davidbowerkingwood

For a period of at least 7 years after the battle of Gog and Magog, Israel will enjoy a degree of peace and stability. Although Israel has been back in the land since 1948, the final 7 years God had promised to Israel will not actually start until the signing of the covenant agreement between Israel and the Antichrist.

Once the agreement is signed the seven year Tribulation will start with the first half being a time during which the Antichrist tries to establish himself as the world’s savior and politically position himself as world leader; during the second half the Antichrist will declare himself to be God.

The Book of Revelation and the other prophetic passages from both the Old and New Testaments describe a coming time of terrible judgment on the earth which we call the Tribulation. Although the first 3 1/2 years are bad the second 3 1/2 years are even worse. We are told in Matthew 24:22 “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”

At the close of the Tribulation a great battle will be in progress called Armageddon; during this battle the Lord Jesus Christ shall return and bring that battle to a close by His mighty power; then there will truly be peace in Jerusalem.

At the Second Advent the Lord will separate the believers from the unbelievers with all unbelievers being cast into the Lake of Fire with the Beast and the False Prophet. Only mortal believers and resurrected saints will populate the earth at the beginning of the millennial reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 25:31-46

Believing mankind will finally enjoy the earth the way God had intended from the beginning; this period will last 1,000 years with the Lord as supreme ruler.

Although the Millennium will start with only believers, the children born to the mortal believers will include both those who accept the Lord and those who do not. Over time the unbelieving population will grow in spite of the personal presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.

At the end of the Millennium Satan, who had been bound, will be released out of his prison and will draw a huge number of unbelievers to him “And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city; and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them” Revelation 20:9. This is referred to as the second battle of Gog and Magog although it will be more of an annihilation than a battle.

Satan is then “cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.” Revelation 20:10

It is at this point I believe the old heaven and earth are destroyed by fire as described in II Peter 3:10. This is followed by the great white throne judgment where unbelievers are judged according to their works.

Death and Hades will be cast into the lake of fire as will every individual whose name “was not found written in the book of life.” “This is the second death.”

This scene, which is given such a terse description in the Bible, is undoubtedly one of the most terrible scenes imaginable. All mankind who have rejected the offer of the free gift of salvation in Jesus Christ must stand before the great white throne. There is no hope whatsoever and the punishment that awaits them is eternal pain and suffering in the lake of fire.

The heavens and earth that they have known have fled and the only reality to them is the great white throne and the absolute crushing certainty of judgment and condemnation with eternal torment and suffering in the lake of fire.

We live in a remarkable age of grace; abundant opportunity is being given to turn to the Lord for salvation and be delivered from the judgment to come. The Lord’s patience with the sinner in no way means that God is indifferent to sin; the fact that sin does not result in immediate retribution from God does not mean that no retribution is planned.

Deliverance from God’s judgment is now a simple matter of accepting, by grace through faith, the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. This simple act of faith is the only way anyone can be delivered from the certainty of the coming judgment; a judgment which is eternal and unyielding in its severity.

My next blog series is on the subject of the new heaven and the new earth; the heaven and earth we have known will be gone forever and the Lord Jesus Christ will create a new heaven and a new earth.

It’s interesting to see how prophecy is being treated today; many want to disregard prophecy as unimportant and lacking in significance. I have heard that the Bible was around 25% prophetic when it was written; one can imagine every fourth page as prophecy. If God devoted that much space to prophecy I would be inclined to think that He attaches great significance to it.

We are living in an age today when prophetic signs are being fulfilled all around us; I believe we ignore them at our own peril. You may recall the Lord’s disgust when the Pharisees ignored the many signs He was presenting as their Messiah at the time of the First Advent; let us not fall into that same error.

Now let us consider the battle of Psalm 83, the battle of Gog and Magog, and the possible events before and after. Since the Lord did not reveal as many details as we might have liked, it becomes necessary to try and connect the dots, as it were.

Today Islam refers to the United States as the “great Satan, and Israel as the “little Satan.” It appears rather obvious that a major concern on the part of Islam has to do with a rather likely intervention by the United States if Israel should be attacked; although the “great Satan” is hated, its military power is also feared.

