the wealth of the people who
surrender be plundered, but they will become the victims of
violence of every kind: torture, rape, etc.
(17) It is better to die fighting for freedom
than to surrender to those who live by violence (terrorists).
(18) Never buy the concept, "It is better to be
Red than dead."
(19) The better alternative is to stay with
doctrine and God's grace, which delivers the believer who lives
by doctrine.
(20) Violence can only be stopped by greater
violence.
(21) It is respect for the laws of divine
establishment which preserves all those who function under them.
(22) The believers of the Tribulation are no
exception. A remnant of positive believers will be delivered
while all this is occurring.
(23) One-third of the believers are still
resisting, Zech 13:9. Why?
(24) After part of the city is raped and
plundered many of the civilian men are motivated to fight back.
They now understand the importance of freedom through military
victory. There are general officers, called ALUPH (which comes
from the word ELEPH, meaning "1000") in Zech 14:2, that begin to
train these men as a counterattack force. What is left of the
regular army will be used to hold back the enemy while these
civilians are trained as a counterattack force.
(a) Because of maximum metabolized doctrine
circulating in their stream of consciousness, these generals did
not surrender even though combat stress had reached a new peak.
(b) The faith-rest drill carries these
generals, who function in leadership under the doctrinal
rationales that they had to use to train a counterattack army in
a hurry. The Lord honored the motivation of these generals and
the men they trained and their use of the faith-rest drill.
(c) These generals will go down in history
as the greatest function of military leadership in warfare.
(25) Zech 12:5, "Then the generals of Judah will
begin to think in their hearts (stream of consciousness), 'My
strength is in the inhabitants of Jerusalem through the Lord of
the Armies, their God.'"
(a) These generals lift up the shield of
faith in time of battlefield stress. The generals began to
recognize that these civilians had come to them for training to
fight against the greatest professional army of the king of the
North.
(b) These generals had spiritual leadership
that overflowed to the troops.
(c) The maximum application of doctrine
resulted in the victory of counterattack warfare, which follows.
(d) These generals function under doctrinal
rationales, which the Lord honors with their success.
(26) The success of these generals is described
prophetically under leadership motivation in Zech 12:6, "In that
day I will make the generals of Judah like a pan of fire among
the sticks (the troops) and like a flaming torch among the
sheaves (the army staff), therefore they will cut to pieces on
the right hand and on the left all the surrounding enemy troops.
Therefore the inhabitants of Jerusalem will again live in their
own homes in Jerusalem."
(a) The leaders were not only believers but
had also become acquainted with the unique spiritual life. Their
motivation was the best. They were motivated to continue the
fight in spite of the political leaders. They never gave up.
(b) Good leadership always motivates troops
and staff. Even one leader under the ministry of God the Holy
Spirit can be used to turn disaster into something of great
blessing, so that the disaster becomes a source of great
blessing. He can serve the Lord with a superabundance of
happiness, Ps 100:2.
(c) There are two analogies in this verse as
to how military leadership motivates and inspires troops and
staff to continue fighting against hopeless situations and
overwhelming odds. The pan of fire is leadership in combat arms.
The flaming torch is leadership of the staff. No leadership can
do without a good staff in a crisis situation. The soldiers
caught fire from the generals and so did the general staff.
(d) The Jewish army deliberately allowed
themselves to be surrounded, so they could more effectively kill
the enemy in all directions. The enemy army would be mostly
slaughtered before they realized what happened to them.
(27) The results of the leadership motivation.
(a) The troops were motivated by the
greatest leadership in all of Jewish history.
(b) Their success is obvious, for motivation
was passed down from the general to the staff to the line troops.
(c) Under the grace of the God and the
courageous stand they made, all the terrible things that
happened, when the enemy army raped and plundered Jerusalem, were
changed into a defeated and destroyed army.
(d) In the millennial Jerusalem those heroes
will be recognized for what they did under the grace of God for
the thousand years of the reign of Christ.
