Highway to Tribulation - Endtime Prophecy
Part 1

Endtime prophecy or eschatology is a theme that runs like a thread throughout the entire Bible. Approximately 1/3 of the Bible is prophetic in nature and as early as Genesis 3:15 a hint at endtime developments is given. Speaking to the serpent, God said the following, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." The woman is a picture of Israel; the head that is bruised or more accurately, crushed, is Satan. "His heel" refers to the Messiah, Jesus. Jesus was born a Jew, of the seed of Israel, the woman.

When Jesus died on the cross at Calvary and resurrected, he crushed the serpent's head with His heel. As anyone who has suffered a heel injury knows, it is terribly painful. When a serpent's head is crushed, they writhe in agony for a period of time before they finally expire. In crushing the serpent's head with His heel Jesus suffered untold agony and His defeat of the enemy, though total, will not be fully realized until the moment that Satan is finally thrown into the lake of fire, prepared for the Devil and his angels. Before that tremendous event takes place, there are still many events which must transpire. They are all written about and predicted by the Word of God.

Two books of the Bible comprise the two main pillars upon which all end-time prophecy hangs; Daniel and Revelation. The book of Daniel looks forward in time from the reign of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon until the last days during which a reconstituted Roman Empire controls the planet. The book of Revelation looks back in time at the kingdoms that ruled from Egypt until the present day, again showing us a reconstituted Roman Empire in control when Jesus returns to rule and reign. In fact the name Revelation means the revealing of Jesus to the Jews as their Messiah. Zechariah 12 :10 "...they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn...,as one mourneth for his only son." The Book of Revelation then goes on to describe future events as far as possible, even into eternity.

Scattered throughout the rest of God's Word like gems are prophesys which fill in the blanks, so to speak, and complete the picture presented by those two main endtime event books. We live in a time in which we are seeing endtime events play out before our very eyes. For instance, a key endtime event is the "War of Gog of Magog". With Vladimir Putin now firmly ensconced as a permanent power, the mask is off and Russia's appetite for a new empire is revealed. Some Bible scholars see Putin as a possible candidate for the latter-days leader of Gog, the land of Magog, Rosh (Russia), Meshech (Moscow) and Tubal (Siberia). The book of Ezekiel fills in a lot of the blanks regarding this potentially near future event.

Ezekiel 38:3,22 & 39:2 "Son of man set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal,...And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood ; and I will rain upon him an overflowing rain....great hailstones, fire and brimstone...and leave but the sixth part." Almost universally acknowledged to be a reference to Russia, this war seemed inevitable only a few decades ago, impossible a few years ago and now again inevitable. It is as if God is carefully manipulating events to fulfill His Word, speeding events up, slowing them down like a great Conductor of a Cosmic Orchestra, controlling the various sections and instruments to bring everything to a harmonious conclusion at precisely the right moment.

Literally, within the last few weeks, Putin has come out like a bear hungry from hibernation and is threatening the West and anyone who interferes with his designs to re-take Georgia and has included Israel in his threats of military reprisal because of them honoring existing arms deals they had made to supply Georgia with weaponry before the recent hostilities broke out between Russia and their former satellite. The book of Ezekiel goes on to detail a massive horde of armies descending from the North against Israel. These armed hordes are joined by confederate sympathizers of the now Islamic States of Libya, Ethiopia, Iran and Turkey. When Ezekiel wrote the prophecy some 2,500 years ago, there was no Islam. But the names he uses, though changed in some instances, such as Persia/Iran, Put/Libya etc., describe the current Islamic States bent on Israel's destruction. Israel is surrounded by enemies who have sworn to destroy her and have on several occasions already attempted to do so.

WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS

Jesus likened the endtimes to a woman in childbirth, the birthpangs coming ever closer together and in ever increasing intensity. The seas and the waves roaring (hurricanes, tsunamis), earthquakes in diverse places, wars and rumors of wars, famine and pestilence, signs in the sun, moon and stars. All these things are happening and can be read about in the daily newspaper, but as the scoffers say, things have always been this way. But never at the same time, with the same frequency and the same intensity and never in at least 2,000 years with the biggest piece of the puzzle in place; the nation of Israel.

At this moment, furious negotiations are taking place behind closed doors to divide Israel yet again, but more significantly, to divide Jerusalem. Because if Israel is the main piece of the puzzle, the heart of the main puzzle piece is Jerusalem. According to published reports, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is pushing for Israel to sign a document by the end of this year that would divide Jerusalem allowing a Palestinian State Capitol to be established in Jerusalem. The agreement could conceivably take effect in between 1-5 years. The tipping point for the outpouring of God's wrath on an unbelieving world may very well be this planned division of His Holy city, Jerusalem. Ezekiel chapter 16:6-14 describes the tender care and love God has given to Jerusalem and the rest of the chapter describes the depth of His fury and indignation at her for spurning Him and giving herself to other lovers, her enemies, including the Philistines or modern-day Palestinians. This is exactly what is taking place at this moment in time; Jerusalem surrendering herself to her enemies, the Palestinians/Philistines.

