Two days before the Passover was to commence, Jesus told his disciples he would be handed over to be crucified. Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people” (Matthew 26:3).
About this time Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the chief priests and agreed to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. Jesus was later arrested and taken to Caiaphas, where the teachers of the law and elders had assembled. The whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death; but they did not find any, although many false witnesses came forward.
“Finally, the high priest said to Jesus, ‘I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the son of God.’ Jesus replied, ‘You have said so, but I say to all of you: from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, ‘He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?’ They answered, ‘He is worthy of death.’ Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him and said, ‘Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?'” (Matthew 26:63-67).
Can you imagine the exceeding sinfulness of the Sanhedrin, accusing the Word (Jesus Christ) of blasphemy? Can you imagine spitting in the face of our Lord and Savior? Can you imagine hitting the Son of God with your fists? What will it be like for these evil men of the Sanhedrin when judgment day comes? I think we know the answer to this question. It will be hell to pay!
During the Passover it was a tradition for the governor to release a prisoner unto the people. At Jesus’ trial, Pilate asked the Jews who they wanted to be released, a criminal called Barabbas (which ironically means ‘son of the father’) or Jesus, the Christ. The people responded, “Barabbas,” for the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask for Barabbas and kill Jesus. “Pilate said unto them, What shall I do with Jesus which is called Christ? They all said unto him, Let him be crucified. And the governor said, Why, what evil has he done? But they cried out the more saying. Let him be crucified” (Matthew 27:20-23).
When Pilate saw that he could not persuade them otherwise, “he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, ‘I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see you to it.’ Then answered all the people, and said, ‘His blood be on us, and on our children.‘ [The Jews did not know at the time how prophetic this statement would be.] Pilate then released Barabbas unto them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified” (Matthew 27:24-26).
The Roman soldiers were also guilty of horrific sins. They stripped Jesus naked and put on him a scarlet robe and placed a crown of thorns on his head and a reed in his right hand. “They bowed the knee before him and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit on him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. And after that they took the robe off him, and put his own raiment on him, and crucified him” (Matthew 27:28-31). Can you imagine their horror when they have to bow for real in front of Jesus Christ at the Great White Throne Judgment and proclaim Him LORD of lords and KING of kings?
The Romans had Jesus crucified between two criminals as if he was just another common criminal. The ignorant spectators of Jerusalem and Judea who came to see the show passed by and reviled him. “They shook their heads saying, You that destroyed the temple, and build it in three days, save yourself. If you be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others, himself he cannot save. If he be King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God: let Him deliver him now, if He will save him, for he said, I am the Son of God” (Matthew 27:39-43).
During the crucifixion, there was a supernatural darkness over all the land from the sixth to the ninth hour. See Jewish People & The Supernatural Signs for the Jews :: By Randy Nettles (raptureready.com) for more information on this supernatural event. At the ninth hour (3:00 pm Jerusalem time), Jesus cried out with a loud voice and yielded up the ghost. “And behold, the veil [of the holy of holies] of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom [signifying there was no longer a separation between God and repentant man]; and the earth did quake, and the rocks split; and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many” (Matthew 27:51-53).
Jesus was resurrected on the third day as he prophesied regarding the sign of Jonah. The Pharisees had asked Jesus for a sign, and here it was, Jesus raised from death to life. He appeared to Cephas and then to all twelve disciples. After that, he appeared to more than 500 of the brothers and sisters at the same time. Then he appeared to James and to all the apostles again. “For as in Adam all die, but in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes at the Rapture, those who belong to him” (1Cornthians 15:22-23).
The Rapture is not just for those of us who are still alive at His coming, but it is also for all those who have died since believing in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The saints who were “raised from the graves” after Jesus’ resurrection were the firstfruits (a small sampling) of the dead who will be resurrected at the Rapture. The Bible doesn’t say who these “saints” were, but it is believed they were some Old Testament saints that were resurrected for a brief time to show the Lord’s power over life and death.
