Thursday Evening Bible Study

December 31, 2009

Introduction

There seems to be an interesting batch of movies out right now that remind us about the “end of the world”.  One comes out this week called “The Book of Eli”.  Another came out last November… Play “2012” Movie Trailer

Are we getting close to the “end of the world”?

Though I haven’t seen this movie (yet), I do wonder why we are more willing to pay attention to the ancient Mayans than we are the Bible.

The Bible has a pretty good track record when it comes to predicting the future.

There’s another movie about to come out, “The Book of Eli”, which is supposed to take place thirty years after Armageddon.

Play “Eli” clip.

End Time Glossary

These things will take place.  These are not things that people like the Mayans just cooked up on their own…

2 Peter 1:20–21 (The Message) — 20 The main thing to keep in mind here is that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of private opinion. 21 And why? Because it’s not something concocted in the human heart. Prophecy resulted when the Holy Spirit prompted men and women to speak God’s Word.

If the Bible was right about the 300 prophecies that predicted the first coming of Christ, don’t you think it will be right about the 500 predictions of His 2^nd Coming?

For some of you these may be things you’ve heard about, but you might not yet be real clear as to what they refer to.

Rapture

1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 (NKJV) — 16 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. 17 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.

Two things will take place

Those who have already died will receive their new resurrection bodies.

Those believers who are alive at the time will also receive new bodies, and be taken to heaven – snatched up, caught away.

We believe this could take place at any moment.  Jesus said:

Matthew 24:42 (NKJV) — 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.

We do not believe there are any further “signs” that need to take place before this event happens.

When you see the things lining up for the further events, know that this thing could happen at any moment.

War with Gog

Ezekiel 38:1–8 (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. 7 “Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are gathered about you; and be a guard for them. 8 After many days you will be visited. In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely.

Ezekiel goes on to describe a war between this alliance of nations and the land of Israel.  When it happens, the rest of the world will stand back and watch, and no one will help Israel.

God then steps in and wipes out 5/6 of the enemy armies in something that looks like a nuclear war.

Most notable in this list of countries are:

Gog/Rosh, etc. – names for Russia.

Persia – the ancient name of modern Iran.

It is possible that this event might take place before the Rapture, it is possible that we might be around to see this one, but if we are, I think it’s likely we’ll be gone soon afterward.

Tribulation

This is a period of seven years where God’s wrath is poured out on the unbelieving world.  It is also a time when God once again “chooses” the nation of Israel.  This is the time when the antichrist will come to power and rule over the world.  This is the time described through the book of Revelation (ch. 6-19), a time of difficulty, disease, and war.

Abomination of Desolation

Matthew 24:15 (NKJV) — 15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand),

There will be a major event happen in the middle of the Tribulation period (Mat. 24:15), when the antichrist will enter into the Temple in Jerusalem and declare himself to be God.  This is known as the “abomination of desolation”, when the antichrist commits the most “abominable” offense (declaring himself to be God) and brings “desolation” (the temple is desecrated.

When this event happens, those on earth will be able to count the days until Jesus comes back.  Daniel tells us it will be 1290 days (Dan. 12:11)

Daniel 12:11 (NKJV) — 11 “And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.

Armageddon

At the end of this seven year period, the nations of the world will gather together in the valley of Megiddo for one last battle (Rev. 16:16)

Revelation 16:16 (NKJV) — 16 And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.

What are they gathered together for?  They are gathering to fight Jesus Christ when He returns.

Revelation 19:19 (NKJV) — 19 And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.

Guess who wins this battle?  Jesus does.

Second Coming

It’s at the end of the Tribulation that Jesus returns to the earth.

Revelation 19:11–16 (NKJV) — 11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Jesus returns with the “armies in heaven”.  I believe that will include us.

Jesus returns to conquer the earth.  Those who follow the antichrist will be killed and the antichrist will be thrown into the lake of fire.

Those who are still alive on earth, who have come to trust in Christ during the Tribulation, will enter into the Millennium with regular bodies.  These people and their descendants will repopulate the earth.

Millennium

Revelation 20:4 (NKJV) — 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

Jesus will set up His kingdom and rule the earth for a thousand years (Rev. 20:4)

During this time Satan will be bound with a chain in the bottomless pit.

We will rule and reign with Him.

Great White Throne Judgment

Revelation 20:11 (NKJV) — 11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.

At the end of the thousand years, Satan will be set loose for one last time.  For those people who have repopulated the earth in the old bodies, there will be one more chance to follow or reject Christ, and then there will be a final judgment (Rev. 20:11).

All those who have rejected Christ since time began will be resurrected, judged, and cast into the Lake of Fire.

Eternity

Revelation 21:1 (NKJV) — 1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.

There will be a new heaven and a new earth.  It will last forever. (Rev. 21:1)

These things will take place.

How do we know we’re in the last days?

Signs

Sometimes we can get a little carried away in looking for “signs”, though some “signs” can be quite amusing, like …

In a cafeteria: Shoes are required to eat in the cafeteria. Socks can eat any place they want.

Door of a plastic surgeon's office: Hello. May we pick your nose?

In a farmer's field: The farmer allows walkers to cross the field for free, but be aware that the bull charges.

But joking aside … it’s important that we learn to read the “signs”.

Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because they were pretty good at predicting the weather, but they weren’t very good at seeing the signs of the times:

Matthew 16:2–3 (NKJV) — 2 He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; 3 and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.

Jesus wants us to pay attention to what is going on around us.

Matthew 24 – Jesus listed many “signs” that would point to His return:

False Christs, earthquakes, persecution, lawlessness

Wars

We are all aware of the fact that we are at war, with servicemen fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.  This week our President reminded us that we are also involved in a global war on terror, including Al Qaeda.

