8: The Jews in Prophecy

Have they been cast aside?

Few biblical studies are as exciting as an examination of the Jews in prophecy, for the Jews are one of the key focal points of Bible prophecy.

In fact, if you are anti-Semitic, you will hate Bible prophecy. That's because God's Prophetic Word makes it clear that He has a deep and abiding love for the Jewish people.

The Scriptures reveal the Jews as "the apple of God's eye" (Zechariah 2:8). Their land is described as "holy" (Zechariah 2:12). Their city of Jerusalem is termed the "center of the nations" (Ezekiel 5:5). They are pictured as the wayward wife of God (see Ezekiel 16 and the book of Hosea). And the Bible makes it clear that they will be the object of both God's wrath (Jeremiah 30:7) and His grace (Zechariah 13:1) in the end-times.

The panorama of prophecy that relates to the Jews is breathtaking. It applies to the past, the present and the future. It demonstrates God's love and grace as nothing else does except the Cross itself.

Paul was so overwhelmed by God's patient determination to bring a remnant of the Jews to salvation that he cried out in ecstasy: "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!" (Romans 11:33).

Let's take a look at the incredible prophecies that pertain to the Jewish people, and let's begin with the prophecies that have already been fulfilled.

Fulfilled Prophecies

1) Dispersion - The Jews were warned repeatedly that they would be dispersed worldwide if they were not faithful to the covenant with God. Consider the words of Moses: "The Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other..." (Deuteronomy 28:64 and Leviticus 26:33).

2) Persecution - The Lord also warned the Jews that they would be persecuted wherever they went. Again, the words of Moses are graphic in this regard: "Among those nations you shall find no rest, and there shall be no resting place for the sole of your foot; but there the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul" (Deuteronomy 28:65).

3) Desolation - God promised that after their dispersion, their land would become "desolate" and their cities would become "waste" (Leviticus 26:33). Moses put it more graphically when he said, "the foreigner who comes from a distant land...will say, 'All its land is brimstone and salt, a burning waste, unsown and unproductive, and no grass grows in it'" (Deuteronomy 29:22-23).

4) Preservation - But God in His marvelous grace promised He would preserve the Jews as a separate people during their worldwide wanderings (Isaiah 66:22 and Jeremiah 30:11 and 31:35-37) Isaiah puts it in a colorful way. He says the Lord could no more forget Israel than a mother could forget her nursing child (Isaiah 49:15). He then adds that God cannot forget Israel because He has them inscribed on the palms of His hands (Isaiah 49:16).

Fulfillment

God has fulfilled all four of these prophecies during the past 2,000 years. In 722 BC the Assyrians conquered the nation of Israel and scattered its ten tribes across Eurasia. In 70 AD, the Romans destroyed the city of Jerusalem and took the nation of Judah into captivity, desolating the land and scattering its two tribes across the face of the earth. And, as prophesied, everywhere the Jews went they were persecuted, culminating in the Nazi Holocaust of World War II.

Current Prophecies

We are privileged to live in an age when God is fulfilling many promises to the Jews. I was recently talking with a man about the First Coming of Jesus, and he said to me, "Dave, wouldn't it have been exciting to live in Bible times! We are witnessing the fulfillment of end-time prophecies all around us.

What a testimony this is to the fact that God is alive and well, that God is on His throne and in control and that God is faithful to His promises. Let's take a look at prophesies being fulfilled today among the Jewish people,

1) Regathering of the People - The Old Testament prophets promised repeatedly that the day would come when God would regather the Jews in unbelief to the land of Israel (Isaiah 11:10-12 and Ezekiel 36:22-28). This remarkable regathering of the Jews from the four corners of the earth has occurred in our life time. World War I prepared the land for the people as the control of Palestine was transferred from a nation that hated the Jews (the Turks) to a nation that was sympathetic to their return (Britain). The Holocaust of Word War II prepared the people for the land by motivating them to return.

2) Re-establishment of the State - The prophets stated that when the people were regathered, the nation of Israel would be re-established (Isaiah 66:7-8 and Zechariah 12:3-6). This occurred on May 14, 1948. This is the cornerstone prophetic event of our age. It is an event that prophetic scholars have pointed to for the past 400 years amid much scoffing and ridicule by those who did not believe that Israel would ever exist again as a nation.

3) Reclamation of the Land - God promised that with the re-establishment of the nation, the land would bloom again (Isaiah 35:1-7 and Joel 2:21-26). As Ezekiel put it, people would one day exclaim: "This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden!" (Ezekiel 36:35). And that is exactly what people say today when they visit Israel, for it is once again a land of milk and honey. Over 250 million trees were planted during the 20th Century. Rainfall during that century increased 450 percent. The former malaria infested swamps have been converted into cultivated land. Water from the Sea of Galilee has been channeled to the deserts, causing them to bloom.

4) Revival of the Language - When the Jews were scattered worldwide in the First Century, they ceased speaking the Hebrew language. The Jews who settled in Europe developed a language called Yiddish (a combination of Hebrew and German). The Jews in the Mediterranean basin mixed Hebrew with Spanish to produce a language called Ladino. The prophet Zephaniah implied a time would come when the Hebrew language would be revived (Zephaniah 3:9). It has been. Today the Israelis speak biblical Hebrew. It is the only example in history of the resurrection of a dead language. The man God used to revive the language was Eliezer Ben Yehuda (1858-1922).

5) Re-occupation of Jerusalem - Jesus said that one of the surest signs of His imminent return would be the re-occupation of Jerusalem by the Jews (Luke 21:24). This occurred during the Six Day War in June 1967.

6) Resurgence of Military Strength - Zechariah prophesied that when the Jews were re-established in the land, their military strength would be overwhelming - like "a flaming torch among sheaves" - and that they would "consume" all the peoples around them (Zechariah 12:6). Need anything be said about the fulfillment of this prophecy?

7)Re-focusing of World Politics - Israel is always pictured as the focal point of world politics in the end-times (Zechariah 12:3 and 14:1-9). This has been true since the Arab oil boycott in 1973. The West suddenly realized its dependence on Arab oil and began to line up behind the Arab obsession to annihilate Israel.

Future Prophecies

As we witness ancient promises to the Jewish people being fulfilled before our eyes today, we can be assured that God will one day fulfill all the remaining prophecies concerning the fate of Israel. 

1) Tribulation - God will put the Jewish people through an unparalleled period of tribulation (Deuteronomy 4:30), during which two-thirds of the Jews will perish (Zechariah 13:8-9). The purpose will be to soften the hearts of a remnant so that they will accept Jesus as their Messiah.

 2) Salvation - At the end of the Tribulation, a remnant of the Jews will "look upon Him whom they have pierced," and they will repent and accept Him as their Messiah (Zechariah 12:10 and Romans 11:1-6, 25-29). On that glorious day, the Bible says "a fountain of salvation will be opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity" (Zechariah 13:1).

3) Primacy - At the Second Coming of Jesus, God will regather all the believing Jews to Israel where they will be established as the prime nation in the world during the Millennium (Deuteronomy 28:1, 13, 2 Samuel 7:9, Isaiah 60-62 and Micah 4:1-7). God's blessings to the world will once again flow through the Jewish people, and thus, when a Jew walks by, ten Gentiles will grab his robe and say, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you" (Zechariah 8:23).

A Pernicious Doctrine

These prophecies concerning present day Israel and its glorious future make it clear that God has not washed His hands of the Jewish people, as many Christian denominations claim today.

One of the most pernicious doctrines that has infested the Church since its earliest days is one called Replacement Theology. It contends that when the Jews rejected Jesus, God cast them aside permanently and preplace them with the Church . In the process, He transferred to the Church all the blessings that had been promised to Israel.

This doctrine directly contradicts the Old Testament prophecies concerning the future of Israel. It also violates the clear teaching of Paul in the book of Romans.

For example, in Roman 3:1-4, Paul presents a rhetorical question for thoughtful consideration. He asks, "Has God rejected His people because of their unbelief?" For almost two thousand years the Church has answered this question, "Yes!" But Paul answers, "May it never be!"

Again, in chapter 11, Pau asks, "Has God rejected His people?" And once again, he answers his own question by asserting: "God as not rejected His people whom He foreknow" (Romans 11:1-2). He proceeds then to affirm the Old Testament promise that a great remnant of Jews will be saved in the end-times (Romans 11:25-33 and Romans 9:27).

For 2,000 years, the Jewish people have been condemned by the Church as "Christ killers." We need to get it straight in our minds and hearts as to who it was that really killed Jesus. We are told in Acts 4:27, which says, "For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel."

Who does this verse say were the killers of Jesus? It lists the Jewish leaders (Herod), the Romans (Pilate), the Gentiles, the Jews and someone else not named - you and me. All of us have the blood of Jesus on our hands because He died for all our sins.

God's Infinite Love

God set the Jews aside and put them under discipline because of their disobedience, but He did not cut them off from His grace.

He intends to bring His wayward wife home: "For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince...Afterward, the sons of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God...and they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days" (Hosea 3:4-5).

The lovingkindness and faithfulness of God in keeping His promises to the Jewish people should be a source of encouragement to all Christians. As we watch God fulfill promises which He made to the Jewish people thousands of years ago, we can be absolutely certain that He will be faithful to fulfill all the promises He has made to the Church.

The Jewish people are witnesses of God's amazing grace. And that same grace is available to all of us, whether we are Gentiles or Jews.

9: The Arabs in Prophecy

Do they have any hope?

“Why do you Bible prophecy guys spend all your time talking about the Jews? There’s a whole lot more Arabs than Jews. Don’t you think God also cares about the Arabs?”

It was a testy question during an open forum at one of my prophecy conferences. It was one I had heard many times before in various ways. It reminded me of a letter I had received in which a person asked, “Don’t the Palestinians have rights too? Does God love only the Jews?” There is no doubt that Bible prophecy teachers spend a lot of time speaking and writing about the Jewish people. It would be easy, therefore, to conclude that the Arab peoples are ignored in God’s Prophetic Word. But, as we shall see, that is not the case. Bible prophecy focuses on the Jewish people because they are God’s Chose People. In the process, it does not ignore the Arabs.

The Significance of the Jews

God chose the Jews to give the world the Scriptures, and it was through the Jews that He provided the Messiah. The Jews also serve as God’s prophetic time clock, for He often points to future events in their history as the key to the timing of other important events.

For example, the timing of the First Coming of the Messiah was related to events in Jewish history. Daniel said the Messiah would come 483 years after an edict was issued for the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Daniel 9:25-26).

In like manner, Jesus told His disciples that Jerusalem would one day fall to the Gentiles (which it did 40 years later in 70 AD) and that it would remain under Gentile control until it was time for Him to return to earth (Luke 21:24). In other words, Jesus said His Second Coming would occur when Jerusalem was back in the hands of the Jews (something that happened on June 7, 1967).

The Continuing Witness of the Jews

There is another key to the significance of the Jews. They continue to serve today as a chosen witness of God’s grace. This is manifested in their very existence, for what other God, except a God of grace, would have tolerated for so long a people so stubborn and rebellious?

They also continue to be a witness of what it means to have a relationship with God. Their history reveals that when people are faithful to God’s Word, He blesses; when they are unfaithful, He disciplines; and when they repent, He forgives, forgets and starts blessing again. This is the constant cycle that is clearly patterned in the book of Judges.

The Primacy of the Jews

The Bible says that the Jewish people will continue to serve as the Chosen People — as His special witness — in the future.

At the end of the Tribulation, a great remnant of the Jews will be brought to the end of themselves and will turn to God in repentance and accept His Son as their Messiah (Zechariah 12:10 and 13:1). They will cry out, “Baruch haba b’shem Adonai!” — that is, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Matthew 23:39). It is at this point that God’s discipline will be lifted, and the Jewish people will start being blessed again.

Moses prophesied that when the Jewish remnant repents, they will be regathered from all over the world back to the land of Israel (Deuteronomy 30:1-5). Isaiah says that Israel will then serve as the prime nation of the world (during the Lord's millennial reign), and he spells out in detail all the incredible blessings that will be showered upon the nation and the city of Jerusalem (Isaiah 60-62).

 But the Jews will not be just a repository of God's blessings. Zechariah says they will be a channel of blessings to the whole world (Zechariah 8:13), and he says that the attitude of the world toward the Jews will be radically changed. Anti-Semitism will be replaced by respect and admiration: "In those days, ten men from the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, 'Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you'" (Zechariah 8:23).

Do these promises to the Jews mean that God has no blessings for the multitudinous Arab peoples? Not at all. God has given them great blessings in the past, and He has great blessings reserved for them in the future.

Arab Identity

But before we look at those blessings, let's consider first the identity of the Arab peoples. Who are they?

A popular misconception is that Arab identity is determined by religion - that if you are a Muslim, then you are an Arab. This is not true.

The most populous Muslim nation in the world is Indonesia, an island nation in Southeast Asia. Indonesians are not Arabs. They are Malays. Likewise, the nation of Iran is composed of Muslims, but they are not Arabs. They are Persians.

There are also Christian Arabs scattered all across the Middle East. Until recently, the town of Bethlehem was dominated by Christian Arabs. Nazareth continues to be a town with many Christian Arabs.

Arab identity is not determined by religion. Most Arabs are Muslims, but not all; and all Muslims are certainly not Arabs.

Arab identity is determined by ethnic heritage. And the amazing thing is that all Arabs - like all Jews - are descended from the family of Abraham! That means the Arab-Israeli conflict is a family dispute - the longet running and most intense family squabble in history.

Arab Origins

It all began when Abraham decided to help God. That's a nice way of saying that he decided to run ahead of God. I'm referring, of course, to his impatience with God's promise that he would be given an heir.

As he and Sarah continued to advance in years without a child, they decided to "help" God by having Abraham conceive a child through Hagar, his wife's Egyptian handmaid. The child born of that union was named Ishmael. God made it clear that Ishmael would not be the child of promise through whom all the world would be blessed (Genesis 17:20-21), but God did make some great promises to Ishmael's mother.

God promised that He would make Ishmael fruitful and would multiply his descendants exceedingly, making of him a "great nation" (Genesis 17:20). He also gave Ishmael's descendants the land to the east of Canaan (Genesis 16:12).

God has been faithful to these promises. Today there are 22 Arab nations with a combined population of over 400 million people. The Arabs occupy a total area of 5.3 million square miles of oil rich land.

By contrast, there is only one Jewish state with a population of 7 million Jews who are squeezed into only 8,000 square miles of space. That's a population ratio of 57 to 1 and a land ratio of 662 to 1. The Arabs have truly been blessed.

Arab Tribes

Ishmael took an Egyptian wife (Genesis 21:21) and became the father of 12 tribes which are listed in Genesis 25:12-16. These tribes were to become the nucleus of the Arab peoples, a people with a mixture of Semitic and Egyptian blood.

Other Arab tribes trace their origin to the six sons of Abraham who were born to him by his second wife, Keturah. They are listed in Genesis 25:1-4. Finally, some Arab tribes were to emerge from the descendants of Esau, the twin brother of Jacob who sired the 12 tribes of Israel

All the Arab tribes have been characterized historically by their impulsive and violent nature. They have been involved in endless wars among themselves and against both Jews and Christians.

It is interesting to note that their volatile nature is a fulfillment of prophecy. God told Hagar that her son, Ishmael, would be "a wild donkey of a man" and that "his hand will be against everyone" (Genesis 16:12).

Arab Prophecies

Let's look now at what the Bible prophesies about the Arab peoples. First, it says they will claim the land of Israel which God gave to their brothers, the Jews. The prophet Ezekiel says this claim will be made in the end-times (Ezekiel 35:5, 10 and 36:2, 5).

This prophecy was fulfilled in the 20th Century. For over 1,900 years the Jews were dispersed from the land which God gave them, and during that long period of time there was never an Arab state in the area that the world called Palestine. The Arabs who lived in the land considered themselves Syrians. They had no consciousness as Palestinians, and no effort was ever made to create a Palestinian state.

When the Jews began returning at the beginning of the 20th Century, the Arabs gleefully sold them the land at inflated prices because it was considered worthless. It was World War I that changed the Arab viewpoint. The war resulted in the land of Palestine being transferred from the Turks to the British, and the British immediately proclaimed it to be a homeland for the Jews. Suddenly, the Arabs were confronted with the prospect of a Jewish state, and they began to dig in their heel, claiming the land as their own.

The British gave in to Arab pressure, and in 1922 they gave two thirds of Palestine to the Arabs, creating the state of Trans-Jordan. This was land that they had implicitly promised to the Jews. But this action did not satisfy the Arab appetite. They wanted all the land God had given to the Jews, and they still covet it to this day, just as prophesied.

Arab Judgments

The Bible further prophesies that God will pour out judgment upon the Arab nations in the end-times for their hostility toward the Jews and their attempt to claim the Jewish homeland as their own.

Consider Joel 3:19, for example. This passage has a clear end-time context, and in that context it says, "Egypt will become a waste, and Edom will become a desolate wilderness, because of the violence done to the sons of Judah, in whose land they have shed innocent blood."

Keep in mind that Edom is often used as a symbolic term for all the Arab peoples, just as Israel is used as a term for all the Jewish tribes. Ezekiel says that "all Edom" will be dealt with in the end-times because of its hatred against the Jews, and the result will be desolation (Ezekiel 35:10-11, 15). The book of Obadiah prophesies a similar fate for Edom in "the day of the Lord" (Obadiah 15-18).

Arab Promises

But the future for the Arabs is not all bleak. They must suffer for their sins, just as the Jewish people have for centuries and will continue to do so during the Tribulation. And, like the Jews, a remnant of the Arabs will emerge from their sufferings with their hearts turned to the one and only true God (Jeremiah 12:14-17).

The most remarkable prophecy concerning the future salvation of an Arab remnant is contained in Isaiah 19:16-25. Isaiah says that when the Lord strikes Egypt and Assyria, they will turn to Him and He will have compassion on them and "heal them." Isaiah then presents an incredible picture of Egypt, Assyria and Israel living together in peace, worshipping the same God!

Another remarkable prophecy concerns the Arabs who will be living in the land of Israel after the Lord returns. This prophecy relates to the fact that the territory of Israel will be greatly expanded when Jesus returns, incorporating many of the Arab nations that exist today. (The considerably expanded borders of Israel during the Millennium are detailed in Ezekiel 47:15-20.) Amazingly, Ezekiel says that the Arabs living in Israel at that time will be allotted an inheritance" of the land together with the tribes of Israel! (Ezekiel 47:21-23 and Isaiah 14:1-2).

An Impartial God

There is no partiality with God (Romans 2:11). He chose the Jews, not to be a repository of His blessings, but to be a vehicle through whom He would bless all the nations of the world, including the Arabs. But the fundamental requirement to receive God's blessings - for both Jew and Arab, as well as all people - is to accept God's gift of love in Jesus by receiving Him as Messiah.

When I consider God's grace toward the Arab peoples, I am reminded of what Paul wrote when he considered God's grace toward his Jewish brethren: "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!" (Romans 11:33).

