Category Archives: Revelation

The Stars Will Fall From the Sky

02 Friday Aug 2013

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…and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. Revelation 6:13

Asteroid comes from the Greek word Aster meaning star.

In 1801, while making a star map, Italian priest and astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi accidentally discovered the first and largest asteroid, Ceres, orbiting between Mars and Jupiter.

The King James Bible was completed in 1611, almost 200 years before the discovery of asteroids. Therefore, the translation in our Bibles of the Greek word astéras as “star” was made before asteroids were identified.

The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids.

To understand why there is an asteroid belt so close to the earth, we must take look at the pre-flood conditions of Noah’s day.

In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. Genesis 7:11-12

Evidently there were great subterranean chambers of water which belched forth their contents causing volcanism (volcanic eruption) and tectonism (faulting or folding or other deformation of the earth’s crust by plate movements) on a broad scale.

Just as the springs of the great deep were in place to pour our God’s judgment in the days of Noah, so are the asteroids ready to be used for God’s judgment upon the earth before the Lord returns.

I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Revelation 6:12-14

As we parallel the events depicted in Revelation to the words Jesus spoke on the Mount of Olives concerning the sign of his coming.

“Immediately after the distress of those days,” ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'”At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. Matthew 24:29-31

Immediately after the distress of those days:

1. The sun is darkened

2. The moon will not give its light

3. The stars will fall from the sky (asteroids/shooting stars)

At that time:

1. They will see the Son of Man in great glory

2. He will send his angels to gather the elect

The account in the Gospel of Luke tells us that there will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. Men will faint from terror. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud. When these things begin to take place stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.

The signs of the coming of the Son of Man take place after the distress of those days (the Great Tribulation). The gathering of the elect by the holy angels takes place after a time of great persecution marked by the prophesied signs appearing in the heavens.

Before Wheat is Gathered into the Barn, it Must be Threshed!

19 Wednesday Jun 2013

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After harvesting wheat to obtain the grain, milling or pounding is needed

to remove the husks. On threshing, the chaff breaks up, releasing the grains.

“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Matthew 3:11-12

A threshing sledge was made of logs and had sharp flints embedded in the under surface. First, cut stalks of grain were spread on the threshing floor and a threshing sledge was pulled over the stalks by oxen. When the oxen dragged the sledge over the stalks of wheat on the threshing floor, the stones ripped the husk away from the grain. Threshing the wheat could also be accomplished by having the oxen walk over the stalks or by beating the stalks of wheat with heavy sticks.

The grain is heaped and then winnowed by the farmer whose winnowing fork is in his hand. The winnowing fork is a several-pronged pitchfork and is used to toss wheat against the breeze to free it from chaff and crushed straw. Since the grain is heaviest it falls straight to the ground. The straw is blown a short distance and collects in another heap, while the chaff is completely scattered by the wind.

John the Baptist proclaimed that Jesus the Messiah would come to gather his wheat into his barn but would burn the chaff with unquenchable fire. Jesus used the term wheat as a symbol for his true followers – the elect in Christ. He also spoke of the master’s barn as a picture of heaven. The chaff burning in unquenchable fire symbolizes the unregenerate sinner who will suffer eternal torment.

But before the wheat can be gathered into the barn, it must be threshed. Pounding the wheat, the heavy weight of an ox’s hooves or dragging a threshing sledge over the stalks causes great pressure to burst the grain free from the husks. The word for intense pressure in Greek is thlipsis. It literally means being crushed under a rock. The word, thlipsis is translated as hardship, trouble, persecution or tribulation.

Matthew 13:20-21

The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble (thlipsis) or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.

2 Thessalonians 2:3

Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

There will be many who will fall away in the last days when they face persecution. They will be unprepared to stand firm because they were taught that the rapture would occur before the time of great tribulation.

Matthew 24:29-31

Immediately after the tribulation (thlipsis) of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

The Great Tribulation is an extended period of persecution of the saints, not the hour of God’s wrath. After the thlipsis of those days – the time of great persecution, there will be signs in the sky and the Son of Man will appear in great glory. He will send his angels with a loud trumpet call and they will gather the elect from the four winds (the Rapture).

