Sunday
Morning Bible Study
January
1, 2017
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid
to die? Does it speak to the broken
hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
Is the church loved? Regular: 2900
words Communion: 2500 words Video=75wpm
Every year we take a break from our normal Bible Study and spend a Sunday
looking at some of the key events of the past year through the lens of Biblical
prophecy.
My goal is not to “set dates” and tell you when Jesus will come back.
My goal is to stir you up and remind you that we are indeed living in the
last days before His return.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the landscape of the End Times,
I’d like to first lay out the general timeline of what’s ahead.
Some events that may (or may not) take place before a period of time known
as the Tribulation.
At any moment, we believe that Jesus will take the church to heaven. This is called the Rapture.
We believe it fits the prophetic timeline best to see this taking place
before the Tribulation starts.
I think that certain events involving Syria and Russia may also take place
before the Tribulation.
There will be a leader that will arise from Europe who will make a peace
treaty with Israel, and rule much of the world.
We call this individual the antichrist.
The antichrist will rule for a period of seven years filled with God’s
judgment (Rev. 6-19) coming down on the earth – this is the Tribulation.
In the middle of the Tribulation, the antichrist will enter a rebuilt
Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, and declare himself to be god.
At the end of the seven years, Jesus will return with us, conquer the
antichrist, and set up His kingdom. Satan
will be bound, and Jesus will rule the world for 1,000 years from Jerusalem
After the 1,000 years, Satan is released for a brief period, there’s one
last rebellion, and then Jesus will cast Satan into the Lake of Fire for
eternity.
There will be a new heavens and new earth that will last forever. Only those who have believed in Jesus will
enter into eternity.
So what makes us think we are on the brink of these things beginning to
take place?
Israel
Above all other things we will discuss, one thing points to us being in the
last days before Jesus returns, the existence of the nation of Israel.
The Romans wiped out the nation of Israel in AD 70, and for almost two
thousand years, the Jewish people had no home.
In May of 1948, a miracle happened, and Israel once again became a nation.
Ezekiel described a vision of the last days.
He saw a valley full of old decaying bones that began to be put back
together. Then flesh and skin formed on
the bones. Finally God breathed on the
dead people and they became a great, living army.
(Ezekiel 37:11–14
NKJV) —11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of
Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves
are cut off!’ 12
Therefore
prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from
your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13 Then you
shall know that I am the Lord,
when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your
graves. 14 I will put
My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land.
Then you shall know that I, the Lord,
have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’ ”
Never before in history has a nation been scattered to the wind, then
brought back to reconstitute their ancient nation.
Jews began immigrating back to
Israel in the 1800s, but after Israel became a state, immigration exploded.
The Jewish people call immigration
back to Israel as making “Aliya”.
Today, Jews continue to leave the
countries they were born in, and immigrate back to Israel.
(Zec 10:8–9 NKJV) —8 I will
whistle for them and gather them, For I will
redeem them; And they shall
increase as they once increased. 9 “I will
sow them among the peoples, And they
shall remember Me in far countries; They shall
live, together with their children, And they
shall return.
Damascus
There’s an odd little prophecy that is often overlooked.
(Isaiah 17:1 NKJV) The burden
against Damascus.
“Behold,
Damascus will cease from being a city, And it will be a ruinous heap.
Though Damascus has been defeated as a city and as the capital of Syria
many times, it has never been completely destroyed.
Some have been suggesting that this might be one of the next things coming up
in the prophetic timeline.
Why is this important?
Damascus is the capital of Syria.
In March, 2011, a civil war broke out in Syria, with several rebel groups
trying to overthrow long time dictator, President Bashar al-Assad.
To date, over 400,000 have died in the conflict.
Damascus is only 30 miles from the border of Israel.
The U.S. and Turkey have given support to the moderate rebel groups, Iran
and Russia are allies of Assad.
In 2012, President Obama gave a speech warning Assad that if he
crossed a “red line” and used chemical weapons, that the U.S. would intervene.
Syria crossed the line in 2014, but
the U.S. did not intervene.
It has been suggested that Obama didn’t do anything because when
Syria crossed the line, we were in the middle of those Iranian nuclear talks,
and Iran warned that they’d walk from the negotiations if the U.S. attacked
Syria.
On
Thursday, December 29, Russia announced that a ceasefire has been reached
between Syria and the rebels.
