Armageddon For Beginners - Dave Mckay (10 best books of all time .TXT) 📗

of our God in their foreheads." And I heard the number of them which were sealed. There were sealed a hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

Revelation 7:9. After this I beheld and, lo, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues, stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes and with palms in their hands.

Revelation 7:14. He said to me, "These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Revelation 8:1. When he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

(Back to Table of Contents)

 

13. The Middle of the 'Week'

Recall how the Seventy Week prophecy finished. It said Messiah would be cut off after 69 weeks (i.e. in 30 A.D.), but then "he will confirm the covenant with many for one week. In the middle of the week, he will cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. And for the overspreading of abominations, he will make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined, shall be poured on the desolate." (Daniel 9:27)

There are some strange (but important) words in this prophecy (e.g. covenant, abomination, desolate). It is worth the effort to try to understand them.

We have said that there are two "he's" here. One is the Lamb of God, confirming the new covenant with those who have chosen to follow him; the other is the Antichrist confirming a covenant which enables Jews to resume sacrificing animals in their Temple in Jerusalem. Both of these things happen at the same time and are supposed to cover a period of seven years.

However, the counterfeit "prince" reneges on his agreement in the middle of the week. This is where we get the period of three and a half years that is repeatedly mentioned in The Revelation. For the first three and a half years everything goes along nicely. The Temple is built; sacrifices begin; religious tolerance abounds. But then the sacrifices suddenly cease. We know in advance that the "prince" who made the agreement will be behind the change. He causes the sacrifices to cease.

Daniel says, "For the overspreading of abominations, he will make it desolate."

The words used here were repeated by Jesus in a sober warning about events just before his return. He said, "When you see the abomination of desolation (spoken of by Daniel the prophet) stand in the holy place, (Whoever reads this, let him understand.) then let them which be in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him that is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house, neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe to those that are with child, and to those that give suck in those days! Pray that your flight will not be in the winter, nor on the sabbath day. For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there shall no flesh be saved. But for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened." (Matthew 24:15-22)

When you see the abomination of desolation (spoken of by Daniel) in the "holy place" (the Temple), the "great tribulation" is about to start. This is the sign Jesus himself told us to look for.

There are several theories as to what the "abomination of desolation" is. One thing we do know: Temple sacrifices will stop when it starts. Other prophecies indicate that the Antichrist will either move himself or a statue of himself (or both) into the Temple, in preparation for a decree that the whole world must worship him.

Daniel concludes: "He will make it desolate even until the consummation, and that determined, shall be poured on the desolate." (Daniel 9:27)

Jesus used this word "desolate" in a prophecy over Jerusalem shortly before he was crucified. He said, "Behold, your house is left to you desolate. For I say to you, You shall not see me henceforth, till you shall say, 'Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord'." (Matthew 23:38-39)

The desolation began when the Jews rejected Christ. But the Antichrist will make the rebuilt Jewish Temple even more desolate, by profaning the Temple in some shocking way. And that will bring the Jewish ritual sacrifices to an abrupt end.

The prophecy above says that the Temple will stay desolate (i.e. without sacrifices) until "the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." This phrase, "consummation" is used in the Bible to mean complete and inescapable destruction. (e.g. Isaiah 10:16-19, 23) The word determined was also used with regard to the seventy weeks that were "determined" for Daniel's people.

The final words say that this "consummation" that has already been "determined" will be "poured upon the desolate". In The Revelation, there is a short period after the Great Tribulation, when the "Wrath" of God is represented by bowls or "vials" being poured out on the earth. By the time this happens, all of God's people will have been taken away from the earth, and spiritually the planet will be left utterly "desolate".

So let us restate, in simpler words, what this prophecy is most likely saying. Follow along with the wording from Daniel 9:27 (see appendix below), and you get: "The Antichrist will make an agreement with the Jews to enable them to resume offering sacrifices during the last seven years of earth's history. However, three and a half years before Christ is to return, the Antichrist will cause the sacrifices to stop. And because of the shocking and blasphemous things that he does, the Temple will be devoid of any redeeming qualities, until God finally pours out his wrath on an evil world."

