RUSSIA, THE UNITED STATES AND ISRAEL

By Matt Ward -

Since the end of the first Gulf War in 2001, missile defense has been an absolute priority for Israel. In 2001, Saddam Hussein, in an effort to draw the Jewish State into a war he knew he was going to lose, fired 39 Scud Missiles at Israel in a failed attempt to fracture the fragile Arab coalition formed against him. Though ultimately Saddam Hussein's attempt to draw Israel into the conflict failed, many missiles did manage to find their targets and innocent Israeli's died as a consequence.

Since then missile defense has become a matter of the greatest strategic military importance for Israel. To this end, in early March, elements from the United States and Israeli militaries began a joint training exercise known as "Juniper Cobra." Five thousand US and Israeli troops trained together with the aim of successfully defending Israel from missile attack should a war break out in the Middle East. The training included live fire drills, missile defense simulations, field training and computer simulations of multiple attacks against Israel from multiple fronts, all at once. (1)

The strategic threats Israel faces in 2018 are much direr today than they ever were in the 1990's or early 2000's. Hezbollah, to Israel's north, has acquired a truly enormous arsenal of missiles and rockets. Conservative estimates put the Hezbollah arsenal at well over 100,000 rockets or more-all of which are aimed exclusively at Israel, and all of which now have the ability to reach any part of the Jewish state for the first time.

In any future confrontation with this Lebanese terror group, there is a genuine risk that Israel's defensive solutions, sophisticated though they are, would be completely overwhelmed by the sheer weight of the barrage they would face. Israel would be rapidly swamped by the deluge of rockets and missiles fired at her.

Yet, that is not the only, or most significant, threat Israel must manage. Hamas, towards Israel's south has also managed to acquire, despite their often repeated claims of abject poverty, a truly huge arsenal of rocketry. Add Iran into this mix, and the existential threat of their nuclear weapons program and their genuinely sophisticated ICBM systems, and it becomes clear that the Israeli strategic military landscape is a formidable one.

Juniper Cobra is part of the joint response to these threats. Not aimed at any individual scenario, it deals with the development of "complex scenarios," which include simultaneous attacks from multiple enemy countries and militant groups.

The US and Israel are preparing for a war in which the Jewish state will face a "multidirectional threat." In other words, they are preparing for a war in which Israel will be attacked, at the same time, from all sides.

Brig. Gen. Zvika Haimovich, chief of Israel's air defense command, relays that they do this "...because this scenario is real."

Brig. Gen. Zvika Haimovich is not over-exaggerating; Iran has been very busy of late. In late January - early February, Iranian leader, Hojatoleslam Seyed Ebrahim Raisi, was pictured closely scrutinizing the Israeli-Lebanese border. Raisi was not there simply to enjoy the fine views; he was examining Hezbollah fixed border positions directly facing Israel and, ominously, inspecting the border formations Israel's army had taken up to counter them.

That this man would visit the Israeli-Lebanese border is highly significant. He is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's leading successor and the second most important person in Iran. Nobody commands more attention or wields more power other than the Ayatollah himself, than this man. And he seemed to be very interested in Israel's borders and in her ability to defend and repel an organized and sustained attack, and in the capability of Iran's proxy, Hezbollah, of launching just such a meaningful attack.

Accompanied by Revolutionary Guard commanders and Hezbollah officers, he then received a thorough briefing on both the battle readiness of Hezbollah units and IDF military build-ups along the Lebanese, Syrian and Golan border areas. Concluding the visit, Raisi held extensive and wide-ranging talks with Hassan Nasrallah, secretary general of Hezbollah, before departing back to Tehran.

According to Israeli military and intelligence sources, the gist of Raisi's message was that Hezbollah has now become a genuine fighting force in the Middle East, experienced and battle-hardened by the Syrian civil war. Raisi's pep talk concluded with darker tones, referring to the growing spirit of resistance against Israel in the Muslim and Arab world, exemplified by the Palestinians and their "struggle." He clearly signposted Iran's approaching endgame for its proxy group:

"It was Hezbollah's fighting capacity alone that generated resistance in the Islamic countries. Allah willing, we shall soon witness the liberation of Jerusalem!"

Yet Raisi is not the only high-profile Shiite to visit Lebanon in recent months. On December 2nd, 2017, Qais al-Khazali, head of the pro-Iranian Iraqi Aasaib Ahl al-Haq militia, also visited the area, also for a firsthand look at Israel's border formations and military set up. It is widely believed in Israeli intelligence circles that Qais al-Khazali performed this surveillance on behalf of the Iranian al-Quds General Qasseem Soleimani himself, the legendary Iranian supreme military commander in Syria and Iraq.