Because the nations, including Israel, have divided His land, they will be judged. Thus begins the long-dreaded "Battle of Armageddon". Some scholars believe that the "War of Gog and Magog" is the beginning of the long campaign that culminates in the "Battle of Armageddon". Whatever name you use, battle or war, once the buttons are pushed, there is no going back. We live in a world of Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Weapons, of satellites and drones and long-range ballistic missiles. Once the line is crossed, once the gauntlet is thrown down, Peace will no longer be an option.

Because we live in a time where so many of the events are occurring which set the stage for Christ's return, I thought it would be of interest to assess where we are at this moment prophetically and look at the past, present and future. The "Rapture" is a signless event, and has been considered imminent since Jesus ascended into Heaven from the Mount of Olives. This "Doctrine of Imminency" should in no way keep us from being keen observers of events which are detailed in God's word about the endtimes. As Jesus Himself said, "Take ye heed, watch and pray....Watch ye therefore....And what I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch." Mark 13:33,35,37

Therefore, I take it as a commandment of our Lord that we observe events, prayerfully consider what they mean and share this knowledge with others when possible.

Standing where we are today, at the edge of time, one foot in the Church Age and potentially the other in Heaven for the Marriage supper of the Lamb, we wait for the command to "Come up hither". Although the "Rapture" may be signless, those of us who hew to a Futurist view of the Millennium and a Pre-Tribulation Rapture are like riders in a vehicle on a long journey, our destination being just shy of the Tribulation, knowing that our stop is near because all over the highway are huge signs essentially saying, Tribulation just up ahead. In fact, that may be a good way of illustrating the point. All of mankind is on a bus headed down the road, with some of the riders holding tickets for a town called Rapture. The rest hold tickets for the big city of Tribulation. Now Rapture is a small town and not many people are getting off there, so there are no signs for it, but those who know, know that it is just before the big city of Tribulation. Hence, when we see signs for Tribulation, not many miles ahead, we can be sure we are getting very, very close to our stop; Rapture.

One of the biggest signs for the city of Tribulation is the Mark of the Beast. "And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark,.... or the number of his name Here is wisdom......his number is.....666" Revelation 13:17-18. This sign is like a billboard, saying "Folks, we're almost there!!!!!" You may or may not know that we are so close, that the number is already in common usage in business; in fact without this number 666, business would likely grind to a halt. Thus far, no one has been asked or forced to display the number on their bodies, but if you look at any item that you purchase through virtually any commercial or business entity, it will indeed bear the number, 666. It is embedded in the bar-code. There are several variations to make it more difficult to recognize, but the bar-code system is entirely dependent on those three 6's. One at the left edge, one in the center and one at the right edge of all UPC or Universal Product Codes. Now that is so amazing to me that I am at a loss to describe my feelings on the subject. Please do not be alarmed and think because you have purchased items bearing that code or perhaps have a business which utilizes the code that you are bound for hell. I personally believe we will not be here when that bodily mark is issued. In fact, the chaos that ensues after the Rapture will be the final spur to administering a personal mark, in an attempt to accurately identify everyone left. A massive census coupled with this bodily mark will be the final solution to keeping track of every human being on the planet.

The fact that a 2,000 year old manuscript accurately predicted the exact number that is required to access the mercantile system is such incredible proof of the inerrancy of God's word that one has to practically bury one's head in the sand to not see how close we are to the end of the world as we know it. Yet, like a triple-lock box of yesteryear, the whole world of banking, commerce, industry, agriculture and manufacturing can only be accessed via those three 6's.

Another tremendous marker for the end of the age is a new Temple for the Jews on Mt. Moriah. Given the current political climate, nothing could seem less likely. However, I would like to share an impression I believe God revealed to me. Because Jerusalem is such a pivotal piece of real estate, one that the Jews have sworn to never relinquish again, I believe the only way they will concede to dividing the city would be in exchange for a guarantee that they would receive control of part of the Temple Mount. In a reversal which left grown men weeping, when Israel captured the Temple Mount in 1967, General Moshe Dayan unilaterally ceded total control of the Mount back to the Arabs, in a misguided attempt at appeasement. The only spot on earth where God will sanction a Temple to worship Him, this piece of ground is an absolute imperative for the Temple to be re-built. There are already several organizations making the necessary items for service, scouring the earth for the red heifer without blemish which must be found to dedicate the Temple, blending incense and training priests. Some observers believe that a Temple could be built and ready for dedication within 2 years of a decree to break ground.

One of the major organizations dedicated to building the 3rd Temple, as it is called, is the Temple Institute. Just this week, published reports revealed, "In the youth conference conducted by the Temple Institute.....participants will discuss possible plans of action to further the building of the Temple. Under the title, 'Building the Temple, it's in our hands', lessons will be given by rabbis identified with the Temple and for the first time ever, a treaty pertaining to the necessity of building the Temple will be revealed." (emphasis added by author)

One of the major hallmarks of the Anti-christ will be that he confirms a 7-year covenant between Israel and her enemies to allow not only a peaceful co-existence with them but to guarantee their right to worship in the Temple and perform the necessary animal sacrifices and services required for all Jews to follow the Torah. Some experts have done precise measurements and have reckoned that the 40 acre Temple Mount is large enough to accomodate the present Al Aqsa Mosque and a new Temple. Furthermore, they believe that the actual rock upon which Abraham presented Isaac for sacrifice, is not the one under the Dome of the Rock, but is located where an envisioned New Jewish Temple would actually be placed.

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