Keep in mind that the amazing grace which God is displaying toward the Arabs and the Jews is available to you. The message of God's dealings with the physical descendants of Abraham is that there is no sin so great and dark that it can separate you from the love of God which He has expressed in Jesus.

The key to experiencing that grace is repentance and faith in Jesus. As Paul put it in his sermon in Athens: "God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent" (Acts 17:30).

10: Empires in Prophecy

Will the Roman Empire be revived?

Let the name of God be blessed forever

and ever,

For wisdom and power belong to Him.

It is He who changes the times and epochs;

He removes kings and establishes kings…

Daniel 2:20-21a

Before the birth of the nation-state system, which has dominated world politics since the 1800’s, mankind seemed enamored by the concept of empire, real or imagined.

At the dawn of history, the peoples of the earth tried to unite at Babylon to form a world empire that would “reach into the heavens,” challenging even the sovereignty of God (Genesis 11:1-4). God put an end to that attempt by confusing the people’s language (Genesis 11:6-9).

Biblical Empires

But before long, people were at it again. First came the Egyptian Empire (dating back to 3500 BC) and then the Assyrian (founded in 1810 BC). The conflicts between these empires and the ones that followed are chronicled in the history books of the Old Testament.

The reason the Bible contains so much information about them is because of the strategic location of ancient Israel. That tiny nation constituted a land bridge that connected Africa, Asia and Europe. The result is that it often served as a battlefield for competing empires.

One of the empires that had a tremendous impact upon the Jewish people was the Babylonian. It existed only 73 short years, from 612 BC to 539 BC, but God worked through it to discipline the Jews for their idolatry. He allowed the Babylonians to conquer Jerusalem and ultimately to destroy it and the Jewish Temple.

A Remarkable Man

One of the many captives who were taken in the first siege of Jerusalem in 605 BC was a young man named Daniel. He rapidly came to the attention of the Babylonian leaders because of his ability to interpret dreams.

The event that catapulted him into the center of attention was a dream which God gave to the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. The king made an unusual request of his court magicians and sorcerers. Instead of just asking them to interpret his dream, he demanded that they first tell him the content of his dream! They were mystified and were about to be put to death, when Daniel sent word to the king that he could both reveal the dream and provide its interpretation (Daniel 2:14-16).

When King Nebuchadnezzar agreed to give Daniel an audience, the young man and his fellow prisoners went to their knees in prayer and cried out to God for understanding (Daniel 2:17-18). The mystery was immediately revealed to Daniel in a night vision (Daniel 2:19).

A Remarkable Dream

When Daniel was ushered into the king’s presence, he began by revealing the details of the dream (Daniel 2:31-35). He declared that the king had seen a huge statue of a man that was both splendid and awesome in appearance. The statue was made of a succession of metals. It had a head of gold, a silver chest, thighs of brass and legs of iron. It rested upon a precarious foundation – feet of iron mixed with clay.

As Nebuchadnezzar stared at the statue, admiring its beauty, the feet were suddenly struck by a supernatural stone (“a stone cut out without hands”). The statue collapsed, and the stone expanded rapidly into a mountain that engulfed the whole world (Daniel 2:31-35).

A Prophetic Interpretation

Daniel explained that the dream dealt with the future and extended even to the “latter days” (Daniel 2:28). He pointed out that the golden head was representative of the Babylonian empire. It would be succeeded by another empire represented by the silver chest, and it would, in turn, be overthrown by another empire symbolized by the thighs of bronze. The final empire was represented by the logs of iron (Daniel 2:36-40).

Later, God revealed to Daniel that the empire that would follow Babylon would be the Medo-Persian which, in turn, would be overthrown by the Greeks under Alexander the Great (Daniel 8:1-8, 20-21).

The empire represented by the iron legs was never specifically identified, but we know from history that it was the Roman Empire which eventually split into two parts, the Eastern and Western Empires.

Regarding the feet of iron mixed with clay, Daniel declared that this would be Mankind’s final world kingdom and that it would be both strong as iron and brittle as clay. Daniel further asserted that this final kingdom of Mankind would be suddenly and totally destroyed when “the God of Heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed” (Daniel 2:44). That kingdom, represented by the stone, will encompass the whole world, will destroy all other kingdoms and will “endure forever” (Daniel 2:44-45). That stone kingdom is, of course, a symbol of the everlasting kingdom of the Messiah.

A Prophetic Gap

The prophecy evidently contains a time gap because there is nothing in history that corresponds to the empire represented by the feet of iron mixed with clay. Also, it must contain a time gap because the text specifically states that it relates to “the latter days.”

Amillennialists (those who deny there will be a future reign of Jesus on the earth) object to the idea that the prophecy contains a time gap. They argue that the stone represents the kingdom of the Church which destroyed the Roman Empire and proceeded to expand all over the earth.

But Christianity served to unite and consolidate the Roman Empire rather than destroy it. And although the Church has spread all over the world, it certainly has not displaced the kingdoms of this world. Nor does the Bible teach that the Church Age will endure forever. In fact, the Bible teaches it will come to a screeching halt when the Church is raptured out of this world.

Further Revelations

In subsequent dreams and visions, the Lord revealed to Daniel that this kingdom of iron mixed with clay would be a loose confederation of ten rulers (Daniel 7:24). This confederation would arise out of the territory of the empire of iron – the Roman Empire (Daniel 7:7-8). Daniel was also shown that this revived European confederation would serve as the base for the consolidation of the last great Gentile world empire – namely, the empire of the Antichrist (Daniel 7:8, 24-26 and 8:19-27).

These revelations provide additional evidence of a time gap in the prophecy because history fails to show a ten nation European confederation expanding into a world empire and then being suddenly destroyed by a supernatural intervention of God. Nor has any such European confederation ever produced a leader equivalent to the Antichrist described in both Daniel and Revelation.

An Accurate Interpretation

Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream proved to be historically accurate to the minutest detail. Just as prophesied, the Babylonian Empire was overthrown by the Medo-Persian Empire in 539 BC. The Greeks, under Alexander the Great, conquered the Persians in 331 BC, and the Romans succeeded the Greeks. As one writer put it, “Daniel wrote history in advance better than any historian has ever written it after the fact.”

The Roman Empire divided in 395 AD and proceeded into a long decline. By the 5 Century AD the empire was dead. But the idea of the empire would never die. The hope of reviving it continued to capture the imaginations of European leaders.

Revival Attempts

In 800 AD, Charlemagne, in conjunction with the Roman Catholic Church, laid the foundation for what came to be known as the Holy Roman Empire. It lasted until 1806, but it was never really a true empire. It mainly consisted of German states ruled by German kings who usually sought but did not always receive coronation as emperor by the popes in Rome. It was an attempt to revive the old Roman Empire, but it existed primarily on paper and in the imaginations of its “emperors.” Voltaire summed it up succinctly when he wrote, “It is neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire.”

The form of government that truly existed during the Middle Ages was feudalism in the form of tribal-states, city-states and city-leagues. The nation-state system burst on the scene in the 1700s after the printing press and the spread of education made people aware of national groupings, fueling a desire for each national group to have its own state.

However, even the extreme nationalism of the nation-state system was not sufficient to kill the idea of reviving the old Roman Empire. Napoleon attempted to do it and almost succeeded. Hitler dreamed of accomplishing it, and in the process, he reduced Europe to a heap of ashes.

The Miracle Rebirth

But out of the ashes arose a renewed zeal to unite Europe. The zeal was motivated by desperation. Visionary European leaders realized that if they were ever going to rebuild Europe, they would have to put aside their national rivalries and integrate their economies.

They established the European Coal and Steel community in 1951, encompassing six nations (France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg). In 1958 this organization was expanded in scope to cover all economic activities. It was renamed the European Economic Community. Between 1973 and 1993 six additional states were added to the community, including Great Britain.

The biggest and boldest step was taken in 1993 when the member nations decided to surrender their political sovereignty by agreeing to integrate themselves politically as well as economically. With this step, the European Union was born.

Today the European Union consists of 27 nations with a population of over 515 million people. Additional nations are poised to enter the union. There is little doubt that the EU is developing into a superpower like China and the United States.

What mankind could never accomplish by war has become a reality peacefully through diplomacy over a period of 50 years. The reason, of course, is that it is now God’s timing for the old Roman Empire to be reborn.

The British

When the British voted in June of 2016 to withdraw from the European Union, many people immediately concluded that the EU was not going to be the revived Roman Empire predicted in end-time Bible prophecy.

But, on the contrary, it was a manifestation of a part of Daniel’s prophecy which envisioned the end-time European coalition as an unstable one. That was the meaning of the symbolism that portrayed the end-time revived empire as one of iron mixed with clay – a highly unstable mixture.

The Ten Nations

But what about the prophecy that the end-time revival of the Roman Empire will consist of a confederation of ten rulers or nations (the ten toes and ten horns of Daniel 2:41 and 7:7)? How does the EU with its 27 nations (and more to come) fulfill this prophecy?

We will have to wait and see, but the groundwork for its fulfillment is probably being laid at present through the EU’s emphasis on de-nationalization. What this means is that the EU is doing everything possible to de-emphasize national identities and replace them with a common European identity. In other words, people are being encouraged to think of themselves not as Frenchmen or Germans or Spaniards, but as Europeans.

Accordingly, passports have been changed to state first that the person is a member of the European Union and secondarily is a citizen of a particular state. But this is only a transitional step to a passport that will say nothing more than that the person is a citizen of the EU.

More significantly, nations, as such, are no longer represented in the European Parliament. Delegates represent sections of nations and are required to be seated in the Parliament by political ideology (liberal, moderate or conservative) rather than by national origin. As more nations are added and the organization becomes more unwieldy, it seems likely that the EU will be divided into administrative units that will cut across national boundaries. It could very well be that there would be a total of ten such units, each headed up by its own ruler.

The Missing Element

The European Union now has a common parliament, court, bank and currency. It is in the process of organizing an army. The main thing it lacks is a strong leader. Its executive currently consists of a committee called The Commission. It consists of one person from each of the 27 member states. It is headed up by a president who has very little power, but Bible prophecy makes it clear that the committee will soon be replaced by a single individual.

Before long, some dynamic, charismatic political personality will emerge within the European Union who seems to have the answers to all the world’s problems. He will take over the Union, and he will then venture forth to build a new world order, using both deception and force (Daniel 11:36-45 and Revelation 6:1-6).

The New World Order

This final empire of the Antichrist will unite the whole world politically, socially, economically and spiritually. The Antichrist will be assisted by a False Prophet who will pull together the world’s religions into an amalgamated, apostate super-church that will worship the Antichrist (Revelation 13:11-18).

The Bible makes it clear that this empire of the Antichrist will be history’s one and only true world empire, for unlike all the other empires that have existed, this one will include “every tribe and people and tongue and nation” (Revelation 13:7).

The Fate of the Antichrist Empire

Mankind’s final world empire will be a brutal one. One-half of humanity will die in the first three and a half years as the Antichrist conquers the world through military power, launching a conventional war (Revelation 6) that appears to morph into a nuclear one (Revelation 8-9). Then, utilizing modern technology, he will institute a totalitarian dictatorship that will control every aspect of life (Revelation 13:16-17).

Mercifully, his reign will be short. At the end of seven years of unparalleled tribulation upon the earth, God will pour out His wrath upon this last empire. Its overwhelming destruction by fire will take place in one hour (Revelation 18).

That’s when Jesus will return to set up God’s empire. It will be radically different from all the empires of mankind because it will result in a perfect world order. Jesus will reign from Mt. Zion in Jerusalem with a rod of iron, and the world will be flooded with peace, righteousness and justice (Psalm 2 and Micah 4).

A Warning

Do not be deceived by all the current talk about a “New World Order.” It is the old world order dressed up in new clothes. 

Satan is pulling together one last worldwide empire in his futile attempt to frustrate God’s master plan. Most of the world will be deceived into believing that this “New World Order” will produce a utopia on earth. It will create, instead, a living hell.

The “New World Order” is doomed to failure, for it will be based on the wisdom of Man. Pray for the coming of the perfect world order that Jesus will establish when He returns. It will be based upon the Word of God.

11: The Nations in Prophecy

Will there be a certain end-time configuration?

“He makes the nations great, then destroys them;

He enlarges the nations, then leads them away”

Job 12:23

The interpretation of Bible prophecy cannot be dictated by world events. If the Bible says an event is going to occur in the future, like a Russian invasion of Israel – it is going to happen, regardless of trends in world politics.

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, many people felt that was the end of any possible Russian invasion of Israel, as prophesied in Ezekiel 38 and 39. But the Russian invasion of Israel predicted in Bible prophecy has never been dependent upon Russia being a Communist state.

Believing What the Bible Says

When interpreting what the Bible says about the nations in the end-times, we need to have the faith that was demonstrated by C. I. Scofield when he published his famous Study Bible in 1909. He interpreted Ezekiel 38 and 39 to mean that Russia would invade Israel in the end-times. That interpretation was challenged and even mocked.

Scholars asked, “How can you possibly says that these chapters prophecy a Russian invasion of Israel? Russia is a Christian Orthodox nation, and Israel doesn’t even exist! Nor is the there any possibility that Israel will ever exist again.”

Scofield’s response was simple: “I don’t understand it, and I can’t explain it, but the Bible says it, and therefore I believe it.”

Today, one hundred years later, Israel exists and Russian is anything but a Christian nation. The Russians are currently sporting a thin democratic veneer, but underneath is an ugly heritage of dictatorship, repression and anti-Semitism. Furthermore, the society is wallowing in economic chaos and violence as former Communist officials now operate as Mafia thugs building regional empires that operate under government protection. Another thing to keep in mind is that the central Russian republics contain an enormous Islamic population that is vehemently opposed to the state of Israel.

The Key Nation

Russia is only one of several nations that are specifically mentioned in end-time prophecies. The key nation is Israel because all end-time prophecy revolves around Jewish people.

Four hundred years ago, Puritan scholars began to preach that the nation of Israel would be re-established in the end-times, right before the return of Jesus. A good example of this teaching can be found in a book by Increase Mather, The Mystery of Israel’s Salvation, which was published in 1667.

The Puritan claim was scoffed at by most Christians. After all, the Jews had been scattered all over the world, and their homeland, called Palestine, was a part of the Ottoman Empire. There seemed to be no prospect whatever that the nation of Israel would ever exist again.

The Testimony of Scripture

But the Puritan claim was based on solid biblical evidence. Isaiah 11:10-12 plainly states that in the end-times there will be a “second” regathering of the Jews (the first being from Babylon). The passage further says that this will be a regathering of Jews from all tribes, both the ten tribes of Israel and the two tribes of Judah (the return from Babylon included only Judah). Finally, the passage says that this regathering will be “from the four corners of the earth.”

Another of the great end-time regathering prophecies is found in Ezekiel 37. It is the famous prophecy of the valley of the dry bones. Ezekiel was brought by the Spirit of God to a valley strewn with bones. He was told to preach to the bones.

As Ezekiel began preaching, the bones began to come to life! They came back together, and muscles formed on them. As they resumed their human forms, breath came into them, and they stood up!

The astonished prophet was told by the Lord that the bones represented the Jewish people who had been scattered and seemed to have no hope. The Lord then assured Ezekiel that one day the “graves” of the Jewish people – the nations where they would be dispersed – would be opened, and the people would be brought back to the land of Israel (Ezekiel 37:11-12).

Again, Ezekiel asserts that this will be a regathering that will include both Israel and Judah: “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I will take the sick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand’” (Ezekiel 37:19). He also says this will occur right before the return of the Messiah to reign over the nations from Jerusalem (Ezekiel 37:24-28).

Similar prophecies can be found throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. In fact, the return of the Jews to their homeland in the end-times is the most prolific prophecy in the Old Testament, mentioned more frequently than any other one.

Triggering the Prophesies

The Lord launched His fulfillment of these prophecies near the end of the 19th Century when He gave a Viennese journalist a vision for the re-establishment of the state of Israel. The man was a Hungarian Jew by the name of Theodor Herzl (1860-1904). Like most Jewish intellectuals of his time, Herzl believed that the Jews had been assimilated into European society. But in 1894 his attitude radically changed.

He went to Paris to cover a trial of a French army officer by the name of Alfred Dreyfus. The officer had been falsely accused of treason because he was Jewish. When Herzl arrived at the courthouse, he was astonished to see thousands of Parisians standing in the streets shouting, “Death to the Jews!”

This agonizing experience convinced Herzl that the only hope for the Jews was for them to form a state of their own. He expressed this sentiment very convincingly in 1896 in a pamphlet called, “Der Judenstaat” (“The Jewish State”). His pamphlet led to the convocation of the First Zionist Congress, held in Basel, Switzerland in August of 1897. Herzl wrote in his diary, “At Basel, I founded the Jewish state.” He predicted that within 50 years people would see the truth of his statement.

Sure enough, 50 years later in November 1947, the United Nations authorized the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. And on May 14, 1948, the state of Israel came into existence.

The Arab Threat

Once Israel is re-established, as it has been, the Bible prophesies that it will be threatened from all sides by a variety of nations. First and foremost, the very existence of Israel will be challenged by surrounding Arab states.

Ezekiel prophesied that “at the time of the punishment of the end” (his term for the end-times), God will pour out His wrath upon “Mount Seir” (a collective term for the Arab peoples) because they will covet the land which He has given the Jews (Ezekiel 35:5, 10-11). Isaiah had previously given the same prophecy when he stated that a time will come when God will pour out His wrath upon Edom (Isaiah’s collective term for the Arabs) because of their mistreatment of the Jewish people (Isaiah 34:5-6).

One of the end-time wars pictured in prophecy that has not yet occurred is the “war of annihilation” that is described in Psalm 83. This psalm portrays an end-time Arab conspiracy against Israel. The psalmist says that all the Arab nations that have a common border with Israel will attempt to annihilate the Jewish state. Those states include Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Gaza, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iraq.

The psalm does not reveal the outcome of this war, but we know the Jews will prevail because there are prophecies that say Israel will win all its end-time wars. For example, Zechariah 12:6 says that God “will make the clans of Judah like a firepot among pieces of wood and a flaming torch among sheaves, so they will consume…all the surrounding peoples…” Zechariah adds that the Lord will “destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem” (Zechariah 12:9).

These prophecies have been honored since the re-establishment of the Jewish state in 1948. The Arab nations surrounding Israel have launched war after war against the Jewish state in a never ceasing attempt to annihilate it. Additionally, there have been several significant intifadas (Palestinian uprisings). But Israel has prevailed in all these battles.

The Russian Threat

The Arabs are not the only enemies of Israel prophesied for the end-times. The Bible says another nemesis of the Jews will be Russia. In Ezekiel 38 and 39, we are told that a nation from “the remote parts of the north” will prove to be Israel’s greatest enemy (Ezekiel 38: 6, 15).

All directions in the Bible are given in reference to Jerusalem. If you take a string and put one end of it on the city of Jerusalem on a world globe and then place the other end on the North Pole, you will see that the string passes through Moscow, the capital of Russia. This is a good indication that Ezekiel is speaking of Russia as the nation in “the remote parts of the north.”