Qais al-Khazali, on behalf of Iranian General Soleimani, was assessing how to more effectively deploy Hezbollah's now tested and battle-hardened forces right along the full extent of Israel's northern border.

These visits were highly political in nature too. Qais al-Khazali's visit came just one day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss Syria, Iran and Hezbollah. The message of these visits, and their timing, was a clear one; no matter what was discussed between the Israeli and Russian leaders, Tehran has no intention of withdrawing militarily from Syria and, additionally, would be extending its presence right into Lebanon with the aim of directly confronting Israel itself at some point in the very near future.

That Iranian and Shiite aim of confronting Israel may be a desire granted sooner rather than later. Russian President Vladimir Putin is currently under the most enormous pressure. Putin has miscalculated badly in recent weeks, and he now finds himself increasingly boxed into a corner by the international community.

And it all began to go wrong for Putin in a quaint little English town called Salisbury, with the poisoning of two seemingly harmless individuals - an old man and his thirty-year-old daughter. It would seem at this point unthinkable that Vladimir Putin did not directly authorize the poisoning and attempted assassination of Russian former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Julia.

The international reaction to this attack, the first use of chemical weapons on mainland Europe since the end of the Second World War, and in Britain of all places and against and amongst civilians, has provoked a diplomatic whirlwind against Russia that seems to have genuinely caught the Russian leadership off guard.

Then, just days ago, came Douma. In another act of senseless barbarity, someone - the Syrian regime or another actor, launched a horrific chemical weapons attack on the Damascus suburb of Douma, killing and maiming many, including babies and children.

The West was quick to point the finger of blame at Assad and Russia; Russia vehemently denied it. Indeed, Russia to this point has denied that chemical weapons have even been used in Douma. However, despite the swift and strong Russian denials, babies and young children foaming at the mouth paint a completely different picture. Somebody did use chemical weapons. The question is who.

The tone of the Security Council emergency session called to discuss this heinous act was unprecedented, and the rhetoric coming from politicians and leaders all over the Western world would seem to indicate that the West is pretty sure that they think it was Assad.

What Putin cannot have foreseen, or in any way anticipated, was that the United States and its chief allies, the UK and France, all seem to be holding him directly and personally responsible for both the chemical weapons attacks in Syria and in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom attack against Sergei Skripal and his daughter is being tied together by the international community at the United Nations with the chemical weapons attack in Syria.

It is against this background that the large Syrian air base, known as T-4, and operated extensively by Iran as a forward-operating base, was then attacked on Sunday night. Russia believes this attack came from Israel, and Russia's tone and attitude towards the Jewish State has immediately shifted.

The Kremlin's longstanding modus operandi with regards to Israel's military strikes in Syria in the past was to make no comment. That has now changed. This time, the Kremlin condemnation of the Jewish State was swift, reporting that two Israeli F-15 jets carried out the attack using guided missiles launched from within Syrian airspace.

Russia has asked Israel for their "explanations." Israel, as always, has made no comment. Sergei Lavrov, the outspoken Russian Foreign Minister, told reporters that the "air strikes carried out on Sunday were a dangerous development."

Dangerous indeed, because Russia seems to now suspect that the Israeli strike is a US test, to see what Russia's response would be ahead of a potentially larger US operation that may come any moment now. Russia has warned of "grave consequences" if they do.

It is impossible to say, at the point of this writing, what may happen next, as developments on the ground are fast moving. The US or her allies may strike in Syria, or they may not. Russia may retaliate, or she may not. One thing is certain though; the events of the past few weeks, the obvious preparations being made by Iran and Hezbollah for war against Israel, the poisonings in the UK and the chemical weapons attacks in Syria - all being brought into sharp focus through the prism of Syria - may be pushing Putin firmly into the embrace of an alliance prophesied about eons ago by the prophet Ezekiel.

Recent events, especially if there is further military action taken against the Assad regime by the West in the coming days and weeks, may make Putin finally turn on the West's regional Achilles heel, Israel.

These events, and whatever lies just up ahead, may make Putin turn completely against Jerusalem and decide that supporting a war against Israel, which Syria, Iran and Hezbollah have long since been planning for, is actually the best long-term way of hitting back at America and her allies after all.