It’s very tentative. Russia and
Turkey pledge to be the ones who will enforce the cease fire.
Russia wants Assad to stay in power.
Turkey wants Assad out.
Late last November, two Israeli jets fired upon and destroyed a convoy of
vehicles near Damascus as well as a weapons depot belonging to the Syrian
Army’s Fourth Division.
The weapons were destroyed, nobody on the ground was killed.
It has been suggested that these were chemical weapons being transported to
Hezbollah from Syria for use against Israel.
What’s interesting is that there was very little in the news about these
incidents. Almost like nobody wants to
acknowledge what happened.
In addition to this, last month
Israel had it’s first clashes with ISIS fighters along it’s northern border in
the Golan Heights.
December 30, 2016.
US Aircraft Carriers
There
are currently no US aircraft carriers in the Middle East. For the first time since WWII, there are no
US aircraft carriers deployed anywhere in the world.
Navy budget cuts have forced returning carriers to spend more time getting
serviced in the shipyards.
One article says
it will be several months before the next U.S. carrier arrives.
Even if the current Syrian cease fire holds, what will happen if Israel
feels it needs to destroy another convoy of weapons in Syria heading it’s way,
and there’s no U.S. carrier there?
Could it lead to…
Magog War
The Bible talks about a great battle that will take place in the land of
Israel in the last days.
I believe this battle takes place prior to Armageddon, even prior to the
seven year Tribulation period when the antichrist will rule.
The prophet Ezekiel wrote about this battle:
(Ezekiel 38:1–6
NKJV) —1 Now the word of the Lord
came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the
prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 3 and say,
‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold,
I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. 4 I will turn
you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army,
horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with
bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. 5 Persia,
Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6 Gomer and
all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its
troops—many people are with you.
Ezekiel goes on to describe the armies of these nations coming against the
land of Israel.
Who are the people mentioned?
We have long thought that the names of Gog, Magog, and Rosh all refer to Russia. Later Ezekiel says these people will come
from the “far north” (Eze. 38:15).
Persia is the ancient name for the modern nation of Iran.
Ethiopia and Libya are modern nations today.
The names of Meshech, Tubal, Gomer, and Togarmah are all places in modern
Turkey. I found this map that shows
where they are. (I used to think they were all places in Russia).
What’s interesting is that Russia, Iran, and Turkey are all major players
in the current war in Syria.
Turkey and Iran are not friendly with each other (Turkey is Sunni Muslim,
Iran is Shiite), yet they are working with Russia to stop the Syrian civil war.
The cease fire negotiated this week
in Syria is being guaranteed by Russia and Turkey.
It’s interesting with the assassination of the Russian Ambassador to Turkey
a week ago, that Russia is still working with Turkey.
Ezekiel records that God puts a “hook” into their jaws and draws them down
into the land of Israel. It will not be their
idea to invade Israel.
Ezekiel tells us that when this
invasion occurs, there will be some nations sitting on the sidelines
criticizing but not involving themselves in the battle.
(Ezekiel 38:13 NKJV) Sheba,
Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say to you,
‘Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to
carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great
plunder?’
Sheba and Dedan are in the Arabian
peninsula.
Tarshish is thought to either be
Spain, or even possibly Great Britain.
It has been
suggested that the “young lions” might be a vague reference to the United
States.
And all we will do
is sit on the sidelines.
For those of you who have never read Ezekiel 38-39, I’ll tell you how the
war ends.
God wins. God steps in and wipes out the armies that have come to invade
Israel.
The battle almost sounds like a
nuclear war.
For those of you who have been a little afraid to travel to Israel, it’s
really the safest place on the planet right now.
I’d be more scared walking the streets of Chicago than the streets of
Jerusalem.
The passage ends with:
(Ezekiel 39:29 NKJV)
And
I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My
Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord God.”
I think it’s possible that this outpouring of God’s Spirit on Israel comes
in conjunction with the removal of the church in the Rapture.
That’s why I see this happening before the Tribulation
period starts.
Paul talks about
something “hindering” the coming of the antichrist being “taken out of the
way”.
(2 Thessalonians 2:7 NKJV) 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.
We have long
wondered if that might not be the work of the Spirit in the Church.
Could it be that
the rapture of the church might be tied to the end of this Magog war, when God
once again pours out His Spirit on Israel?