There are other indicators. Ezekiel says this nation will comprise the land of Magog (Ezekiel 38:2) which the Jewish historian, Josephus, identified as the area occupied by the Scythians in south central Russia. It is also identified as the land ruled by “the prince of Rosh” (Ezekiel 38:2). Rosh is an ancient root word for Russia.

A Coalition of Nations

The Russians are pictured as invading Israel with a coalition of nations. Persia is named first (Ezekiel 38:5). At that time, Persia included modern day Syria, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. Named also are Ethiopia, Put (Libya), and two areas – Gomer and Beth Togarmah – included in modern day Turkey (Ezekiel 38:5-6).

Ezekiel says the Russian invasion of Israel will occur at a time when the Jews are living in “unwalled cities” (Ezekiel 38:11). That is not the case today since there is a security wall that zig-zags down the center of Israel, running for a length of 440 miles. Ezekiel also says the people of Israel will be living “at rest” and “securely” (Ezekiel 38:11). Again, that certainly is not the situation today. These conditions should prevail after Israel defeats all its neighbors in the Psalms 83 War. 

As I stated earlier in this chapter, there is no nation on earth with a longer and more persistent anti-Semitic history than Russia. Russian rulers have used the Jews as their whipping boys throughout their recorded history, blaming all the ills of Russian society on “the international Jewish conspiracy.” That demonic spirit of anti-Semitism remains firmly rooted in Russian society to this day.

The Role of Europe

As pointed out in the previous chapter, Europe is another bigtime player in the Bible’s end-time scenario of events. The prophecies contained in Daniel and Revelation make it clear that in the end-times, the Roman Empire will be revived, and out of it, the Antichrist will arise.

Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, which we discussed in chapter 10, revealed a progression of future Gentile empires: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome (Daniel 2:31-45). It also revealed that the final Gentile empire would be a revival of the Roman Empire and would consist of a loose confederation of ten nations or regions. 

Daniel’s vision of the same procession of empires, given to him48 years later after Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, also indicated the last Gentile empire of history would be a confederation of ten units that would be located in the area of the old Roman Empire (Daniel 7:1-8). Further, Daniel was shown that the Antichrist would rise out of this reconstructed Roman Empire, first taking over three of the units, and the rest (Daniel 7:8-12, 23-26).

In chapter 9 of his prophecies, Daniel again asserts that the Antichrist will rise out of a revised Roman Empire. He states that the Antichrist will originate from among the people who would one day destroy the Jewish temple (Daniel 9:26). Those people proved, of course, to be the Romans in 70 AD.

New Testament Confirmation

The Apostle John confirmed the message of Daniel’s visions in the book of Revelation. He saw a “woman sitting on a scarlet beast…having seven heads and ten horns” (Revelation 17:3). We know the beast is Satan because he is described with the same terminology in Revelation 12:3 The woman is symbolic of the apostate church which the Antichrist will use to inspire worldwide worship of himself (Revelation 13:12).

John explains that the seven heads of the beast represent “seven kings,” five which had already fallen, one which existed at that time, and the seventh which was yet to come (Revelation 17:10). This appears to be a reference to a succession of Gentile world empires.

The five fallen would be Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece. The one existing at that time was Rome. The one yet to come would be the end-time European confederation, representing a revival of the Roman Empire. John then reveals that the revived Roman Empire will evolve into the eight and final Gentile empire of history – namely, the worldwide empire of the Antichrist (Revelation 17:11-12).

A Persistent Dream

It is interesting to note that ever since the Roman Empire ceased to exist in 476 AD, repeated attempts have been made throughout history to revive it. In the Middle Ages the Pope attempted a revival through the creation of what was called the Holy Roman Empire. But it was an empire in name only. Napoleon and Hitler both tried to unite Europe through military power, and both failed because it was not God’s timing.

Undoubtedly, all these attempts were inspired by Satan. He knows Bible prophecy (Revelation 12:12), and he therefore understands that he cannot raise up his false messiah, the Antichrist, until he is able to orchestrate the reunification of Europe.

The Impact of World War II

The turning point for the fulfillment of these prophecies came with World War II. Just as the War accelerated the re-establishment of Israel by motivating the Jewish people to go back to their homeland, it also motivated the movement toward European unity.

Europe was in ruins and was desperate. This desperation promoted European leaders to put aside ancient hatreds and jealousies in order to reach out to each other for mutual support and aid.

The result was a series of economic mergers which began in the 1950s and which ultimately led to political integration in the 1990s. Today, the European Union contains 27 nations with a combined population of over 515 million. The Union has developed into the superpower prophesied by Daniel, and it will provide the base of operations for the Antichrist when he makes his move to take over the world.

The Likely Scenario

Now that this prophesied end-time pattern of nations is in place for the first time ever, what is likely to be the outcome of international politics?

The Bible says that as we approach the threshold of the Tribulation, leading up to the day of the Lord’s return, the world will become increasingly hostile to Israel. In fact, we are told that the whole world will come together against Israel over the issue of Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:2-3).

That is precisely where we are today in the end-time scenario of events. The Arab nations are demanding sovereignty over Jerusalem. The European Union is insisting that the city be divided between the Arabs and the Jews. The United Nations would like to see the city internationalized, and the Vatican would like to see it put under its control. Even Israel’s greatest ally, the United States, is pressuring the Jews to surrender a part of the city.

President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in December of 2017 served to intensify the word’s hatred of Israel. Again, this was in fulfillment of the prophecy in Zechariah 12:3, which says that “all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.”

A War for Jerusalem

All of this international pressure is leading up to a major conflagration over the control of the city. When the war breaks out – most likely, the war of Psalm 83 – the Israelis will win it quickly, prompting the Palestinians to send out a call for help to the Arab world.

The Syrians are most likely the ones who will jump in first, due to their implacable hatred of the Jews. They will target both Tel Aviv and Haifa with missiles, and the only way Israel will be able to survive is to retaliate with its own missiles, possibly using nuclear warheads. This would explain the fact that Bible prophecy clearly states that Damascus, the capital of Syria, will cease to exist in the end-times (Isaiah 17:1-14 and Jeremiah 49:23-27). 

The whole Arab world will be thrown into a panic over the destruction of Damascus, and the Arab leaders will turn to their natural ally for help – Russia. The Russians will respond gleefully to the Arab invitation because they will see it as an opportunity not only to destroy Israel, but to seize the Arab oil fields of the Middle East. This is most likely the “plunder” that will draw them into the area (Ezekiel 38:12).

The Russian troops will be destroyed supernaturally on the hills of Israel. It will happen in such a way that even the Israelis will realize that the defeat came from God, and many Jewish hearts will be turned to the Lord (Ezekiel 39:1-6).

The Rise of the Antichrist

At this point, the whole world will be thrown into a panic, and into that atmosphere will step a dynamic, charismatic political leader from Europe who will seem to have all the answers. He will broker an amazing settlement for the Middle East that will enable the Jews to truly live in peace and even to rebuild their temple.

He will use his success in the Middle East to consolidate his control over the European Union, and he will use that empire as his base for launching a war to take over the world. He will be spectacularly successful, due to his ruthlessness. He will slaughter one=half of the world’s population in a nuclear war that will enable him to become the first person in history to conquer all the nations of the world. He will combine them into the final Gentile empire of history which he will rule from Rome (Daniel 7:23-26, Daniel 8:23-26 and Revelation 6-9).

China

Because China has emerged as one of the world’s superpowers, people are increasingly asking what role the nation will play in the end-times.

Not much is said about the Asian nations because the focus of end-time prophecy is the Middle East and the Jewish people. But there is a mention of Asian forces in the book of Revelation. It says in chapter 9 that an army of 200 million will march toward Israel during the Tribulation, killing one-third of mankind in the process (Revelation 9:13-19).

Some argue that this is a demonic army, and it could be. But later in Revelation, we are told that near the end of the Tribulation, the Euphrates River will be dried up supernaturally to enable “the kings form the east” to cross into the Holy Land (Revelation 16:12). The prophet Daniel seems to refer to this army when he says the Antichrist will be deeply disturbed by rumors of armies coming against him (Daniel 11:44).

My best guess is that when the Antichrist becomes obsessed with the annihilation of the Jewish people during the second half of the Tribulation, his worldwide empire will begin to fall apart due to neglect. The Asian nations will then revolt and send armies to the Middle East to overthrow him, and all these armies – those of the Antichrist and those of China (and likely India) – will be wiped out in an instant when Jesus returns to the Mound of Olives and speaks a supernatural word of destruction (Zechariah 14:1-15).

The Nagging Question

All of which brings us full circle to the most frequently asked question in Bible prophecy today: Where is the United States in these end-time events? What role will we play? And if the Bible is silent about us, how is that to be explained? After all, we are the nation that dominates world politics at the very time when all the times point to a quick fulfillment of these end-time prophecies.

For the answer to this question, let’s got to chapter 12. 

12: The United States in Prophecy

Will America play a central or peripheral role?

Where is the United States in Bible prophecy? It is a question I am asked wherever I go. It is only natural that we should wonder. Since the United States is not mentioned specifically by name in Bible prophecy, people have resorted to their imaginations to find our nation in the Scriptures.

A "tall and smooth people”?

Some have pointed to Isaiah 18, which speaks of a people “tall and smooth” who are “feared far and wide.” The passage further states that this is a “powerful nation whose land the rivers divide.” The chapter ends by stating that the people of this nation will bring “a gift of homage” to the Lord when He returns to reign from Mt. Zion.

Because these verses speak of a powerful nation whose land is divided by a great river, some have jumped to the conclusion that the nation is the United States since it is divided by the Mississippi River. They further argue that we are a people who are tall and clean-shaven, and that our military might is feared throughout the world. Finally, they argue that since we are a Christian nation, we would certainly bring gifts to the Lord when He returns.

But the opening verses of this chapter indicate it is speaking of “Cush,” the ancient name of Ethiopia. At the time Isaiah wrote this passage, Ethiopia was the seat of the powerful 25th Egyptian Dynasty (730-660 BC). The river referred to is undoubtedly the Nile.

Isaiah 18 has nothing to do with the United States in prophecy, and even if it did, it would not answer the question about the role of America in end-time world politics. It is a prophecy about the millennial reign of Jesus that will be established after His return. 

A “village” of Tarshish?

Probably one of the most popular passages where people claim to have found the United States is in Ezekiel 38 where the prophet describes an invasion of Israel that will be launched in the end-times by a nation “from the remote parts of the north.” The descriptive verses about the northern power make it clear that this nation is Russia. What is not so clear is where the U.S. fits into this invasion.

Those who find us in the passage point to Ezekiel 38:13 which says that “the merchants of Tarshish and all its villages” (or “young lions” depending on the translation) will speak out against the invasion. The argument is that Tarshish is Britain and the “villages” or “young lions” are the English-speaking nations like the U.S. and Australia that were founded by British immigrants.

To say the least, this is a highly imaginative interpretation. Its validity is seriously questioned by the fact that no one knows for certain the true identity of “Tarshish.” Furthermore, recent archaeological developments indicate that Tarshish was most likely ancient Tartessus in modern day Spain.

Tarshish is used in Scripture as a symbol of the areas west of Israel. Therefore, the most likely meaning of Ezekiel’s statement is that the nations of Western Europe will speak out against the Russian-led invasion of Israel in the end-times.

One thing is certain – Ezekiel 38 does not settle the search for America in prophecy.

A “great eagle”?     

Another favorite passage for applied imagination is Revelation 12:13-17. These verses state in Israel. They will flee into the wilderness to a hiding place on the “wings of a great eagle.”

Some people have seized on this imagery to teach that the United Sates, whose national symbol is the eagle, will supply the end-time air lift that will save the Jewish remnant.

But the Bible is its own best interpreter. And when you look up the phrase, “wings of an eagle,” you will find that it is the same one that God used in Exodus 19:4 to describe how He brought the Israelites out of Egypt: “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagle’s wings, and brought you to Myself.” The same imagery is used in Deuteronomy 32:11 where it speaks of God’s protection of Israel in the wilderness: “Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that hovers over its young, He [the Lord] spread His wings and caught them, He carried them on His pinions.”

God is often portrayed in the Scriptures symbolically as a protective bird. In Psalm 91 the reader is told to put his trust in God and He will “cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge” (Psalm 91:2, 4). In Psalm 17:8 David cries out to the Lord in a prayer, asking God to “hide me in the shadow of Your wings.” (See also Psalms 36:7, 57:1, 61:4, and 63:7.)

In Revelation 12, God is the “eagle,” not the United States. All the passage in Revelation 12 teaches is that God is going to supernaturally protect the Jewish people when they flee from the Antichrist into Jordan in the middle of the Tribulation.

“Babylon the great?”

This brings us to the final and most widely used passage for identifying the U.S. in Bible prophecy. It is Revelation 18 where the destruction of “Babylon the great” is described.

There is no doubt that the United States shares many similarities with the corrupt commercial empire depicted in this chapter. The empire is described as one that is in rebellion against God, to the point that it has become “a dwelling place of demons” (verse 2). It further states that the immorality of this empire has corrupted all the nations of the world (verse 3).

It is also made clear that this “Babylon the great” will completely dominate the world economy, and its destruction will result in the collapse of the economies of all nations (verses 9, 11, 17).

In the present international context, it certainly sounds like the United States. But, again, the Bible is its own best interpreter, and chapter 17 of Revelation makes it clear that “Babylon the great” is an empire whose capital is Rome, not Washington, D.C.

In Revelation 17:9 we are told that the seven heads of the beast (the Antichrist) are representative, in part, of “seven mountains.” In the Frist Century context, this could only be a reference to Rome, for it was known as “the city of seven hills.” This identification is further reinforced by verse 18 which states that the woman riding the beast “is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.” Again, there is only one city that could fit that description in the First Century context of the passage, and that is Rome.

The United States is not a fulfillment of Revelation 18. That chapter is describing the last Gentile world empire that will dominate the earth at the time of the Lord’s Second Coming. It is the empire of the Antichrist.

Some Conclusions

So, where is the United in Bible prophecy? A partial answer is that we are not mentioned directly and specifically. We are covered by general prophecies that relate to all nations, but beyond that, our end-time destiny is not specifically mentioned. 

General prophecies that apply to the United States include those that say all nations will be judged (Isaiah 34:2-3) and all nations will cease to exist except the nation of Israel (Jeremiah 30:11 and 46:28).

But how could God overlook the world’s most important and powerful nation? I don’t think He has. I believe America can be found in Bible prophecy, not specifically, but in prophetic type. In other words, I believe there is a nation in Scripture that is a forerunner of America in its origin, its purpose and its destiny.

America’s Prophetic Type

The biblical prophetic type of the United States I have in mind is the nation of Judah. This was the southern nation that was formed when the united kingdom of David and Solomon broke up after Solomon’s death. 

The northern nation of Israel, consisting of ten tribes, was born in rebellion, and it was never blessed by God. Throughout its 208 year history it never had one king who was considered to be righteous in the eyes of God.

In stark contrast, the southern kingdom of Judah, which contained both the city of Jerusalem and the Jewish temple, was blessed like no other nation that had ever existed. The nation was given eight righteous kings during its 344 years of existence. The combined rule of those kings constituted 224 years of the nation’s history. These included great men of God like Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah and Josiah. This godly leadership produced a nation blessed with freedom, prosperity, justice and peace.

But the nation’s greatest blessing was the presence of God Himself in the form of His Shekinah Glory which resided in the Jewish Temple’s Holy of Holies.

The American Parallel

No other nation has since been so richly blessed except the United States of America. God gave us a great expanse of territory filled with every conceivable natural resource. Additionally, He gave us the ingenuity to harness our natural resources and talents to produce the greatest wealth the world has ever known.

Like ancient Judah, God blessed us with godly political leaders who loved Him and who cherished freedom. He also gave us great spiritual leaders who preached the Gospel with zeal and developed a citizenry grounded in Christian principles of justice and brotherhood.

And working through our wealth and churches, the Lord sent forth missionaries all over the world to establish churches and translate the Bible into many languages.

It would be great if we could conclude our comparison of Judah and America at this point. But unfortunately, the parallels in the histories of the two nations do not end here.

Pride and Rebellion

When Judah reached the height of her glory as a nation, the people began to wallow in pride, and this led to rebellion against God and His Word.

Often when I am asked, “Where is the United States in Bible Prophecy?” I respond by saying, “Look in Isaiah chapter 5. Or consider Jeremiah 5 and 6.” I say that because these chapters contain an inventory of the national sins of Judah as catalogued by Isaiah and Jeremiah, and they are the same sins that characterize American society today.

Destruction

Judah refused to repent, and God finally responded by sending the Babylonians to destroy the nation. One of the saddest passages in the Bible is found in 2 Chronicles 36 where the writer describes God’s painful decision to destroy His beloved nation of Judah. It reads as follows:

15) And the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place;

16) But they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, until there was no remedy.

Judah was destroyed for committing the same sins that characterize the United States today. Why should our fate be any different?

We have been blessed like Judah.

We have sinned like Judah.

We are now being warned like Judah.

We are responding like Judah.

The conclusion seems inescapable: We are heading for the same fate as Judah.

What is that fate likely to be? What form will it take? We can only guess, because the Bible is silent.

Economic Collapse

The first thing that comes to mind is an economic catastrophe that could result from our out of control debt situation. The official outstanding debt of the U.S. government as of May 2020 was 24 trillion dollars. That amounted to $76,700 per person or $167,800 per taxpayer. And the Congress was in the process of quickly adding several trillion more to that amount through the enactment of stimulus packages in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

To make things worse, that total did not include unfunded Medicare and Social Security promises which totaled $52 trillion. And then there was state and local debt of $3 trillion plus an incredible amount of unfunded debt for out-of-control state and local pension systems. Personal debt totaled $14 trillion or $42,424 per person!

These figures make it clear that our nation and its citizens are debt junkies. We are living on money we do not have and will never have, and sooner or later the weight of this debt is going to collapse our economy.

I believe an unprecedented economic collapse is highly likely because money is the real god of America, and the true God of this universe is a jealous One who does not tolerate idolatry. God, by His very nature, is going to be compelled to destroy our false god.

External Attack

Another possible fate for the United States is destruction from a Russian nuclear attack. This, of course, could happen in conjunction with an economic collapse, or it could be the cause of that collapse.

The reason a Russian attack is so likely is because the Bible says that the Russians will lead an end-time invasion of Israel (Ezekiel 38 and 39). Since we are Israel’s only ally, it seems inconceivable to me that the Russians would attack Israel without unleashing a preemptive nuclear attack on us in order to prevent us from coming to Israel’s defense. 

This attack may be hinted at in Ezekiel 39:6 where it says that at the time of the Russian invasion, fire will fall on “those who inhabit the coastlands in safety.” The Russian attack would come most probably from submarines deployed off our East or West coasts. Each Russian submarine carries more fire power than all the bombs dropped in World War II. Such an attack would give us only seven minutes, not even enough time to launch a counter attack.