THE 9TH OF AV

 - BY J.L. Robb -

 

The Jewish calendar is different than the modern calendar used by most of the rest of the world. Instead of 2018, the current year on the Jewish calendar is 5778. That date starts with the creation of man 5778 years ago and is based on the biblical ages of early man.

 

Since BC and AD refer to a change in the calendar of the day because of the birth of Jesus, our Messiah, it is not recognized since they do not believe that Jesus was the messiah foretold by their very own prophets. The rabbis of Judah were a stubborn bunch, and the children of Israel are described throughout the Bible as "stiff necked." The designation of Before Christ and After Christ began to slowly come into effect around 525 AD.

 

In the Jewish calendar, all holidays occur on exactly the same date, according to the calendar, which is based on solar cycle and lunar cycle. A year can be 12 months or sometimes, 13 months; and the months have 29 or 30 days. In contrast, the modern calendar has 12 months of 28, 29, 30 and 31 days.

 

The first month of the Jewish year is the month of Nissan. In the current year, the month of Nissan runs from March 18-April 15 and always includes Passover.

 

The month of Av is also the Month of Mourning, specifically Tisha B'Av, the 9th of Av, for good reason. This month has proven so catastrophic throughout Jewish history, a fast occurs for three weeks before the 9th of Av. This year, the 9th of Av is July 21, 2018.

 

The consensus: The Jewish people have experienced several major tragedies in history that have occurred on the 9th of Av.

 

The lists of events vary somewhat, but below is an example:

 

1. Hebrew year 2448 (1312 BC): Moses decided to delay conquering Canaan because the spies he sent in reported the people were giants, and the cities were well-fortified.

 

The Lord said to Moses, "Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders."

 

So at the Lord's command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.

 

Numbers 13:1-3 NIV

 

When the spies returned after forty days, all but two insisted that they not invade. While the land indeed was a land of milk and honey, the people were giants and fierce. As a result, the Israelites spent a total of 40 years in the desert, a year for each day the spies were gone.

 

2. Hebrew year 3507 (587 BC): Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians destroyed Solomon's Temple (the First Temple). The two remaining tribes of Israel (Judah) were exiled and more than 100,000 Jews were killed.

 

3. Hebrew year 3830 (70 AD): The Second Temple, built after the defeat of Nebuchadnezzar, was destroyed by the Romans. In the process, more than two-million Jews died from war or famine/disease.

 

4. Hebrew year 3895 (135 AD): The Jews continued to rebel against Rome after the Second Temple was destroyed. The new Roman emperor, Hadrian, made promises of a Jewish homeland and a rebuilt temple; but he later reneged.

 

Under Jewish guerilla-leader Bar-Kokhba, the final battle took place at Bethar where thousands of Jewish refugees had fled during the war. The old temple grounds were plowed smooth, Jews were exiled again; and more than 100,000 were killed. The Romans continued construction of pagan city Aelia Capitolina, built on the ruins of Jerusalem.

 

Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they look for the Lord's support and say,

 

"Is not the Lord among us? No disaster will come upon us."

 

Therefore because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.

 

Micah 3:11-12 NIV

 

5. Hebrew year 4855 (1095AD): Pope Urban II declares the First Crusade to rid Jerusalem of Islamic takeover. During the first month, 10,000+ Jews were killed.

6. Hebrew year 5050 (1290 BC): England expels all Jews.

7. Hebrew year 5252 (1492): Spain and Portugal expel all Jews and confiscate property.

8. Hebrew year 5674 (1914 AD): World War I declared.

9. Hebrew year 5702 (1942 AD): Jews begin their deportation from Warsaw to the Treblinka concentration camp.

10. Hebrew year 5754 (1994 AD): The Jewish Community Center, Buenos Aires is bombed with 86 killed.

 

In researching this topic, one article from www.ohr.edu, a Jewish site describing these tragedies, ends like this:

 

In the future, to that same degree that the ninth of Av has been a day of tragedy, it will be a day of great happiness. For on the 9th of Av, the Mashiach will be born from the tribe of Yehuda (whose symbol is the lion).

 

I am now writing the seventh and final book in a series about the last days, a journey I began with Part One in 2011. I had a calling. The End Part Seven should be available late summer, hopefully.

 

In the process of thinking up a good title, a title with meaning, I came across the phenomenon of the 9th of Av tragedies. I decided to make that the title: The 9th of Av

 

According to the quote above,

 

For on the 9th of Av, the Mashiach will be born from the tribe of Yehuda (whose symbol is the lion)...