(28) The deliverance of Jerusalem is emphasized
prophetically in Zech 12:7, "The Lord also will deliver the tents
of Judah first, in order that the glory of the house of David and
the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not be magnified
above Judah."
(a) There are two categories of believer-heroes in Israel during the Tribulation. The Jews who were saved
in the first half of the Tribulation. The Jews who were saved in
the second half of the Tribulation. Both categories were
delivered because of their great spiritual strength to respond to
the generals who commanded them, and the grace of God recognizing
the response to the mechanics of the faith-rest drill.
(b) They claimed the promises of God through
faith, which stabilized their minds and steadied them in
performing an unusual tactic. They used reverse concentration in
applying doctrinal rationales, such as the essence of God
rationale, the plan of God rationale, the logistical grace
rationale, and the a fortiori rationale.
(c) These great generals do not surrender to
fear, even though caught in a trap and surrounded. You have to
remain calm in a hopeless situation. Leadership does not
surrender to fear, for if it does it will perpetuate that fear
among the troops and lose the battle every time.
(d) Since they do not perpetuate fear, these
generals do not have capacity for fear. Generals do not have
time for fear. They have time only for thinking.
(e) Since the troops do not have capacity
for fear, fear has no power in their lives.
(f) Since fear has no power in the lives of
these troops, the generals do no live by fear.
(g) Since these generals do not live by fear,
they are not intimidated by life, death, or terrorism.
(29) Conclusion.
(a) By the time the war was over and Israel
was fully delivered, the generals, the staff, and the line troops
won many decorations given by God.
(b) They were the first great heroes of the
millennium, highly decorated, and with a great testimony.
(c) This anticipates one of the greatest
functions of leadership in all of human history.
(d) Because this is presented in the word of
God under the doctrine of eschatology, it is obvious that even
before it happens these heroes and what they accomplished in the
siege of Jerusalem is to be used as an encouragement under the
principle that we learn from the past, we learn from the present,
and we learn from the future.
(e) God in His grace provided deliverance of
Jerusalem and Israel, but He also gave every man who participated
in that military a stabilized blessing of the highest form: self-discipline in the soul, freedom from fear, a relaxed mental
attitude under pressure, and control over their sin nature.
(f) It is the leadership in the pulpit
toward believers that makes a difference in a hopeless situation,
so that there will be a dynamic rise in the fundamental doctrine
that we will always have the word of God and the accurate
teaching of that doctrine by those with the spiritual gift.
(g) Leadership is pertinent in three areas:
the husband's leadership over the family, military leadership for
freedom through military victory, and leadership in the
congregation when doctrine is metabolized and applied, so that
the course of metabolization and application of doctrine results
in great blessing to the nation and deliverance in time of
disaster.
(h) God can bless a nation of believers who
are responding to the teaching of doctrine. This blessing is to
have the necessary impact throughout the world, which provides
the freedom to response to the gospel and to execute His unique
plan.
(i) God has provided marvelous things for us
and these things will come to our attention in the accurate
teaching of the word of God.
(j) The battle of advancing to the high
ground of spiritual maturity and glorifying God is the greatest
battle of all. Terrorism will be wiped off the face of the earth
and blessing will come from the grace of God and His magnificent
plan at the second Advent.
(k) No matter how hopeless a situation may
be God always has a solution, but it requires understanding His
word and following the colors to the high ground of spiritual
maturity.
b. The second location of battle is the valley of
Megiddo or Armageddon, Rev 19:17; Rev 16:16, "And they gathered
them together in the place which in Hebrew is called Armageddon."
Armageddon is a great valley north of Jerusalem. It is twenty-five miles long and fourteen miles wide. Four great armies are
gathered together for battle against Israel: the kings of the
East, the king of the North, the king of the South (the Arabs),
and the king of the West (the Revived Roman Empire). These four
power groups despise Israel and will make every attempt to
destroy Israel. These four powers are jealous of the prosperity
in Israel and clash in their attempt to control the area.
c. The third location of battle is the valley of
Jehoshaphat ("Yahweh judges"), which is east of Jerusalem between
Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, Ezek 39:11; Joel 3:2, 12.
d. The fourth location of battle is Edom, Isa 34:1-6,
63:1-6.