What would Islam most likely do to Israel if the United States was suddenly incapacitated, if the United States was no longer in a position to defend Israel? If you’re guessing attack Israel I completely agree; the Islamic nations surrounding Israel would see this as their golden opportunity to attack with impunity.

I believe the Rapture of the church will do just exactly that; the United States will be thrown into a state of chaos by the loss of all true Christians. I believe the armed forces will be hit very hard as I’m convinced that many of our military are born-again believers.

As to the impact on our government, well, I guess I better not go there.

I believe this chaos will be the catalyst for the attack of Psalm 83 which may well take place a short amount of time after the Rapture of the church. This could be the catalyst for Islam’s attack on the “great Satan” as well. Whereas God has promised to defend Israel and give them the victory in this battle, the United States has no such guarantee from God.

I believe these two events are the reason the United States doesn’t appear in Bible prophecy. An EMP blast over the United States could throw this country technologically back into the 1800’s. Our days as a world power would be over for good.

Israel, on the other hand, will be delivered and enjoy a resounding victory over the attacking forces by Divine intervention. This could result in the short period of peace and stability prophesied in Ezekiel 38:11 which will precede the Battle of Gog and Magog.

The exact timing of the battle of Gog and Magog is not specified in Scripture and there is much discussion as to when it will take place. I believe the timing I have specified best accounts for all of the events described in Scripture so I believe it to be acceptably realistic. (For the record, I can make available by email a pdf copy of a timeline of end time events which is available on request to all subscribers or non-subscribers who provide their email address.)

Although the battle of Psalm 83 includes only those nations in Israel’s immediate vicinity, the battle of Gog and Magog will include Russia and Iran. Keep in mind the United States will no longer be a major force in world affairs; leadership will have shifted to the European Union.

The forces of Gog and Magog will attack Israel and suffer an overwhelming defeat by the hand of God as He miraculously defends Israel and carries the attack to the various homelands of the attacking nations by sending fire upon them.

During God’s defense of Israel there shall be great earthquakes; I believe that during these earthquakes the Islamic structures on the Temple Mount shall be destroyed completely, opening the door for Israel’s rebuilding of the Temple.

In Ezekiel 39:9 we are told the cleanup will last seven years; this is one reason I believe the battle of Gog and Magog will take place at least 31/2 years before the signing of the covenant with the Antichrist and perhaps longer.

It seems highly unlikely that Israel would have any continued interest in cleanup once the Great Tribulation starts at mid-point in the Tribulation. The world will be in such chaos that cleanup at that point would be like trying to sweep the kitchen while the house is burning down.

I believe Israel’s restoration after the battle of Gog and Magog will include the rebuilding of the Temple on the Temple Mount. God’s dramatic intervention in the defeat of the invading forces will cause Muslims to step back and give Israel the opportunity to rebuild the Temple unhindered.

Temple worship will be restored and Israel will enjoy another time of peace which will eventually include the signing of the covenant with the Antichrist. We will continue the summary of events in Part 4.

Scripture is clear, I’m convinced, that the church will not be on earth during the Tribulation. I will mention two sections of Scripture which come to mind first in support of this position: the first is in Daniel 9:24-27 where Daniel is given the prophecy of the seventy weeks to be given to Israel.

That is the prophetic equivalent of 490 prophetic years which are cut short at the 483rd year by the entrance of the Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. On that day Israel was set aside for an undetermined amount of time during which the mystery of the church was to be played out starting at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit took up residence in believers as described in Act 2:1-4.

It is in this hidden era of the church in which we find ourselves today; the Old Testament prophets could prophetically see two mountain top events, the First Advent, the Messiah as suffering servant, and the Second Advent, the Messiah as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

What was not revealed to them was the mystery of the church age; that long valley of time that stretched between those two mountain tops. Israel had been set aside but not abandoned by God; God, who can always be trusted to keep His word, had promised yet another seven years to Israel to complete the job assigned in Daniel 9:24.

The Tribulation is that last seven years allotted to Israel. Just as Israel was set aside before the church began, so the church will be removed before the age of Israel is resumed to complete its last seven years. God does not mix Israel and the church.