 

the Jewish Messiah will be born out of the tribe of Judah and will come as a lion to save them from yet another tragedy on the 9th of Av.

 

Could the date of Armageddon start on this date, as the quote predicted? We do not know the day and time, but this date would be a good guess. The middle of summer is a difficult time to fight a war.

 

Unfortunately, Israel missed this part of the story from Isaiah, where the Messiah from Judah would first come as a lamb going to slaughter. Had they not, they would have understood, like thousands of other Jews did, that the Messiah had already come.

 

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. Isaiah 53:7 NIV

 

When Jesus, the Lion of Judah, returns, even liberal churches of today will understand that Jesus is neither liberal or pacifist by their definition, nor is he all-inclusive.

 

"Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals. Revelation 5:5-6 NIV

 

The news is good though. The ending is happy for those who make the cut.

 

"'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Revelation 21:4 NIV

PROPHETIC MALNUTRITION

 - BY Steve Schmutzer -

 

How well will your car perform if you've removed one wheel? Would you sit down in a chair with a leg missing? Do you trust a plane with only three of its four wings?

 

These questions may seem absurd, but they each have something in common. In each case, 25% of something important is missing. And in each scenario, you would be at risk if you settled for less. No reasonable person would willingly choose to put themselves in these situations.

 

So why do we choose to regard the Bible differently than we would regard the car, the chair, or the plane? I'll pose the same question another way, but with greater relevance this time: "Why do so many pastors, teachers, and "Christian leaders" choose to ignore, revile, dilute, and misrepresent the 25% of God's Word which comprises the prophetic Scriptures?"

 

Here are a few compelling facts to consider from the "The Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy" by J. Barton Payne:

 

There are 1,239 prophecies in the Old Testament and 578 in the New Testament for a total of 1,817 prophecies.

 

These prophecies are included within 8,352 verses of the Bible.

 

Since there are 31,124 verses in the Bible, the 8,352 verses that contain prophecy constitute 26.8 percent of the Bible's volume.

 

So I'm being conservative here. That's actually a bit more than 25% of the Word of God!

 

The entire Bible has prophetic themes woven throughout. It is prophetic at the very beginning in Genesis chapter 3 when the conflict between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent was foretold. And it is prophetic at the very end of Revelation when the reign of Christ is anticipated for all eternity. The prophetic Scriptures so dominate the whole Bible that they're impossible to avoid unless one intentionally changes their gait through its pages the same way one avoids stepping on cracks in the sidewalk.

 

Digging a bit deeper here uncovers more to think about. Over 1500 of the prophecies of the Bible are devoted to Christ's Second Coming. For every prophecy in the Old Testament about Jesus' First Coming, there are eight about His Second Coming. Christ's return also comprises one of every five verses in the New Testament.

 

Here's where the rubber meets the road. If the Bible makes prophecy a priority, so should we. If an emphasis of the New Testament is the Second Coming of Christ, we should make that an emphasis too. If prophetic themes crop up all the time throughout the entire Word of God, we should be seeing prophetic themes salting many of our sermons and lessons.

 

But we don't.

 

It was not always like this, and we can look at Paul's example as a case in point. We know Paul as the converted persecutor of early Christians, and as the agent through which the Holy Spirit authored most of the New Testament. We are less familiar with Paul's activities during his missionary journeys, but it's here that I want point out something important.

 

It concerns the church of Thessalonica which Paul visited on his second missionary journey. His time with them was brief as Acts 17:2 may suggest. He followed that visit up with the letters we call 1 & 2 Thessalonians, and now it gets interesting.

 

Word had come to Paul that apostate teachings had entered the young Thessalonian church, heresies which conflicted with the things he had personally taught them. Chapter two of 2 Thessalonians dives right into the problem and it concerns the second coming of Jesus Christ. Paul dispenses a healthy portion of meat in this chapter, but he asks in 2 Thessalonians 2:5, "Don't you remember when I was with you I used to tell you these things?"

 

It's easy to overlook the layout of this situation, but here it is:

 

The Thessalonian church was new in its faith and organization.

 

Paul didn't have a lot of time with them, but he used what little he had to emphasize the themes of prophecy.

 

Specifically, Paul taught these early believers about Christ's Second Advent, about the Antichrist, about the Rapture, and about the Great Tribulation.