13. Armageddon is not a part of the dispensation of the
Church. The king of the north, the king of the west, the king of
the south, and the kings of the east will all converge upon the
area between Jerusalem and the valley of Megiddo. It appears
that Israel will be wiped out, but Jesus Christ delivers the Jews
with His second Advent. The Jews will not be regathered until
after the second Advent of Christ. Although the Jews today are
conscious of their national home in Israel, they are generally
entering the Land as unbelievers. Therefore, modern Israel does
not constitute the prophesied nation of Israel under God.
14. The Character of the Tribulation.
a. Gen 3:15 not only promises a personal Redeemer, who
would overcome Satan, but also implies a perpetual warfare
between the kingdom of God and kingdom of Satan. Underlying this
conflict is Satan's constant attempt to impugn the character of
God.
b. Since God has given four unconditional covenants to
Israel and guaranteed their fulfillment, Satan has sponsored
antagonism toward the Jew throughout human history. That
antagonism will reach its peak in the Tribulation.
c. The first half of the Tribulation is characterized
by power politics such as has never been seen before on earth and
four spheres of influence, which will struggle for dominance of
the world under the leadership of Satan.
d. Lawlessness and anti-Semitism will dramatically
increase and at the end of the Tribulation will culminate in a
satanic attempt to annihilate all Jews on earth. Satan will
gather the armies of the world for that purpose.
e. So intense is the severity of the second half of
the Tribulation (called the Great Tribulation) that it is a time
of the most horrible things happening on earth.
15. Three important factors to remember:
a. Israel will always exist.
b. Israel has a future.
c. Jesus Christ will always be the God of Israel.
16. During the Tribulation God will unleash upon the world
a series of judgments unequaled in all of human history, Rev 16.
God always knows what He is doing. Church Age believers will not
and cannot be in the Tribulation.
17. As the Tribulation begins a treaty will be made between
two dictators: the dictator of the Revived Roman Empire and the
False Prophet of Israel. Three and one half years later the
Roman dictator will violate this treaty, betray Israel, and turn
against Israel with implacable fury and hatred.
18. The dispensation of the Tribulation will close with a
series of battles called the Armageddon war. God will
demonstrate before angels, demons, and men that the Lord Jesus
Christ can single-handedly overcome the combined forces of
Satan's entire kingdom of darkness and sin. Jesus Christ will
need the help of no man, Isa 63:1-3. His victory over the power
of evil will be unquestionably decisive.
19. The Principle of Grace Before Judgment.
a. Before every divine judgment throughout human
history, God has given to mankind a period of grace in which to
be saved.
b. There never has been a time in history when anyone
could not have the opportunity to believe in Christ. There is no
such thing as a person with the excuse of not hearing the gospel.
They simply did not have positive volition at God consciousness.
c. Prior to the Flood, God granted the human race one
hundred and twenty years warning, Gen 6:3.
d. Throughout the Tribulation the gospel will be
proclaimed as never before in human history as a warning to
things that will come in the last half of the Tribulation, Mt
24:14, "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole
inhabited earth for a witness to all nations, and then the end
will come." Therefore, the unbeliever will be without excuse.
Geographical isolation is no issue. Anyone can become aware of
the existence of God and want to know Him. God is obligated to
provide the gospel to those who want to know Him and always does.
Rom 1:18-20, "For the anger of God is being revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress
the truth by means of unrighteousness, because that which is
known about God is revealed to them, because God revealed Himself
to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible
attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been
clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so
that they are without excuse."
e. The world will be evangelized in four ways.
(1) By the 144,000 Jewish evangelists, who are
saved because of the Rapture of the Church. When the
resurrection of the Church occurs, they immediately recognize
what has happened and believe in Christ. They will proclaim the
gospel of Jesus Christ.
(2) The testimony of the Tribulation saints.