The sins of the Jews against the Lord reached its fullness (once again) during the ministry and subsequent crucifixion of Jesus. I believe God judged them at this time, but their judgment wouldn’t come for several more decades. In AD 66, thirty-three (33) years after Jesus’ crucifixion (in AD 33), the Jews revolted against the Roman Empire. The revolt lasted for three years.
Titus, the Roman general and son of the king (prince), arrived at the northern walls of Jerusalem during the Passover in April of AD 70, and the siege began. It is estimated there were approximately 600,000 visitors in Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. After four months, the walls were battered down, Jerusalem was sacked, and the Temple was burned to the ground on the 9th Day of Av (August 3, AD 70 on Julian Calendar). Ironically (but probably not), this was the same day of the year on the Jewish calendar that the first Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. Josephus, the Jewish historian, estimated that over one million Jews died, 11,000 perished from starvation after the close of the siege, and 97,000 were carried captive and sold into slavery or sent to the mines. Some were even sent to the gladiatorial shows throughout the major cities of the Roman provinces.
The destruction of the city and Temple fulfilled two prophecies. The first one was Daniel’s prophecy of seventy “sevens,” which he recorded in 539 BC. “After threescore and two weeks shall Messiah [Jesus] be cut off [killed], but not for himself; and the people [Romans] of the prince that shall come [Titus] shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined” (Daniel 9:26).
The second prophecy regarding the destruction of the Temple was spoken by Jesus himself after he entered Jerusalem on a donkey as King of the Jews. The Pharisees who were present told Jesus to rebuke his disciples for praising Jesus and calling him King and Lord. Jesus answered them saying, “I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out” (Luke 19:40).
When Jesus came near the city, he beheld the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known, even you at least in this your day [the arrival of their long-awaited Messiah], the things which belong unto your peace! But now they are hid from your eyes. For the days shall come upon you, that your enemies [Romans] shall cast a trench about you, and compass around you, and keep you in on every side. And shall lay you even with the ground, and your children within you; and they [Romans] shall not leave in you [Temple] one stone upon another; because you [Jews] knew not the time of your visitation” (Luke 19:42-44).
This prophecy was fulfilled to the smallest detail in AD 70. “As the Romans burned the Temple, the tremendous heat of the fire melted the sheets of gold that covered much of the Temple building. The molten gold ran down into every crack between the foundation stones. When the fire finally died down, the Roman soldiers used wedges and crowbars to overturn every stone to search for this gold, thus fulfilling Christ’s words.” {1}
It’s amazing to me (as a numbers guy) that these two prophecies occur in the 9th chapter of Daniel and the 19th chapter of Luke. As you know, 9 is the number for judgment (especially for Israel), and 19 is the number for divine judgment.
In AD 71, on the 1st anniversary of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple (9th of Av), the Roman army plowed the Temple Mount and the city. This fulfilled Micah’s prophecy in approximately 700 BC: “Therefore shall Zion [Jerusalem] for your sakes [fullness of sins] be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest” (Micah 3:12).
In AD 73, the Jewish revolutionaries committed mass suicide at Masada rather than surrender to the Romans. In turn, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem, annexed Judea as a Roman province, and systematically drove the Jews from Palestine.
In AD 137, a false prophet and Jewish leader named Simon Bar Kochba rebelled against the Romans. “For two years Bar Kochba and his followers succeeded in defeating the Romans. Finally, Emperor Hadrian and his enormous Roman army attacked and destroyed the Jewish rebels at Beilar, southwest of Jerusalem. On the tragic 9th of Av, AD 135 (65th anniversary of destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple), the last great army of an independent Israel was slaughtered without mercy.” {2}.
This fulfilled the inadvertent prophecy (self-fulfilling) of the Jewish people when they proclaimed “His blood be on us, and our children” during Christ’s trial. After AD 135, the history of the Jews would only be recorded in other countries, as the diaspora of the Jews began and they were scattered throughout the world.
