" ...And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. " ( Daniel 9:26 )
" Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition "
" 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. And then the lawless one will be revealed..."
( II Thessalonians 2:3,7,8 )What a difference a week makes! Most of us knew that the election was going to be close, but few dreamed that the presidential race would be deadlocked, and the results still in doubt, by the end of the week. It is this kind of uncertainty, and lack of predictable leadership, that may very well give rise to the Anti-christ. Thinking people are very uneasy, and the stock market is in steep decline.
Biblical prophecy is usually easier to understand after it is fulfilled than before, however a number of things about the last days are quite certain. The Bible often speaks about the " Day of the Lord ", and Day is often capitalized. This speaks of the Day of God's judgement on the earth. A number of things are closely associated with this Day. These may not occur in the order in which I am listing them.
Jerusalem will be freed from non Jewish control.
There will be many wars, earthquakes, diseases, and famines.
There will be strange sights in the sky. The sun and moon will be darkened, etc. What we call the sky, or the heavens, will be radically and suddenly changed. People will be very perplexed and frightened.
Christ will return for His people. His sign will appear in the sky, and He will send His angels to get His people, before God's wrath is unleashed on the earth. This is commonly referred to as the " rapture ".
An evil ruler ( usually called the Anti-Christ ) will be revealed, and eventually become ruler of the earth. There has been endless speculation about who this person will be. Daniel refers to him as the " prince who is to come ". Since the people who destroyed Jerusalem were Romans, we can be quite certain that this evil ruler will be a descendent of the ancient Romans, although not necessarily from Rome, or the Vatican. He could be a descendent of any of the peoples of the Roman Empire,- and that includes the United Kingdom and the United States! He will demand worship, and will cause everyone to receive a mark on their right hand or forehead. I saw a bank advertisement on TV the other day, which described the future of banking as having people with computer chips implanted in their foreheads!
Much confusion has been heaped upon christians due to the teaching about a " 7 year period of tribulation ". No where does the Bible speak of a 7 year tribulation. Yes, there is a tribulation, and we are now in it. It has been going on since Jesus Christ was crucified. Some 50,000,000 christians have been matyred so far. There is a period of approximately 7 years of God's wrath on the earth, but that comes after the rapture. God has never judged His people with the ungodly people, and I don't believe He is going to start doing it now. The judgement of the believers at the Judgement Seat of Christ is separate and distinct from the Great White Throne Judgement, where unbelievers will be thrown into the lake of fire.
Those of us who compare events in our day to prophesies in scripture have been wondering how the earth could switch from relatively stable governments to a chaos of such a magnitude that people would be willing to embrace the Anti-Christ. Perhaps it will be something like what we have now. It is interesting to note how atheists and agnostics, who reject Christ and God, are so willing to embrace all sorts of phony ideas, false religions, and absolute nonsense. I saw one the other day who thought putting magnets in her shoes gave her more energy. Then there is karate, yoga, and all kinds of eastern hocus pocus.
Usually the rejection of christianity has its roots in a false presentation of christianity, or in a selfish desire for things that they know God forbids. What they don't understand is that God gave us His commandments for our own good! The time is growing very short. I believe we are now talking months and not years. Repent now, while you still have the opportunity.
We welcome the opportunity to minister to you. If your church, cell group, or Bible study, in Gulf County or Bay County, in the Florida panhandle, needs a Wed. eve. speaker, let us know. Send us an e-mail. We are in your area!