Some argue that since the collapse of the Soviet government, Russia is now too weak to launch any attack against Israel or the United States. It is true that the economy of Russia is in shambles, but the military power is intact, including thousands of nuclear warheads. The truth of the matter is that Russia is far more dangerous today than before the Soviet collapse. The increased danger is due to Russian expansionist desires and the instability of their economy.

Internal Attack

Another way in which American power could be rapidly dissipated is through internal terrorist attacks. Just stop and think for a moment about the overwhelming impact that the 9/11 attack had upon our society and economy. In the months that followed, the stock markets lost over 7 trillion dollars in value. The travel industry (airlines and hotels) was devastated. Civil liberties were severely curtailed. And don’t forget that our national government was brought to a standstill by the subsequent anthrax scare.

Multiply such terrorist attacks, including the poisoning of water supplies and explosion of “dirty bombs” containing nuclear waste materials, and you can readily see how our nation could be brought to its knees. In fact, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that terrorists could detonate an atomic bomb that has been smuggled into one of our major ports aboard a cargo ship.

No matter how vigilant we may be, in the final analysis, there is no way to protect against terrorists who have no regard for their own lives, much less those who believe that dying for their cause will guarantee their entry into paradise. 

Internal Rot

Internal collapse could also result from the moral rot that has our nation by its throat. This is what ultimately destroyed the Roman Empire, and it is what led to the sudden collapse of Soviet Russia.

As we have abandoned our Judeo-Christian heritage, we have evolved into an amoral society that has lost its respect for the sanctity of life. Individualism has been carried to the brink of anarchy as everyone does what is right in his own eyes. Greed is fracturing our society between young and old, rich and poor, black and white. Class warfare could easily deteriorate into civil warfare with outbreaks of uncontrollable violence in our major cities. 

Another Alternative

There is another scenario that could explain the silence about America in the Scriptures, and it is the one I am hoping for. What I have in mind is the possibility that the United States might be suddenly destroyed by the Rapture of the Church.

There is no doubt that the Rapture would devastate contemporary America. We have more born again Christians than any other nation in the world – more than all of Western Europe and England combined.

Furthermore, we have many evangelical Christians in high positions of leadership, in both government and business. The sudden removal of these people would throw our whole society into chaos.

Our Ultimate National Destiny

Regardless of how we are removed from the international scene as a world power, we are most likely to end up absorbed into the European Union as one of its member state. This seems only natural in view of all the historic and cultural ties we have with that part of the world.

One thing is for sure – however our nation might be destroyed, we will not be able to blame God. He has patiently sent one prophetic voice after another to call our nation to repentance and to warn of His impending judgement. (See my book, God’s Prophetic Voices of America.) He has also called us to repentance through remedial judgments like the Vietnam War, the 9/11 attacks, Hurricane Katrina, the Great Recession of 2007-2009, and the coronavirus epidemic and its ensuing economic debacle.

To all these warning, we have turned a deaf ear and a cold heart. In the process, we have sealed our fate. 

13: Babylon in Prophecy

Will it be the headquarters of the Antichrist?

Whenever a war breaks out in the Middle East, prophetic speculation always shifts into high gear, and that is understandable since end-time Bible prophecy focuses on the Middle East and mentions several wars that will take place there.

Common Speculations

The first question seems always to be whether or not the war is the War of Armageddon. I guess this question is a natural one because this is the prophetic war that people have heard the most about. But that war is one that will occur at the end of the Tribulation, following a seven year period of unparalleled destruction on the earth.

Those who are more familiar with Bible prophecy often speculate as to whether any new war in the Middle East might be the War of Gog and Magog. Actually, Bible prophecy talks about two wars of God and Magog. One occurs around the beginning of the Tribulation, most likely in the time gap between the Rapture and the start of the Tribulation. This war consists of a Russian coalition of Islamic nations that invade Israel and are supernaturally destroyed by God (Ezekiel 38:18-22 and 39:1-6).

The other War of Gog and Magog occurs at the end of the Millennium when once again the peoples of Russia rally the whole world to attack the throne of Jesus in Jerusalem. The nations that join this revolt are also supernaturally destroyed (Revelation 20:7-10).

New Speculations

I was astonished to hear one of the best known teachers of Bible prophecy propose a new theory when the United States attacked Iraq in March of 2003. He speculated that the war was a fulfillment of a prophecy in Jeremiah 50:9 which reads as follows:

For behold, I am going to arouse and bring up against Babylon a horde of great nations from the land of the north, and they will draw up their battle lines against her; from there she will be taken captive. Their arrows will be like an expert warrior…

The first problem with this interpretation is that it violates the context in which the passage is found. That context is the destruction of the Antichrist’s kingdom that will take place at the end of the Tribulation. The second problem is that the U.S. led coalition was anything but a “horde of great nations.” We had three allies who supplied combat troops: England, Australia and Poland. And the invasion certainly did not come from the north. It came out of Kuwait, from the southeast.

Incredibly, this prophecy teacher, who was determined to force this passage on the War in Iraq, tried to argue that the invasion really came from the north because, as he put it, “If you will check the latitude line that runs through Baghdad, you will find that it is the same one that runs through Savannah, Georgia, and thus the majority of the United States lies north of Baghdad.” To say the least, I was dumbfounded by this lame attempt to twist the Scriptures to fit this teacher’s preconceived idea.

The most popular new speculation that I found all over the Internet was one that argued the United States is Babylon and would therefore experience and overwhelming defeat in Iraq in accordance with the prophecies contained in Isaiah 13 and 14 and Jeremiah 50 and 51. The outcome of the war put an end to this speculation.

A more credible speculation that many outstanding Bible prophecy teachers proposed was that the War in Iraq would lead to the destruction of Baghdad and the subsequent rise of Babylon as the new capital of Iraq. This speculation also failed to materialize because of the precision bombing that was aimed almost exclusively at military targets.

A Biblical Speculation

The speculation about the rise of Babylon in the end-times is biblically based. This is the reason that Tim LaHaye, in his “Left Behind” series of books, presented Babylon as the capital city of the Antichrist’s world kingdom.

Let’s take a look at the biblical basis of this assumption. It begins in the Hebrew Scriptures in Isaiah 13 where the prophet says that Babylon will be destroyed in “the day of the Lord” (Isaiah 13:6,9). This terminology is a clear reference to the end-times and, of course, Babylon cannot be destroyed unless it is rebuilt.

Isaiah 14:1-17 says that the king of Babylon at the time of its end-time destruction will be an oppressor of unparalleled ruthlessness. This is an image that certainly brings to mind the Antichrist.

The book of Revelation in the New Testament confirms these Old Testament prophecies. Revelation 17 associates the end-time apostate world religion with Babylon. And in a similar manner, Revelation 18 associates the political empire of the Antichrist with Babylon.

Consider Revelation 18:1-10. This passage clearly teaches that Babylon will be the capital city of the Antichrist and that at the end of the Tribulation, the city will be destroyed in one hour of one day (Revelation 18:8,10).

Now, in view of these biblical passages from both the Old and New Testaments, you might wonder how anyone who takes Bible prophecy seriously could doubt that Babylon will be rebuilt and serve s the seat of power of the Antichrist. Yet, there are many outstanding Bible prophecy teachers, like Dave Hunt and Ed Hindson, who argue that Babylon will never be rebuilt and that the world headquarters of the Antichrist will be Rome.

The Argument for Rome

Let’s take a look at the other side of the argument – that the Babylon of the end-times will really be modern day Rome.

There are two reasons that are usually given as to why the end-time Babylon may not be the Babylon of Iraq:

1)   The Bible states that after Babylon is conquered by the Medes, it will become a heap of ruins and will never be rebuilt again.

2)   There is strong evidence that Babylon is used symbolically in the book of Revelation to refer to Rome.

The Fate of Babylon

With regard to Babylon being destroyed and never being rebuilt again, let’s take a look at Isaiah 13:

17) Behold, I am going to stir up the Medes against them [the Chaldeans]…

19) And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldean’s pride, will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

Those who argue for the rebuilding of Babylon discount this passage for several reasons. First, they argue it is an end-time prophecy referring to the destruction of Babylon at the end of the Tribulation.

But this simply is not true. The context is clearly speaking of the conquest of Babylon by the Medes. There certainly are end-time prophecies about Babylon in Isaiah 13, but this is not one of them. End-time prophecies are often mixed with contemporary prophecies. For example, in Luke 21 some of the prophecies about the destruction of Jerusalem pertain to 70 AD, whereas others refer to the end-times.

The Nature of Babylon’s Destruction

The second way people try to discount the clear meaning of Isaiah 13:17-20 is to argue that it could not refer to the Medes’ conquest of Babylon because that victory was so surprising and swift that it did not result in the destruction of the city. “the passage says Babylon will be destroyed in the same manner as Sodom and Gomorrah, and that means sudden, total destruction.”

It is true that the Medes conquered the city in a relatively bloodless and non-devastating manner. Supposedly, they dammed up the Euphrates River, which ran through the center of the city. Then, while the Babylonian rulers were in the midst of a drunken feast, the armies of the Medes simply waled down the dried-up riverbed, underneath the walls!

But the passage does not say that Babylon will be overthrown like Sodom and Gomorrah! That claim is based on an interpretation that the text does not justify. Read the passage carefully, it simply says that after the Medes conquer the city, it “will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.”

And this is exactly what happened. The city was conquered by the Medes in 539 BC. Thereafter, it went into a sharp decline. By the time Alexander the Great arrived 200 years later, it was in ruins. He announced his intentions to rebuild it, but he died suddenly before he could do anything. His generals abandoned the city and moved the capital to the Tigris River where they built a new city called Selucia.

Babylon became like Sodom and Gomorrah – a heap of ruins – and it has been in that condition ever since, just as prophesied in Isaiah 13.

Saddam’s Rebuilding

But those who believe Babylon will be rebuilt counter by asserting that its rebuilding was begun by Saddam Hussein.

It is true that Saddam built one of his many presidential palaces there, on the outskirts of the ancient city. But he did not rebuild the city for habitation. All he did was restore some of the ruins of Nebuchadnezzar’s palace as a tourist attraction. Modern day satellite photos of the site still show it to be an uninhabited heap of ruins.

Of course, with modern building techniques, the Antichrist could quickly build an international headquarters on the site, but Isaiah 13:20 says that once it is conquered by the Medes, “it will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation.”

The References in Revelation

So, what about the references in the book of Revelation which clearly indicate that Babylon will be the headquarters of the Antichrist during the Tribulation? The problem is that a qualifying term is used that makes it highly questionable that the meaning is literal Babylon.

The passage is Revelation 17:5. In the New American Standard Version, the translation introduces the reader to “a mystery, Babylon the Great.” The King James and New King James Versions both render the meaning as “Mystery Babylon the Great.”

Either way, the use of the qualifying word, mystery, strongly indicates that Babylon is to be taken symbolically. This conclusion is reinforced by Revelation 11:8 where Jerusalem is referred to symbolically as the city “which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt.” Notice again the use of the word mystically as a tip-off that the author is speaking symbolically.

In like manner, Peter uses Babylon as a symbol of Rome in 1 Peter 5:13. He was writing from Rome, and he closes the epistle by sending greetings from “the church which is in Babylon.” This statement makes it clear that among First Century Christians, Babylon was a nick-name for Rome.

Keep in mind that when John wrote Revelation, he was a Roman prisoner. He could not, therefore, make any disparaging references to Rome in his writings, so he used the nick-name of Babylon and even emphasized that it was a code word by referring to it as “Mystery Babylon.”

That John had Rome in mind is indicated later in chapter 17 of Revelation in two places. In verse 9 he refers to it as the city of “seven mountains.” In the first Century context, this could only refer to Rome, which was known as “the city of the seven hills.” In verse 18, John refers to the city as “the great city that reigns over the kings of the earth.” Again, this could only have been Rome in a First Century setting.

A Challenge

So, there you have it – a summary of all the arguments pro and con concerning whether or not the end-time capital of the Antichrist will be ancient Babylon or modern Rome. I challenge you to be a good Berean (Acts 17:10-11). Dig into the Scriptures, study diligently, and draw your own conclusions.

The important thing to keep in mind is that it doesn’t really make any difference whether it will be Babylon or Rome, because either way, Almighty God is going to destroy the city, its king, and all its sinful activities in one hour of one day (Revelation 18:8,10).

14: Jerusalem in Prophecy

Does it have a future?

There is no other city on the face of the earth as important as the city of Jerusalem. All the other great cities of the earth – New York, London, Moscow, Paris and even Rome – pale by comparison. What other city can claim to be “the city of God” or “the city of the Great King”? (Psalm 48).

God loves Jerusalem, and He intends to dwell in it eternally. Psalm 68:16 says that God has desired the mountain of Zion “for His abode” and that He intends to “dwell there forever.”

Psalm 132:13-14 contains a similar promise: “The Lord has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His habitation. ‘This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it.’”

When you read these kind of statements, you can understand why Jerusalem is identified in Ezekiel 5:5 as “the center of the nations” and in Ezekiel 38:12 as “the center of the earth.”

Jerusalem is where the Son of God shed His precious blood. It is where Jesus ascended into Heaven. It is where Jesus will return to be crowned King of kings. It is the city from which Jesus will reign over all the nations of the world (Isaiah 2:2-4).

And Jerusalem will be the scene of history’s last battle when Satan rallies the nations at the end of the Millennium and leads them in revolt against the Lord. Finally, Jerusalem is where God Himself will come to reside eternally with the Redeemed (Revelation 21:2-3).

It is no wonder that Jerusalem has always been an important topic of Bible prophecy.

Jewish Jerusalem

The first set of prophecies relating of Jerusalem are those that pertain to it as a Jewish capital before the time of Jesus. Keep in mind that the kingdom of David split into two nations after the death of his son Solomon.

The northern nation of Israel was totally apostate from the beginning. It was given over to idolatry and did not have one righteous king in its 200 year history. In sharp contrast, the southern nation of Judah was blessed with many righteous kings. It was also blessed with Jerusalem as its capital. And it was blessed even more by having the Shekinah glory of God residing in its temple.

But despite all these blessings, the people of Judah became proud and began to drift in their relationship with God. As the nation started to turn its back on God, the Lord mercifully raised up prophets to warn them and call them to repentance. When they refused to repent, the prophets prophesied that the city of Jerusalem would be destroyed and the nation would be taken into captivity.

The first of these prophesies was delivered by Micah in the 8th century BC about 130 years before the city was actually destroyed. Micah spoke out against both political and religious corruption, saying, “Her [Judah’s] leaders pronounce judgment for a bribe, Her priest’s instruct for a price, and her prophets divine for money” (Micah 3:11).

He lamented the fact that every time these leaders were called to repentance lest the city be destroyed, they always responded arrogantly by observing, “Is not the Lord in our midst? [A reference to the Shekinah Glory in the Temple.] Calamity will not come upon us.” To which Micah replied: “Therefore, on account of you, Zion will be plowed as a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the temple will become high places of a forest” (Micah 3:12).

One hundred years later Jeremiah also warned that Jerusalem would be destroyed (Jeremiah 7:12-15). Speaking for the Lord, Jeremiah declared, “I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant” (Jeremiah 9:11).

When the people refused to believe his words and even sought to kill him as a traitor, Jeremiah reminded them of the previous prophecy of Micah (Jeremiah 26:18). But the people still refused to repent, and the prophecies were fulfilled in 587 BC when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the city and its temple.

Gentile Jerusalem

After 70 years of captivity in Babylon, the Jews returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt their temple and their city. But they refused to receive their Messiah, and so they were given a second group of prophecies relating to a period of time when Jerusalem would fall under Gentile control.

Jesus Himself delivered these important prophecies during the last week of His life. As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives talking with His disciples, He pointed at Jerusalem and its temple and said: “As for these things which you are looking at, the days will come in which there will not be left one stone upon another which will not be torn down” (Luke 21:6). 

Later, in the same discourse, Jesus stated that the city would be surrounded by armies which would proceed to desolate it (Luke 21:20). Referring to the Jews in the city at that time, he said, “they will fall by the edge of the sword and will be led captive into all the nations…” (Luke 21:24a).

These prophecies were fulfilled 40 years later when the Romans, under Titus, completely destroyed the city, including the temple.

But notice, Jesus made another prophecy about the city in the same speech: He said, “Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” (Luke 21:24b). The Romans were followed by the Byzantines, and they were succeeded, in order, by the Muslims, the Crusaders, the Mamelukes, the Turks, The British and the Jordanians.

Just as Jesus prophesied, the city suffered under a long period of Gentile control until June 7, 1967 when – for the first time in 1,897 years – the Jews regained sovereignty over the city. It was on that day that Rabbi Shlomo Goren went to the Western Wall and cried out: “I proclaim to you the beginning of the Messianic Age.”

The third group of prophecies about the city explain why he said these words.

End-time Jerusalem

Four hundred years before Jesus, the prophet Zechariah gave a remarkable series of prophecies about the events that would affect Jerusalem in the end-times, right before the Second Coming of the Messiah. These prophecies are recorded in Zechariah 12:1-6. Specifically, the prophecies are as follows:

·    The Jews will be back in the land of Israel.

·    The Jews will be back in the city of Jerusalem.

·    The Israeli army will be like a “firepot among pieces of wood.”

·    Jerusalem will become the focal point of world politics

·    All the nations of the world will come together against Jerusalem.

Please note that these are prophecies that have been fulfilled! The Jews are back in their land and their city. Despite the minuscule size of the nation, its military forces are considered to be among the most powerful in the world. They have truly been like a “flaming torch among sheaves” in war after war.

Israel became the focal point of world politics in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War. When the West came to the aid of Israel, the Arabs pulled an oil boycott (remember those long gas lines?), bringing the Western nations to their knees. The result was that all the nations of Western Europe withdrew their support form Israel and either took a neutral position or else lined up with the Arabs in their determination to annihilate the Jewish state.

Concerning the last prophecy cited above, in just the past few years, all the nations of the world have come against Israel. This includes the United States under Presidents George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George Bush and Barack Obama. President Donald Trump, who finally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, nonetheless showed determination to force Israel to surrender much of its heartland of Judea and Samaria.

Zechariah lists some other end-time prophecies regarding Jerusalem that have not yet been fulfilled. These exciting prophecies are contained in Zechariah 12:8-10. They state that the Lord will defend Jerusalem against its enemies and that the result of all the end-time battles will be the repentance of a great remnant of the Jews “who will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, like the bitter weeping over a firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10). In response, the Lord will save this remnant by opening a fountain of salvation in Jerusalem “for sin and for impurity” (Zechariah 13:1).

In chapter 14, Zechariah describes in detail how the Lord will rescue Jerusalem at the last moment when there appears to be no hope: “Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle” (Zechariah 14:3). He will speak a supernatural plague that will kill all the enemy soldiers in their tracks (Zechariah 14:12). Verse 9 tells us that the outcome of this momentous day will be the coronation of Jesus as “king over all the earth.”

This wonderful promise introduces us to the fourth category of prophecies that relate to Jerusalem.