There will be tremendous response to the gospel in the
Tribulation because it is the only hope man has. Many will look
to God for help and find it and will believer in Christ. Rev
14:12-13, "Here is the steadfastness of the saints who keep the
commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice
from heaven, saying, 'Write, "Blessed are the dead who die in the
Lord from now on!"' 'Yes,' says the Spirit, "so that they may
rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.'"
(3) The testimony of the two witnesses, Moses and
Elijah. Rev 11:3, "And I will grant authority to my two
witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty
days, clothed in sackcloth."
(4) The angelic herald, who proclaims the gospel
at noon each day, Rev 14:6-7, "And I saw another angel flying in
midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who sit on
the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people;
and he said with a loud voice, 'Fear God, and give Him glory,
because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made
the heavens and the earth and sea and springs of waters.'"
20. The Judgment of the Seven Goblets or Vials, Rev 16.
Each of these cataclysmic pressure is a great evangelistic thrust
before all the terrible things happen on the earth. God freely
offers a grace salvation and never coerces human volition.
a. This chapter demonstrates that those who are
blinded by religion will not change their attitude toward Christ
under the most unusual circumstances in all of human history. So
God gets their attention with seven bowl or vial judgments.
b. The first bowl is the loss of health among
thousands, Rev 16:2.
c. The second bowl and third bowl is the loss of food
and water, Rev 16:3-7.
d. The forth bowl is a terrible heat wave, Rev 16:8-9.
e. The fifth bowl is an epidemic, Rev 16:10-11.
f. The sixth bowl is the greatest military disaster in
all of history with world wide effects the Armageddon war, Rev
16:12-16.
g. The seventh bowl is a disaster related to nature
(earthquakes, hail, tidal waves), Rev 16:17-21.
h. All of these disasters are not designed to
annihilate the population, but only to bring people to a saving
knowledge of Jesus Christ prior to the baptism of fire, Mt 3:11.
No matter how dark the situation, Jesus Christ is on His throne
and controls history. The Holy Spirit is there to comfort us and
strengthen us and to direct the affairs of men, working in the
right way to glorify God. All hell cannot remove believers from
the earth as long as Jesus Christ wants them here. God's word
gives strength in the face of hopeless disaster and catastrophe,
and He can deliver a believer through or from any difficult
situation regardless of the dispensation in which that person
lives.
21. Principles of Warfare Involved in the Prophecy of
Armageddon.
a. Divine integrity always judges violence with
violence.
b. You cannot stop crime or warfare by compromise or
disarmament.
c. Therefore, to downsize the army of a client nation
to God simply invites disaster to the client nation.
d. Jesus said there would be hot and cold wars until
He returns, Mt 24:6; Mk 13:7; Lk 21:9. "See to it that you are
not terrified; for those things must take place, but that is not
yet the end."
e. Never get between the Lord and His punishment of a
nation. Never take your own revenge.
(1) Rom 12:19, "Never take your own revenge,
beloved, but give place to the wrath of God; for it is written,
'Punishment is Mine; I will repay,' says the Lord."
(2) Heb 10:30, "For we know Him who said,
'Punishment is Mine, I will repay,' and again, 'The Lord will
judge His people.'"
(3) Isa 63:4, "For the day of punishment was in
My heart (the thinking of God), and My year of redemption (of
Israel) has come." The word "day" is used to describe a plan of
God.
(a) Not only does Jesus Christ control
history, but at the second Advent, the day of operation
footstool, He rectifies the evils and injustices of history
resulting from Satan's rulership of the world since the fall of
Adam.
(b) One of those injustices is the Arab
antagonism toward Israel, which springs from bitterness and
jealousy of Ishmael the half-brother of Isaac and the bitterness
and hatred of Esau for his twin brother Jacob.
(c) No races are closer in their origin than
the Jew and the Arab, and no races are farther apart in their sin
nature than the bitter antagonism, jealousy, and hatred that have
flared up over the centuries. In spite of their mutual origin,
bitterness and hatred persist to the present with satanic anti-Semitism.