Famine

Famine is not uncommon in many parts of the world.  We don’t often think of famine as something that hits the United States, yet with the current economic downturn, there are many folks even in the United States that are going hungry.

We are also seeing just how fragile the world’s economy is and how quickly things can change for the worse.

Disease (also called “pestilence”)

Remember the talk and fear last year about a global “pandemic” with the Swine Flu?  We’re here.  And even though the Swine Flu has turned out to be a little less serious than they were concerned about, we’ve learned how quickly a new disease can travel the globe through air travel.

The Gog war

As we mentioned before, this was with “Gog” has a couple of key players, nations that are worth watching when it comes to reading the newspaper or watching the news on TV

Russia

Last year when I was in Russia, the folks from the church in Nizhny shared an interesting video that they had made, giving a history of the Russian spiritual mindset.  Their goal in making the video was to give some historical background to those of you interested in coming to do missions work in Russia.

The video traced the roots of Russian Orthodoxy, showing how the Russians had mixed Greek Orthodoxy with Paganism to form a unique religion 1,000 years ago.  At times in Russia’s history the Russian Orthodox church wielded great power and helped develop a mindset among Russians that they had a sort of Messianic role in the world, that they were destined to make the world a better place.  We pick up the history when it reaches the twentieth century …

Play Nizhny clip “The Spiritual Reality”

I find it interesting that Russians have this sense of “destiny”, and I think it will come into play when Russia forms a coalition to attack Israel.

Iran

Iran also has its own sense of “destiny”

I stumbled across an interview done in October by the “Hoover Institute” of Stanford University.  They are discussing the things happening in Iran, especially concerning the development of nuclear weapons and how the world ought to respond.

One fellow is a former CIA operative, having spent 20 years in the Middle East, the other is a military historian and fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institute.

These are just a few minutes from a much longer interview.

One issue has to do with the Iranian mindset.

Keep in mind, the Iranians are not “Arabs”.  They are Persian.  They consider themselves different.  They consider themselves better.

Hoover on Iran clip.

A second issue has to do with our response to Iran.  Would we be willing to take out Iran’s nuclear capabilities?

Hoover on US response clip.

Another question is – Iran has threatened to wipe out Israel, Israel has promised to take care of Iran if nobody does anything.  Will that happen?

Hoover on Israel clip.

Could all this be leading us to the war of “Gog”?  Perhaps.

Israel

I’m afraid that many of us take for granted the existence today of the nation “Israel”.

Yet for almost two thousand years, there was no such nation.

The nation of Israel had been wiped out by the Romans in AD 70.

Jesus said that Israel would be present in the last days.  When Jesus gave His great sermon on the end times (Mat. 24), He had already shown the disciples that a fig tree was an illustration of the nation of Israel.

Matthew 24:32–33 (NKJV) — 32 “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors!

A fig tree loses its leaves in the winter.  When the spring comes and the leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is coming.

Jesus was giving more than just a botany lesson – He was hinting that when the nation of Israel came out of its winter, when the tree began to sprout again, that He would be coming soon.

May 14, 1948 –Israel was birthed.  We are in the end times.

Lesson

Motivation

The study of prophecy is not meant to dazzle you or give you lots of things to argue with your friends about.

The study of prophecy has always been intended to motivate you to live a more godly life. Peter writes,

2 Peter 3:11–12 (NKJV) — 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?

Sometimes we get a little lazy.  We get a little sloppy. Jesus said,

Matthew 24:44–50 (The Message) — 44 Be vigilant just like that. You have no idea when the Son of Man is going to show up.45 “Who here qualifies for the job of overseeing the kitchen? A person the Master can depend on to feed the workers on time each day. 46 Someone the Master can drop in on unannounced and always find him doing his job. A God-blessed man or woman, I tell you. 47 It won’t be long before the Master will put this person in charge of the whole operation.48 “But if that person only looks out for himself, and the minute the Master is away does what he pleases—49 abusing the help and throwing drunken parties for his friends—50 the Master is going to show up when he least expects it

At times I’ve wondered if I’ve been a fool for thinking that Jesus was coming back any moment … for the last thirty years.

I’ve come to the conclusion that this is exactly how Jesus wants us to think.  It’s healthy to be ready at any moment.  It keeps me serving the Lord just one more day.  It encourages me to stay pure and say “no” to sin.

The truth is, one day He WILL come back.

If you aren’t right with God today, don’t wait until it’s too late.

Lesson

Hope

Coming to understand that Jesus could come back any moment is something that ought to give us hope. Jesus said,

Luke 21:28 (NKJV) — 28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”

I know there are times we want to quit.  But we’ve got to keep holding on.

Illustration

I remember hearing about tests done with Norwegian wharf rats.  These are the rats that live under the piers along the waterfront.   One group of rats was placed in a large container of water, in the dark, with no place to stand on, they had to keep swimming.  They all drowned within fifteen minutes. The second group was placed in a similar container, yet every ten minutes the lab technician would open the container, take the rats out, stroke them a few seconds, and put them back in the water.  They didn't have time to rest, they just got a little encouragement.  These rats went on swimming for over 12 hours (or something like that...).

The second group had “hope”.  They were looking forward to the lab tech opening up the barrel and giving them a stroke and encouragement.

Let today remind you that your Maker is watching you.

And one day we will see Him face to face…

Isaiah 25:9 (NKJV) — 9 And it will be said in that day: “Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; We have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”

I’ve been accused of clinging to an “escapist” mentality, but the truth is we need to be looking forward to the Second Coming of the Lord.  Paul tells us to find comfort in it:

1 Thessalonians 4:17–18 (NKJV) — …And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Don’t lose hope.  Consider yourselves reminded that He’ll be back soon.