Millennial Jerusalem

A glorious day is coming for Jerusalem, for when the Lord returns, He is going to reign over all the world for a thousand years, and His reign of peace, righteousness and justice will be based in Jerusalem: “For from Zion will go forth the law, even the world of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3 and Micah 4:2).

Jerusalem will be the political, economic, and religious center of the world (Micah 4:1-7).

The city will be very different from the one we know today. The great worldwide earthquake that will occur when Jesus returns will radically change the earth’s topography, including that of Jerusalem (Isaiah 40:4, Revelation 6:12 and Revelation 16:18). The Bible indicates that Jerusalem will be greatly expanded in area and will be lifted up higher, perhaps becoming the highest point on the earth (Zechariah 14:10).

The city will be considerably enlarged and greatly beautified, and the most magnificent temple in history will be built in the midst of it under the personal supervision of the Messiah. That temple is described in detail in chapters 40-48 of Ezekiel.

The glory of Jerusalem in those days is best summarized in Isaiah 62:1-7 where we are told that the city will be “a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord” (verse 3). The prophet also says the city will be “a praise in the earth” (verse 7). For the first time in its long bloody history, it will be a refuge of peace (Joel 3:16-17) and Zephaniah 3:14-20). 

It will also be the greatest wonder on the earth. Think about it – it will house the Prince of Peace and will contain His temple. It will also serve once more as the home of God’s spectacular Shekinah Glory. But that glory will not be contained within the Holy of Holies. Incredibly, Isaiah says that the Shekinah will hover over the whole city of Jerusalem as a cloud by day and a fire by night, providing a canopy to protect the city from heat and rain (Isaiah 4:5-6).

Zechariah says the nations of the world will send delegations to Jerusalem each year to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. And the last verse of Ezekiel says that in that day the Hebrew name of the city will be changed from Yerusaliam to Yahweh-Semmah, meaning “The Lord is there” (Ezekiel 48:35).

Eternal Jerusalem

Finally, the prophets tell us that the millennial Jerusalem will be replaced by a New Jerusalem which Jesus is preparing thin Heaven now.

At the end of the Millennium, after the earth has been renovated by fire, the New Jerusalem will be lowered down to the New Earth, and the Redeemed, in their new glorified bodies, will live in tis new city in the presence of Almighty God, who will come down from Heaven to live forever with His children (Revelation 21:1-3).

This very clear teaching from the book of Revelation comes as a shock to a lot of Christians who have always been taught that they will live eternally in an ethereal world called Heaven.

What an amazing city this New Jerusalem will be! The Apostle John devotes 24 verses to its detailed description in Revelation 21 and 22. It will be a 1,500 mile cube with 12 foundations made of precious stones – each one named for one of the 12 Apostles. Likewise, there will be 12 pearly gates, one named for each tribe of Israel. The wall will be made of jasper. The city itself will be pure gold, like clear glass.

Have you ever stopped to think about the shape and size of this phenomenal city? For example, why will it be 1,500 miles high? The reason, most likely, is that in our glorified bodies, we will be immune to the laws of gravity. We will thus be able to utilize all the space of the city, and not just the ground floor.

And how much space will we have? Will there be enough for all the Redeemed? Henry Morris, founder of the Institute of Creation Research, calculated the space that would exist for each person, assuming that at least 50% of the area would be used for common purposes (streets, parks, recreation centers, ect.) and assuming that 20 billion people have been saved in the course of human history. The result is astounding: each person would have a cube with 74 acres on each surface! That’s certainly more space than most of us have now.

The Message for Us

What does all this mean for you and me?

First, it means that God is faithful. Just as He has fulfilled prophecies about Jerusalem in the past and is doing so now, we can be confident that He will continue to do so in the future. There is going to be a millennial Jerusalem and there is going to be an eternal one, and we, the Redeemed, are going to be richly blessed by both – beyond anything we can imagine.

Second, the record of Jerusalem in prophecy means that God is sovereign. He is in control. Even when everything seems to be out of control here on earth, we can be assured that God has the wisdom and power to orchestrate all the evil of Mankind to the triumph of His will in history.

Third, God is calling you and me to live with an eternal perspective. In Hebrews 11 we are told that Abraham lived by faith as “an alien” in this world, “looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God’ (Hebrews 11:9-10). Isn’t that interesting? Abraham did not consider his arrival in the Promised Land to be the fulfillment of God’s promises to him. Rather, he lived yearning for his ultimate reward, namely, life with God in an eternal city – the New Jerusalem.

In Hebrews 11:13 it says that all the heroes of the faith who are listed in that chapter lived their lives as “strangers and exiles on the earth” because they desired the city which God had prepared for them. The book of Hebrews concludes with a reminder to us that in this world we do not have a lasting city. Instead, we are to seek “the city which is to come” (Hebrews 13:14).

Jesus is adding rooms to that city right now to accommodate the members of His body (John 14:1-4). Let us therefore live as aliens and strangers in this world, never becoming comfortable with it. Let us live looking for the coming of the Lord (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

And let us live praying for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6), realizing that in doing so we are really praying or the return of the Lord, for Jerusalem will never experience true peace until the Prince of Peace returns.

15: The Church in Prophecy

Is it destined for the Tribulation or Heaven?

One of the hottest debates in prophecy today revolves around the question of whether or not the Church will go through the Tribulation or be taken to Heaven before it begins in an event called the Rapture.

The concept that the Church will be taken out of the world before the Tribulation begins is called the “Pre-Tribulation Rapture.” It is a comforting thought, but is it biblical?

The Term

Before we consider the timing of the Rapture, let’s make sure you understand the concept of the Rapture. This is essential because I happen to know that many people have gone to church all their lives and have never even heard of the Rapture.

That was certainly true in my case. After my first thirty years of church attendance, if you had asked me to define the Rapture, I probably would have said, “It’s a sensation you feel when your girlfriend kisses you.”

I have often heard preachers assert that the Rapture is an unbiblical concept because the word cannot be found in the Bible. Well, that depends upon what Bible you are reading.

The only Bible used by Western civilization for 1,200 years was the Latin Vulgate. The term, Rapture, is derived from the Latin word, rapiere, which appears in this Bible. The word means to catch up, to snatch away or to take out.

The word can be found in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. In the New American Standard Version, the English phrase, “caught up,” is used. The same phrase is used in the King James and New International versions.

A Promise to the Church

The concept of the Rapture was not revealed to the Old Testament prophets because it is a promise to the New Testament Church and not to the saints of God who lived before the establishment of the Church.

The saints of Old Testament times will be resurrected at the end of the Tribulation and not at the time of the Rapture of the Church. Daniel reveals this fact in Daniel 12:1-2 where he says that the saints of that age will be resurrected at the end of the time of distress.”

Biblical References

The first clear mention of the Rapture in Scripture is found in the words of Jesus recorded in John 14:1-4. Jesus said, “I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” Notice that there is no mention here of Jesus coming to earth. He is not talking about His Second Coming.

The most detailed revelation of the actual events related to the Rapture is given by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. He says that when Jesus appears, the dead in Christ (Church Age saints) will be resurrected and caught up to meet the Lord in the sky. Then, those of us who are alive in Christ will follow. We will also meet the Lord in the air and be taken back with Him to Heaven. Paul then exhorts us to “comfort one another with these words” (verse 18).

Paul mentions the Rapture again in 1 Corinthians 15 — his famous chapter on the resurrection of the dead:

Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet (verses 51 and 52).

Paul’s reference here to being changed is an allusion to the fact that the saints will receive glorified bodies that will be perfected, imperishable and immortal (1 Corinthians 15:42-44,50-55). This promise applies to both the living and dead in Christ at the time of the Rapture. The dead will be resurrected and glorified, Likewise, the living will be translated from mortal to immortal. That means the generation of Christians who are living at the time of the Rapture will not experience death.

The Timing

The most controversial aspect of the Rapture is its timing. Some place it at the end of the Tribulation, making it one and the same event as the Second Coming. Others place it in the middle of the Tribulation. Still others believe that it will occur before the Tribulation begins.

The reason for these differing viewpoints is that the exact time of the Rapture is not precisely revealed in Scripture. It is only implied. There is, therefore, room for honest differences of opinion, and lines of fellowship should certainly not be drawn over differences regarding this point, even though it is an important point.

Post-Tribulation Rapture

Those who place the timing at the end of the Tribulation usually base their argument on two parables in Matthew 13 and on the Lord’s Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24.

In Matthew 24 the Lord portrays His gathering of the saints as an event that will take place “immediately after the tribulation of those days” (Matthew 24:29). This certainly sounds like a Post-Tribulation Rapture. But it must be kept in mind that the book of Matthew was written to the Jews, and therefore the recording of Jesus’ speech by Matthew has a distinctively Jewish flavor to it as compared to Luke’s record of the same speech, which was aimed at the Church.

Note, for example, Matthew’s references to Judea and to Jewish law regarding travel on the Sabbath (Matthew 24:15-20). These are omitted in Luke’s account. Instead, Luke speaks of the saints looking up for deliverance “to escape all these things” when the end-time signs “begin to take place” (Luke 21:28,36). The saints in Matthew are instructed to flee from Judea and hide. The saints in Luke are told to look up for deliverance.

It appears, therefore, that Matthew and Luke are speaking of two different sets of saints. The saints in Matthew’s account are Jews who receive Jesus as their Messiah during the Tribulation. The saints in Luke are those who receive Christ before the Tribulation begins. Most of those who accept the Lord during the Tribulation will be martyred (Revelation 7:9-14). Those who live to the end will be gathered by the angels of the Lord (Matthew 24:31).

The parable of the wheat and tares (Matthew 13:24-30) and the parable of the dragnet (Matthew 13:47-50) can be explained in the same way. They refer to a separation of saints and sinners that will take place at the end of the Tribulation. The saints are those who receive Jesus as their Savior during the Tribulation (Gentile and Jew) and who live to the end of that awful period.

Mid-Tribulation Rapture

There are variations of the Mid-Tribulation Rapture concept. The most common is that the Church will be taken out in the exact middle of the Tribulation, at the point in time when the Antichrist is revealed.

This concept is based upon a statement in 1 Corinthians 15:52 which says that the Rapture will occur at the blowing of “the last trumpet.” Mid-Tribulation supporters then identify this trumpet with the seventh trumpet of the trumpet judgments in the book of Revelation. Since the blowing of the seventh trumpet is recorded in Revelation 11, the mid-point of the Tribulation, the conclusion is that the Rapture must occur in the middle of the Tribulation.

But there are two problems with this interpretation. The first is that the last trumpet of 1 Corinthians 15 is blown for believers whereas the seven trumpets of Revelation 8, 9 and 11 are sounded for unbelievers. The Revelation trumpets have no relevance for the Church. The last trumpet of 1 Corinthians 15 is a trumpet for the righteous. The last trumpet for the unrighteous is the one described in Revelation 11.

Another problem with this interpretation is that the passage in Revelation 11 that portrays the sounding of the seventh trumpet is a “flash forward” to the end of the Tribulation. Flash forwards are very common in the book of Revelation. They occur after something terrible is described in order to assure the reader that everything is going to turn out all right when Jesus returns at the end of the Tribulation.

Thus, the eighth and ninth chapters of Revelation, which describe the horrors of the trumpet judgments, are followed immediately by a flash forward in chapter 10 that pictures the return of Jesus in victory at the end of the Tribulation. The mid-Tribulation action resumes in chapter 11 with a description of the killing of the two great prophets of God by the Antichrist. Then, to offset that terrible event, we are presented with another flash forward, beginning with verse 15. The seventh trumpet is sounded and we find ourselves propelled forward to the end of the Tribulation when “the kingdom of the world becomes the kingdom of our Lord.”

The point is that the seventh trumpet of Revelation relates to the end of the Tribulation and not the middle. It is therefore no basis for an argument in behalf of a Mid-Tribulation Rapture.

Pre-Wrath Rapture

A variation of the Mid-Tribulation Rapture is the Pre-Wrath Rapture concept that places the Rapture at the beginning of the last quarter of the Tribulation, about 5 1/2 years into the Tribulation.

The cornerstone of this concept is that the terrifying events during the first half of the Tribulation are due to the wrath of Man and Satan, and not to God. Since the Church is only promised protection from the wrath of God, the Rapture will not occur until near the end of the Tribulation when God will pour out His wrath on the world.

This concept raises a serious theological problem because it questions the sovereignty of God. It assumes that Man and Satan can act apart from God’s will, when the fact of the matter is that neither can do anything God is not willing to permit.

The Bible often portrays God carrying out His will through evil persons or nations. One of the classic examples is when He allowed the evil nation of Babylon to discipline Israel by destroying Jerusalem and the temple and by carrying the surviving Jews away into captivity. It was an action that prompted the prophet Habakkuk to ask why God would punish those who are evil with those who are more evil (Habakkuk 1:13).

Any carnage wrought by Man or Satan during the Tribulation will still constitute the wrath of God. They will simply be His instruments. The Bible says God sits in the heavens and laughs over the plots and deeds of evil men, not because He does not care, but because He has everything under control (Psalm 2:1-6). The point is that He has the wisdom and power to orchestrate all evil to the triumph of His will in history. That’s why the psalmist wrote that “the wrath of man shall praise You [God]” (Psalm 76:10).

I think it is also important to note that when God pours out His wrath, He does not always do so directly. One of His most common ways is to simply back away from the nation or person and lower the hedge of protection around them. This is called abandonment wrath.

This is clearly spelled out in Romans 1:18-32. That passage says that when people rebel against God to the point that they begin to worship the creation rather than the Creator, God “gives them over” to the evil in their hearts. In other words, He just steps back and lets evil multiply.

The passage further states that if they still refuse to repent, He steps back again and “gives them over to degrading passions.” And if they persist in their rebellion and sin, He finally “gives them over to a depraved mind” at which point the society destroys itself. Such destruction could be viewed as the wrath of Man, but it is really the wrath of God working through Man.

Other Problems with Pre-Wrath

There is another serious problem with the Pre-Wrath Rapture concept. It relates to the fact that all the wrath of Revelation is specifically portrayed as the wrath of God.

Where do the Seal Judgments originate? The answer is from the throne of God as Jesus opens each seal of the scroll that was in the Father’s right hand (Revelation 6:1). And where do the Trumpet Judgments originate? The same place — from the throne of God (Revelation 8:2). When we arrive at the Bowl Judgments in Revelation 15:1, we are told that with them, “the wrath of God is finished.”

Another problem with the Pre-Wrath Rapture concept is that it does violence to the chronological order of Revelation. The Seal Judgments are viewed as the wrath of Man and Satan, occurring during the first half of the Tribulation. The Trumpet and Bowl Judgments are considered to be the wrath of God. They are lumped together at the end of the Tribulation. There is no justification for putting the Trumpet Judgments at the end of the Tribulation. They are clearly placed in the first half of the Tribulation in the chronological layout of the book of Revelation.

One final problem with the Pre-Wrath concept of the Rapture is that it disputes the fact that there is no purpose for the Church being in the Tribulation. The Tribulation is the 70th week of Daniel, a time devoted to God accomplishing His purposes among the Jewish people, not the Church.

Some argue that there is definitely a purpose for the Church in the Tribulation, and that is to purify it by subjecting it to God’s wrath. This concept is absurd and even blasphemous. The Church has been purified by the blood of Jesus — and that is sufficient. To argue that the Church must be purified in the Tribulation is to convert the Tribulation into a Protestant purgatory.

The Pre-Tribulation Rapture

I believe the best inference of Scripture is that the Rapture will occur before the beginning of the Tribulation. The most important reason I believe this has to do with the issue of imminence. Over and over in Scripture, we are told to watch for the appearing of the Lord. We are told to “be ready” (Matthew 24:44), to “be on the alert” (Matthew 24:42), to “be dressed in readiness” (Luke 12:35), and to “keep your lamps alight” (Luke 12:35). The clear force of these persistent warnings is that Jesus can appear at any moment.

Only the Pre-Tribulation concept of the Rapture allows for the imminence of the Lord’s appearing for His Church. When the Rapture is placed at any point after the beginning of the Tribulation, the imminence of the Lord’s appearing is destroyed because other prophetic events must happen first.

For example, if the Rapture is going to occur in mid-Tribulation, then why should I live looking for the Lord’s appearing at any moment? I should be looking instead for an Israeli peace treaty, the rebuilding of the temple and the revelation of the Antichrist. Then and only then could the Lord appear. (For further arguments in behalf of a Pre-Trib Rapture, see chapter 26.)

The Focus of Attention

This raises the issue of what we are to be looking for. Nowhere are believers told to watch for the appearance of the Antichrist. On the contrary, we are told to watch for Jesus Christ. In Titus 2:13 Paul says we are to live “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.” Likewise, Peter urges us to “fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13). John completes the apostolic chorus by similarly urging us to fix our hope on Jesus at His appearing (1 John 3:2-3).

Only Matthew speaks of watching for the Antichrist (Matthew 24:15), but he is speaking to the Jews living in Israel in the middle of the Tribulation when the Antichrist desecrates the rebuilt temple.

The Promise of Deliverance

Another argument in behalf of a Pre-Tribulation Rapture has to do with the promises of God to protect the Church from His wrath. As has already been demonstrated, the book of Revelation shows that the wrath of God will be poured out during the entire period of the Tribulation.

The Word promises over and over that the Church will be delivered from God’s wrath. Romans 5:9 says that “we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him [Jesus].” First Thessalonians 1:10 states that we are waiting “for His Son from heaven . . . who delivers us from the wrath to come.” The promise is repeated in 1 Thessalonians 5:9 — “God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

A further promise of deliverance is found in Revelation 3:10 where Jesus promises that faithful churches will be kept “from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”

Supernatural Protection?

Some argue that God could supernaturally protect the Church during the Tribulation. Yes, He could. In fact, He promises to do just that for the 144,000 Jews who will be sealed as bond-servants at the beginning of the Tribulation (Revelation 7:1-8).

But God’s promise to the Church during the Tribulation is not one of protection but one of deliverance. Jesus said we would “escape” the horrors of the Tribulation (Luke 21:36). Paul says Jesus is coming to “deliver” us from God’s wrath (1 Thessalonians 1:10). Likewise, Peter says that if God could rescue righteous Lot from Sodom and Gomorrah, then He “knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment” (2 Peter 2:6-9 - NIV).

Escapism?

The Pre-Tribulation concept of the Rapture has often been condemned as “escapism.” I think this criticism is unjustified. Again, Jesus Himself, told us to pray that we might “escape” the Tribulation (Luke 21:36).

The Bible itself says that Christians are to “comfort one another” with the concept of the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:18). Is it a comfort to think of the Rapture occurring at the end of the world’s worst period of war instead of at the beginning?

Regardless of when the Rapture actually occurs, we need to keep in mind that the Bible teaches that societal conditions are going to grow increasingly worse the closer we get to the Lord’s return. That means Christians will suffer tribulation whether or not they go into the Great Tribulation. And that means all of us had better be preparing ourselves for unprecedented suffering and spiritual warfare.

