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?”
Matthew 24:3 NKJV
When
a believer understands that Jesus commanded us all to watch for the signs of
His return and they begin to apply themselves by studying what we are taught to
look for, most often the question of the possibility of knowing “when
will these things be” begins to appear in their hearts and minds. As Jesus’ disciples show us here, there is
nothing wrong with being curious about this and in fact, it is a natural
reaction to being told that there will be an end to all things. While I am convinced that the Bible does not
reveal exactly when the events we
have been discussing will occur, I believe strongly that there are clues we can
use that will help us construct a possible timeline which will help us to be on
the alert as Jesus commanded us to be.
I
want to state plainly that I am not a prophet, nor am I trying to reveal
anything other than what I and many others have learned from studying the
scripture. I am not setting any kind of
dates or making any predictions other than sharing with you what I personally
believe is a likely timeline for the unfolding of the events we have discussed
in the past few weeks. That said, in a
short review, my personal belief for the order of events the Bible reveals will
occur during the end times is this; the Rapture, the Destruction of Damascus
found in Isaiah 17, the Gog Magog conflict of Ezekiel 38-39, the beginning of
Daniel’s seventieth week, the Abomination of Desolation three and one half
years later, Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ another three and one
half years later, and finally the Millenial Reign of Christ to follow.
Once
I arrived at this conclusion, it was a natural step to examine the scriptures
to see if there were any clues as to when these events would occur. I was fascinated to discover that it is
entirely possible that each of them, in one way or another, are referred to in
light of what time or season of the year they might take place. While maybe not definitive, when you take all
of them together and lay them out in order, a timeline appears that is certainly
feasible in light of what is revealed in scripture. So here then is my conclusion as to not only
the order, but possible timeline for these things to be.
A
Summer Rapture
Woe is
me! For I am like those who gather
summer fruits, Like those who glean vintage grapes; There is no cluster to eat Of
the first-ripe fruit which my soul desires. The faithful man has perished from
the earth, And there is no one upright among men. They all lie in
wait for blood; Every man hunts his brother with a net. Micah 7:1-2
NKJV
I
should make it clear here that I am a firm believer in the doctrine of
immanency, and I believe the Bible makes
it clear that the rapture of the Church could happen at any time. That does not mean, however, that there might
not be a clue in the Word as to the season in which it might occur. We asked the question a few weeks ago about
just what this world would look like when the restrainer, the Holy Spirit, is
removed from the earth at the rapture. Most
of us are familiar with the observation of the philosopher Edmund Burke when he
said “all that is necessary for the
triumph of evil is that good men do nothing”. Well, what happens when, according to this
passage, there are no faithful men?
Every man is against his own brother, and evil is rampant on the earth. Talk about all that is necessary to create
the “perfect storm” of evil, God simply removes His Church along with the Holy
Spirit and there is nothing left to fight against Satan and his forces.
Since history has shown that Satan’s priority
is the destruction of Israel, what do you think he tries to do first? Does this passage from Micah refer to the
rapture of the Church? I think it
entirely possible considering the description it gives as to what the world
looks like with the absence of the faithful.
I also believe it is reasonable to consider a summer rapture when the
most likely day for an attack of this nature is on Israel’s national day of
mourning.
A
Day of Mourning; the Destruction of Damascus
“Say to
all the people of the land, and to the priests: ‘When you fasted and mourned in
the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really
fast for Me—for Me? Zechariah 7:5 NKJV
This
scripture refers to the fast of the fifth month, which is observed on the ninth
of Av on the Jewish calendar and it usually coincides with either late July or
August on our western calendar. Many believers are familiar with this day as
it is the one day in the year where so many tragedies have occurred to the
Jewish people throughout their history beginning with the report of the twelve
spies in the book of Numbers and many, many others continuing to this day. If you were to consider the question of when
the nation of Israel would come under attack by weapons of mass destruction, it
would be hard to ignore the possibility of something of that magnitude
occurring on the very day in Israel’s history when so many other national
tragedies have taken place. Isaiah 17
also makes it clear that although justified in their response, the rest of the
world takes a dim view of what Israel does.
