Scanning a Fearful Future: Part 8

[Chris]

Scanning a Fearful Future: Part 8

Scanning a Fearful Future: Part 8
By Terry James

Planet earth is on the brink of what both Glenn Beck and Hal Lindsey have stated they believe will be monetary and societal collapse of unprecedented magnitude. We also looked previously at a prophetic declaration by the Creator of all things, which is--I believe I can verify--about the generation that will be alive at the very end of the age.

Specifically, Jesus' prophecy refers to one catastrophic moment in this present dispensation–the Church Age (Age of Grace)--when all of this world system will come crashing down.

Again, here's the prophecy from Christ himself:

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. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. (Luke 17:26-30)

Are the two cataclysms–the one Beck and Lindsey talk about on their TV programs and the one Jesus foretells--related to each other? If so, how?

We will now try to answer the questions about world collapse, whether persecution for American Christians is imminent, and how it might all be tied together prophetically. We will do so by looking in-depth at the details wrapped up in Jesus' forecast for earth's near future.

Jesus gave what I am convinced is the premiere end-of-the-Church-Age prophecy in Luke 17:26-30. He describes in considerable detail world conditions and activities at the moment He breaks in on things of this present age.

He tells in His prophecy just the opposite of what Glenn Beck says is on the brink of happening to the people of America and the world. That is, the Lord's description of how the worldwide catastrophe will happen differs greatly from the Fox host's prediction of the cause of the calamity he says is just around the corner.

Remember, Mr. Beck is predicting for the near future the direst of socioeconomic collapses. He recommends that we prepare for, quite likely, hyper-inflated times to come, at the very least. He indicates that he fears that from the collapse will spin draconian governmental measures to quell the rioting that will occur when those millions who are given government hand-outs no longer receive the largess. There is more than enough evidence of unchecked government today to prove Beck's fears are well founded. The phenomenal growth of federal intrusion into practically every facet of the citizen's life today portends grave consequences for liberty in the months and years just ahead. For example, bureaucratic regulation such as the move of the unelected FCC apparatchiks to invoke "net neutrality"–a Big Brother-like regulatory process that could eventuate in establishing dictatorial power over Internet usage--threatens anyone who would express opinions that run counter to state-approved language. The current administration intends to implement this despite the fact that a federal appeals court has ruled the administration doesn't have the authority to do so.

Hal Lindsey sees the same cataclysm approaching, basically for the same reasons. He also recommends that we prepare for possible food shortages, and he says he believes Christians in this country will face severe persecution, which I infer to mean persecution of the sort suffered by martyrs for the cause of Christ. I must add here that I agree with both of these gentlemen–to some degree. And I disagree, also, with both--for differing reasons. But I reserve my thoughts in that regard for the biblically based logic I hope will make itself manifest as I analyze the words of the greatest of all prophets.

We now are basically familiar with what Glenn Beck and Hal Lindsey say about the two questions involving the probability of American and world socioeconomic collapse and, in Lindsey's case, about Christians in America facing imminent, severe persecution.

Let's dissect carefully what Jesus predicts for the times just ahead. I say with confidence that Jesus tells the future from this moment forward, based upon what I'm convinced His words are speaking to this generation at this very hour. He prophesied in the Luke 17:26-30 passages that in the "days" He, the "Son of man," is about to break into earth's history, mankind will be doing certain things. It will be a time like the days of Noah before the Flood and the days of Lot while he was still in Sodom.

People, the Lord said, will be eating, drinking, marrying, building, buying, selling, and planting. Things will be going along pretty much as normal for the time. The Lord indicates no catastrophic, worldwide socioeconomic breakdown of any sort in this time immediately before "the Son of man is revealed" (Luke17:30)–the time He breaks into human history.

This time cannot be the Second Advent of Revelation 19:11. At the time the Lord of Lords and King of Kings breaks through the planetary darkness of death and destruction at Armageddon, perhaps as many as three-fourths of all people on earth will have died as a result of wars, pestilence, and geophysical disasters brought about by God's judgment and wrath upon an incorrigibly wicked, unrepentant world of earth-dwellers.

In other words, planet earth's living conditions at the time of Christ's return in power and glory at Armageddon will not be anything like living conditions at the time of His intervention into human affairs as He describes in the days of Noah, days of Lot prophecy. At the end of the seven-year Tribulation period, it will be anything but business as usual. It will truly be hell on earth when Jesus comes to destroy all human government and the soul-rending carnage it has produced.

So, Jesus, in the Luke 17 account, was foretelling the days leading up to the time when He calls His church to Himself–"His church" meaning all born-again believers who have lived and died during the Church Age (Age of Grace). This is known as the Rapture. To learn more about this stupendous event, read 1 Corinthians 15:51-55, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, John 14:1-3, and Revelation 4:1-2.