If you are a Christian, you can do that on a daily basis by putting on “the full armor of God” (Ephesians 6:13) and by praying at all times in the Spirit that you will be able to stand firm against the attacks of Satan (Ephesians 6:14-18).

If you are not a Christian, your only hope is to reach out in faith and receive the free gift of God’s salvation which He has provided through His Son, Jesus (John 3:16).

16: The Earth in Prophecy

Will it be destroyed or is it eternal?

Did you know we are living on earth number three? Did you know the Bible reveals that there are two earths yet to come? Did you know the Bible teaches that the earth is eternal?

Earth I

The first earth was the one created in the beginning (Genesis 1:1). It was perfect in every respect (Genesis 1:31). But because of Man’s sin, God placed a curse upon the earth (Genesis 3:17-19).

The Bible indicates that this curse radically altered the nature of God’s original creation. Instead of Man exercising dominion over nature, as originally planned (Genesis 1:26, 28), nature rose up in conflict with Man, as poisonous plants, carnivorous animals and climatic cataclysms (like tornados) suddenly appeared.

Earth II

The curse radically altered the original earth, but Earth II was still quite different from the one we live on today. There is much biblical evidence in both Genesis and Job that the second earth had a thick vapor canopy which shielded life from the ultraviolet radiation of the sun, contributing to the long life spans recorded in Genesis (see Genesis 2:5-6 and Job 38:8-11).

The whole earth was like a greenhouse with thick vegetation growing everywhere, even at the poles. There was also probably only one large land mass.

Once again the sinful rebellion of Mankind motivated God to change the nature of the earth (Genesis 6:11-13). The change agent this time was water. It appears that God caused the vapor canopy to collapse (Genesis 7:11). He also caused “fountains of the great deep” to break forth upon the surface of the earth (Genesis 7:11).

Earth III

Like the curse, the flood radically altered the nature of the earth. It produced Earth III, the earth we now live on.

The earth tilted on its axis, forming the polar caps. The unified land mass was split apart, forming the continents as we now know them (which is why they fit together like a jigsaw puzzle — see Genesis 10:25). And the vapor canopy was so completely depleted that ultraviolet radiation began to reach the earth in unprecedented levels, resulting in greatly reduced life spans, first to 120 years and then to 70 years.

The Bible reveals that the current earth, Earth III, will be radically changed again at the Second Advent of Jesus. The change agents will be earthquakes on the earth and supernatural phenomena in the heavens.

The changes produced will so totally alter the earth and its atmosphere that Isaiah refers to “the new heavens and the new earth” which will exist during the reign of the Lord (Isaiah 65:17).

Earth IV

Earth IV — The millennial earth — will be very different from the present earth. The earthquakes that will produce it will be the most severe in history.

Every valley will be lifted, every mountain will be lowered and every island will be moved (Revelation 6:12-14 and 16:17-21). Jerusalem will be lifted up, and Mt. Zion will become the highest of all the mountains (Zechariah 14:10 and Micah 4:1).

The vapor canopy will likely be restored because life spans will be expanded to what they were at the beginning of time (Isaiah 65:20, 22).

Further evidence that the vapor canopy will be restored is to be found in the fact that all the earth will become abundant once again with lush vegetation (Isaiah 30:23-26 and Amos 9:13-14). The Dead Sea will also become alive (Ezekiel 47:1-9).

Most important, the curse will be partially lifted, making it possible for Man to be reconciled to nature and for nature to be reconciled to itself. The wolf will dwell with the lamb because the wolf will no longer be carnivorous. The nursing child will play with the cobra because the cobra will no longer be poisonous (Isaiah 11:8).

Earth V

But Satan’s last revolt at the end of the Millennium will leave the earth polluted and devastated (Revelation 20:7-9). Thus, at the end of the Lord’s reign, God will take the Redeemed off the earth, place them in the New Jerusalem and then cleanse the earth with fire (2 Peter 3:10-13).

In other words, God will superheat this earth in a fiery inferno and then reshape it like a hot ball of wax. The result will be the “new heavens and new earth” prophesied in Isaiah 66 and Revelation 21. ​

This will be Earth V, the perfected, eternal earth where the Redeemed will live eternally in the New Jerusalem in the presence of God (Revelation 21:1-4). The curse will be completely lifted from this earth (Revelation 22:3).

Some argue that the New Earth will be totally new, and not a renovation of the current earth. But the Bible teaches that the present earth is eternal: “Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever” (Ecclesiastes 1:4; see also Psalm 78:69 and Psalm 148:6).

It is true that 2 Peter 3:10 says the current earth will be “destroyed with intense heat,” but the same context says that the earth of Noah’s time was “destroyed” by water (2 Peter 3:5-6). Noah’s earth did not cease to exist, rather, it was “destroyed” in the sense that it was radically changed.

Restoration in the Old Testament

God loves His creation, and He is determined to restore it to its original perfection.

This purpose of God was reflected in the rites of the Tabernacle of Moses. Each year when the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the sins of the nation, he would sprinkle blood on the Mercy Seat of the Ark — and also on the ground in front of the Ark (Leviticus 16:15).

The blood on the Mercy Seat pointed to the promise of God that one day He would send a Messiah who would shed His blood so that the mercy of God could cover the Law and make it possible for us to be reconciled to our Creator. The blood on the ground pointed to the promise of God that the sacrifice of the Messiah would also make it possible for the creation to be redeemed.

In the Old Testament, Isaiah 11 gives us a beautiful picture of the redeemed creation during the Millennium. We are told that the meat eating animals will cease to prey on each other and “will eat straw like the ox.” The poisonous animals will also be transformed. They will cease to be dangerous (Isaiah 11:6-9 and 35:9).

The plant kingdom will similarly be transformed back to its original perfection before the curse. The result will be incredible agricultural abundance (Amos 9:13):

“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “When the plowman will overtake the reaper And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; ​When the mountains will drip sweet wine . . .”

The prophet Joel adds that “the threshing floors will be full of grain, and the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil” (Joel 2:24).

The implication of these passages is that Man will no longer have to strive against nature because weeds and poisonous plants will cease to exist and rainfall will be abundant.

In fact, Isaiah tells us that areas of wilderness will be transformed into glorious forests (Isaiah 35:2) and deserts will become “springs of water” (Isaiah 35:7).

Restoration in the New Testament

The promise of a redeemed and restored creation is reaffirmed in the New Testament.

Peter referred to the promise in his second sermon at the temple in Jerusalem. He told his audience that Jesus would remain in Heaven until the time comes for the “restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21).

Paul elaborated the theme in Romans 8:8-18. He declared that the whole creation is in “slavery to corruption” (verse 21). This is a reference to what physicists call the Second Law of Thermodynamics; namely, that all of creation is running down, moving from order to disorder — that all of creation is in bondage to decay.

Paul then pictured the creation as a pregnant woman waiting anxiously for the moment of delivery when the curse will be lifted and the creation will be redeemed. He said that will occur at “the revealing of the sons of God” (verse 19).

That is a reference to the resurrection of the saints, a point he made clear in verse 23 when he said that the saints should yearn with nature for that same event because that is when we will receive “the redemption of our body.”

The Eternal Earth

The Old Testament has little to say about the eternal earth which God will create at the end of the Millennium. Isaiah simply asserted that such an earth would be provided (Isaiah 66:22). Isaiah’s only other reference to a “New Earth,” in Isaiah 65:17, is a reference to the renovated earth of the Millennium.

In Revelation 21 the Apostle John gave us the most detailed look at what the new, eternal earth will be like. And yet, his description is tantalizingly vague. He makes a cryptic reference to the fact that there will no longer be any sea (Revelation 21:1). Beyond that, all he told us is that God will make “all things new” (Revelation 21:5).

Some believe the reference to the sea is symbolic since that word is often used in prophecy to refer to the Gentile nations (Luke 21:25 and Revelation 13:1). They thus interpret this statement about the sea to mean that the nations will no longer be divided between and against each other.

Others interpret the reference literally and argue that it is a clue that there will be one land mass on the New Earth and that the seas will no longer separate peoples of the world as they do today.

The description of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21 infers that the eternal earth will be much larger than the current earth. This inference is drawn from the fact that the New Jerusalem will be shaped as a fifteen hundred mile cube. Such a structure would be completely out of proportion to the size of the current earth.

A Glorious Blessing

I think the reason the passages about the eternal earth tell us so little about the features of that earth is because they focus on one glorious fact that overshadows any concern with what the New Earth will be like. That fact is that the Redeemed will live in the presence of Almighty God (Revelation 21 and 22). We will “serve Him” and we will “see His face” (Revelation 22:3-4). What the earth will be like pales in comparison to this revelation.

Are you an heir of this wonderful promise? The Bible says that “he who overcomes shall inherit these things” (Revelation 21:7).

Are you an overcomer? The Bible defines an overcomer in 1 John 5:1-5 as any person “who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” Such a person is portrayed as being “born of God.”

A Warning

As we await the Lord’s return, we are to be good caretakers of the earth God has given us. We are to be concerned about all aspects of ecology — both plant and animal life.

But we are to keep that concern in check. We are not to become worshipers of the creation rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25). “Mother Earth” is not God.

Our focus must be on the Creator, our Father God. His creation has been polluted by our sins (Isaiah 24:5). Let us yearn for that day when His Son will return and the creation will be restored to its original perfection (Acts 3:21).

17: The Wrath of God

Is it a myth or a reality?

Several years ago, a popular radio talk show host on an Oklahoma City secular station interviewed me live on the air via telephone. He had seen some articles I had written, and he had liked them.

He began the interview by graciously giving me the opportunity to talk non-stop for about ten minutes about the way God had transformed my life and called me into the ministry. He then asked me to summarize the purpose of my ministry.

The Unmentionable Word

I responded by saying that the purpose of Lamb & Lion Ministries was to proclaim the soon return of Jesus. I then pointed out that this message cuts two ways. For the believer, it is a call to holiness and evangelism. For unbelievers, it is a call to flee from the wrath that is to come by fleeing into the loving arms of Jesus.

At that point, the radio host cut me short. “What do you mean by your reference to ‘wrath’?” he asked.

“I mean that Jesus is going to return very soon to pour out the wrath of God upon those who have rejected God’s love and grace and mercy.”

“Well, sir, let me tell you something,” he snapped. “I happen to be a Christian. I go to church every Sunday, and I have done so since I was a child, and I have never heard anything about God’s wrath. The Jesus I know wouldn’t hurt a fly!”

That was the end of the interview. He hung up on me. I was not given an opportunity to respond to his misrepresentation of God.

Satan’s Grand Deception

The radio host’s vehement response to the wrath of God did not surprise me. It is characteristic of both Christians and non-Christians, and I have encountered it many times.

Satan has sold the world a bill of goods concerning the nature of God. Most people, both Christian and non-Christian, tend to view God as being a sort of Cosmic Teddy Bear.

They see Him as big and warm and soft, full of infinite love and forgiveness. He couldn’t hurt a fly, and He certainly wouldn’t be so cruel as to condemn or harm any beings created in His own image. On the Day of Judgment, God will simply give everyone a big hug and wink at their sins.

The only problem with this wonderfully comforting image is that it is a lie straight from the pit of Hell.

The True God

Yes, the Bible teaches that God is loving, patient, caring and forgiving (Psalms 86:15 and John 3:16). As the Apostle John put it, “God is love” (1 John 4:8).

Two of my favorite passages in the Bible emphasize the personal loving nature of God. One was penned by the Apostle Peter. In 1 Peter 5:6-7 he says that we are to cast all our anxieties upon God “because He cares for you.” That is a very comforting thought.

The other passage that I love to read over and over consists of words spoken by the prophet Jeremiah in Lamentations 3 (RSV):

 22)​The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end;

23)​They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.

24)​“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I will hope in Him.”

Yes, our Creator is a God of love, but the Bible also clearly teaches that there is another aspect of God’s character that is equally important. It is the aspect that Satan wants us to ignore, and he has been very successful in prompting ministers to overlook it. After all, it doesn’t produce popular sermons! I’m speaking, of course, of the holiness of God (Leviticus 11:44, Isaiah 6:3 and 1 Peter 1:16).

Grace or Wrath?

The Bible teaches that God is perfectly holy. Because of this attribute of His character, He cannot tolerate sin (Numbers 14:18). The Bible says God must deal with sin, and He does so in one of two ways — either grace or wrath.

Every person on the face of this earth is at this moment under either the grace of God or the wrath of God. John the Baptist made this point in one of his sermons when he said: “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36).

It’s amazing how all Christians seem to know John 3:16. But almost none seem to be aware of John 3:36. It shows how little preaching has been done on the wrath of God.

Like John the Baptist, the Apostle Paul emphasized God’s wrath in his preaching and teaching. In Ephesians 5 he warned against immorality, covetousness and idolatry, and then he added this observation: “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 5:6).

We come under God’s grace by placing our faith in Jesus and appropriating His atoning sacrifice for our lives (1 John 1:7). There is no salvation apart from Jesus (Acts 4:10-12). Those who have rejected God’s free gift of grace in Jesus are under God’s wrath (John 3:36), and they have no one to blame but themselves.

The Coming Wrath

God’s wrath will fall when Jesus returns (Jude 14-15). The passage in Revelation which pictures the return of Jesus says that He will return in righteousness to “judge and wage war” (Revelation 19:11).

The first time Jesus came, He came in loving compassion with eyes filled with tears. But when He returns, He will come in vengeance (Revelation 6:12-17), with eyes like a flame of fire (Revelation 19:12). He will come to destroy the enemies of God (Revelation 19:11).

The presidents and kings and prime ministers of the world will crawl into holes in the ground and cry out for the rocks and mountains to fall upon them, so great will be the terror of the Lord (Revelation 6:15-17). The unrighteous will stumble about like blind men, and their blood will be poured out like dust (Zephaniah 1:17).

The Meaning of Wrath

Does this make God a “monster”? No! On the contrary, it proves His goodness, for how could a good God ignore the evil of sin and allow it to go unpunished? His wrath against evil will demonstrate His righteousness.

The prophet Nahum summed it up best. Writing of the love of God, he said, “The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who take refuge in Him” (Nahum 1:7). But a few verses earlier in that same chapter, Nahum had also spoken of the holiness of God:

2)​A jealous and avenging God is the LORD; The LORD is avenging and wrathful. The LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies.

3)​The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, And the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished . . .

God’s wrath is never motivated primarily by a desire to punish. Rather, it is designed to bring people to repentance so that they might be saved. Isaiah put it this way: “When the earth experiences Your judgments, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness” (Isaiah 26:9). Even in His wrath, God remembers mercy.

God demonstrates His mercy in wrath by never pouring out His wrath without warning. He tried to warn Sodom and Gomorrah through Abraham. He warned Noah’s world through the preaching of Noah for 120 years. He sent both Jonah and Nahum to warn the pagan city of Nineveh.

Consider too how He sent prophet after prophet to call the nations of Israel and Judah to repentance (2 Chronicles 36):

15)​The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place;

16)​but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, until there was no remedy.

God’s mercy in wrath is also manifested in the fact that He always leads up to His final outpouring of wrath through a series of progressive, remedial judgments. These judgments are outlined in detail in Deuteronomy 28:15-57.

Wrath During the Tribulation

This characteristic of God’s wrath is demonstrated in the prophecies concerning the Tribulation. Rather than simply pouring out His wrath on the rebellious nations of the world, destroying them in one instant of overwhelming catastrophe, He subjects the world to a series of judgments that sequentially increase in scope and intensity (Revelation, chapters 6,8-9, and 16).

Although most people will refuse to repent in response to these judgments (Revelation 9:20-21), there will be “a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues” who will repent and respond to Jesus in faith (Revelation 7:9).

These radically different responses to the wrath of God illustrate the point that was often made by Billy Graham: “The same sun that melts the butter also hardens the clay.” The wrath of God melts some hearts in repentance, but it has the effect of hardening the hearts of many others.

Wrath and the Redeemed

Many Christians respond negatively to Bible prophecy. It’s not at all unusual to hear a Christian say something like this: “I don’t want to hear anything about prophecy because it’s too full of gloom and doom.”

Well, there is a lot of gloom and doom for those who refuse to respond to God’s gift of love in Jesus. But there is only good news for the Redeemed.

The Old Testament ends with a passage that presents both the gloom and the joy of end-time prophecy. Malachi says that when the Lord returns, the day will be “burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff” (Malachi 4:1). That’s the bad news.

But consider the good news: “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall” (Malachi 4:2).

There is no reason for any child of God to fear the wrath of God. Paul wrote that since we have been justified by the blood of Christ, “we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him” (Romans 5:9). And in a most comforting verse, Paul told the Thessalonians that Jesus will “deliver” the Redeemed “from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10). The reason, Paul explained, is that “God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:9).

A Plea

Are you under grace or wrath? The choice is yours. Jesus is coming soon. When He appears, will He be your Blessed Hope or your Holy Terror? Will you cry for the mountains to fall upon you? Or, will you go forth leaping with joy like a calf released from a stall?

God loves you and He wants you to accept His Son as your Savior so that you will come under the shelter and the blessing of His amazing grace.

The glorious positive promises of God will be fulfilled during the millennial reign of Jesus when the earth will be flooded with peace, righteousness and justice. Will you be there to experience it? The choice is yours.

18: The Antichrist

What will be his origin and fate?

The Bible teaches that in the end-times, right before the return of Jesus, the greatest political leader in the history of Mankind will emerge from Europe. After taking over that area by diplomatic cunning and deceit, he will launch a military campaign that will result in his acquiring “authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation” (Revelation 13:7). His empire will be the most extensive in all of history, encompassing the entire world, and his rule will be the most demonic the world has ever experienced.

He will begin his rise to power as a dynamic, charismatic, insightful visionary leader who will astound the world with the cleverness of his solutions to world problems. He will appear to be the savior of the world.

But as he consolidates his power, his true nature will be revealed. He will emerge as a Satan-possessed and empowered person who hates God and is determined to annihilate both Christianity and Judaism. For this reason, he is identified in Scripture as the Antichrist (1 John 2:18), for he will stand against God and His anointed one, Jesus Christ.

His Origin

Where will this sinister person come from? Some have speculated that he will come out of Syria since one of his prophetic types in history — Antiochus Epiphanes (215-164 BC) — was a Syrian tyrant. But Antiochus was actually of Greek heritage.

It is much more likely that he will rise out of the heartland of the old Roman Empire and that he will be of Italian descent. This conclusion is based upon a statement in Daniel 9:26. In that passage the Antichrist is referred to as “the prince who is to come,” and he is identified as being from the people who “will destroy the city and the sanctuary.”

We know from history that both Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple were destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. Therefore, according to Daniel, the Antichrist must be of Roman heritage.

Jew or Gentile?

Will he be a Jew? Many assume he will be because Jesus said, “I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another shall come in his own name, you will receive him” (John 5: 43). Based on this statement, people ask, “How could the Jews possibly receive a Gentile as their Messiah?”

The Bible does not teach that the Jews will receive the Antichrist as their Messiah. It teaches they will accept him as a great political leader and diplomat and that they will put their trust in him as the guarantor of peace in the Middle East.

