The prophecies of Ezekiel are written to the Jews, and those of Daniel bring in secular events that involve Jewish people and the nation of Israel. Look at Ezekiel 37, which tells of the restoration of Israel out of the ashes of history to become a sovereign nation—so created by a decree of the United Nations.

In Ezekiel 37, the prophet sees a valley of dry bones that began to take on flesh and sinews in restoration (verse 6). Promise fulfilled—Ezekiel 37:11-14. We can date this event over the period of about 1870 to May 14, 1948, when Jews began to return to the land until its birth in one day as a new nation.

Now look at Luke 21:28-33 for the update to the present time:

“Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.

“Then He spoke to them a parable: ‘Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near.

“Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.'” (Underscored for emphasis—it is not the generation of the first century, but that one in which these things will happen and are happening.)

The next thing mentioned in Ezekiel after the dry bones become alive again is in Ezekiel 37:26: “Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore.” (Is that sanctuary a reference to the Messiah?) This promise clearly indicates that God will not ever turn from His chosen people of Abraham and not complete His plan for them. In other words, there is no such thing as a valid “replacement theology.”

Parallel with this promise in Ezekiel is that of Daniel 9:27, which says this one who arises from the heritage of the Romans will “confirm a covenant with many for one week (of seven years).” The Jews will endorse this one because its perpetrator is seen as their friend, even as perhaps the Messiah to come, especially since he also authorizes the rebuilding of their temple. (And he has no nail holes in his hands or feet.)

Notice that these two promises are events that deal with the Jews. In order for the one in Daniel to happen, something must happen that will allow that one of Roman heritage to appear with authority to confirm a covenant and allow the Jews to rebuild their temple.

This one of Roman heritage, therefore, cannot be one coming out of obscurity suddenly to gain the authority required for these things; certainly not. Something dramatic must take place.

What is missing? It is an event that is not Jewish related, not a Jewish event—the Rapture, of course. It is a non-Jewish happening, for it is the “snatching out” of all the believers in Christ to allow the Antichrist to be revealed, the culmination of that “falling away” prediction in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-7. Therefore, the reading of 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 has two parts, as, “For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night” (then the break-in events and the Rapture occurs, and the prophecy turns to its focus on the Jews, saying, “For when they shall say, ‘Peace and safety,’ sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape.”

The narrative goes back to those who are in the Rapture, saying in verses 4-5: “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.”

The labor pains of a pregnant woman continue until the baby is born; therefore, that comparison may well be pointing to the seven years of tribulation, truly that 70th year of Daniel’s earlier prophecy in Daniel 9; for that period is purely for God’s promise of judgment for the Jews.

Back to Ezekiel again, we find no mention of a Rapture after God’s promise of an everlasting covenant, but that prophecy goes right to the coming Gog-Magog invasion of Israel. Daniel does not identify this event, unless it is included in the “sudden destruction” mentioned by Paul. Daniel does not name it as Ezekiel does. Thus, we see “wars and rumors of wars” mentioned in the prophetic accounts told by Jesus, but not with specific names, such as 1st and 2nd world wars. It is interesting that Daniel continues with actions of this new arrival, the Antichrist, while Ezekiel goes directly to the Gog-Magog war, followed directly with rebuilding the Jewish temple, beginning in Ezekiel 40.

Despite opinions to the contrary, it does appear that the flow of end-time events is basically in chronological order. The authority for the judgment of the tribulation period is determined in Revelation 5, and 6 is a preview of what will happen in those times ahead. Jesus, the Christ, opens each seal which reveals the content of the future judgments, with seal five featuring the main issue of the first half of the seven years, the ministry and results of the 144,000 young Jewish evangelists, reported in Revelation 7.

The sixth seal depicts the Great Tribulation when the Satan-empowered Antichrist activates the Mark of the Beast and those who do not take the mark are methodically slaughtered. Zachariah 13:8 reports that two-thirds of the Jews are killed, but God intervenes, and one-third of them are saved from Satan’s wrath (see Rev. 12:13-14).

Along with this, as those times wind down, we are told of the marriage banquet of the Lamb, followed by a final battle when forces of evil are defeated, the Antichrist and his false prophet are cast alive into the lake of fire, and Satan is bound in the bottomless pit for a thousand years. This begins the millennium, meaning a thousand years with Christ personally ruling the world “with a rod of iron” from His throne in Zion, the city of David, in Jerusalem. Contrary to growing opinion (apparently), I am certain that God knows how long a millennium is, for sure. But of course, believers of today and the past will not be here to experience those events.

In conclusion, it is clear that God is not confused with all of these intricate details in the Word, but the student must search them out while keeping in mind the total attributes of God. One timely reminder from Jude 1:3, which obligates us to “earnestly contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints,” is that Jude made that declaration before the end of that first century. It was after that century that the development of so many false doctrines and deviations from that true body of faith has occurred. Mankind thinks he has the ability and right to “improve” on what is the eternal Word of God. Again, it brings to mind Proverbs 9:10, “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

Contact email: andwegetmercy@gmail.com

Was the Apostle Paul a prophet? Did he foretell anything of the future having to do with God’s plans for the age? What could he have meant when he reported, after being left for dead from a stoning at Lystra, “How he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter” (2 Corinthians 12:4)? No doubt but that he learned prophecy there, firsthand!