 

Appendix, Chapter 13

Daniel 9:27. He will confirm the covenant with many for one week. In the midst of the week, he will cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. For the overspreading of abominations, he will make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined, shall be poured on the desolate.

Isaiah 10:16-29, 23. The Lord will send among his fat ones leanness. ... He will kindle a burning… It will burn and devour his thorns… in one day… [He] will make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of the land.

(Back to Table of Contents)

 

14. Tribulation vs Wrath

People disagree on just about everything that is written in the Bible, and usually there are good arguments on both sides. The most heated argument amongst Christians with regard to Bible prophecy is over whether or not Christians will be forced to go through the Great Tribulation.

Some of the things described as happening during the Tribulation (marked by seven trumpets) are similar to things that happen during the Wrath (marked by seven vials or bowls). Elsewhere in the Bible there are references to God's people "escaping" or being "spared" from his wrath. (Romans 5:9; I Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9) These references are used to suggest that we might also be spared from the time of great trouble.

Those who teach that we do not go through the Tribulation believe that Christ could come and take us at any time. This teaching is helpful in that it should make people more serious about being ready to meet God at any time. However, there are strong indications that the teaching has arisen more from wishful thinking (and psychological denial) than from an interest in preparedness.

As we said earlier in this book, The Revelation starts out sounding "sweet" but it turns bitter when you get up close to it. Things like persecution and martyrdom are never popular, and this is more true today than ever. In a world (and a church) which has rejected the discipline of God, tribulation of any sort will be avoided by all means possible.

St. Paul promised the early Christians that "all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." (II Timothy 3:12) That is one promise that most people would rather not know about!

The Bible says (in Hebrews 12:6-11) "Whoever the Lord loves he chastens, and he scourges every son whom he receives. If you endure chastening, then God is dealing with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father does not chasten? But if you are without chastisement, of which all [children] are partakers, then you are bastards and not sons… Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but [rather] grievous. Nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who are exercised by it."

If you study the word "tribulation" wherever it appears in the Bible, it becomes clear that all of God's people go through such times. Paul said, "We glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation teaches patience." (Romans 5:3)

There is an important difference between "troubles" (which God allows us all to experience) and the "wrath" of God, which is specifically directed at his enemies. (Colossians 3:6; Romans 2:5) Obviously we do not want to be the objects of his wrath; and we would hope that, as his children, this would never happen, for it would most certainly destroy us. But to escape his wrath, we must be willing to endure his discipline. Wrath vs Tribulation is like Destruction vs Discipline.

The favourite proof text for the theory that says Christians will not have to stick around and face the Great Tribulation is in Luke 17:34-36: "There shall be two people in one bed. One shall be taken and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together. One will be taken and the other left. Two men shall be in the field. One will be taken and the other left." From this has grown the teaching (which is extremely popular, of course!) that all the good guys will just float up to heaven in their sleep one night, and the rest of the world will wake up to find us all gone.

But the text has been taken out of context. The verses just before this passage say, "In that day, he which is on the housetop and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away. He that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot's wife." (Luke 17:31-32) Lot made a conscious choice to leave Sodom. He was not sucked up in a cosmic vacuum cleaner. His decision cost him everything he had worked for for years, and when his wife turned back, she was destroyed. One was taken, and the other left.

The disciples to whom Jesus was speaking at the time understood that these people Jesus was talking about were being led to some kind of a hideout, and not just being "raptured" into the air. When told that some would be taken, they asked, "Where, Lord?" And he said to them, somewhat cryptically, "Wherever the food is, there will the birds be gathered together." (Luke 17:37)

The other proof texts for the "secret rapture" teaching, as it is called, come from I Corinthians 15, and I Thessalonians 4. Remember, however, that the argument is not over whether Christians actually ascend into the sky to meet Christ (called the "rapture") when he comes (for both sides agree on this), but rather it is over whether this happens before the Great Tribulation or after it.

The Tribulation is represented in The Revelation by seven trumpets. Now look at the proof texts that are used to argue that Christians will be caught up to meet Christ in the air (i.e. "raptured") before any of these trumpets sound:

"We shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. For the [last?] trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised." (I Corinthians 15:51-52)

"The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a