But the moment he reveals himself as the Antichrist by desecrating the Jew’s rebuilt temple and blaspheming God, the Jewish people will revolt. They will reject him as Messiah, and he will respond in fury by attempting to annihilate them.

The Antichrist does not have to be a Jew. And, in fact, the Bible makes it clear that he will be a Gentile. In Revelation 13:1 he is portrayed as a “beast coming up out of the sea.” The sea is used consistently throughout the prophetic scriptures as a symbol of the Gentile nations (Daniel 7:3, Luke 21:25 and Revelation 17:1).

By contrast, the Antichrist’s right hand man, the False Prophet, who will serve as his religious leader, will most likely be a Jew. This is revealed in Revelation 13:11 where it says that John saw “another beast coming up out of the earth [literally, the land].” Just as the sea is used symbolically in prophecy to refer to the Gentile nations, the land (or earth) is used to refer to Israel.

This does not mean the False Prophet will be an Orthodox Jew. It only means that he will be of Jewish heritage. Religiously, he will be an apostate Jew who will head up the One World Religion of the Antichrist.

Muslim?

In recent years, a few people have put forth the thesis that the Antichrist will be a Muslim. I see no possibility of this for several reasons.

First, in the book of Daniel, the Antichrist is portrayed as arising from among those who will destroy the temple (Daniel 9:26-27). That destruction took place in 70 AD when the Romans conquered Jerusalem. Thus, the Antichrist must be of Roman ethnicity.

The Muslim Antichrist advocates respond by saying that the majority of the Roman troops were from the Middle East. That is not so, and even if it were true, it would be irrelevant because the troops were under the control of the Roman Senate and its military leaders.

Second, the Scriptures reveal that the Antichrist will make a treaty with the Jews that will evidently guarantee their safety during the first half of the Tribulation (Daniel 9:26-27). It is inconceivable that the Jewish people would ever trust their destiny to a Muslim leader or that any Muslim leader would be interested in protecting them.

Third, we are told in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 that in the middle of the Tribulation, the Antichrist will go to Jerusalem, desecrate the temple and declare himself to be God. No Muslim would ever claim to be God, and if he were to do so, he would be killed by his fellow Muslims.

Resurrected from the Dead?

There is one other issue concerning the origin of the Antichrist that we need to consider. Many argue that he will be a person resurrected from the dead — most likely Nero or Judas Iscariot.

This assumption is based on a statement in Revelation 13, where John describes the Antichrist as a beast with seven heads. He then makes the observation that one of his heads appeared “as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed.” He comments that “the whole earth was amazed” by this and therefore “followed after the beast” (Revelation 13:1-3).

The problem with this interpretation is that “the fatal wound” referred to in the passage has nothing to do with the person of the Antichrist. The seven heads represent seven Gentile empires — namely, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome and the final empire of the Antichrist.

The head with the fatal wound that has been healed is the Roman Empire. We know this from the book of Daniel where it is prophesied that the Roman Empire will be the last of the Gentile empires until the end-times when the empire of the Antichrist will emerge from a reunited Europe — that is, from a revival of the old Roman Empire (Daniel 2:31-45 and 7:1-8,24-28).

Another passage that is used to justify the idea of the Antichrist being a resurrected person is Zechariah 11:17 —

Woe to the worthless shepherd Who leaves the flock! A sword will be on his arm And on his right eye! His arm will be totally withered, And his right eye will be blind.

It is argued that this passage indicates that the Antichrist will be a person who has suffered a fatal wound. Now, there is no doubt this passage refers to the Antichrist, but I don’t see any evidence in it of a death and resurrection — only a wounding.

The idea that the Antichrist will be a resurrected person raises a serious theological problem concerning the power of Satan. The Scriptures make it clear that the Antichrist will be Satan’s man, empowered by him and possessed by him. But there is no indication in Scripture that Satan has the power to give life to anyone. Satan is not omnipotent. Jesus is the one who has “the keys to death and Hades” (Revelation 1:18).

Living Now?

One of the most commonly asked questions is whether or not the Antichrist is alive today. I believe he is, and I believe so for two reasons.

First, I believe the Scriptures teach that the generation that sees the re-establishment of Israel (May 14, 1948) will live to see all the end-time prophecies fulfilled (Matthew 24:32-34).

Second, I believe the signs of the times clearly indicate that we are standing on the threshold of the Tribulation, the most important of those signs being the regathering of the Jews to their land (Isaiah 11:10-12) and their re-occupation of the city of Jerusalem (Luke 21:24).

Third, I believe Satan has always had an Antichrist candidate ready to be possessed and elevated to power. Satan knows Bible prophecy (Revelation 12:12), but he does not know God’s timing. So, he must always have an Antichrist candidate ready to be possessed when God decides to launch the end-time events prophesied in the Scriptures — the Rapture in particular.

If the Antichrist is alive today, does he know who he is? I think not. I don’t think he has the foggiest idea of the role that Satan has in mind for him. He will not become the Antichrist until Satan empowers him to deceive Europe and the Jews. His full revelation will not occur until he enters the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem in the middle of the Tribulation and declares himself to be god. At that point, he will be possessed by Satan (Revelation 13:12).

But we are getting ahead of our story. Let’s consider his character before we take a look at his career.

His Character

The Bible is very specific about the character of the Antichrist, and the picture it paints is a disgusting one. The most detailed information can be found in the book of Daniel.

Over and over, emphasis is given to the Antichrist’s mouth. He will boast non-stop about himself (Daniel 7:8). He will “speak monstrous things against the God of gods” (Daniel 11:36). He will be “given a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies” (Revelation 13:5). First and foremost, he is going to be a braggart and a blasphemer.

He will be strong-willed and reckless in his determination to have his way. He will show contempt for human traditions and will, of course, change even the calendar so that it will no longer be related to the birth of Jesus (Daniel 7:25).

Another point that is emphasized repeatedly is that the Antichrist will be possessed by Satan, just as Judas was (Luke 22:3). Daniel says his power will be mighty, “but not by his own power” (Daniel 8:24). Paul says his coming will be “in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders” (2 Thessalonians 2:9). John says that Satan will give his power and authority to the Antichrist (Revelation 13:2).

Because he will be demonized, he will be a man who cannot be trusted. Psalm 52:2 says he will be a “worker of deceit.” Psalm 55:21 says his speech will be “smoother than butter” but his heart will be filled with war. Psalm 5:6 calls him “a man of bloodshed and deceit.” In Psalm 43:1 he is referred to as a “deceitful and unjust man.” Daniel indicates that he might be a sexual pervert, most likely a homosexual. As Daniel puts it, the Antichrist will show no regard “for the desire of women” (Daniel 11:37).

The overall picture is that of an ego-maniac who abhors God and exploits people for his own purposes. He is deceptive and ruthless. He is a man devoid of integrity. This is probably the reason that when Jesus returns, John characterizes Him as the “Faithful and True” One (Revelation 19:11), in contrast to the Antichrist who has been both unfaithful and untrue.

His Rise to Power

The Rapture of the Church is the event that will launch the career of the Antichrist. This is revealed in 2 Thessalonians 2 where Paul states that the Antichrist cannot be revealed until “he who now restrains” him is “taken out of the way” (verse 7). The restrainer of evil in the world today is obviously the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit performs that task by working through the Church.

It is the Church that will be “taken out of the way,” not the Holy Spirit. We know this for certain because the book of Revelation teaches that a great multitude will be saved during the Tribulation (Revelation 7:9-14), and no one can be saved apart from the witness of the Spirit (John 6:44, John 15:26 and 1 John 5:7). The Spirit will remain in the world, but the agency the Spirit currently works through to restrain evil, the Church, will be removed.

The Rapture itself is likely to be the event that will catapult the Antichrist to power. This is because the Rapture will produce international chaos and panic. The Antichrist, energized by Satan (Daniel 8:24), will seem to have all the answers to the world’s problems. He will take over the European Union through skillful intrigue (Daniel 8:23) and will establish his headquarters in Rome (Revelation 17:3, 9,18).

The seven year time period of the Tribulation will actually begin when the Antichrist negotiates a treaty that will bring true peace to the Israel, enabling the Jews to rebuild their temple (Daniel 9:27). With his European base consolidated and peace achieved in the Middle East, he will set forth to subdue the whole world.

His Consolidation of Power

One of the myths about the Antichrist that has developed in modern day interpretation is that the whole world will become so enamored with him that all the nations will surrender their sovereignty to him voluntarily. The Bible does not teach this. It is also contrary to common sense. Africa and Asia and Latin America did not spend the last century casting off European  colonialism in order to suddenly turn around and receive a European dictator with open arms.

The world will resist him, and the result will be a Third World War in which he “will destroy to an extraordinary degree” (Daniel 8:24). This war will initially result in the death of one-fourth of humanity (Revelation 6:2-8). As the Tribulation approaches its mid-point, this war will escalate into a nuclear holocaust that will result in the deaths of an additional one-third of those still alive (Revelation 8 and 9).

It will be an empty victory because in the process of his conquest, one-third of the earth will be destroyed and half its population will be killed. He will then consolidate his “victory” by instituting a one-world economy and a one-world religion.

His Totalitarian Control

The key to his economic control will be a mark that each person will have to bear on their right hand or on their forehead (Revelation 13:16-18). No one will be able to buy or sell unless they have this mark. The mark will consist of “either the name of the beast or the number of his name” (Revelation 13:17).

His religious control will be exercised by a false prophet who will head up his pagan religious system (Revelation 13:11-15). The False Prophet will force all of humanity to worship the Antichrist. He will be a deceiver who will astound people with “great signs” that appear miraculous in nature.

In order to consolidate this Satanic religious system, the Antichrist will launch a great persecution of all those who have placed their faith in the true God since the Rapture of the Church (Revelation 12:13-17). The result will be a mass slaughter of believers (Revelation 7:9-14).

His Obsession With The Jews

Nor will all this slaughter satisfy his blood thirst. About the time that the Antichrist has consolidated his world empire, Satan will be cast from Heaven and will come to earth in “great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time” (Revelation 12:12). At that point he will possess the Antichrist, even as he possessed Judas (Luke 22:3).

When the Antichrist becomes Satan incarnate, he will be transformed into a megalomaniacal tyrant obsessed with two things: himself and the Jewish people.

He will suddenly march into the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, stop the sacrifices, blaspheme God and declare himself to be the one and only true god (Daniel 9:27 and 2 Thessalonians 2:4). And when the Jews reject this horrible blasphemer, he will turn on them and seek to annihilate them. This will be his all-consuming passion during the second half of the Tribulation. That’s why Jesus told the Jews that this period of time would be the “great tribulation” (Matthew 24:21) — not because it would be worse than the first half, but because the wrath would be focused upon them as a nation and a people.

Satan has an insane hatred for the Jews. He hates them because they gave the world the Scriptures. He hates them because God sent the Messiah through them. He hates them because God has promised that He will bring a great remnant of them to salvation in their Messiah. And He hates them because God has promised that He will make them the prime nation of the world during the millennial reign of Jesus. Satan wants to destroy them so that God cannot bring a remnant to salvation and pour out His blessings on them during the Millennium.

During the second half of the Tribulation, Satan will almost succeed in accomplishing this goal. We are told in Zechariah 13:8-9 that two-thirds of the Jewish people will die during this holocaust (9.3 million of the 14 million Jews in the world today).

His Fate

The Bible indicates that as the Antichrist becomes obsessed with the Jews, he will lose interest in his worldwide empire, and segments of that empire will begin to revolt. The core of the revolt will be centered in the Asian nations who raise an army of 200 million and send it marching across Asia toward Israel where they hope to engage the Antichrist in a decisive battle for their freedom.

Daniel says that while the Antichrist and his armies are rampaging around the Middle East, looting the nations and killing the Jews, the Antichrist will suddenly hear “rumors” that “disturb him” (Daniel 11:40-44). He evidently hears about the great Asian army coming to challenge him. He responds by consolidating his forces “between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain” (Daniel 11:45). This is the same area that is referred to in Revelation as the Valley of Armageddon.

We are told that the Euphrates River dries up at this time and the massive Asian army crosses to engage the Antichrist and his armies in battle (Revelation 16:12). As they fight, the Lord Jesus Christ breaks from the heavens, returns to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem and speaks a supernatural word that causes all the armies to drop dead in their tracks. “Their eyes rot in their sockets and their tongues rot in their mouths” (Zechariah 14:12), and the valley is filled with blood up to the horses’ bridles for a distance of two hundred miles (Revelation 14:20).

Paul says the Antichrist will be slain by “the breath of the Lord” (2 Thessalonians 2:8). John says the Lord will make war against the Antichrist “with the sword of His mouth” (Revelation 2:16). Daniel says the Antichrist’s “dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever” (Daniel 17:26). Daniel also says that the Antichrist will be thrown into “the burning fire” (Daniel 7:11).

John confirms the fate of the Antichrist in Revelation when he says that both the Antichrist and the False Prophet will be thrown into “the lake of fire which burns with brimstone” (Revelation 19:20) where “they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10). This means that the Antichrist and the False Prophet will be the first occupants of Hell. (Satan will not be confined there until the end of the Millennium — Revelation 20:10.)

Our Hope

The good news for believers is that we will not have to experience the horror of the Antichrist.

We are never told to watch for the Antichrist; rather, we are told to look for Jesus Christ. In 1 Thessalonians 1:10 we are assured that we who are believers are waiting for Jesus to return to “deliver us from the wrath to come.” That is a glorious promise. That’s why Paul calls the Rapture our “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13), and it’s also the reason that he tells us to “comfort one another” with the promise of the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:18).

19: The Meaning of Heaven

Is it an ethereal or tangible place?

For many years I had little desire to go to Heaven. My only interest in Heaven was prompted by a desire to avoid Hell.

My apathy was also rooted in what I had been taught about Heaven. Basically, I had been led to believe that going to Heaven meant being a disembodied spirit residing in an ethereal world, floating around on a cloud playing a harp. I just couldn’t get excited about that picture!

My interest in Heaven developed slowly over a long period of time. It became a passion, not as a result of my study of prophecy, but because of my growing relationship with the Lord.

The more I came to know Him, the more I desired to be with Him.

The New Earth

The reason my study of prophecy did not play the key role in developing my interest in Heaven is because the Bible is strangely silent about the subject. The Bible tells us in great detail what the Millennium will be like, but it gives us almost no detailed information about the Eternal State.

What it does tell us often comes as a great surprise to most Christians because the scriptures about Heaven have been so terribly spiritualized. For example, the Bible plainly says the Redeemed will spend eternity on a New Earth, not in an ethereal place called Heaven.

Isaiah was the first to speak of this truth when he spoke of “the new heavens and the new earth” which will endure forever before the Lord (Isaiah 66:22). This truth is repeated in the book of Revelation where the Apostle John says he was shown a New Earth, “for the first heaven and the first earth passed away” (Revelation 21:1).John goes on to describe the New Jerusalem descending to the New Earth, “coming down out of heaven from God” (Revelation 21:2). And then he states that God Himself will come to live on the New Earth (Revelation 21:3):

Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them.

This truth had already been revealed to the Old Testament prophets. While being taken on a prophetic tour of the millennial temple, Ezekiel was told by his guide (the Lord Jesus in a pre-incarnate appearance): “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever” (Ezekiel 43:7).

The Redeemed are going to dwell forever in new bodies on a New Earth in a New Jerusalem in the presence of Almighty God and His Son, Jesus. Heaven will come to earth!

The New Jerusalem

The most detailed information which the Scriptures give about Heaven pertains to our eternal abode — the New Jerusalem. Twenty verses in Chapter 21 of Revelation are devoted to a description of it.

The information contained in Revelation 21 is not the first reference in the Bible to the New Jerusalem. It is mentioned in Hebrews 11:10 as a city “whose architect and builder is God.” Jesus made a reference to it that is recorded in John 14:1-4. He called it His “Father’s house,” and He said He would prepare residences in it for the members of His Church.

Jesus is currently expanding, embellishing and beautifying this house which God the Father designed and built. Jesus is preparing it for His bride, just as in Old Testament times a bridegroom would add a room onto his father’s house to accommodate himself and his bride.

The city is described in Revelation as beautifully decorated, like “a bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:2). Later, John actually refers to the city as the bride of the Lamb (Revelation 21:9), because the city contains the bride of Christ, His Church.

I believe this implies that at the end of the Millennium all the Redeemed will be taken off the earth and placed in the New Jerusalem which will most likely be suspended in the heavens. From that vantage point we will witness the greatest fireworks display in history as God burns up this earth and reshapes it like a hot ball of wax into a New Earth, a perfected earth like the one which God created in the beginning. Then, we will be lowered down to that New Earth inside the New Jerusalem.

The city will be spectacular in both size and appearance. It will be in the form of a cube that is 1,500 miles in every direction! And it will reflect “the glory of God” (Revelation 21:11,16).

The Size of the City

The incredible size means the city would stretch from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Atlantic coast of America to Colorado. It would also extend 1,500 miles into the atmosphere.

This tremendous extension of the city vertically into the air is a clue that the New Earth may be considerably larger than the current earth. Otherwise, the city would not be proportional to its surroundings.

Would such a city be able to adequately accommodate all the Redeemed? That’s a good question. The best answer I have ever run across is the one provided by Dr. Henry Morris in his book The Revelation Record (Tyndale House, 1983).

Dr. Morris postulates the total number of Redeemed might be as many as 20 billion. He further guesses that approximately 50 percent of the New Jerusalem might be devoted to streets, parks and public buildings. Can 20 billion people be squeezed into only half the space of this city?

The answer is yes! In fact, it can be done easily. Each person would have a cubical block with about 75 acres of surface on each face. We are talking about an immense city!

This assumes, of course, that our new glorified bodies will be immune to the current law of gravity, as are the bodies of angels. This is a safe assumption, for Philippians 3:2 says that our glorified bodies will be like the body of Jesus after His resurrection, and His body was not subject to gravity, as evidenced by His ascension into Heaven.

This is the reason the city will be so tall. We will be able to utilize and enjoy all levels of it. There will most likely be vertical streets as well as horizontal ones.

The Beauty of the City

And what streets they will be! The Bible says they will be “pure gold, like transparent glass” (Revelation 21:21). In fact, the whole city will be made of pure gold with the appearance of clear glass (Revelation 21:18).

The city will sit on a foundation made of 12 layers of precious stones (Revelation 21:19-20). Each layer will feature the name of one of the 12 Apostles (Revelation 21:14). The city will be surrounded by a jasper wall over 200 feet high (Revelation 21:17). There will be 12 gates, three on each side, and each one will be named for one of the tribes of Israel (Revelation 21:12).

And yes, the gates will be “pearly gates,” each one consisting of one huge pearl (Revelation 21:21).

Best of all, God the Father and Jesus will both reside in the city with us (Revelation 21:22). The Shekinah glory of God will illuminate the city constantly, and thus there will be no night nor will there ever be any need for any type of artificial light or the light of the sun (Revelation 22:5).