 

It's time for a reality check. This was a young church, right? Yup. And the believers faced external persecution and internal discord just like believers do today, correct? Mm-Hmm. And the congregation was trying to minister to the needs of those inside and outside the faith, right? You bet.

 

So what gives with this emphasis on prophecy? Shouldn't Paul have focused on Christian community, the love of Jesus, responsible tithing, and what it means to really care? Let's get real here, eschatology? Isn't that the fringe stuff that's not really central to our faith? Shouldn't he have emphasized Jesus since it's all about Jesus anyway?

 

Maybe it's the church of today that needs to learn something from the church of yesterday. Our pastors, teachers, and "Christian leaders" would be wise to take a cue from Paul. It's high time we reintroduced 25% of the divinely-inspired Word of God back into our regular diets.

 

I have to be brutally honest here. I'm alarmed at the posture of the greater church towards the prophetic Word of God. In an abject display of 2 Peter 3:4, the average church today doubts and belittles the very doctrines Paul considered vital to the faith of a believer and to the health of a congregation. Trapped within the clutches of Rev. 3:15-20, the church today is blind to its own prognosis. It has vaccinated itself against receiving the full truth by permitting only a portion of it to have any effect.

 

I'm concerned that we've allowed the good to become the enemy of the best. To repeat a phrase I touched on earlier, it's common to hear, "It's all about Jesus." This is a standard line that many folks parrot when they find themselves confronted by spiritual issues that challenge their personal preferences and zones of comfort.

 

I'm not going to argue with the essence of that line, but I'll offer a perspective that some people who are quick to deploy it have not adequately considered. In Rev. 19:10 it says, "For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Let me put that another way: prophecy is designed to reveal the full person and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

This is a problem for anyone that justifies placing prophetic doctrines on the back burner so they can "focus on Jesus" instead. It's problematic for them to say, "It's all about Jesus," because their choices incriminate them. They cannot maximize their relationship with God when they refuse to wholly understand Him the way the entire revelation of the Bible intends for them to.

 

It's like having a bunch of Facebook "friends." Saying they are your friends hardly means you share the sort of bond with them that the discipline of a fully-vested relationship brings about.

 

I'll come full circle here and wrap it up. The 25% of Scripture which is prophetic uniquely reveals the person, plans, and purposes of Jesus Christ. As such, it was divinely-intended to be a vital part of the believer's spiritual diet. Any other choice results in spiritual malnutrition and an arm's-length relationship with our Lord and Savior.

 

Just as Paul realized that one's relationship with Jesus will lack a great deal of meaningful dimension if His future plans and dramatic end-time return is discounted, so we will be less effective with the good news of salvation if we do not proclaim 100% of the testimony of Jesus.

A THIEF IN THE NIGHT

 

  

 By Daniel Payne -

 

A thief in the night is not usually associated with making a delivery. Rather, a thief is usually associated with committing a theft-i.e., taking something away.

 

The Rapture of the Church is often thought of as the Lord Jesus suddenly appearing like a thief in the night to "steal" or "take" His bride home to be with Him in heaven.

 

He will catch the world completely off guard when He suddenly returns over earth to seize everyone-who truly believes in, repents, and accepts His sacrifice for their sins-up from the ground and into heaven.

 

"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:3).

 

Although the Lord Jesus made reference to it in the verse above, the event known as the Rapture of the Church was revealed as a "mystery" solved by the Apostle Paul in his letters written to the churches at Corinth and Thessalonica:

 

"Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed- in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed" (I Corinthians 15:51-52).

 

"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord" (I Thessalonians 4:16-17).

 

Based on the verses just written in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Paul was most likely continuing with the theme of the Rapture of the Church still in view where 1 Thessalonians chapter five begins:

 

"But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night" (I Thessalonians 5:1-2).

 

Although Paul begins a new subject-the Day of the Lord-he was likely illustrating to the Thessalonians what to watch for concerning their meeting with the Lord in the air at the Rapture.

 

Notice that Paul did not educate the Thessalonians on what to watch for during or at the end of the Tribulation-i.e., for the seven plus years after the beginning of the Day of the Lord.

 

Instead, Paul instructed the Thessalonians on what to watch for before the Day of the Lord begins.

 

Essentially, Paul told the Thessalonians that they had no need to be further educated about the times and seasons. At the time Paul wrote this letter to the Thessalonians, presentations of the many signs that will precipitate the Day of the Lord were-and still are-found in the Old Testament as well as the teachings of Christ, etc..