Turkey
On
July 15, 2016, there was a bloody coup in Turkey to remove President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan.
Soldiers and tanks took to the streets.
Jets dropped bombs on their own parliament.
Then the people took to the streets and the crowds stopped the coup.
241 people were killed, 2,194 were injured.
Following the coup, President Erdogan began a crackdown on the suspected
rebels.
More than 100,000 people have lost their jobs, and 37,000 have been
arrested.
Erdogan is considered the leader of Turkey’s Islamist movement.
Turkey is a Sunni Muslim country (not like Iran, which is Shiite).
In what should be heresy in Islam, Erdogan is not just an “idol for our
youth”, but one
article writes …
…“Even touching Erdogan is a form of worship,” …another …deputy proclaimed
that Erdogan “carries all the attributes of Allah in himself.” Such views,
heretical from a traditional Islamic perspective, were criticized and ridiculed
by Erdogan’s opponents, but he conspicuously said nothing.
This worship of Erdogan is known as “Erdoganism”.
To me, this sounds an awful lot like an antichrist.
Remember Turkey is part of the Magog war.
The Temple
When Jesus spoke of the last days, He spoke of things that would require a
Jewish Temple to be rebuilt.
The antichrist will need a Jewish Temple in order to declare himself “god”
(Mat. 24:15)
We’ve seen over the years that the Temple Institute has undertaken the
preparations for a Temple to be rebuilt.
They have been training priests, making priestly garments, and fashioning implements
to perform rituals in a Temple.
There
has been a Sanhedrin formed in Israel, and they have appointed a man to be
the next High Priest. His name is Rabbi
Baruch Kahane.
What holds the Jews back from starting Temple worship?
There needs to be a political solution that will allow a Temple to be
rebuilt on the Temple mount.
Knowledge
The angel Gabriel gave the prophet Daniel some amazing peeks into the
future, including this gem at the end of Daniel’s book:
(Daniel 12:4 NKJV) “But you,
Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many
shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”
(Daniel 12:4 NLT) But you,
Daniel, keep this prophecy a secret; seal up the book until the time of the
end, when many will rush here and there, and knowledge will increase.”
It could be that Daniel is being
told that people will be rushing around looking for answers.
It could be that Gabriel is talking about how certain aspects of prophecy
will not be understood until the last days.
Some theologians are critical
prophetic ideas that have become more clearer in the last 150 years.
They say that the idea of a
pre-Trib rapture was never taught by the early church fathers.
I’d say that the early church
fathers didn’t have the same historical perspective that we have.
This prophecy may also be talking about several literal things.
An increase in travel.
Those of you who have been to Israel or Europe know what it’s like to leave
on an airplane and land on a different continent in 12 hours.
An increase in knowledge.
Here’s from an article on Artificial
Intelligence titled “Google Translate is Amazing Now, and That Should
Terrify You”.
Last November Google added machine learning (AI) to Google Translate:
Translation from one language to
another is really hard.
Almost overnight, the tool was
spitting out translations that were almost indistinguishable from professional
human translations.
One professor in Tokyo took a
translation of The Great Gatsby, translated into Japanese, then back to
English, and compared it with the original.
It was almost word for word perfect.
The machines are coming.
Jerusalem
First, a little history about the land we call “Israel” today.
2000 BC - Abraham settled in the land of Canaan
1800 BC - Israelites were slaves in
Egypt
1400 BC - Joshua conquered the Promised Land from the Canaanites
1000 BC - The Israelite kings ruled over the nation
732 BC – Assyria conquers the
northern kingdom
586 BC – Babylon conquers the southern kingdom, followed by the Persians,
Greeks, and then Rome (63 BC)
636 AD – Muslims, Crusaders, Mamluks, and Mongols conquer Palestine
1516 – Ottomon Turks rule
1800s – Egyptian Arabs migrate to Palestine. Talk of a Jewish state also
begin
1917 - the British government issued the Balfour Declaration, stating that
the British government favored the establishment of a national home for the
Jews in Palestine.
1922 - The League of Nations formally awarded Britain a “mandate” over
Palestine.
1947 - Britain announced it would terminate it’s “mandate”, and the United
Nations voted to partition the land of Palestine into independent Arab and
Jewish states.
I’ll let Dennis Prager explain what happened next…
The Arabs rejected the plan, but
Israel declared itself an independent nation in May 1948.
