Category Archives: End-Times

Friday’s (But Sometimes Monday’s) End-Times Bible Study (Part 3)

Pre-Tribulation Rapture theory states that Christians will not go through the seven years of tribulation as described in the Book of Revelation and mentioned in Daniel 9:25. It also believes the Church can be raptured at any time. Maybe even before you’re done reading this article.

The pre-trib view is held by almost 90% of American pastors, most American ministry heads and most American Christians who attend traditional churches. I specify Americans mainly hold this view because Chinese, North Korean, Vietnamese, Middle Eastern, Sudanese and countless other Christians in various countries reject this view as an outright lie. These believers live in persecution now and have no worries about End-Times’ persecution. They trust their God, even in the midst of fiery furnaces of persecution.

Okay, my number one argument against the pre-tribulation rapture theory are the words of Jesus in Matthew 24, which is one of the keystone chapters in End-Times Bible studies.

Chapter 24 begins with Jesus prophesying about the total destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. (This prophecy was fulfilled in 70 AD when the Romans destroyed the temple and killed a million Jews.)

Now, the twelve apostles had to be shocked by Jesus’ prophetic words. They came later and asked Him questions about the timing and signs about these things and the end of the age.

Jesus spent the rest of Chapter 24 talking about the End-Times, specifically the seven years of Tribulation and His second coming at the end of the seven years of tribulation.

Stop and think for a moment: who is Jesus talking to in Chapter 24? He is talking to His disciples who are believers, like us.

So, when Jesus used the word “you” in verses 3, 6, 9, 15, 23, 25, 26, 33, 34, 42, 44 and 47, He is telling this to His disciples and to believers like us today. (Check out these verses and note how they refer to persecution and tribulation.)

Plus Jesus also used the words “His elect” in verse 31, which talks about Him rapturing His church from the four ends of the earth. But when does this take place?

Immediately after the tribulation of those days…(Matthew 24:29)

It’s hard to argue with Jesus, or that’s my viewpoint.

Now, to be honest, I believe most pastors and believers hold the Pre-Tribulation Rapture theory because it’s the easiest out for them. They can just mark an X in the box next to the theory and forget about praying, fasting and searching Scripture like the Bereans did, especially the 150 chapters that refer to the End-Times throughout the Bible.

Is this really important?

For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.25 See, I have told you beforehand. (Matthew 24:24-25)

Jesus believed it was important enough to warn us ahead of time. Shouldn’t we follow His advice?

(Continued in Part 4…but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.

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Friday’s End-Times Bible Study (Part 2)

When we study the End-Times, we have to stay focused on the main story line, which is Israel, Jerusalem, the Jews and their Jewish King. Yes, you and I have been written into the story with our salvations because we have been  grafted into the natural olive tree – Israel. But we ourselves are not the main story line, okay?

With that in mind, let’s look at the Jewish calendar and some important dates and feasts:

Nisan 1 or Rosh Chodashim (during our March or April): This is New Year’s Day for Israel because it is the day when Israel was delivered out of Egypt. Talmud tradition states that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob each died on Nisan 1.

But more importantly, I believe (along with Jonathan Cahn and others) that this is the date when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. There are lots of reasons behind my thinking, but most of it links to the Jewish calendar and God’s order of events. Interestingly enough, our modern calendars begin with the year of Christ’s birth. Thus, why shouldn’t the Jewish calendar begin with the day of Christ’s birth?

Feast of Passover or Pesach (Nisan 14-15, during our March or April): Passover is the feast of salvation which celebrates the blood of a lamb delivering Jews out of Egyptian slavery. Jesus fulfilled this feast by becoming our Lamb of God, dying on the cross and applying His blood to our sins and lives.

Feast of Unleavened Bread or Chag HaMotzi (Nisan 15-22, during our March or April): This feast celebrates the removal of sin (yeast) from people’s lives. Jesus fulfilled this at the cross by being broken for us and becoming our Bread of Life.

Feast of First Fruits or Reshit Katzir (Nisan 17, during our March or April): This feast celebrates the fertility of the land. Jesus fulfilled this feast when He rose from the grave and became our First Fruit.

Feast of Pentecost or Shavu’ot (Sivan 6, during our May or June): This feast celebrates the summer harvest. This was fulfilled when the Holy Spirit fell on believers fifty days after Jesus rose from the grave.

I wrote the above to show that all of the Jewish spring feasts have been fulfilled and fulfilled in order. That leaves us the fall feasts to be fulfilled sometime in the future.

