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"You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end…but all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs” (Matthew 24:6, 8). Shortly before He was crucified, Jesus told His disciples that as the End of the Age approached, the world would experience an increase of various signs (see Matthew 24), one of which was wars and rumors of wars. We know that He meant an increase as he compared these things to birth pangs. Current events in our world, in the Middle East, and Israel in particular, show just how true Bible prophecy has become. We are definitely seeing an increase in both number and severity of events in the Middle East. These events are moving at a rapid pace. However, as mentioned in a previous article, although it is impossible and foolish to try and interpret prophecy to fit every headline, it is not impossible to see these events as trends that are setting the stage for what the Bible describes as the final act of history. Notice again what Jesus said: “for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.” In other words, these things “must take place,” in order to set the stage for what the Bible describes as God’s final dealings with Israel and the world, leading up to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Not since the Six-Day War of 1967 have so many different nations been talking about and preparing for war. Amazingly, a majority of these nations are located in the Middle East and nearly all of them have one common thread that ties them all together—hatred of Israel. Rarely does a day go by without some major news story out of the Middle East. Furthermore, one nation in particular has been forthright about its hatred for and desire for the destruction of Israel. That nation is Iran. They are feverishly pursuing nuclear weapons. Additionally, they are acquiring weapons and making military pacts with other likeminded nations. All of this might seem irrelevant were it not for a 2500 year old prophecy found in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39. This prophecy is absolutely amazing. What makes it so amazing is it has always seemed like an utter impossibility—until now. Ezekiel was able to look down the corridors of time and see nations not yet in existence, and alliances not yet formed. In doing so, he foretold the rise of a Russian military alliance with Iran and other Middle Eastern countries to annihilate Israel during the end-times. This prophecy is known by most Bible scholars as the War of Gog and Magog. Gog is a term meaning prince or leader whereas Magog is the area known as modern day Russia and republics of the former Soviet Union. Gog is described as a dictator who will hatch an “evil plan” (see Ezek. 38:10). Through the prophet Ezekiel, God says to this dictator: “Be prepared, and prepare yourself, you and all your companies that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them. After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword (Israel)…to the mountains of Israel…” (Ezek. 38:7-8). At the top of the list of countries Ezekiel says will be a part of this coalition of nations is Persia, which is modern day Iran.
In light of Ezekiel’s amazing prophecy the evening news starts to make a little more sense. And it should be no surprise that now, after a lengthy delay, Russian President Putin has decided to deliver nuclear fuel rods to Iran to power up the Bushier reactor. It should also not be surprising to learn that part of that “deal” required Iran to contract and pay for $765 million more in Russian arms for Syria. These “wars and rumors of wars” are putting the finishing touches on setting the stage for the War of Gog and Magog that Ezekiel prophesied over 2500 years ago. And when the time is right, a Moslem coalition led by Iran and armed by Russia, including countries from Central Asia, North Africa and Eastern Europe, will storm into Israel from the north over the Golan Heights (Ezek. 38:5-6, 8). And the Bible says God will use this event to reveal Himself to the world as Israel’s protector by utterly destroying the attackers (Ezek. 39:2-4). How close are we to this event? Only God knows. But current events seem to indicate this battle is on the horizon. What does all this mean? It means that God’s Word is true. Furthermore, it means Jesus is coming soon for His Church. Are you ready to meet the Lord in the air? If not, your time is running out.
Not since the Six-Day War of 1967 have so many different nations been talking about and preparing for war. Amazingly, a majority of these nations are located in the Middle East and nearly all of them have one common thread that ties them all together—hatred of Israel. Rarely does a day go by without some major news story out of the Middle East. Furthermore, one nation in particular has been forthright about its hatred for and desire for the destruction of Israel. That nation is Iran. They are feverishly pursuing nuclear weapons. Additionally, they are acquiring weapons and making military pacts with other likeminded nations. All of this might seem irrelevant were it not for a 2500 year old prophecy found in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39. This prophecy is absolutely amazing. What makes it so amazing is it has always seemed like an utter impossibility—until now. Ezekiel was able to look down the corridors of time and see nations not yet in existence, and alliances not yet formed. In doing so, he foretold the rise of a Russian military alliance with Iran and other Middle Eastern countries to annihilate Israel during the end-times. This prophecy is known by most Bible scholars as the War of Gog and Magog. Gog is a term meaning prince or leader whereas Magog is the area known as modern day Russia and republics of the former Soviet Union. Gog is described as a dictator who will hatch an “evil plan” (see Ezek. 38:10). Through the prophet Ezekiel, God says to this dictator: “Be prepared, and prepare yourself, you and all your companies that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them. After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword (Israel)…to the mountains of Israel…” (Ezek. 38:7-8). At the top of the list of countries Ezekiel says will be a part of this coalition of nations is Persia, which is modern day Iran.