The Arabs and the surrounding
nations responded by attacking Israel.
Against overwhelming odds, Israel
won the war and ended up larger than the original U.N. partition. Jordan
captured the region known as the “West Bank” (Samaria).
Several hundred thousand Arabs fled
from Israel to settle in the West Bank as refugees.
In 1964 Yasser Arafat (an Egyptian)
established the Palestinian Liberation Organization, with the purpose of
liberating Palestine from Israel through armed struggle.
When Israel was attacked by Egypt,
Jordan, and Syria in June of 1967 (the Six Day War), Israel took control over
the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, West Bank, and Golan Heights.
Prior to the Six Day War, the city
of Jerusalem was divided in two, with Israel only having control over west
Jerusalem.
After the Six Day War, Israel was
able to take control over the entire city, as it is today.
What the conflicts are all about
are the lands that Israel took control over during the Six Day War (1967) when
they were attacked.
Israel already gave the Sinai
peninsula back to Egypt in 1982.
The U.N. wants Israel to give up
Gaza, the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and half of Jerusalem.
This is because the U.N. thinks
that the only way for peace to be achieved between Israel and the Palestinians
is for the “two state” solution, where the Palestinians become an officially
recognized nation (which they’re not).
When Israel allows settlements to
be built on land that could potentially be handed over to the Palestinians, our
President sees that as irresponsible.
The problem is bigger than land.
Yes, you can sympathize with the
Palestinians who lost their land to Israel in its various wars, and I hope that
at some level you can understand some of their viewpoint.
But the Palestinian position is that
the nation of Israel has no right to exist at all.
While they tell the world they will
coexist with Israel, all their internal communications are just the opposite.
They continue to teach their
children a twisted view of history which paints Israel as the evil empire, and
that the only good Jew is a dead Jew.
Their goal is to see the elimination of the state of Israel.
It’s hard to make peace with
someone who doesn’t want you to exist.
Now for the last two weeks…
U.N. Resolution
On
Friday, December 23, the UN Security Council voted 14-0 to condemn Israel’s
building of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Here’s the actual vote…
The United States normally vetoes resolutions like this, but instead
abstained from voting.
Israel has claimed that the U.S.
has been behind the drafting of the December 23 resolution and orchestrated the
vote behind the scenes. While the U.S.
initially denied this, a newspaper in Egypt has come out with the agenda of a meeting
that took place several weeks ago in Egypt between John Kerry and the
Palestinians.
These condemned settlements built on land that was seized from Jordan by
Israel during the 1967 Six Day War.
The resolution says that Israel has no legal validity to build on these
lands, but Israel disagrees.
The U.N. claims that these settlements hinder the “two-state” solution,
because if Palestine is to become a real nation, they will want those lands
back.
While the resolution is “non-binding” (doesn’t do anything), the concern is
that it might pave the way to set conditions for Israel in any future peace
negotiations.
An international peace conference has been scheduled in Paris on January
15, 2017, and might produce some sort of resolution to be adopted later by the
UN Security Council before Obama leaves office.
While the Palestinians will attend this peace conference, Israel will not
be attending the Paris peace conference.
On Wednesday, December 28,
Secretary of State John Kerry gave a long speech detailing why the U.S. acted
like it did, saying that the Israeli settlements are dooming the peace process
and must be stopped.
Mr. Kerry did state that the Obama
administration has given more military aid than any other administration.
But the relationship between
President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu has been tense for the last eight
years.
Why did this all happen now?
The Palestinians thought this was
probably their last chance to push their agenda for at least the next four
years.
Though Mr. Trump could have a resolution passed to reverse this
non-binding resolution, it will be harder to pass since so much of the world is
against Israel. He would need to get at
least eight other countries to vote for it, as well as ensure that none of the
Security Council’s other permanent members veto it (Russia, Britain, France,
and China).
Outgoing UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon admitted two weeks ago to UN bias against
the State of Israel in his last Security Council address.
During the last ten years, the UN
has passed 223 resolutions condemning Israel, while only eight resolutions
condemning the Syrian regime as it has massacred its citizens over the past six
years.
What about the settlements? This video was made a year ago, before the
current situation:
Why is the current resolution important?
It sets up something that takes place at the end of the Tribulation,
just before Jesus returns.
Zechariah 14 tells us that Jerusalem will be under attack.