This of course leads them to think about, and plan a response which many
if not most believe is the attempted invasion of Gog. I believe it only takes the relatively short time
of three to four months to come up with their “evil plan.”
A
Hannukah Gift; God Defeats Gog
‘Consider
now from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from
the day that the foundation of the LORD’s temple was
laid—consider it: Haggai 2:18 NKJV
And
again the word of the LORD came to Haggai on the
twenty-fourth day of the month, saying, “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of
Judah, saying: ‘I will shake heaven and earth. I will overthrow the throne of
kingdoms; I will destroy the strength of the Gentile kingdoms. I will overthrow
the chariots And those who ride in them; The horses and their riders shall come
down, Every one by the sword of his brother.
Haggai 2:20-22 NKJV
In
his book Armageddon, Appointment With
Destiny, author Grant Jeffrey does a masterful job of examining and
explaining all of the feasts and fasts of the nation of Israel. In his book he devotes an entire chapter
called “Russia’s Day of Destruction in
Israel” to the Gog Magog conflict where he not only answers virtually every
question someone might have about the identity of the invading force, he also
speculates as to the timing of the conflict.
By comparing the language describing what occurs, and especially God’s
response to the invading force, he comes to the conclusion that this passage
from the prophet Haggai most likely is referring to the Ezekiel 38,39
prophecy. It is also his conclusion that
by referring specifically to the twenty fourth day of the ninth month, God is
telling us exactly when these events will occur. This day, the twenty fourth of Chisleu on the
Jewish calendar, is the day before Hanukkah, which normally occurs in late
November or December on our calendar. I
think it is entirely possible that the space of time between the Ninth of Av
and the day before Hanukkah is more than sufficient for the planning and
assembling of the forces of Magog by Gog.
How special would this Hanukkah be for all of Israel to awaken to find
the entire invading force has been slain, not by their own might, but by the
power of God the Father?
Peace
on Rosh HaShanah?
Then he
shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; Daniel 9:27a
How
long has the world waited for peace between Israel and its enemies? At times many would believe that peace is an
impossibility given the lack of success in coming to any type of an
agreement. It is with this in mind that
it doesn’t bother me a bit to think that it takes nine months before the
antichrist confirms a covenant. I also
believe it is telling to notice the word God chooses to use in this
prophecy. The word translated confirm,
in the Hebrew is gabar; which means “to enforce or prevail”. Now I ask you; does that sound like a
mutually agreed peace? It would seem to
me that Israel’s enemies are somehow forced to abide by this agreement by the
antichrist without really wanting to. I
chose Rosh HaShanah as the day this peace begins for two reasons. The first reason is that many if not most
scholars believe the last three feasts of Israel in the fall are prophetic as
to the second coming of Christ. Since
the seventieth week of Daniel is exactly seven years in length, it logically
begins and ends about the same time. I
also am intrigued by the use of the trumpet on Rosh HaShanah. The last sounding of the trumpet on this
feast day is called the Tekia shofar.
Throughout Israel’s history, it has been described as a long blast signaling
victory or good news. What better news
would Israel want to celebrate than knowing peace with their enemies has
finally been accomplished?
Abomination
in the Spring?
But in
the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on
the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the
consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.” Daniel 9:2
Obviously
it follows that if we place the beginning of Daniel’s seventieth week in the fall,
the middle of the week which is three and one half years later will occur in
the spring. In fact, not only will it
occur in the spring, it will arrive during the spring feasts of Israel. If you recall, it was during this time that
Jesus entered Jerusalem and told the religious leaders of the day that He was
the Son of God. When it comes to
prophecy in the Bible, I make it a point to never believe in coincidence. It seems to make perfect sense that the
antichrist will choose the exact same time to stand in the temple and proclaim
himself to be God. History will repeat
itself as his claim will be rejected by many resulting in the antichrist
reacting in anger towards those who reject him. It is now that the final three
and one half years of Daniel’s seventieth week begin, and by declaring war on
the nation of Israel the antichrist plunges the world into the period of time
which Jesus called the Great Tribulation, and God called the Time of Jacob’s
Trouble. The antichrist’s attempt to
destroy the nation of Israel will only lead him to destruction, but in the
process involve the entire world in a war that is not only unwinnable, but leads
directly to where God has arranged the final outcome to occur.