To repeat, Jesus was not describing His coming back to earth in the Luke 17:26-30 prophecy. He was telling about His coming to above the planet to receive His people–Christians-to Himself. Christians–the Church-then will accompany Him back to the heavenly places He has prepared for them in the Father's house–heaven.

Again, we have reached the limits of our space for this commentary. We will next further examine Jesus' telling us about–I'm convinced-this very hour in which you and I inhabit planet earth.

[Robert]

I have a great deal of respect for Terry James and his writing; he's pretty much spot on. But I have to ask a question here, so if all of you will please bear with me, here it goes:


We are all familiar with Matthew chapters 24 and 25, and that they predict how things will be in the end. These verses though come to mind in Matthew chapter 24:

"As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. (Matthew 24:5, NASB)

“Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak." (Matthew 24:15-18, NASB)

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left." (Matthew 24:36-41, NASB, emphasis mine)


Now compare with Luke 17:

"And He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it." (Luke 17:22, NASB, emphasis mien)

“And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. [B]There will be two women grinding at the same place; one will be taken and the other will be left. [“Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.”] [/B] (Luke 17:26-36, NASB, emphasis mine)

Now, it would seem that the passages in Matthew 24 and Luke 17 are the same scene where Jesus is describing the end of the age to his disciples. But there is a problem with accepting these as describing "this hour" as Terry puts it: if we accept these verses as describing the time before the rapture, then we also have to accept these verses as well:

“But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other." (Matthew 24:29-31, NASB)

And those are the verses that post-trib believers use to support their view of the rapture.

I pray this doesn't cause division, but this doesn't rest easy on my mind. Your thoughts, folks?

[Kenny64]

Robert and Chris;

I to listen to Glenn Beck. I do think what he is aluding too maybe different than Hal Lindsey or Terry James, I don't know. I understand the scripture of Luke and Mathew maybe somewhat different in prophecy.

I think Glenn Beck's understanding on monetary collapse is quite true, just when! One thing for sure
is when the Church is raptured, their will be more of a collapse in the Holy Spirit the indwells within the church. Evil will be more rampant. The collapse of those Church believers all over the world will cause a major economic collapse of earnings/spending etc. I've heard Pastor John Hagee elude to such things on his TV show. Do you all think this?

One prophecy is the Church will be raptured before the Anti-Christ is revealed...

God Bless,
Kenny
edited.....
"Fearful" Mark 6:50 " for they all saw Him and were troubled. But immediately He talked with them and said to them, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”

[LivnForChrist]

Hey Robert. Maybe this will help. I found this quite interesting.

gracethrufaith.com
The Days Of Noah And Lot

Jesus said that it would be like in the days of Noah and Lot, referring to His return and the establishment of The Kingdom. Lot was escorted from his home. Noah entered the ark seven days before the flood waters came. Scripture, I have learned, is precise to the extreme. Is there something to be learned from Noah entering the ark a week before judgment?

Q. Jesus said that it would be like in the days of Noah and Lot, referring to His return and the establishment of The Kingdom. Lot was escorted from his home. Noah entered the ark seven days before the flood waters came. Scripture, I have learned, is precise to the extreme. Is there something to be learned from Noah entering the ark a week before judgment? From a practical standpoint He would have had time to worked out logistical and schedule details for each day’s care of the critters. I am wondering if there is a prophetic significance to this time?

A. We’ll take the example of Noah first because according to Matt. 24:37 it involves everyone on Earth in the Last days, Jew and Gentile.

In Genesis 7:1 God told Noah to go into the ark and bring the animals with him because the rain was coming in 7 days. This was the first time they had entered for the purpose of preparing for their departure rather than completing the Ark’s construction. During that 7 days Noah and his family were in and out of the ark bringing the animals on board, and there was still time for anyone who so desired to join them. Genesis 7:10 says that after the 7 days the flood waters came.

Genesis 7:13 says that on the very day the flood waters came on the earth Noah and his family entered the ark. This would have been the last time they entered because after that the Lord shut them in (Gen 7:16) and no one else could come aboard.

I believe their first entry could be compared to the treaty mentioned in Daniel 9:27 that begins the 7 last years of pre-millennial history. The countdown to the end will have begun but there’ll still be time to “get on board” by choosing salvation.

Their final entry could point to the sign of the Son of Man that appears in the sky immediately after the Great Tribulation ends (Matt. 24:29-30) causing all the nations of the earth to mourn, because after that it’ll be too late for anyone to choose the Lord and be saved, just as it was too late for anyone to get on the ark and escape the flood after the Lord shut the door.

With Lot it was different. According to Genesis 19:22 judgment couldn’t come upon Sodom and Gomorrah until Lot was gone and there was no advance notice. The angels came, took Lot away, and the towns were destroyed without warning. Lot serves as an example for the Church, not preserved through the judgment like Israel and the Tribulation survivors, but suddenly taken away from the time, the place, and any relation to the judgment, as Paul prophesied in 1 Thes. 1:10.