The throne of God and His Son will be in the city, and “a river of the water of life, clear as crystal” will flow down the middle of the city’s main street with the tree of life growing on both sides of the river, yielding 12 kinds of fruit — a different fruit each month (Revelation 22:1-2).

That’s it. God’s Word only gives us a glimpse of Heaven. But what a tantalizing glimpse it is! It’s a glimpse of perfect peace and joy and beauty.

The Activities of Heaven

What will we do for eternity? Again, the Word is strangely silent. All it says is that we “shall serve Him” (Revelation 22:3).

I have fantasized a lot about our Heavenly activities. I can imagine us spending a great deal of our time in worship, singing the psalms of King David, with him directing us. I think it is likely that our talents will be magnified, and we will be able to sing or paint or write with a majesty and scope we never imagined possible — and all to the glory of God!

Surely we will spend considerable time in the study of God’s Word. Think of studying the Gospel of John with the Apostle John as the teacher! I thrill to the thought of Jesus teaching the Old Testament, even as He did to His disciples following His resurrection (Luke 24:44-45). The Word of God is infinite in its depth, and I believe we will continue learning from it forever.

As we study the Word, I believe we will grow in spiritual maturity in the likeness of Jesus. And since God is infinite, no matter how much we grow in His likeness, there will just be that much more growing ahead of us. In this regard, I suspect that our spiritual growth will pick up where it left off in this life.

Sometimes, I really get far out in my thinking about Heaven. For example, I can imagine the Lord giving us the opportunity to see “instant video replays” of great events in Bible history. I hope so. I would like to see the dividing of the Red Sea, the destruction of Jericho and the resurrection of Lazarus.

And what about tours of the universe? Surely we will be able to travel through space in our glorified bodies and see the miracles of God’s creation up close. Imagine visiting all the planets in our galaxy as well as touring thousands of other galaxies!

Reigning with Jesus

But what does it mean in Revelation 22:3 where it says we will serve God as His “bond-servants”? I’m not sure. I suppose it means we will be given productive work to do. What that work will be I can’t say for sure. But there is a hint in Revelation 22:5 where it says we will reign with the Lord “forever and ever.”

To reign implies, of necessity, that we must reign over someone. Who will that be? Again, there is an intriguing clue. Revelation 21:24-27 refers to “nations” that will live on the New Earth outside the New Jerusalem. Revelation 22:2 indicates that the people composing these nations will be in fleshly bodies, for it says that the leaves of the tree of life will be used for “the healing of the nations.”

A Prophetic Mystery

Who are these “nations”? This is one of the greatest mysteries of Bible prophecy. There are as many different guesses as there are commentaries on the book of Revelation.

Could they be the Redeemed who accept Jesus during the Millennium? Nothing is said about the ultimate destiny of those who are saved during the Millennium. No promises are made to them of glorified bodies.

I don’t know the answer. It is one of those areas where we look into a dimly lit mirror and will not understand fully until we stand “face to face” with the Lord (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Heavenly Fellowship

This brings me to the greatest blessing of Heaven. Revelation 22:4 says we shall see the face of God!

The Word says in Exodus 33:20 that no man has ever seen the face of God. But we will be given that privilege when we fellowship with Him in Heaven.

And that is really what Heaven is all about. We will experience an intimacy with the Lord that transcends anything possible in this life. We were created for fellowship with God (John 4:23), and that purpose will reach its zenith in the eternal state as we live in God’s presence.

That is why Paul wrote, “to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). He went on to explain that to continue living in the flesh meant the opportunity for fruitful labor in the Lord’s kingdom. But he still had a desire to depart this life, for that departure would open the door for sweet, intimate, personal fellowship with the Lord (Philippians 1:22-23).

What about you? Are you clinging to this world, or do you yearn for Heaven?

The more you come to know the Lord, the more you will love Him. And the more you love Him, the more You will desire to be with Him.

That’s only natural. We always desire to be with those whom we love.

Longing for Heaven

I love my wife dearly. We have been married for 60 years. During the past 40 years of Lamb & Lion Ministries I have traveled a lot. When I was out of town, I would call her every night to tell her that I love her. I would send her mushy love cards. And when I would have to be gone for an extended period, I would send her gifts like bouquets of flowers.

I love to talk with my wife by phone. I love to send her love notes. I love to surprise her with gifts. But none of these are substitutes for being with her! When you love someone you want to be with them.

In like manner, I love to fellowship with the Lord in worship, in Bible study and in prayer. But these spiritual activities are no substitute for actually being with the Lord. Because I love Him, I want to be with Him. Personal, intimate fellowship with Jesus — that is the essence of Heaven. May it become a reality very soon!

20: The Nature of Hell

Eternal punishing or an eternal punishment?

The Bible presents Hell, like Heaven, as a real place. The Bible says that God created this terrible place to serve as the ultimate destiny of the Devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). The Bible also teaches that Hell will be the destiny of all people who reject the grace and mercy God has provided through Jesus and who chose, instead, to follow Satan (Matthew 25:46).

Hell is described in the Scriptures as a place of darkness and sadness (Matthew 22:13), a place of fire (Matthew 5:22), a place of torment (Revelation 14:10), a place of destruction (Matthew 7:13) and a place of disgrace and everlasting contempt (Daniel 12:2).

Its Distinction from Hades

Hell is not Hades. A careful study of the Scriptures will reveal that Hades in the New Testament is the same place as Sheol in the Old Testament (Psalms 49:15).

Before the Cross, Hades (or Sheol) was the holding place for the spirits of the dead who awaited their resurrection, judgment and ultimate consignment to Heaven or Hell. According to Jesus’ story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), Hades was composed of two compartments — Paradise and Torments. At death, the spirits of the righteous (those who had put their faith in God) went to a compartment in Hades called Paradise. The unrighteous went to a compartment called Torments. The two compartments were separated by a wide gulf that could not be crossed.

The Bible indicates that the nature of Hades was radically changed at the time of the Cross. After His death on the Cross, Jesus descended into Hades and declared to all the spirits there His triumph over Satan through the shedding of His blood for the sins of Mankind (1 Peter 3:18-19 and 4:6).

The Bible also indicates that after His resurrection, when He ascended to Heaven, Jesus took Paradise with Him, transferring the spirits of the righteous dead from Hades to Heaven (Ephesians 4:8-9 and 2 Corinthians 12:1-4). The spirits of the righteous dead are thereafter pictured as being in Heaven before the throne of God (Revelation 6:9 and 7:9).

Thus, since the time of the Cross, the spirits of dead saints no longer go to Hades. They are taken, instead, directly to Heaven. The spirits of Old Testament saints could not go directly to Heaven because their sins had not been forgiven. Their sins had only been covered, so to speak, by their faith. Their sins could not be forgiven until Jesus shed His blood for them on the Cross.

The souls of the unrighteous dead will remain in Hades in the compartment called Torments until the end of the millennial reign of Jesus. At that time they will be resurrected and judged at the Great White Throne judgment portrayed in Revelation 20:11-15. They will be judged by their works, and since no person can be justified before God by works (Ephesians 2:8-10), all the unrighteous will be cast into Hell, which the passage in Revelation refers to as “the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:14).

The Duration of Hell

How long will the unrighteous be tormented in Hell? The traditional view holds that Hell is a place of eternal, conscious torment. According to this view, a person who ends up in Hell is doomed to a never-ending, eternal existence of excruciating pain and suffering. Hell is a place of no escape and no hope.

Another point of view — the one I hold — takes the position that immortality is conditional, depending upon one’s acceptance of Christ. I believe the Bible teaches the unrighteous will be resurrected, judged, punished in Hell for a period of time proportional to their sins and then suffer destruction (the death of body and soul).

In a moment we will take a brief look at both views, but before we do, I would like to remind us all of a sobering truth: Hell is a reality, and it is a dreadful destiny. Hell exists because God cannot be mocked (Galatians 6:7). He is going to deal with sin, and He deals with sin in one of two ways — either grace or wrath. John 3:36 says, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

Whatever we conclude from the Scriptures about the duration of Hell, we must remember that Hell is to be avoided at all costs. Whether the wicked suffer there eternally or whether they are destroyed after enduring God’s terrible punishment, Hell is an unimaginably terrifying place.

We must also remember that our beliefs about the duration of Hell are not on the plane of cardinal doctrine. Sincere, godly Christians may study the same scripture passages about Hell and end up with differing conclusions about the issue of its duration. Our varied viewpoints, arrived at through earnest and godly study, should not be allowed to cause division or rancor in the body of Christ.

The Traditional Viewpoint

Few traditionalists are happy about the doctrine of the eternal torment of the wicked, but they accept it anyway because they believe it to be biblical. In this they are to be commended.

Most point to scriptures such as Matthew 25:46 for support: “Then these [the wicked] will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Since the word “eternal” is used of both the wicked and the righteous, they conclude that the punishment must be eternal in the same way that the life is.

Many traditionalists also cite Revelation 20:10 — a verse specifically about the Devil, the Antichrist and the False Prophet — to prove that a God of love can indeed sentence at least some of His creatures to eternal torment: “And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” If it is possible for God to treat one set of His creatures in this way, they reason, why should it be impossible for Him to do the same thing with another set?

Still another passage in Revelation 14 also figures in the traditionalist argument. It reads:

9)​And another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or upon his hand, 10)​he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11)​And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; and they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”

Traditionalists notice that not only are these unbelievers tossed into the lake of fire where “the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever,” but they have no rest “day or night.” This is in stark contrast to the saved, who will enjoy rest eternally (Revelation 14:13). To traditionalists, both the “rest” of believers and the “unrest” of unbelievers seem to imply an eternally conscious state.

Other Traditionalist Arguments

In other parts of the Bible, several passages which talk about Hell use the word “destroy” or “destruction” to describe what happens to the unrighteous. Traditionalists claim that the picture in these passages is not of obliteration but of a ruin of human life out of God’s presence forever. In this way they are able to conceive of a “destruction” which lasts forever.

A more philosophical traditionalist argument concerns Mankind’s creation in the image of God. Some traditionalists believe that the torments of Hell must be eternal, since humankind was made in the image of God and that image cannot be “uncreated.” Thus they believe that immortality was bestowed on Mankind when God created male and female in His image.

Finally, many traditionalists believe that Hell must be eternal because of the nature of sin itself. All sin is an offense against God, goes this argument, and since God is infinite, all sin is infinitely odious. Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), the great Puritan theologian, took this line of argument in his famous sermon, “The Justice of God in the Damnation of Sinners.”

As you can see, these arguments seem both biblical and substantial. And yet they are not without significant problems. Allow me to explain why I believe the Conditionalist approach is a better solution to the difficulty.

The Conditionalist Viewpoint

The doctrine of the duration of Hell has been so strongly held throughout the history of Christianity that few have dared to challenge it. Adding to the reluctance has been the fact that most modern challenges have come from the cults. Thus, a person who dares to question the traditional viewpoint runs the risk of being labeled a cultist.

A classic characteristic of modern-day “Christian” cults is their denial of the reality of Hell. Some argue that everyone will be saved. Most take the position that the unrighteous are annihilated at physical death.

The views of the cults regarding Hell have always been repulsive to me because they deny the clear teaching of Scripture that the unrighteous will be sent to a place of suffering called Hell. Yet, I have never been able to fully embrace the traditional viewpoint of conscious, eternal punishment.

Traditionalist Difficulties

My first difficulty with the traditional view is that it seems to impugn the character of God. I kept asking myself, “How could a God of grace, mercy and love torment the vast majority of humanity eternally?” It did not seem to me to be either loving or just. I realize He is a God of righteousness, holiness and justice, but is eternal suffering justice? The concept of eternal torment seems to convert the true God of justice into a cosmic sadist.

Second, the concept of eternal torment seems to run contrary to biblical examples. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire — suddenly and quickly. He destroyed Noah’s evil world with water — suddenly and quickly. He ordered the Canaanites to be killed swiftly. In the Law of Moses there was no provision for incarceration or torture. Punishments for violation of the Law consisted either of restitution or death. Even sacrificial animals were spared suffering through precise prescriptions for their killing that guaranteed a death that would be as quick and painless as possible.

As a student of God’s Prophetic Word, I found a third problem with the traditional view. It seems to contradict a descriptive phrase that is used in prophecy to describe Hell. That term is “the second death.” It is a term peculiar to the book of Revelation (Revelation 2:11, 20:6,14 and 21:8). How can Hell be a “second death” if it consists of eternal, conscious torment?

The Problem of Destruction

A fourth reason the traditional view has always troubled me is that it seems to ignore an important biblical teaching about Hell; namely, that Hell is a place of destruction. Jesus Himself spoke of Hell as a place of “destruction” (Matthew 7:13). Further, in Matthew 10:28 Jesus said: “Do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell.”

Likewise, in 2 Thessalonians 1:9 Paul says that those who do not obey the Gospel “will pay the penalty of eternal destruction.” The writer of Hebrews says that the unrighteous will experience a terrifying judgment that will result in their consumption by fire (Hebrews 10:27). Even one of the most comforting verses in the Bible speaks of the destruction of the unrighteous: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16, emphasis added). The traditionalist argument that the word “destroy” or “destruction” should be interpreted as “irreparable loss” seems a stretch to me. It seems much more likely that “destroy” should be taken to mean exactly that.

The Meaning of Punishment

Fifth, there is a difference between eternal punishment and eternal punishing. It is one thing to experience a punishment that is eternal in its consequences; it is another thing to experience eternal punishing. Yes, eternal punishing can constitute an eternal punishment, but so also can the cessation of all life.

The Bible also speaks of eternal judgment (Hebrews 6:2). Is that a judgment that continues eternally, or is it a judgment with eternal consequences? Likewise, the Bible speaks of eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12). But this does not mean that Christ will continue the act of redemption eternally. That act took place at the Cross, once and for all. It was an eternal redemption because the result of the redemption had eternal consequences.

Symbolism

Sixth, I noted earlier that traditionalists often cite Revelation 14: 9-11 to demonstrate that the suffering of the wicked will be eternal. They most often highlight two phrases. The first refers to those who take the mark of the beast during the Tribulation, who will be “tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels.” The second is that “the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever.” Notice that this passage does not speak of eternal torment. Rather, it speaks of “the smoke of their torment” ascending forever.

The Bible is its own best interpreter, and when you look up statements similar to this you will find that they are symbolic for a punishment that has eternal consequences, not a punishment that continues eternally. For example, consider Isaiah 34:10 which speaks of the destruction of Edom. It says the smoke of Edom’s destruction will “go up forever.”

I have been to Edom (the southern portion of modern day Jordan in the area around Petra). I have seen its destruction. But there was no smoke ascending heaven. The reference to eternal smoke is obviously symbolic, indicating that Edom’s destruction will give eternal testimony to how God deals with a sinful society.

The same is true of Jude 7 when it says that Sodom and Gomorrah experienced “the punishment of eternal fire.” Again, I have been to the area at the southern tip of the Dead Sea where these twin cities existed. The area is one of utter devastation, but there is no smoke going up to heaven. The cities are not burning eternally. They simply suffered a fiery destruction that had eternal consequences.

Immortality

Traditionalists believe that the soul is immortal, and therefore, it must exist eternally somewhere — either Heaven or Hell. But does it? I believe the Bible denies the immortality of the soul point-blank.

In 1 Timothy 6:15-16, Paul wrote that God alone possesses immortality. And 1 Corinthians 15:53 teaches that the Redeemed will not become immortal until the time of their resurrection. The idea of the immortality of the soul originated with Plato, a Greek philosopher. It is not a biblical concept.

In other words, the Bible teaches that immortality is a gift of God which He gives in His grace to the Redeemed at the time of their resurrection. There is no need to believe in eternal punishing if the soul is not intrinsically immortal. And it isn’t.

There is nowhere in the Bible where it states that unbelievers who die in their unbelief ever become immortal.

The Bible or Theology?

One very troubling thing to me is that in discussions between Traditionalists and Conditionalists, it seems that the Traditionalists always fall back on theological constructs to prove their position. They always seem to end up talking about how, when we sin, we sin against an eternal God, and therefore the sin has to have eternal consequences, which means that the unsaved must suffer eternal torment.

But this is man made theology, not Scripture. Conditionalists, in contrast, base their arguments on Scripture only.

The only ones who are pictured as suffering eternally in Hell are the ones for whom Hell was created — namely, Satan and his angels, together with the Antichrist and the False Prophet, both of whom could very well prove to be fallen angels in human form.

Thinking It Through

I have also found that Traditionalists do not like to think through the consequences of their belief about Hell. And that is certainly understandable. Let me give you an example.

The Bible does not define the age of accountability — the age at which we become accountable for our sins because we come to know the difference between right and wrong. It probably differs for each person, according to how quickly they become mature. The Jews have historically believed it was the age of 13. That’s what their Bar Mitzvah for boys and Bat Mitzvah for girls is all about — a celebration at age 13 of their transition from childhood to adulthood.

Now, assuming the Jewish concept is correct, let’s further assume that a young man, 16 years old, who is unsaved, gets his driver’s license and is killed a few days later in an auto accident. Do you really believe that a just God is going to torment that fellow eternally for three years of unrepented sins?

The Most Important Argument

I haven’t mentioned yet what I consider to be the single most powerful argument against the Traditionalist concept of eternal torment in Hell. It is the fact that the Bible says that Jesus paid the price for our sins (Isaiah 53:5, Galatians 1:4, Hebrews 1:3 and 1 Peter 2:24).

What was that price? It was extreme suffering followed by death. It was not eternal torment. Unrepentant sinners will therefore experience what Jesus experienced: suffering followed by death (the “second death”).

A Summary

In defining any doctrine, everything the Bible has to say about the issue must be considered. Concerning the issue of Hell, the only way I have been able to incorporate all that the Bible has to say is to conclude:

1)​Those who die outside a faith relationship with Jesus are initially confined to a compartment in Hades called Torments. 2)​At the end of the Millennium, they will be resurrected and judged of their works by Jesus at the Great White Throne Judgement. 3)​All of them will be condemned to Hell because no one can be justified before God by their works. 4)​They will be cast into the lake of fire (Hell), where they will suffer a time of torment in proportion to their sins. 5)​They will then experience the “second death” (death of body, soul and spirit). 6)​Satan and his angels, together with the Antichrist and the False Prophet, will suffer eternal torment in Hell.

The Reality of Hell

Which viewpoint is right — the Traditional one or the Conditionalist concept? I have cast my vote for the Conditionalist understanding. You may decide that the evidence points in the other direction.

But whatever you conclude, based on our study of Scripture, we can agree that Hell is a terrifying, horrendous, ghastly place that should be avoided at all costs. You certainly do not want your friends or your family to go there, and you should make certain that it is not your final destination. Those who think they are going to party in Hell are sadly mistaken.

The truth is — as I have stressed repeatedly — your eternal destiny is in your hands. You can choose eternal life by receiving Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Or, you can choose eternal destruction by refusing to accept God’s gift of love and grace. I urge you to choose life by accepting Jesus (Deuteronomy 30:15-20).