|
| |||||
|
|
The Great
Tribulation Part 2 The
False Story
In Matt 24:1-22 Matthew mentioned there would be great
tribulation at the time of the abomination of desolation, and
because of that, dispensationalists use this to talk about a
seven-year period wherein there will be three and one-half years
of great tribulation. Their belief is that the Jews will be
gathered to Palestine to make a covenant with antichrist and
that he is going to let them offer their own sacrifices for
three and one-half years. Then they try to tie it in with 2
Thessalonians 2:4 and say the antichrist is going to sit in the
temple as God. While he occupies that position, supposedly there
is going to be three and one-half years of "great
tribulation" on the people who are left in the world. They
then teach that Jesus is going to return a second time, put down
antichrist, and reign in a glorious reign for one thousand years
here on the earth. Now that is a beautiful story; the only thing
wrong with it is; it is not true.
The Truth
Now let us look at the truth. Daniel talked about the
overspreading of the abominations that would make the city
desolate, but nowhere does he mention "tribulation."
One reason people misinterpret Scripture is that they read
the Bible too fast. If you read Daniel 9, verses 26 and 27
carefully, they will definitely show you that this desolation
was not included in the seventy weeks; it followed after the
seventy weeks. The Messiah came the seventieth week, preached
three and one-half years, and was cut off in the midst of the
week. He confirmed the covenant mostly with His own people until
they rejected Him; then He brought in the Gentiles.
About thirty years afterward, Titus came in and destroyed the
city of Jerusalem. This abomination was not even in the
seventy-week period. The abomination that made the city desolate
took place several years later, in A. D. 70. We need to realize,
even though it was closely related to the seventy weeks, it was
to follow.
This abomination that makes desolate was not to take place
over the whole world but only in Judaea. In order to
substantiate their story, millennialists say that every-one who
is left in this world is going to suffer under this "great
tribulation;" yet the Bible teaches it was only to affect
the people in Judaea.
Let us look at the "great tribulation" according to
the Word of God. In Matthew 24:21 we read, "For then shall
be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the
world…" We have already proven to you that the seventieth
week could not be in the future. Matthew 24:3 tells us,
"And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came
unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these thing
be?…" Jesus had told them there was not going to be one
stone left upon another of the old temple (verse 2), and they
wanted to know when it was to happen.
He answered them in verses 15 and 21: "When ye therefore
shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the
prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him
understand;)…For then shall be great tribulation …"
Now, when is the "great tribulation?" In verse 15,
Christ gave an unmistakable sign to tell us when it would take
place. He said, "When ye therefore shall see the
abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet,
stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him
understand)." Understand what? That this is the "great
tribulation" that Daniel was talking about.
Jesus Cared for All
When did the abomination of desolation stand in the holy
place? Millennialists teach that this is the antichrist, who is
going to sin in the holiest of holies (God's place in the Jewish
temple). Yet this could not be, for more than one reason. First
of all, when Jesus said, "When ye…shall see," He was
speaking to the common people, and no one but the high priest
ever entered the holiest place. The people would never know when
it took place if it were something in the secret place or the
holiest place.
Second, it is not a high priest or an idol set up in the holy
place in the temple. He said, "Let them which be in Judaea
flee into the mountains" (verse 16). If this were an idol
set up by antichrist in the holy place and he had taken over
that far, it would be too late to flee. They would already be
bound. Therefore, it definitely had to be something that people
could see.
He said, "…(whoso readeth, let him understand;)."
So, we know it was something one could read. They did not have a
New Testament, so where did they read it? They read it from
Daniel 9:24-27.
If you will study the history of the Gospel writers, you will
find that Matthew wrote to the Jews. They well understood his
writings. Luke wrote to the Gentiles; he wrote in a different
manner. Luke made expressions that are much easier for the
Gentile man and woman to understand.