In light of Ezekiel’s amazing prophecy the evening news starts to make a little more sense. And it should be no surprise that now, after a lengthy delay, Russian President Putin has decided to deliver nuclear fuel rods to Iran to power up the Bushier reactor. It should also not be surprising to learn that part of that “deal” required Iran to contract and pay for $765 million more in Russian arms for Syria. These “wars and rumors of wars” are putting the finishing touches on setting the stage for the War of Gog and Magog that Ezekiel prophesied over 2500 years ago. And when the time is right, a Moslem coalition led by Iran and armed by Russia, including countries from Central Asia, North Africa and Eastern Europe, will storm into Israel from the north over the Golan Heights (Ezek. 38:5-6, 8). And the Bible says God will use this event to reveal Himself to the world as Israel’s protector by utterly destroying the attackers (Ezek. 39:2-4). How close are we to this event? Only God knows. But current events seem to indicate this battle is on the horizon. What does all this mean? It means that God’s Word is true. Furthermore, it means Jesus is coming soon for His Church. Are you ready to meet the Lord in the air? If not, your time is running out.
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“Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation’” (2 Peter 3:3-4). Does it really matter what you believe about the end times? Does it really make any difference? It certainly does! What we believe about Bible prophecy determines the way we live. Furthermore, what we believe about Bible prophecy determines our level of expectedness and hope so far as the return of Christ to this earth is concerned.
I have to be honest. I never heard too much about the Second Coming of Christ when I was growing up. I don’t think the problem was being in a church that didn’t believe it. I’m sure it did. I believe the problem was the pastors didn’t think it was all that important to preach. After all, most people believe prophecy is either boring or too far beyond our grasp to understand. Both positions are just plain dumb. It is anything but boring and it is within our grasp to understand, because we have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of us. One third of the Bible, properly understood is prophecy. God wants us to study it, understand it, and believe it. One thing he definitely wants His children to know and believe is that Jesus Christ is coming back to this earth, and that His return is very soon! Most people, albeit most Christians, either don’t believe this or if they do believe it, they certainly don’t show it. They believe time has continued to come and go and they are blind to the fact we are living in the last of the last days.
When I attended Mississippi College, I had the privilege of studying Revelation under someone who had studied the book for years. I was excited until I realized the professor’s take on the book was, for the most part, unscriptural. I think he probably believed Jesus was coming back again someday. But there was no imminency to Christ’s return. In fact, he poked fun at those who believe in the imminent return of Christ. Furthermore, this professor believed God had washed His hands of the Jewish people because of their rejection of the Messiah. He didn’t believe in a literal thousand year reign of Christ on this earth, as the Bible prophesies will happen. His problem wasn’t that he wasn’t a follower of Christ – he most certainly was. His problem was he had ascribed to a belief known as amillennialism, which taught that all prophecy concerning Israel, the last days and the Second Coming, was for the most part, symbolic. This has always amazed me, considering the fact that all prophecy concerning Christ’s First Advent was fulfilled literally. In fact, all prophecy that has been fulfilled has been literally fulfilled. How could it be that God has now switched to a spiritualized symbolic method of fulfilling prophecy? Now granted, there is symbolism in Scripture. But that symbolism always points to something literal. If it’s a symbol, interpret it as such. But once that symbol is interpreted, literally believe it.
In order to arrive at such a belief system, one has to do a few things. First of all, in order to be an almillenialist, one would have to believe in Replacement Theology. Replacement Theology teaches that God has replaced Israel with the Church (apparently everlasting covenants aren’t really everlasting). In other words, the promises to Israel have been reassigned to the Church. No wonder the holocaust was so easy for Hitler to pull off. Secondly, one would have to believe there will be no Great Tribulation, that Satan was bound at the Cross (if this is true, he must have been bound with a very long chain), there will not be two resurrections as the Bible clearly says will happen, and there will be no new heaven and new earth, just heaven. And there could certainly be no hope of an imminent return of Christ at any moment.