For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. (1 Thessalonians 5:2)

Over and over, we’ve heard that nobody knows the day or hour when Jesus will return, right? They even say, “He will return like a thief in the night.”

But because our Bibles are written in English, and not in Hebrew or Greek, we miss the idioms the Bible author meant when he wrote his letters. These idioms were common knowledge back in the apostles’ days, but have been lost to most of us today.

The phrase “thief in the night” refers to the fall Feast of Trumpets or Rosh Hashana.

The Torah commanded that no one was to work on this day. But because the Sanhedrin had to first see the new moon before a trumpet (or shofar) was blown, the day was made into a long day of 48 hours so no one would break the commandment of not working. Thus, the moon showed up like a “thief in the night” during that time period.

Also, the “thief in the night” refers to when the bridegroom returned for his bride, according to his father’s instructions. No one knew the day or hour when the bridegroom would show up.

But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. (1 Thessalonians 5:4

We seldom hear that Paul clarified his earlier words about the “thief in the night,” but he did. He knew his readers would understand that the idiom referred to Feast of Trumpets.

And guess what?

The next feast on the Jewish Calendar, which needs to be fulfilled, is Feast of Trumpets.

We will develop this more in future articles.

(Continued in Part 3…but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.

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More Prayers for a Love of the Truth (4/9/2019)

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Do you ever look at America, shake your head and wonder how things could have changed so much in just a short time?

Abortions. Same sex marriages. LGBT. Transgenderism. Racial problems. Youth rebellion. This list could go on and on.

Why?

For the mystery of lawlessness [rebellion against divine authority and the coming reign of lawlessness] is already at work; [but it is restrained] only until He who now restrains it is taken out of the way. (2 Thessalonians 2:7 AMP)

Things are bad, right?

Well, hang onto your hat because you haven’t seen anything yet! How can I say something so pessimistic as this, especially when so many people are talking about a great revival?

You see, most people ignore the following two verses:

Because of this God will send upon them a misleading influence, [an activity of error and deception] so they will believe the lie, 12 in order that all may be judged and condemned who did not believe the truth [about their sin, and the need for salvation through Christ], but instead took pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12)

God would never lie or deceive any person, but He will stand out of the way and allow people who continually ignore the work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts to believe their sins are okay with Him.

Maybe that’s why South Bend’s gay Mayor Pete Buttigieg could say, “If you have a problem with who I am, your problem is not with me. Your quarrel, sir, is with my Creator.”

Now is the time to pray and fast for our loved ones and neighbors.

My prayer today:

Lord, send the Spirit of Truth to open up the hearts of our loved ones and our American neighbors so that they receive the love of the truth and are saved. (Based on John 16:13 and 2 Thessalonians 2:10 AMP)

Join us on Tuesdays to fast and pray for America.

 

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Friday’s End Times Bible Study (Part 1)

My computer has had problems for over a week, but this was the article I had ready to go. So, think of today as a different type of Friday, okay?

The Apostle John wrote the Book of Revelation sometime around 90 AD. He would have been in his mid-70s at the time, being the youngest of the twelve original apostles who walked with Jesus. All of the others were martyred by then.

The Temple had already been destroyed (70 AD), Jerusalem was almost totally destroyed by the Romans (70 AD) and there was no nation of Israel when John received his vision from Jesus. We can only wonder what was going through his mind at the time.

You see, for the prophetic words in the Book of Revelation to be fulfilled there has to be three entities set in place:

  1. The Temple
  2. The city of Jerusalem
  3. The nation of Israel

If any of these three entities are missing, then the prophetic words can’t be fulfilled.

For nineteen hundred years, nothing happened. Many Bible scholars even debated whether the Book of Revelation was an allegory, rather than a prophetic book based on truth. The odds looked so impossible for any of the three entities to ever be restored.

Then, two thirds of the world’s Jewish population were killed in the Holocaust. Two thirds! Skeptics wondered if the Jews could ever bounce back from such devastation.

Yet, out of the ashes, the nation of Israel was born in 1948. Only West Jerusalem was returned to Israel at the time. Another nineteen years passed before Israel annexed the rest of Jerusalem in the Six Days War of 1967.

So, since 1967, only the Temple is needed to begin the time-clock for the fulfillment of the Book of Revelation, but of course, there are a few obstacles to overcome before this happens.

The Temple Mount is revered by both Islam and Judaism. The Muslims built the Dome of the Rock there and consider it the third most holy site for their religion. And the Jews believe the Temple has to be built on the Temple Mount.