 

In addition, the Church will not be affected by the times and the seasons that will take place during the Tribulation as she will be taken to heaven at the Rapture just before the Day of the Lord begins.

 

According to Paul, the Thessalonians already knew about the Day of the Lord. They knew that the exact beginning was unknown and that it would catch the world at large completely by surprise.

 

The Thessalonian believers also had "no need" to be concerned about "the times and seasons" that take place during the Day of the Lord because they would not be present on earth when they take place.

 

However, they were told to watch-more on that later.

 

As Paul describes in his second letter to the Thessalonians, without a single member of the true Church left on earth after the Rapture, the greatest apostasy the world has ever committed will take place. At that time, the Antichrist will also be revealed.

 

The apostasy also means the "departure"-as apostasia is translated in the first seven English Bible translations-and may be a reference to the Rapture of the Church, as the context of "our gathering together unto Him" seems to indicate:

 

"Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 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" (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3).

 

At that time, the Lord Jesus will most assuredly oversee the "delivery" of His Tribulation judgment-likely known to the Thessalonians as the time of Jacob's trouble and Daniel's 70th week-after He "takes" His bride home to heaven:

 

"...hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" (Revelation 6:16b-17).

 

"For when they say, 'Peace and safety!' then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape" (I Thessalonians 5:3).

 

Sudden destruction will come upon them-the children of darkness-when the Day of the Lord overtakes them like a thief in the night. The Day of the Lord will not overtake believers at all because we are not in darkness; we are sons and daughters of the light:

 

"But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness" (I Thessalonians 5:4-5).

 

"But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (I John 1:7).

 

As true believers, we have already accepted the Lord's gift of salvation, and therefore we will not experience the Day of His wrath. God's Word could not be more clear on this point:

 

"And to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come" (I Thessalonians 1:10).

 

"For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Thessalonians 5:9).

 

"Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth" (Revelation 3:10).

 

Paul exhorted the Thessalonians not to focus on looking for the judgment of the Tribulation but instead to focus on being ready for the Rapture.

 

The only negative for members of the Church corresponding to the return of Jesus is shame associated with not having confidence in living a life fully abiding in Him at the moment He returns:

 

"And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming" (I John 2:28).

 

That is how we "purify" ourselves with the hope of His return:

 

"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. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure" (I John 3:2-3).

 

Imagine miraculously surviving the horrors of the Tribulation, and achieving victory through the power of Christ by not worshiping the beast or his image, and by not receiving the mark of the beast (Revelation 20:4), and yet being ashamed at His return-does that make any sense?

 

We-the Church-are told to "watch" for His coming by interpreting the many signs of the upcoming season that is surely about to begin:

 

"Then He spoke to them a parable: 'Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near'" (Luke 21:29-31).

 

"Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man" (Luke 21:36).

 

"Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober" (I Thessalonians 5:6).

 

For a Thief in the night...

THE BLESSED HOPE

BY - Jack Kinsella - 

 

The timing of the Rapture is easily one of the most confusing and divisive issues within the Body of the Christ, something I've always considered extremely interesting.

 

It would seem to me that the issue of when He is coming is important only in understanding the signs of the times, but not terribly important in terms of salvation or issues of eternity, or even in terms of living a Spirit-filled life.

 

That being said, we ARE students of Bible prophecy; and the timing of the Rapture is extremely important to understanding the signs of the times.

 

There are three basic interpretations of the Rapture; pre-Tribulatonal, mid-tribulational and post-tribulational.

 

Pre-Trib holds to the view the Lord returns BEFORE the Tribulation. Mid-Trib teaches that the Rapture of the Church will occur in the middle of the 7 year tribulation period. It will occur sometime around the abomination of desolation when the anti-Christ goes into the rebuilt Jewish temple and there claim to be God.

 

The Post-Trib view teaches that as the Lord Jesus is returning back to earth, God's people will be 'caught up' or raptured at that point in time. They will return to earth with the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Each of these views can be supported, to some degree, by Scripture, but only one is correct. I believe it is the one with the fewest problems, which is a Pre-Trib Rapture of the Church.

 

One of the problems with a mid-Trib view is glaring; it denies the doctrine of imminency. Although the Scriptures teach a SECRET coming, (no man knoweth the day or hour) once the Tribulation begins, one just has to sit down with a calendar. It will be no surprise and it will come at a known time.

 

Another problem with the mid-Trib Rapture view is that its followers aren't looking for Christ, they are watching for the anti-Christ, from whom they derive their timetable.