The Roman Empire split into Eastern and Western empires in AD 395. Large invasions of Germanic peoples and the Huns of Attila, as well as internal corruption (and fullness of sins), led to the decline of the Western Roman Empire in AD 476. The Eastern Roman Empire survived for another millennium until Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.
The empires of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and Israel all fell because of their fullness of sins against the Lord – as all empires, nations, and peoples of the world have throughout history for this reason. Also, the nations who have made themselves enemies of Israel have not experienced a successful ending. As the Lord God Himself prophesied a long time ago to Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you [Abraham and descendants], and him [people and nations] who dishonors you, I will curse, and in you all families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3).
In part 6 of this series, I mentioned that according to Sir John Bagot Glubb, the average age of most empires is 250 years. Although the U.S. of America has not been an “empire” for 250 years, it will turn 250 years old in 2026. Will we, as an independent nation, survive that long, or will our fullness of sins against the Lord cause our demise as those nations who have come before us?
W.F. Adeney, the great theologian and Bible scholar of the late 19th and early 20th century, had this to say about the fullness of sin: “There is a fullness of sins which brings its own penalty. When sin reaches this point, the penalty can no longer be stayed. The cup once full flows over in wrath and ruin. It is as though forbearance and guilt were in the scales. When guilt is full, the balance dips. There is an end to all possible long-suffering. The more men go on in excesses of sin, the faster do they approach the inevitable day of reckoning. The sooner the sin is filled up to the measure which passes endurance, the sooner must the stroke of doom fall.
“Fullness of sins must lead to fullness of punishment. They who fill up their sins always will have the wrath come upon them to the uttermost. The worst debtor must be made to pay the last farthing. The swifter the rush downhill, the greater the crash at the bottom. The more tares that are sown in spring, the more bundles to burn in harvest. He who fills the present life with sins will have the next life filled with wrath.
“The fullness of sins is not the amount which God predestines to be committed, for God is not the author of sin, nor does he will or permit it. This fullness is the measure beyond which God stays the evil from proceeding. When the tide of iniquity, driven onwards by rebellious powers, reaches this fullness, God says, Here shall thy proud waves be stayed, and the storm beats itself out in impotent fury.” {3}
Which of the 10 Commandments have we disobeyed as a people and as a nation? Yes, the 10 commandments were given to Israel, but Israel was to be a light to the Gentile nations and was to teach them God’s ways. As God’s children, we are all (Jews and Gentiles) to obey God’s commandments and statutes.
Is our generation the one described by Timothy? “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away, for they are always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:1-7). I believe the answer is yes, we are the end-times generation. Just look at today’s headlines of the news outlets (including R.R. News), and compare them to Timothy’s statement.
America used to be a beacon of light for the rest of the world, with our Constitution, Bill of Rights, freedoms and liberties, justice system, economic opportunities, health system, and our commitment to God and country. However, in the last five decades, we have forsaken God’s word and believed the lies of the concept of separation of church and state and pro-choice (the right to murder an unborn baby). Our democratic republic, which was the envy of the world, is transforming into a banana republic, with corrupt politicians who would rather lie and cover them up than tell the truth.
Our election process (especially the 2020 presidential election) is in shambles with massive corruption and voter fraud. We can no longer trust our own government and intelligence agencies, as they would rather spy on the president of the U.S. and its citizens than the enemy. I suppose they have never heard of the 9th Commandment, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor,” because that is all they have done to President Trump for four years.
Even our churches are becoming apostate and are straying from the truth of God’s word. Our politicians, media, universities, technocrats, and super-rich elites are joining forces with other countries and the powers and principalities behind them to shed this country’s sovereignty and become a part of the New World Order. They want a one-world government, religion, and economy. These evil anti-Christ reprobates want a government that is socialist or communist so they can control the “ignorant masses” and drastically reduce the world’s population.