How can this be resolved? Can you have both the Temple and a Mosque on the Temple Mount at the same time? Is this possible? I have no clue, but I also have no doubts that God has plans to make the Temple happen.

When will this take place? Soon…

(Continued in Part 2)

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Friday’s End Times Bible Study (Introduction)

On his second missionary journey, the Apostle Paul received a vision from the Holy Spirit to go to Macedonia (Greece, Bulgaria, part of Yugoslavia), rather than to Asia. He and Silas boarded a ship and crossed the Aegean Sea to Philippi, a major city and Roman colony.

Paul started a church in Philippi and stayed there until he cast a spirit of divination out of a slave girl. This upset the girl’s masters who profited from her fortune-telling. A riot broke out, ending up with Paul and Silas being thrown into a Roman prison and beaten.

After their release, Paul and Silas traveled to Thessalonica. There he preached in the Jewish synagogue for three consecutive Sabbaths. Some Jews were converted, along with many God-fearing Greeks and prominent women. A church was planted in the city.

Another riot forced Paul and Silas to leave Thessalonica and travel to Berea.

The above is the background for the founding of the Thessalonian Church and Paul’s two letters to them.

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. (1 Thessalonians 5:1-2)

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…Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? (2 Thessalonians 2:3,5)

The Apostle Paul taught the the Thessalonians for just a few months. Now, during this same time period, Paul also labored night and day to provide for his own needs so he wouldn’t be a burden for the new church in Thessalonica.

Thus, it wasn’t like he taught every day or every night. Maybe just on the Sabbath and another evening or two during the week.

Yet, Paul’s message included meaty teachings on the end-times and the Day of Christ’s return because in his followup letters to the Thessalonians he wrote that “he didn’t have to write about times and seasons, Day of the Lord, falling away or the man of sin (Antichrist). Why? Because he had already taught them on this subject.

Okay?

If the Apostle Paul thought the end-times were important enough to take up his valuable time teaching new converts, shouldn’t we also place an emphasis on them?

Do you realize Jesus also placed an importance on end-times teaching?

So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand(Matthew 24:15 ESV)

See you next time when we will begin digging into the end-times.

(Continue in #1)

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With 60 Million Aborted Babies, Why Hasn’t God Removed America Yet? (Part 6)

If you are reading this, then I’m dead and will forever remain sixty-six years old.

If you are a searcher, looking through the rubble for survivors or their remains, thanks for trying. I appreciate your efforts. If you are a looter who picked up my MacBook Air because you wanted it, consider the laptop a gift from me. I won’t need it anymore. But whatever your reasons, it makes no difference because I’m dead and just glad someone is reading my story.

Oh yeah, my name is Jackson Edwards.

Maybe I better get on with it because I’m drifting off more and more because of the pain.

 

It all began when my doorbell rang a few months ago.

Ding. Dong.

I hit pause on the TV remote and stood up. My sciatica and arthritis ached more than usual so I stretched myself, hoping to work out the kinks, before reaching for the doorknob. Halloween had passed two weeks earlier, but I still took no chances and looked through the peephole first. I saw my bearded neighbor standing in the hallway and opened the door.

“Monsieur Roberto,” I said with a lousy French accent.

“Si vou ples, Monsieur Jackson,” he said in his own second rate accent, pointing toward the living room.

“Come in, my Charismaniac friend.”

He laughed and walked into the living room and sat down on the sectional. I followed and sat on the opposite side of the coffee table in the leather recliner.

“I don’t know where to begin,” he said, rubbing his hands together.

His blue eyes checked out the oak floor that his jogging shoes rested upon. Something bothered him.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Don’t you usually start with John 3:16 and work your way through the rest of the Bible when you come here?”

“Hey, man, I’m sorry if I’ve ever whacked you over the head with my Bible.”

“Just yanking your chain, Dr. Bob.”

He sighed.

“Okay, but I still don’t know where to start.”

“Why not at the beginning? It’s only 7 p.m. and we have all night.”

He nodded and rubbed his forehead with a hand.

“Do you remember four years ago when I told you about a vision a Christian woman had about a gigantic ocean wave hitting Japan? Do you remember that?”

“Vaguely,” I whispered, not being totally honest because I remembered the story quite well. In fact, I even did research on Google and discovered numerous other warnings spoken ahead of time about the tsunami.

“Okay,” he said. “Well, this same woman just had a vision of a nuclear blast hitting us here in San Francisco ─”

“Really?”