(d) The love of God did not reject the
Arabs; the Arabs rejected the love of God. In their rejection of
the gospel, Arab hatred for the Jew was intensified, which is
expressed in violence.
f. The Armageddon war will be the end of war on earth
for the remainder of human history, Micah 4:3, "And He will judge
between many peoples and render judicial decisions for mighty,
distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into
plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation will not
lift up sword against nation, and never again will they train for
war." Until then there will always be wars.
22. The resurrection of the Church results in the greatest
positive volition to the gospel in the history of Israel, so that
there is great evangelism by Israel. The nation of Israel will
recover their client nation status to God because of this
positive volition and world-wide evangelization of others.
Israel must recover as a client nation, in order to produce this
evangelism of others. Therefore, anti-Semitism will spread
throughout the earth. The worst situation in history will
produce the greatest evangelization and response to the gospel.
As a client nation Israel will be blessed by God during the first
half of the Tribulation and become very prosperous. The rest of
the world will be very jealous of this prosperity.
23. At the rise of the four great spheres of power there is
no indication that the United States is involved in the
Armageddon war. The United States is not mentioned in prophecy.
It is very possible that the United States is not involved in the
Tribulation because most of the population went up in the
resurrection of the Church.
24. Tribulational believers will be protected until they
are joined with Jesus Christ at His second Advent. It will be
the happiest moment in human history.
a. The grace of God has made every provision for every
category of believer during the greatest world war in human
history. Believers saved before the war starts go up in the
resurrection. Believers saved after the resurrection of the
Church will be protected and dramatically delivered by the second
Advent of Christ.
b. Ps 46:9, "He makes wars to cease to the end of the
earth; He breaks the bow; He cuts the spears in two; He burns the
chariot with fire."
c. Isa 2:4, "He will judge between the nations; He
will rebuke many people; they will hammer their swords into
plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not
lift up sword against nation, and never again will they train for
war."
25. We must have a past, present, and future understanding
of the history of Israel.
a. The unique spiritual life of the Church Age causes
us to learn about the past, present, and future.
b. Understanding the future is more important than
understanding the present or the past. Past and present failure
is not the issue. The issue is the future. We are constantly
distracted by the things of the future and the things of the
past.
c. We have failed to learn from the past and the
present, but we can still learn from the future.
B. The Arab Armageddon.
1. The Arab Armageddon is the attack of the Arabs.
2. The Arabs attack Jerusalem from the south of Jerusalem,
from Edom (south of the Dead Sea).
3. It is described in Isa 63:1-3, "Who is this who comes
from Edom, with garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, this One
who is majestic in His apparel, marching in the greatness of His
strength? 'It is I who speak in righteousness, I am the One
powerful to cause deliverance.' Why is Your clothing red, and
Your royal garments as one who treads in the wine press? 'I have
trodden the wine press alone. Consequently from the peoples (the
royal family of God who returns with Christ at the second Advent)
there is no one (doing the fighting) with Me. I also trod them
in My anger and trampled them in My wrath, so that their
lifeblood has been splashed on My cloths, and I stained all My
royal raiment."
4. Just as Jesus Christ slaughtered 185,000 Assyrian
soldiers in the days of king Hezekiah (Isa 37:36; 2 Kg 19:35-36),
so He will destroy these Arabs.
5. You do not stop war by compromise with evil.
6. Isa 63:4, "For the day of punishment was in My heart (the
thinking of God), and My year of redemption (of Israel) has
come."
a. History must run its course under cosmos diabolicus
while the Church is being formed.
b. Two great nations will be evangelized in the
Tribulation: Israel and the Arabs.
C. The King of the North.
1. Just as in the past, God uses invading armies to punish
disobedience of Israel and other countries in the world. So God
uses the king of the North during the Tribulation to do this to
the unbelieving Jews in Israel. The King of the North is the
power of the area of Russia, which becomes greater than they have
ever been in the past.
2. The King of the North invades by a great navy from the
Black Sea through the Aegean Sea into the Mediterranean Sea and
engage in one of the greatest naval battles in history with the
King of the West, who defeats him. He will also invade overland
through eastern Turkey and Syria.