This passage of Scripture so clearly states that the Rapture takes place after the Great Tribulation, that those who hold to the doctrine of the Pretribulation Rapture claim that the elect of Matthew 24 must refer to Israel. But the Apostle Paul writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit tells us clearly who the term elect refers to when used in the New Testament:

What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded … Romans 11:7

Israel could not obtain righteousness by observing the law but the elect did by receiving God’s grace by faith. In the New Testament, the elect means Jew and Gentile in Christ – the Church. After the distress of those days the Rapture of the Church will take place, not 7 years before. It is obvious that the term elect refers to believers – the church, and not to Israel who has experienced a hardening in part.

Before his wheat will be gathered into his barn, it will be threshed. The bride of Christ will be purified through the cleansing fires of persecution before the rapture takes place at the seventh trumpet.

Until the Rebellion Occurs

19 Wednesday Jun 2013

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Until the Rebellion Occurs

2 Thessalonians 1-4

Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

It is obvious from the above passage of Scripture that the church at Thessalonica had received a false prophecy, report or letter that told them that the day of the Lord had already passed them by. Those who believe in a pretribulation rapture attempt to use this passage of Scripture as a proof text for their position. Their argument is that the only justification for the agitation and confusion at Thessalonica was that the members of that church thought they had missed the pretribulation rapture. If they had missed the pretribulation rapture, then it was doubtful if they were truly saved. If they had missed the rapture and weren’t saved, then all of Paul’s teaching would have been suspect. Had they endured intense persecution for a false belief?

Paul letter clearly indicates that their false belief wasn’t in his presentation of the Gospel, but in their misunderstanding of the timing of the rapture. He tells the Thessalonians plainly that the coming of Christ for His church will not occur until the two following conditions are met:

1).That day will not come until the rebellion occurs.

The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him will not happen until after the rebellion occurs. The theological doctrine of “imminence,” which means soon to happen, has been misinterpreted to mean at any time. That day will not come until the rebellion occurs. Contrary to the pretribulation teaching that the rapture could have even occurred during the lifetime of the original apostles, Scripture proves otherwise. It was prophesied that Paul would testify in Rome as he had done in Jerusalem (Acts 23:11). Peter was promised that he would live to an old age before being crucified, bringing glory to God (John 21:18-19).

Since it is evident from the second letter to the Thessalonians that the rapture will not occur until the rebellion, it is important to establish the scriptural definition of the term “rebellion.”

Deuteronomy 13:5

That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way the LORD your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you.

The Law of Moses states that a false prophet that leads people to worship other gods is to be put to death for the sin of “rebellion.” The sin of rebellion is not only the sin of a false prophet. Any person that worships other gods, especially by bowing down before an idol or offering up a sacrifice to an idol, is guilty of breaking God’s commandments.

Exodus 20:3-5a

“You shall have no other gods before me.”

“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God…”

Revelation 13:13-14

And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.

The rebellion has to do with those who would be deceived (see – Thessalonians 2:2), by the “False Prophet” (the beast from out of the earth), and then would bow down before the image of the Antichrist.

Revelation 14: 8-10

A second angel followed and said, “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”

A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.

God’s fury is against those who take the mark of the beast and against the “Great Harlot.” The fury of God which is poured out by seven angels is described in detail in Revelation chapter sixteen. These final plagues which complete God’s wrath take place near the end of Daniel’s 70th week.

2).The man of lawlessness must be revealed.

Those who hold to the pretribulation rapture theory claim that although Israel will follow this false Messiah, true believers will know his identity before the Tribulation begins. But Paul, writing to the church and not unsaved Israel, explains when the Antichrist will be revealed:

He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

Daniel 9:27

He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.

Since Israel follows the “False Messiah” for the first half of Daniel’s 70th week, the revealing of the man of lawlessness does not occur until mid-tribulation.

The faithful believers at Thessalonica were assured that they had not missed the rapture. Their belief in a pretribulation rapture was misguided. The day of the Lord would not come until the Antichrist would establish himself in God’s temple and the False Prophet would lead the world in rebellion. The gathering of the elect to the Lord occurs at the sounding of the seventh trumpet. At that time, it will herald both the gathering of God’s people to himself and proclaim the terrible day of God’s judgment upon the earth.