“Yes, and not only that, a prophet friend from Albuquerque called and told us a disaster would soon hit the Bay Area. He recommended we should pack up and leave now.”

“Hmm,” I said, leaning forward in the recliner. “What are you going to do?”

“Mary and I sold our condo today, furniture and all. We’re moving to an area near Tahoe.”

“What about your medical practice? And your two kids?”

“My two partners bought out my share and we’ll homeschool our kids.”

Everything moved too fast to grab a hold of what he was telling me.

“Well, it’ll take sixty days or so for everything to close, right? So, we’ll have plenty of time to talk in the future.”

I stood up, hoping to end this uncomfortable conversation.

“No, sadly, we won’t. I made cash deals and sold everything for sixty cents on the dollar.”

I fell backwards into the recliner and shook my head.

“You took a four hundred-thousand dollar loss on your condo?”

“I would have given it away if I had to.”

I opened my mouth and closed it. How do you challenge a person who is willing to turn his back on a fabulous way of life in the city he loved? I know I could never have done it. It had been too hard building a forty-year career in Silicon Valley to end up tossing it away. And a million-dollar condo on Nob Hill? That would have been a laughable goal back in the days of my youth, living in the inner city of Oakland.

“Is this goodbye?” I asked.

He nodded and stood up, offering his hand to me. I stood and shook hands with him.

“Listen, Jackson, why don’t you come along with us? Mary and I really feel some bad things are going to happen in San Francisco and we don’t want anything to happen to you. We love you.”

“No way, I’ll take my chances here on Nob Hill,” I said, shaking my head. I winked my eye and added, “Just remember, my white Charismaniac friend, I’m still one of them jive-talking, hustle-or-die blacks from the inner city. We know how to survive.”

Bob turned and left. I never saw him again.

(Excerpt from Deceived Dead and Deliveredby Larry Nevenhoven, © 2013, Amazon eBook.)

Remember: God’s judgments are on the wicked, not on the righteous.

(Continued in Part 6but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.)

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Prayers to Open Our Eyes About the End-Times (3/12/2019)

The main reasons we Americans do not understand the End-Times are:

  1. We do not study the Bible.
  2. We do not understand that Jesus is Jewish.

Problem #1 can be handled by asking the Lord to open our eyes as we study the Bible to understand the End-Times. My recommendation is that we begin our studies in the Book of Revelation, Matthew 24, 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, 1 Timothy 4:1-5, 2 Timothy 3:1-9, 2 Peter 3:1-13, Daniel 11 and Daniel 12.

Problem #2 will take a total change of our Gentile mindsets.

We have been indoctrinated by the Americanized portraits of Jesus supposedly resembling Him, by the non-Biblical holidays of  Easter and Christmas, by our total lack of understanding about the Jewish feasts or Shabbat (Jewish Sabbath), not understanding the Bible was written by Jewish authors and more.

Why is this important?

Jesus fulfilled the spring feasts of Pesach (Passover), Chag HaMotzi (Unleavened Bread), Reshit Katzir (First Fruits), Shavu’ot (Pentecost) and also dozens of Old Covenant prophecies when He was crucified, buried, rose from the grave and ascended into heaven.

Our Lord will fulfill the fall feasts of Yom Teru’ah (Trumpets), Yom Kippur (Atonement), Sukkot (Tabernacles) and hundreds of Old Covenant prophecies when He returns.

Jesus is from the tribe of Judah, will rule and reign forever in Jerusalem as the Son of David, and we Gentile believers have been grafted into a Jewish olive tree.

My prayer today:

Lord, help us to change our mindsets so the middle wall of separation between Jews and Gentiles is broken down and that the one new man will come forth here on earth, prepared for the End-Times. (Based on Ephesians 2:14-15)

Join with me on Tuesdays to fast and pray for our eyes to be opened about the End-Times.

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Good News/Bad News

The good news is that the greatest revival in the history of the world is about to take place. Millions of people will give their lives to Jesus in every nation of the world. It will be a gigantic harvest of souls by the Holy Spirit under the leadership of our Lord.

The bad news is that the greatest level of persecution against Christianity in the history of the world will also take place at the same time. The persecution will be so intense that hundreds of thousands of believers will walk away from their faith. Thousands of other Christians will be beheaded, burned at the stake, shot by firing squads and killed by other methods, thus becoming martyrs for the King of Kings.

Do you think I’m wrong?