The second passage of Scripture that comes to mind is I Thessalonians 1:10 “And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.” It is interesting to note that Paul uses the present tense rescues, not the past tense rescued in this verse. In the Greek the present tense carries the thought of continuous action, in other words our deliverance from the wrath to come is a continuous reality right now because of what the Lord Jesus Christ did for us on the Cross.

One more verse that comes to mind is Revelation 4:1 where John is called up to heaven. Although the church is the main topic of Revelation chapters 1-3, it is not even mentioned after 4:1. I believe the calling up is symbolic of the Rapture of the church.

It is important to remember that the Rapture of the church is not the event that triggers the Tribulation; it is the signing of the covenant between Israel and the Antichrist that starts the Tribulation period and starts Israel’s seven year countdown.

Based on the studies by Dr. Harold Hoehner, I believe the triumphal entry took place on March 30, AD 33 and Pentecost, the beginning of the church, took place on May 25, AD33, a gap of 56 days. Likewise I believe it very possible, even likely that there will be a gap between the Rapture of the church and the signing of the covenant.

If one considers the battle of Psalm 83 and the battle of Gog and Magog there is an implied amount of time that would pass in order to accomplish all that is prophesied for these events. I believe we could be looking at five years at the very least and possibly more between the Rapture and the signing of the covenant.

Israel had been given three periods of 490 years in the land. There was a gap of 161 years between the end of the second period of 490 years and the beginning of the third period of 490 years. It the last seven years of this third period which is still future and is called the Tribulation.

The nations surrounding Israel have announced their intentions of taking all of Israel for Islam; the very existence of Israel is an affront to them. This is precisely the situation described in Psalm 83:4 “They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.” I find it pretty exciting to see ancient Bible prophecies in the headlines of today’s papers.

In Part 3, I will elaborate on the battle of Psalm 83 and the one event that I think will trigger the attack. I will also cover the future of the United States as it relates to Israel and the battle of Psalm 83.

In conversations with both believers and unbelievers there seems to be a universal question; where is all this leading, what’s going to happen next? This may be a question on whether or not a particular individual will still have a job by the end of the year or perhaps when will it start raining again, or one of the many aspects of the national or world situation.

There seem to be so many areas that are filled with uncertainty that one need not look too far to find another line of thought that ends with a question mark; I suspect many such areas will come to your mind as you consider this.

For the Christian, the question of what the Bible says about all of this should be a prime factor in finding an answer. God knew from eternity past exactly what condition the world would be in today and He provided guidance in the Bible for His children.

The signs are very clear to me that we are living in the Biblical end times described in Scripture. Things are rapidly falling into place in accordance with the descriptions given in the Bible of the world situation as they would be as the time of the end approaches.

We see with what precision the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled all of the prophecies concerning His First Advent so it is reasonable to believe that the prophecies surrounding His Second Advent will be fulfilled with equal precision.

There is nothing prophetically left to be fulfilled before the Rapture of the church so I am convinced the Rapture could take place any second.  What I would like to do here is to comment on the remaining unfulfilled prophecies that are prophetically planned for the end of the world.

We are living in the 7th Church Era called Laodicea; this is the era of the lukewarm church that the Lord would spew out of His mouth, the era where the Lord is standing outside the door to the church and knocking to see if He will be let in. My son has referred to this church age as “the church of the expectoration.”

It is from this lukewarm era the true church, comprised of all born-again believers, will be removed at the Rapture.

The remaining unfulfilled prophetic occurrences include: 1. the Rapture of the true church; 2. the battle of Psalm 83 which I believe includes the destruction of Damascus mentioned in Isaiah 17; 3. the battle of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 37 – 39; 4. the signing of the covenant agreement between Israel and the Antichrist which signals the beginning of the Tribulation; 5. the Second Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ; 6. the Millennial kingdom; 7. the destruction of heaven and earth and the Great White Throne judgment; 8. the creation of the new heaven and earth and the beginning of the eternal state.

The relative timing on events 1, 2, and 3 are not specified in Scripture but I’m convinced they will all take place before event 4, the signing of the covenant which signals the beginning of the Tribulation.

In Part 2 I will cover the first three events, their order, and their impact on the world situation.