(Zechariah 14:1–5 NKJV) —1 Behold,
the day of the Lord is coming, And your spoil will be divided in your midst. 2 For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses
rifled, And the women
ravished. Half of the city shall
go into captivity, But the
remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 Then the Lord will
go forth And fight against
those nations, As He fights in the
day of battle. 4 And in that day His
feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which
faces Jerusalem on the east. And the
Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east
to west, Making a very large valley; Half of
the mountain shall move toward the north And half
of it toward the south. 5 Then you
shall flee through My mountain valley, For the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee As you
fled from the earthquake In the
days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the Lord my God will come, And all the saints with You.
Yet before that takes place, Zechariah sets the scene by writing this:
(Zechariah 12:1–3
NKJV) —1 The burden of the word of the Lord
against Israel. Thus says the Lord,
who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the
spirit of man within him: 2 “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the
surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. 3 And it shall
happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all
peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all
nations of the earth are gathered against it.
It seems to me that this last week’s events at the U.N. are setting the
stage for what will be happening at the end of the Tribulation.
Judgment for nations who divide up
the land of Israel.
(Joel 3:2 NKJV) I will also gather all
nations, And bring them down to
the Valley of Jehoshaphat; And I will
enter into judgment with them there On account
of My people, My heritage Israel, Whom they
have scattered among the nations; They have
also divided up My land.
Just the tip
I’ve just covered the tip of the iceberg in prophetic events.
We could talk about China, the events happening in Europe, the lack of
moral standards in the world, disease, earthquakes, developments in Iran, false
messiahs, and the global economy.
It all shows us we’re close.
What does this mean?
The Bible doesn’t give us glimpses into the future just to amaze us and
make us go “wow”.
There is a reason for prophecy.
Lesson
Look up
Jesus said,
(Luke 21:28 NKJV) Now when
these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your
redemption draws near.”
We get our eyes too focused on the things of this world and we lose
perspective.
This world should not be the driving force that forms your values and
direction in life.
The God in heaven who sits on His throne ought to be the one you’re looking
for.
Lesson
Straighten up
(1 John 3:2–3 NKJV)
—2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been
revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be
like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He
is pure.
If you are truly looking forward to the Lord’s return, then take seriously
what John says here.
We ought to want to be pure like Jesus is pure.
When you see the One coming who has eyes like flames of fire, you will want
to be like Him … pure.
If there are things in our lives that we’ve been messing with, thinking
that it’s no big deal, it’s time to change.
Some of you might be thinking, “Well they’ve been talking about Jesus’
return for two thousand years. Maybe He
won’t come back for another 30 years.”
He may not return to this earth tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean that you
won’t be meeting Him tomorrow.
Think about some of the famous celebrities that have died this year.
For some reason, our nation is taking it especially hard with the deaths of
famous people like Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, and George Michael.
Friends, death is nothing new.
People die all the time. The
statistics on death are quite astounding:
Unless Jesus returns soon, every person in this room will die – some
sooner than others.
Are you ready?
Maybe today ought to be the day when you start taking God seriously and
open your heart to Him.
Lesson
Grow up
A few weeks ago we looked at the parable Jesus told about a nobleman who
journeyed to a far country, and before he left…
(Luke 19:13 NKJV) So he called
ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do
business till I come.’
The nobleman was gone for a long time…
(Luke 19:15 NKJV) “And so it
was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these
servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might
know how much every man had gained by trading.
One by one the servants were brought before their master and asked what
they had done with the treasures he had entrusted to them.
That’s us friends.
He’s coming back.
He’s given us treasures to “do His business” with.
It might be money. It might be your
friendships. It might be your talents or
abilities.
Grown-ups don’t wait until the day before mom and dad return from a trip
before they do their chores.
Act like an adult.
Get busy.
He will return soon.
Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take
thy crown (Rev. 3:11).
George Mueller bears this
testimony, “When it pleased God in July, 1829, to reveal to my heart the truth
of the personal return of the Lord Jesus, and to show me that I had made a
great mistake in looking for the conversion of the world, the effect that it
produced upon me was this: From my inmost soul I was stirred up to feel
compassion for perishing sinners, and for the slumbering world around me lying
in the wicked one, and considered, ‘Ought I not to do what I can for the Lord
Jesus while He tarries, and to rouse a slumbering church?”’