There are over one hundred and fifty chapters covering end-time prophecies in the Bible. If you haven’t done so, you can begin by reading the Book of Revelation, Matthew 24, 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, 1 Timothy 4:1-5, 2 Timothy 3:1-9, 2 Peter 3:1-13, Daniel 11 and Daniel 12.

Here’s the deal: we can either ignore the Word of God and believe it’s allegorical when it refers to the end-times – or – we can believe that God knew what He was doing when He placed the end-time prophecies in the Bible and prepare ourselves ahead of time.

I choose to believe and will endeavor to prepare myself and my family. How about you?

The people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits. (Daniel 11:32)

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Politicians, False Prophets and Jesus (Part 5)

 

Global Warming

As a reminder: let’s look once again at what God said to the prophet Isaiah –

Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure” (Isaiah 46:10 NKJV)

These words were so important that He repeated them here and here.

Thus, if God was able to look into the future when He set the foundations of the earth, do you really think He would have given humans enough power – good or bad – to destroy the earth? Is the One who fixed the stars, sun and moon in the heavens and also created the earth and all of its organisms so naive to overlook any important point like this?

Of course not!

From the Book of Genesis to the Book of Revelation, only Joshua, Elijah and Jesus have affected climate conditions so far.

Joshua asked God to have the sun and moon stand still so he could finish his nation’s battle with the Amorites.

And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the LORD heeded the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel. (Joshua 10:14)

Elijah walked into King Ahab’s court and said, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, there shall be no rain or dew in Israel for the next few years unless I give it the word.”

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain…And he prayed again and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. (James 5:17-18)

Jesus and His disciples sailed in a fishing boat across the Sea of Galilee to the opposite side. Jesus fell asleep. A massive tempest arose, causing large waves to wash over the boat. The disciples feared for their lives and awakened Him. Jesus stood up and rebuked the wind and waves. The storm immediately ceased and the sea was calm.

Jesus looked at them and said, “Where is your faith?”

And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” (Mark 4:41)

Now, in the end-times, the two witnesses who will prophesy for one thousand two hundred and sixty days just before Jesus returns will be able to control some climate conditions.

The two witnesses have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy… (Revelation

Yes, mankind’s sins have caused droughts and climate problems over a single nation, but it has not been a global phenomenon since the great flood nor will it be again until God cleanses the earth with fire.

So, what’s the real problem with global warming?

(Continued in Part 5…but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.)

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Is the Upcoming Civil War our Prep for the End-Times? (Part 6)

Almost thirty years ago, I worked as a maintenance man at a motel in Ames, Iowa, near the campus of Iowa State University. The motel hired track athletes to help them set up for banquets in its ballrooms. Many of those track athletes were runners from Africa. One of them was from Kenya, who I spoke to in casual conversations from time to time.

One day, while I was talking to him, I had a quick vision. In it, I saw his parents holding hands and praying for him. They prayed, “Lord, we put our son into Your hands and ask You to do whatever You have to do so he will walk in his calling as a preacher here in Kenya.”

I looked at the young man. “You’re a Christian, right?” I asked.

“Yes,” he replied with a smile, “how’d you know?”

“I just had a quick vision of your parents praying for you to walk in your calling in Kenya.”

He laughed. “That’s not happening!” he proclaimed. “I am the number-three ranked triple  jumper in the world and ranked in the top five or six in the four-hundred meter dash. I will earn $75,000 this summer running in events in Europe and next year after graduation with my degree in international finance, I’ll earn hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you —”

“Don’t worry! I’ll be okay.”

A couple of months later on a cold December morning, I walked into the motel’s kitchen to begin my work day. There sitting on a chair with his pant-leg rolled up and blood dripping from his knee was my Kenyan friend.

“What happened?” I asked, rushing to him.

“I was late. So, I ran across the parking lot and slipped on some ice. My knee is ruined,” he said with tears rolling down his cheek.

“Ah, you’ll be okay,” I said.

“No, world-class runners never come back from knee injuries like this. The half-second they lose puts them in the losers’ bracket forever. I’m done.”

I stayed with him until the ambulance arrived.

If you’re thinking God wouldn’t do something like this to bring a man into His kingdom purposes, you need to reread the book of Jonah. God is a loving Father who will do whatever He has to do to fulfill His purposes, especially in answer to prayers.

Okay, maybe God will do something like this in answer to the prayers of parents for their son, but will the Father do this in answer to prayers for a region or state or nation?

(Continued in Part 7…but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.)

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