Armageddon
and the Second Coming in the Fall?
Declare
in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: “Blow the trumpet in the land;
Cry, ‘Gather together,’ And say, ‘Assemble yourselves, And let us go into the
fortified cities.’ Set up the standard toward Zion. Take refuge! Do not delay! For
I will bring disaster from the north, And great destruction.” Jeremiah 4:5-6 NKJV
Here
we are, seven years after the covenant of peace between Israel and its enemies right
back where we started and notice again the reference to blowing a trumpet. Is Jeremiah telling us that Armageddon and
Jesus return to Jerusalem occurs on Rosh HaShanah? I believe that he is, but only time will tell
if this is the correct interpretation.
Yet considering the fact that God has told us specifically that the
seventieth week of Daniel would be two thousand five hundred and twenty days in
length, broken up into two halves with each being twelve hundred and sixty
days, and that there are just coincidently twelve hundred and sixty days
between Passover and Rosh HaShanah, I think it’s a safe assumption God wanted
us to know this was when these things would occur. Of course, as I said, I could be wrong, however we should also consider that there are two
more appointed feasts that closely follow during this month, and the prophetic
implications they provide give support to our conjectured timeline. Ten days after RoshHaShanah comes Yom Kippur,
the Day of Atonement. This day is
considered to be the holiest day on the Jewish calendar for it is on this day
that they were commanded to mourn for their sins. It was also on this day, the only day of the
year, when the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies to sprinkle the blood
of sacrifice before the Mercy Seat of God.
It certainly seems appropriate that now that the Great Tribulation is
over Israel will stand before their God and mourn for their sin.
Millenial
Reign Begins on Tabernacles
And the
LORD shall be King over all the earth. In that day it
shall be— “The LORD is one,” And His name
one. Zechariah 14:9 NKJV
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. Zechariah 14:16 NKJV
The
next, and last Feast day on the Jewish calendar arrives just five days later
when Israel celebrates the Feast of Tabernacles. This was the day in Israel’s history when
Solomon’s Temple was dedicated and the Ark of the Covenant finally had a
permanent resting place. Many also
believe that this day was in fact the day of Jesus’ birth, and there are
several good reasons to believe that.
One is that in the book of John we are told that “the Word became flesh and dwelt
among us”. Just coincidently,
the Greek word for “dwelt” is “tabernacle”.
It certainly seems fitting that Jesus assumes His throne in the New
Jerusalem on the same day He first arrived.
My
purpose in sharing all of these things with you is to hopefully stimulate you
to watch with the intensity I believe God wants from all of us when He
commanded us to watch for all of these things.
It has always troubled me that if you were to ask one hundred believers
if they felt it was important to follow all of God’s commandments one hundred
would say yes of course. Yet ask those
same one hundred if they are watching for Christ’s return and I suggest the
number who would reply yes would appall you.
As I said before, I am not trying to predict the future here, but all
that we have talked about in the past few weeks has already been told to us by
the Father through His prophets in His Holy Word. It is, and has always been, up to us to
diligently search the scriptures to “find out whether these things were so”.
If
you have never taken the step of asking Jesus to forgive you of your sins and
to come into your heart and save you from eternity without Him, I encourage you
to do that right now. Simply tell Him
you are sorry for your sin, ask Him to forgive you, and accept the sacrifice He
made to die for your sin, and He has promised not only to forgive you but to
make you one of His own and come into your life and provide all the help you
need to begin to live for Him. I am
convinced His return is much closer than we may think.
Keep
watching.