Amillennialism is based solely upon spiritualizing Scripture. Spiritualizing Scripture means that the Bible does not mean what it says. Theological liberals love to spiritualize Scripture. This should be no surprise. The surprise comes when theological conservatives fall prey to it. Those who do, in effect say that the Bible means what it says unless it is talking about the Second Coming of Christ! The view was developed around A.D. 400 by St. Augustine. It was a major departure from the premillennial view that had been the orthodox view up to that time. Nowadays, those holding to this view try to say the premillennial view, which would include the Rapture of the Church and a final seven year Tribulation period, was developed in the late 19th century by John Darby. Nothing could be further from the truth. He may have further developed what the early church believed, but he didn’t invent it. Let’s stop playing games with God’s Word. Let’s allow it to mean what it says. Bible prophecy isn’t hard to understand. It’s just hard to believe. But if you will believe it, you will understand it. If we believe in a literal fulfillment of all prophecy, especially those prophecies concerning the return of the Lord, we will yearn for His return. If we fail to believe in a literal fulfillment, then we will run the risk of scoffing.
I have to be honest. I never heard too much about the Second Coming of Christ when I was growing up. I don’t think the problem was being in a church that didn’t believe it. I’m sure it did. I believe the problem was the pastors didn’t think it was all that important to preach. After all, most people believe prophecy is either boring or too far beyond our grasp to understand. Both positions are just plain dumb. It is anything but boring and it is within our grasp to understand, because we have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of us. One third of the Bible, properly understood is prophecy. God wants us to study it, understand it, and believe it. One thing he definitely wants His children to know and believe is that Jesus Christ is coming back to this earth, and that His return is very soon! Most people, albeit most Christians, either don’t believe this or if they do believe it, they certainly don’t show it. They believe time has continued to come and go and they are blind to the fact we are living in the last of the last days.
When I attended Mississippi College, I had the privilege of studying Revelation under someone who had studied the book for years. I was excited until I realized the professor’s take on the book was, for the most part, unscriptural. I think he probably believed Jesus was coming back again someday. But there was no imminency to Christ’s return. In fact, he poked fun at those who believe in the imminent return of Christ. Furthermore, this professor believed God had washed His hands of the Jewish people because of their rejection of the Messiah. He didn’t believe in a literal thousand year reign of Christ on this earth, as the Bible prophesies will happen. His problem wasn’t that he wasn’t a follower of Christ – he most certainly was. His problem was he had ascribed to a belief known as amillennialism, which taught that all prophecy concerning Israel, the last days and the Second Coming, was for the most part, symbolic. This has always amazed me, considering the fact that all prophecy concerning Christ’s First Advent was fulfilled literally. In fact, all prophecy that has been fulfilled has been literally fulfilled. How could it be that God has now switched to a spiritualized symbolic method of fulfilling prophecy? Now granted, there is symbolism in Scripture. But that symbolism always points to something literal. If it’s a symbol, interpret it as such. But once that symbol is interpreted, literally believe it.
In order to arrive at such a belief system, one has to do a few things. First of all, in order to be an almillenialist, one would have to believe in Replacement Theology. Replacement Theology teaches that God has replaced Israel with the Church (apparently everlasting covenants aren’t really everlasting). In other words, the promises to Israel have been reassigned to the Church. No wonder the holocaust was so easy for Hitler to pull off. Secondly, one would have to believe there will be no Great Tribulation, that Satan was bound at the Cross (if this is true, he must have been bound with a very long chain), there will not be two resurrections as the Bible clearly says will happen, and there will be no new heaven and new earth, just heaven. And there could certainly be no hope of an imminent return of Christ at any moment.
Amillennialism is based solely upon spiritualizing Scripture. Spiritualizing Scripture means that the Bible does not mean what it says. Theological liberals love to spiritualize Scripture. This should be no surprise. The surprise comes when theological conservatives fall prey to it. Those who do, in effect say that the Bible means what it says unless it is talking about the Second Coming of Christ! The view was developed around A.D. 400 by St. Augustine. It was a major departure from the premillennial view that had been the orthodox view up to that time. Nowadays, those holding to this view try to say the premillennial view, which would include the Rapture of the Church and a final seven year Tribulation period, was developed in the late 19th century by John Darby. Nothing could be further from the truth. He may have further developed what the early church believed, but he didn’t invent it. Let’s stop playing games with God’s Word. Let’s allow it to mean what it says. Bible prophecy isn’t hard to understand. It’s just hard to believe. But if you will believe it, you will understand it. If we believe in a literal fulfillment of all prophecy, especially those prophecies concerning the return of the Lord, we will yearn for His return. If we fail to believe in a literal fulfillment, then we will run the risk of scoffing.