Basically, the globalist elites want power, riches, and luxury for themselves and slavery and death for the rest of mankind. They want to govern themselves without God, as Nimrod tried to do at Babel. They reject God’s word yet accept the lies of Lucifer. In the book of John, Jesus compares the religious elites of his time to Satan: “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it…. He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.” (John 8:44,47). The same can be said of today’s government officials, media, and globalist elites.
Isaiah explained what would eventually become of evil men who do not choose the Lord’s way: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe to men mighty who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away justice from the righteous man! Therefore, as the fire devours the stubble, and the flame consumes the chaff, so their root will be as rottenness, and their blossom will ascend like dust; because they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 5:20-21, 23-24).
I sincerely believe 2020 and all the terrible events that have transpired in this year is God’s sign or warning to us that the end is near due to our “fullness of sins” against the Lord. The Biden administration and associates are no longer attempting to hide their true intentions to “make America weak again” so that we will be forced to join the New World Order. Of course, the other possible future outcome is a natural (or supernatural) disaster such as a large earthquake or volcano of such magnitude that it destroys America or renders her impotent. The wife of Billy Graham, Ruth, once said, “If God doesn’t judge America, He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.”
Joe Biden’s N.W.O. number of 30330 tells you who is really in charge of his administration. 30330 is the precursor of 666, for it represents the powers and principalities that come before the man of sin, the Anti-Christ. 2020 is the year that Joe Biden won the presidential election (with a little help from his friends – both Demonic and Democratic) so they could begin the transition to join the N.W.O. Do you think it is a coincidence that they picked that particular number? 2020 divided by 666 equals 3.0330! Before the lawless one (Anti-Christ) comes, a one-world government ruled by 10 kings (globalist elites) will precede him, making it possible for his latter reign.
As I mentioned earlier, America will have been a sovereign nation for 250 years on July 4, 2026. In a recent article entitled “The End of the Age: A Theory,” the authors (Pete Garcia and yours truly) speculated about the timing of certain end-time events, including the Gog/Magog war, 10 Kings reign, the Tribulation, and the 2nd Advent of Jesus. We speculated that the 10 Kings government could possibly come as early as 2023 when America will be 247 years old, the same age as ancient Israel was when their kingdom (with Solomon included) ended. This global government would mean the end of America as a sovereign nation and world power.
We also speculated that the Tribulation could possibly start (most likely scenario) in the year 2026 when America will be 250 years old; that is, if Uncle Sam remains as a sovereign nation for that long. However, if we join the N.W.O., America will no longer be a sovereign nation or a world power, but just another region controlled by the 10 kings and the Anti-Christ.
The United Nations, in our opinion, will assume power of world government after a major catastrophe such as a financial meltdown of the world economies, or another major pandemic (planned demonic) a.k.a. Covid 21, or the Rapture. Let’s hope, as Christians, that it’s the Rapture which causes the schism. The U.N. will not be competent enough to govern the world and will have to relinquish control to the 10 kings. They will reign (in our scenario) from 2023 – 2029.
At this point (2029), three of the 10 kings will be killed by the A.C. The remaining seven kings will then acquiesce their power and authority to the A.C., who now becomes the King (dictator/emperor) of the World. However, his absolute power is short-lived, as his reign only lasts for 3.5 years until his “fullness of sin” catches up with him. He will then be judged, defeated, and destroyed by the true King of the World, Jesus Christ, who will return (in our scenario) to the earth in 2033. Jesus Christ, the Lord of lords and King of kings, will reign for a thousand years and into eternity.
The ultimate fate of Satan, the Anti-Christ and false prophet, and any non-believer whose name is not written in the Book of Life is to be cast alive into the Lake of Fire. “And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10, 15). “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).
Amen. Even so, come quickly (in the twinkling of an eye), Lord Jesus.
Randy Nettles
Endnotes:
{1} Armageddon: Appointment with Destiny by Grant R. Jeffrey, Waterbrook Press, pg.75
{2} I.B.I.D. pg. 76