[LivnForChrist]

This had some useful gems in it as well

As It Was In The Days Of Noah

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man (Matt 24:37). The time leading up to the Great Flood was a lot like our time today in that it was characterized by a deliberate and escalating disregard for the ways of God. Finally “the Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on earth had become and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time” (Gen. 6:5).

What Day Is This?

If you plot the lifespans of the patriarchs in Genesis 5 , you’ll discover it was 1656 years from Adam’s creation to the Great Flood. During that time mankind had degenerated from human beings created in the very image of God who walked and talked with Him to a race whose thoughts and actions were totally depraved and bent only on evil (Gen. 6:5). It’s been about 1977 years since man was first given the choice to be re-created by events at the Cross (2 Cor 5:17) but most of today’s world has declined. As a result, a single look around us is all that’s needed to see that from a spiritual and moral perspective life today is becoming pretty much “as it was in the days of Noah”.
What Planet Are You From?

I’ve made mention in previous articles of the mysterious people in Genesis 6:4 called the Nephillim. They were the offspring of marriages between angelic beings and earthlings . Would these beings with super natural strength (origin of the titans or demi-gods in mythology) be called aliens today? In many documented alien encounters there seems to be a great interest on their part in our reproductive system. Are aliens using humans to breed a super race again? In the King James rendering of Daniel 2:43 there’s a curious reference to someone “mingling themselves with the seed of men” in the last days. Is the anti-Christ part alien or in command of beings that are part alien and part human? As it was in the days of Noah?
Out Of The Way

But in all my years of study comparing the days of Noah with the end of the age one insight has recently made things much clearer to me. In Genesis 6:3 God warned of the removal of His Spirit from Earth before the coming judgment. Some see this passage as capping man’s life span at 120 years, but that can’t be its purpose. In Psalm 90:10 we’re told that an average man’s life span is 70 years, and Isaiah 23:15 supports this conclusion. Average life spans before the flood were much longer than 120 years, and after the flood soon became much shorter. Looking at the Genesis lifespans again shows that Shem, probably the last pre-flood man, outlived 8 of the first 9 post flood generations of his descendants, including Abraham.

The fact is that 120 years was the time God gave man to prepare for the coming judgment. He said He was going to remove His Spirit from the earth prior to that judgment. In 2 Thes 2:7 a similar warning is given concerning the end of the age (but without a deadline), and there is confusion over it’s interpretation just as with Gen. 6:3. The only truly literal interpretation of this passage is that sometime before the anti-Christ can be revealed in all his power beginning the Great Tribulation, the restraining force of the Holy Spirit must be taken out of the way (literally out of the midst, or from among).

Then as I was reading Genesis 6 again, the most remarkable thing happened. In my Bible Genesis 6:3 is in the right hand column about 1 inch down the page. I’ve had it high lighted for years. In the left hand column directly across from Genesis 6:3 is another verse I highlighted some time ago. It’s Genesis 5:24 and reads; Enoch walked with God and then he was no more because God took him away. Seeing those two high lighted verses side by side like that caused the sequence of events to suddenly become so obvious to me, I don’t know why I hadn’t seen it before. First Enoch was taken alive from earth and the Holy Spirit was withdrawn. Then in Gen. 6:5 man’s behavior is described as having become unbearably wicked and in Gen. 7 the judgment came, in that order.

Enoch’s name means teaching and according to Jude 14-15 he gave the first prophecy of the 2nd coming. Hebrew tradition holds that he was born on the 6th day of Sivan on the Hebrew calendar and was taken by God on his birthday. The 6th of Sivan is the day we know as Pentecost, the birthday of the Church. For these reasons Enoch is often seen as a model or type of the church, whose calling is also to teach the world the ways of the Lord and to talk about His coming.
You Promised You Wouldn’t Do That

The Bible declares that the Holy Spirit is sealed within believers as a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance (Ephes. 1:13-14). Paul wrote that the Holy Spirit will be withdrawn from earth sometime before the anti- Christ is allowed to trigger the judgment known as the Great Tribulation (2 Thes. 2:7). Withdrawing the Holy Spirit without removing the Church would break God’s promise to us since it would require “unsealing” the Holy Spirit from within us. That’s something that God can’t do. “What I have said, that will I bring about,” He declares. “What I have planned, that will I do.” (Isaiah 46:11)

If Enoch is indeed a model of the church and if the Lord’s prophecy of Matt 24:37 is meant to describe the sequence of end times events, as seems likely, then one day soon we will be taken alive (raptured) from earth like Enoch was, and the Holy Spirit will be withdrawn. Man’s behavior will quickly become unbearably wicked and the judgment will come, all in that order. As it was in the days of Noah. Selah 08-21-10.