3. The King of the North gets into a war with the other
three power groups (south, east, and west).
4. The King of the North is used by God to punish the
negative volition in Israel. He will ravage the Land and destroy
the people.
5. Dan 11:40-45.
a. Dan 11:40, "At the time of the end there shall come
the king of the South and he will attack him [the unbeliever
dictator of Israel], and the king of the North will storm against
him [the false prophet/dictator of Israel] with chariots [armored
forces], with horsemen [mechanized forces] and with many ships;
and he [the king of the North] will enter into the countries and
shall overflow them and pass through." The king of the North
does not take time to consolidate his position but moves as fast
as possible like the German Army blitzkrieg of World War II.
They leave behind only security forces to keep open his supply
and communication lines. His objective is the wealth of Africa.
He had the greatest land army in the history of the world.
b. Dan 11:41, "He [the king of the North] will also
invade the Glorious Land [Israel], and the many [Jewish
unbelievers] shall be overthrown; but these [Jewish believers]
will escape out of the hand of the enemy; even Edom and Moab, and
the chief of the children of Ammon." The regenerate Jews hiding
in the mountains of Edom, Moab, and Ammon continue to survive in
their caves will this blitzkrieg warfare goes past them. The
king of the North does not attempt to conquer the land of Israel,
but simply pass through it. In Mt 24:16, the Lord warned the
Jewish believers to flee to the mountains.
c. Dan 11:42, "Then he [the king of the North] will
stretch forth his hand against other countries [North Africa],
and the land of Egypt will not escape." Once he invades Egypt,
he is joined by his navy. He plans to move south toward Ethiopia
and west along the north African coastline.
d. Dan 11:43, "For he will have the power over the
treasures of gold and silver and over all the precious things of
Egypt; and the Libyans and Ethiopians shall be in his steps."
(1) As the king of the North is about to launch
the attack in north Africa his navy is defeated in the
Mediterranean and an event takes place, which is described in Rev
16:12, "The sixth angel poured out his vial on the great river,
the Euphrates; and its water was dried up, so that the way would
be prepared for the kings from the east." This is an invasion of
the kings of the East with the oriental armies.
(2) The kings of the East have excellent
intelligence and understanding what is going on in history.
(3) The kings of the East have not shown any
interest in history since the days of Ghangus Khan.
(4) The king of the North knows that he cannot
succeed against the king of the south until he takes care of the
kings of the East. The kings of the East know they cannot get to
Israel unless he defeats the king of the West.
(5) God counters Satan's move and the situation
intensifies for the Jews. Old enemies meet again.
e. Dan 11:44, "But rumors [intelligence reports] from
the East and from the North will trouble him, and he will go
forth with great fury to destroy and annihilate the many [the
Jews]."
(1) The king of the West had made a deal with
Israel to protect Israel, but now wants all the wealth in Israel.
So he breaks his treaty and attacks Israel, but runs into the
fleet of the king of the North. There is a big battle in the
Mediterranean and the navy of the king of the North is destroyed.
At about the same time the kings of the East cut his supply
lines.
(2) So the king of the North turns back from his
invasion of Africa and goes back to Israel to destroy the king of
the West. As a part of this he wants to take revenge against the
Jews.
f. Dan 11:45, "He will pitch the tents of his royal
pavilion [the headquarters of the king of the North] between the
seas [the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean] and the beautiful Holy
Mountain [the western side of Mt Zion]; yet he will come to his
end, and no one will help him."
6. The attack of the army of the king of the North in
Jerusalem is described in Joel 2:2-9, "A day of darkness and
gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness. As the morning dawns
and spreads upon the mountains, so there is a great and mighty
people; there has never been anything like it, nor will there be
again after it to the years of many generations." (The morning
sunlight illuminates where all these Jews are hiding.) "A fire
consumes before them and behind them a flame burns (they scorch
the earth as they pass through). The land is like the garden of
Eden before them but a desolate wilderness behind them, and
nothing at all escapes them. Their appearance is like the
appearance of horses; and like war horses, so they run. Like the
noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains shall they leap,
like the noise of the flame of fire that consumes the stubble,
like a mighty people arranged for battle." (They destroy
everything in their path as the king of the North leaves Egypt.)