 

By contrast, I am awaiting Jesus Christ. I never expect to know who the antichrist will be, and frankly, I don't really care. My purpose, to the degree I even discuss the antichrist in your Omega Letter, is to demonstrate how the world is preparing for his coming -- and to remind people that Jesus is coming FIRST!

 

The mid-Tribulation view is not widely followed for these reasons, among others.

 

The post-Tribulation view shares the same glaring problem as the mid-Tribbers; the denial of imminency. It will be even easier to pinpoint the return of Christ, given the Bible gives the exact number of days between the 'abomination of desolation' (Matthew 24:15; 2nd Thessalonians 2:4) and the return of the Messiah.

 

"And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days." (Daniel 12:11)

 

Compare that to Jesus' Words;

 

"But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." (Matthew 24:36)

 

If the post-Trib view is correct, that secret is hidden only until the revelation of antichrist.

 

So it shares the same second flaw with the mid-Trib view; both of these interpretations make the coming of antichrist THE seminal event in prophecy. The 2nd Coming of Christ is of only secondary importance.

 

The post-Tribulation view also doesn't pass the logic test. The post-Trib interpretation is that Jesus Raptures the Church, who then return with Him at the Battle of Armageddon.

 

"And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean." (Revelation 19:14)

 

The 'fine linen, white and clean' are the garments of those Washed in the Blood of the Lamb.

 

To make the post-Trib scenario work, Jesus must leave heaven with 'ten thousands' of empty white horses. As He descends, God's people are Raptured, presumably translated FROM this earth to the back of a white horse that is on its way back -- TO this earth!

 

Scripture tells us that, as the return of the Lord for His Church draws near, it will be as in the days of Lot and Noah. Noah warned of impending judgment for 120 years without a single convert. Life went on as normal, until the floods came, and 'took them all away'. (Matthew 24:39)

 

Similarly, Lot lived in a big city, surrounded by immorality so repugnant to God that He decided to judge the wicked city with Divine judgment. Lot was secretly removed from the unsuspecting city before judgment was executed.

 

But to the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, life went on as usual until the moment of judgment fell.

 

Consider the consequences of the Tribulation Period. Widespread death and destruction, the annihilation of 3/4's of the human race, miraculous judgments like the sea turned to blood and a ruined ecology, disease, famine, and catastrophe . . . hardly fits with the days of Lot OR Noah.

 

"And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all." (Luke 17:28-30)

 

The next problem with this view is what happens next. According to Scripture, the earth is repopulated during the Millennial Kingdom period.

 

If all God's people are raptured as the Lord Jesus returns that will leave only the wicked on earth when He returns. The wicked will be destroyed as they will NEVER inherit the kingdom of God.

 

So if the wicked are destroyed and God's people are all raptured then who will be left to enter into the 1000 year Kingdom?

 

It is for these reasons, and more, that I believe that the Dispensationalist, pre-Tribulationist view of the Rapture is the only one consistent with the teachings of the Scriptures.

 

It allows for a secret, signless, Rapture of the Church, as taught by Our Lord.

 

Assessment:

 

Now, what about the "Restrainer?" The word "Restrainer" doesn't even appear in the Bible, so what's the deal there?

 

"For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only He who now letteth will let, until He be taken out of the way." (2nd Thessalonians 2:7)

 

Let's take this verse one bite at a time. First, the "mystery of iniquity."

 

The word 'iniquity' is from the Greek word 'anomia' meaning, a violation of the law. It is related to 'anomos', a 'lawless person', 'a transgressor.'

 

It is rendered 'lawlessness' in some translations and means the same as unrighteousness. Sin, or 'iniquity' is the transgression of the law.

 

The Old English word "let" meant the opposite of what it means today. In modern English, to 'let' someone or something generally means 'to allow' someone or something. In 1611, 'let' meant 'to restrain'.

 

"Let" is translated from the Greek word "kataschesis" which means, "a holding, occupancy or possession'.

 

It isn't a completely archaic meaning. From time to time, you'll see an ad in a newspaper saying, "Room to Let." In essence, it is an offer to occupy or possess that room. Note also that Paul personifies the One Who "lets" referring to the Restrainer twice as "He."

 

So, added together, we find the following: Lawlessness is already at work, only He Who occupies will continue to occupy until He is "taken out of the way."

 

What is the identity of the 'He' in this passage? He restrains lawlessness by His 'occupation' -- and at some point, that occupying restraint is "taken out of the way."