Therefore, when Paul writes of events to come in the future, such as in 2 Thessalonians 2 of a “falling away of lawfulness,” we can count on it being a prophetic revelation. Along with that passage, the prior letter to the Thessalonians also bears some weighty prophetic revelations that can be counted on for our future, as well. There, we are told of the coming removal of the saints from the path of God’s wrath upon the unbelieving, an event called the Rapture.

The 2 Thessalonians 2:3 passage says, “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day [of the Lord] will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition.”

It goes on to say, in verses 6-7, “And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.” Being taken out of the way of that lawless one’s progress of evil means that those righteous ones in whom dwells the Spirit of God are gone, departed from the earth and with the Lord.

This lawless one is identified as one who eventually, then, is able to assume a position in the temple and claim that he is God and demand that all must worship him. For background on this, let’s go to Daniel 9:26-27:

“And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.”

Several things are brought together in these two verses. Earlier in Daniel 9 is the declaration of a 70-week punishment of God upon the Jews for their rebellion, but the count stops at 69 weeks. (These are, strangely, weeks of years, that is, one “day” of the week is one year, so that the real count is seven years for each week.) Thus, there is the final 70th week not yet accounted for, and no other possibility remains but the seven-year treaty that is confirmed by this coming “prince” of the heritage of the Roman army, which destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 70 A.D.

Note, now, what he does, according to Daniel’s account, where he confirms that covenant, then breaks it after halfway through it. Then he desolates the temple by standing in it and declaring himself God and demanding that all worship him. Fast-forward to 2 Thessalonians 2, now, and see what Paul reports will happen in the future—a repeat of Daniel’s prophecy. This desolation of the temple is done in the future by the clear action of an identified person, the Antichrist. The claim that the temple is made desolate by an abomination brought on at its destruction in 70 A.D. is a figment of imagination by the false teachers who twist the Scriptures to support their preconceived ideas of how God’s plan should come about. Imagine someone declaring himself God and demanding worship while the temple he is standing in is being torn down by Roman soldiers?

This lawless one, the Antichrist, will not be some obscure person from the shadows of Europe and the old Roman nation; he merely has the heritage of that ancient nation. That also is not a likely appearance of such a person, for how does he acquire the authority to confirm a covenant with many? And then, declare an end to its fulfillment at mid-term? He will be a well-known, fully accepted person whom the world will welcome as their leader when the whole world of believers is taken away in the Rapture. One such person has already been identified as having been “primed” to lead [them] into a New World Order.

The Jewish people who remain behind will believe he is the Messiah, for he makes an effort to befriend them with a peace covenant and allows their rebuilding of the temple. (It is not yet restored, as you recall, but the Jews have fully prepared for its rebuilding.) Remember, the Jews are not looking for a Messiah with nail holes in His hands.

But, how soon will these things come to pass? What about this current degradation of the world’s morality and lawfulness, the defiance of justice for all, and the demand of the immorality of the LBGTQ+ Perversion faction for equality recognition? Is it just another wave of evil like those of the past—if there were any like this?

I contend that this is the time of the end, just as predicted by Daniel, Paul, and even Jesus, who said, “When these things begin to happen, look up, for your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:28). The demands of evil people are universal and unrelenting, even permeating the highest governmental levels in many countries. The freedom of believing in God is fast losing favor among the nations, and declaring the claims of the gospel that believing it will change one’s life for the better is already essentially illegal in Canada and is looming closer in Britain. “Conversion counseling” it is called and is termed illegal in many USA states.

The collection of end-time events is bunching up, and it is hard to sort out which is coming next. We do know that this “falling away” is real and racing like so many lemmings to the destruction that can only be the end result. As righteousness is rejected and the reign of Satanic behavior multiplies, there can only be that result. “The thief only comes to steal, kill and destroy,” Jesus said in John 10:10.

We know from Scripture, now, that when this time of “falling away” comes to its climax, believers will be taken away to the Lord, and the remaining world will be in great dismay and terror with terrible conditions for survival. It will come at a time when the secular world will be feeling well and enjoying good times, according to Luke 17:26-30, which gives us that kind of a picture:

“And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot, they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built, but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.”

How can it be that “good times are here” when society is crumbling before our very eyes—sexual immorality fully promoted, lawlessness upheld, and criminals allowed freedom? Police dishonored and denied authority, and many other contrasts to a peaceable culture? Yet, the economy is reported as doing well; the stock market is holding steady in a rising market. Perhaps those who ignore God have no hope and are like those Paul writes of in 1 Corinthians 15:32b, saying, “If there is no resurrection of the dead, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!'”

Perhaps the year 2022 will be the one in which God looks down and sees the world as He saw Sodom in Lot’s day, notes that He has obtained for His namesake the measure of Gentiles He wants, and moves with judgment in mind. It is by His great mercy that believers can be “Looking for that Blessed Hope and glorious appearance (then) of that great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).

Contact email: andwegetmercy@gmail.com