"Before them the people [unbelievers] are in anguish; all faces
have become flushed. (This is a description of what happens when
the king of the North begins his conquest in the Middle East.
Unbelieving Jews will suffer anguish and fear.) They (the armies
of the king of the North) run like mighty men, they climb the
wall like men of war; and they shall march every one of them in
the ways of battle approach, and they shall break in their ranks.
They do not crowd each other (there is no confusion in the
ranks), they march everyone in his own path; when they burst
through the defenses, they do not break ranks. They shall run to
and fro in the city, they shall run upon the wall; they shall
climb upon the houses, they will enter through the windows like a
thief."
D. The Abomination of Desolation.
1. Early in the Tribulation, the dictator and religious
leader of Israel will be a false prophet.
2. He is a Jew, who rules Jews, but does not like Jews. He
cannot defend his little country against these four great powers.
3. In order to survive he makes a deal with the dictator of
the Revived Roman Empire, the King of the West. In return for
protection, the Roman dictator will demand a share of the wealth
of Israel, Dan 11:36ff. This gives Israel a false sense of
security. In the middle of the Tribulation, when the King of the
West has too many problems dealing with the other spheres of
power, he breaks his treaty with the ruler of Israel and
eliminates the Jewish sacrifices in the Temple and demands that
he be worshiped as 'God' instead.
4. At this point a statue of the King of the West, called
the Abomination of Desolation, is set up in the Temple in
Jerusalem. All who fail to worship this statue will be put to
death, Rev 13:13.
5. The establishment of this statue in the Temple is a
signal for all believers to get out of Israel. They will flee to
the mountains in Edom and stay in the caves there, and they will
survive as long as they stay there. Both believers and
unbelievers will flee to the mountains.
6. Mt 24:15-21, "Therefore when you see the abomination of
desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet,
standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then
those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Whoever is on
the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in
his house. Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his
cloak. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are
nursing babies in those days! But pray that your flight will not
be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. For then there will be a
great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning
of the world until now, nor ever will."
7. 2 Thes 2:3-4, "Let no one in any way deceive you, for it
will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of sin
[the dictator of the Revived Roman Empire] is revealed, the son
of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every
so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in
the temple of God, displaying himself as being God."
8. Rev 12:14, "But the two wings of the great eagle
[angelic protection for these believers] were given to the woman
[Israel], so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place
[the caves of Edom], where she was nourished for a time [one
year] and times [two years] and half a time [half a year], from
the presence of the serpent [Satan's antagonism]."
9. There will be many attempts to lure these Jews from
their mountain hideouts at the end and kill them. False
propaganda will be disseminated to give them the impression that
Christ has already returned, Mt 24:23-26. Those who believe the
word of God survive.
10. When this propaganda fails, Satan will promote signs,
signals, and lying wonders, 2 Thes 2:9. Those who put their
trust in miracles will die. The only issue they face is: will
they believe the word of God or the word of man.
E. The Meaning of Prophecy.
1. Prophecy is a time machine that God has given to us to
take us into the future, so that we might understand and
appreciate how extensive is God's plan for our lives.
2. History is the time machine that takes us into the past.
Whether we go into the past or into the future we know that God
has a plan for our lives, even under great adversity.
3. Whether we go back to the past (the Cross) or forward to
the future (where Jesus Christ controls history and delivers the
Jew in the Tribulation) we see the faithfulness of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the wisdom of God the Father, and the power of God the
Holy Spirit.
4. Only negative volition at God consciousness or gospel
hearing can keep us out of God's plan.
5. As a result of the resurrection of the Church that will
be a great conversion of Jews, who initiate tremendous evangelism
on the earth during the Tribulation.
6. While the Tribulation is a time of great suffering on
the earth, it is also a time of great prosperity, which the kings
of the north, south, west, and east will fight over.