 

That Paul is referring to the Holy Spirit is obvious from even a casual reading of this verse. There is only one 'Indwelling Restrainer" -- the Holy Spirit Who indwells every believer during the Church Age.

 

Jesus promised that the Comforter, or Holy Spirit, would indwell the Church until He returns for it.

 

"I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. . . . But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My Name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." (John 14:18,26)

 

Paul says that FIRST, the Restrainer is 'taken out of the way' and "THEN shall that Wicked be revealed. . ." (2nd Thessalonians 2:8)

 

Nobody can be saved apart from the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures say He is 'taken out of the way' -- NOT removed from the earth.

 

THAT would be impossible. God is omnipresent -- if the Holy Spirit were 'removed' in the sense of not being here, then 'here' wouldn't be here, either. It isn't the Holy Spirit that is removed, it is the vessels He indwell.

 

Because it is the indwelt Church that restrains evil. The Holy Spirit of God doesn't restrain pornographers, abortionists, (name your favorite institutionalized sin here). The proof of that truth is found in the fact such things exist.

 

The Holy Spirit isn't picketing porno houses or abortion clinics -- that is the job of the indwelt Church. It won't be the lost who would recognize the antichrist from his doctrine -- it would be those indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

 

Therefore, he won't be revealed as long as those who would recognize him continue to inhabit the earth.

 

There are those who are saved during the Tribulation, and that cannot happen apart from the leading of the Holy Spirit.

 

"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." (1st Corinithians 1:18)

 

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1st Corinithians 2:14)

 

"Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father SEALED." (John 6:27)

 

"In Whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were SEALED with that Holy Spirit of promise." (Ephesians 1:13)

 

"And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are SEALED unto the day of redemption." (Ephesians 4:30)

 

"Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel." (Revelation 7:3-4)

 

The 144,000 of the 12 tribes of Israel are 'sealed' with the Holy Spirit -- indeed, the Lord Jesus devotes an entire chapter of His Revelation to the subject. That raises a question: If the indwelt and sealed Church were present, then why seal the 144,000 Jews as evangelists with the Holy Spirit?

 

The Church Age is over. Those indwelt of the Holy Spirit have been removed at the Rapture. Still, it is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that one can either impart or receive the Gospel.

 

However, unlike in the Church Age, those who are saved during the Tribulation are not personally indwelt as in the Church Age and they CAN lose their salvation by accepting the Mark of the Beast.

 

"And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:" (Revelation 14:9-10)

 

The 144,000 Jewish evangelists sealed by the Holy Spirit of God have the same indwelling Spirit that we do during the Church Age -- and that is what empowers them.

 

The last bit of evidence that suggests the Church is not present during the Tribulation Period is the fact that the Great Commission is transferred from the Church to an angel.

 

"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people." (Revelation 14:6)

 

During the Church Age, the Church is empowered to preach the everlasting Gospel. But the only ones sharing the Gospel during the Tribulation are the 144,000 sealed of God and the angel of Revelation 14.

 

These cannot be the Church, or even surviving members of the Church. John says that ALL of them are Jewish. All of them are male. All of them are virgins. And ALL of them know a 'new song' that nobody else (including the Church) can learn. (Revelation 14:3-4)

 

So, the answer to the question of how people get saved during the Tribulation is that the Holy Spirit remains on the earth, but after the Church Age, indwells only the Chosen of the 12 Tribes, who then share the Gospel with the lost.

 

Finally, since the Tribulation Period is also the conclusion of the Old Testament, believers during the Tribulation are dealt with in the same manner as with the Old Testament saints.

 

So, we in the Church Age watch for signs of the antichrist, because if the signs of the antichrist's revelation are there, then it means the Rapture is even closer. As to naming him, it is irrelevant.

 

We wouldn't know if we were right, even if we were. Unless every Scripture passage I've cited means something else than what it says.

 

If the Lord's intent was for the Church to be present for the Tribulation Period, then the signs of His return are of little value. We, (the Church) would recognize the antichrist for who he is.

 

When a world leader demands we all accept a mark in our right hand or forehead in order to buy or sell, that would be all the sign we'd need.

 

But Jesus addressed ALL the signs leading up to the Tribulation Period. Of them, He said,

 

"When these things BEGIN to come to pass (not AFTER all these things have been accomplished) then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh." (Luke 21:28)

 

No other explanation makes sense.