When Matthew wrote, "When ye …see the
abomination…spoken of by Daniel… Then…flee into the
mountains," How were they going to see it? They had to read
it in the Book. When they read it in the Book and then saw it
appearing, they knew it was time to go. But there were Gentiles
without God, without promise, and without a Book to read; God
loved them also. Gentiles came to Jesus and were saved while He
walked here on the earth. Don't you think He would make a way
for them to escape? They could not understand Daniel, nor did
they have a Book to read.
When Luke wrote it, he made it plain and understandable to
the Gentile. Let us read Luke 21:5-7: "And as some spake of
the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he
said, As for these things which ye behold, the days will come,
in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another,
that shall not be thrown down. And they asked him, saying,
Master, but what sign will there be when these things shall come
to pass?"
Matthew wrote, "When ye therefore shall see the
abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the
prophet…" Luke tells us what that abomination was (not an
antichrist nor an idol set up in the temple). What were they
supposed to see? When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with
armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let
them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them
which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that
are in the countries enter thereinto" (Luke 21:20-21). So,
what was the sign that they were to flee to the mountains? When
they saw the Roman armies starting to surround the city, they
would know Daniel's prophecy was going to be fulfilled, that the
city was going to be made desolate.
The Great Tribulation Is History
Josephus wrote history in A. D. 75; he lived right in
that day. Through his writings, you can see how the hand of God
worked. He said Titus and those armies so encompassed the city
that it looked as though even the Christian was not going to
escape. However, God moved on the armies and they withdrew for
two or three days and the Christians fled; then the armies moved
in and took the city. The abomination that made desolate was the
Roman armies under Titus, the prince, just exactly as Daniel had
Prophesied.
Today we have more reason to believe God and His Word than
any people who have ever lived. When we study these things and
see how every prophecy has lined up and has been fulfilled just
as God said, what reason do we have to doubt Him for anything in
the future? He has fulfilled everything He has spoken, right to
the line, to this very moment. Therefore, we have good reason to
believe that He will fulfill the rest of His word just exactly
as He said.
Luke 21:22, tells us. "For these be the days of
vengeance [I tremble when I preach on this. What a terrible time
it is when God takes vengeance.], that all things which are
written may be fulfilled." Luke was writing about Daniel's
prophesy in this verse. Everything that Daniel wrote was
fulfilled right then, not sometime in the future.
Unbelief, my friend, works the same today, after all these
many years. What was "the day of the vengeance of
God?" God promised, even from Moses' day and through the
prophets, that if they raised up against Him and would not hear
His voice, the day of His vengeance would come. Brother, the day
of God's vengeance came. He turned Titus and the Roman armies
loose on the city of Jerusalem. The abomination which made that
city desolate took place. It was more terrible than I can tell
about. Then people try to tell me that eternal hell is just
dying and that is all. Friend, what I am telling about is merely
a taste of God's vengeance. Sinners are going to receive the
full effect of it in the lake of fire. That will be the day of
God's final vengeance.
I would like to share some Scripture to help you better
understand what took place when those Roman armies moved in.
Luke 19:41-44 reads: "And when he was come near, he beheld
the city, and wept over it, [ Why did He weep over it? ] Saying,
If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the
things which belong unto they peace! But now they are hid from
thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine
enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round,
and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the
ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave
in thee one stone upon another…"What was Jesus' attitude
when He walked into the city and, in His great wisdom, saw that
it was just a short time until the abomination spoken of by
Daniel was going to befall them? He wept.
After Gabriel came down and gave Daniel this message (that
seventy weeks were determined on his people), he mourned and
wept. Why did Daniel mourn and weep? Would he have mourned and
wept if he could have seen that out in the end his people (the
Jews) were going to be a world power and be used of God? On the
contrary, Daniel knew God was through with his people and that
terrible vengeance was coming on them. He was sick for three
weeks, and he mourned and wept. He had insight into something
terrible, and it was terrible! Such great tribulation came upon
those people that there never was one like it before and never
will be one like it again.
When Love Turns to Wrath
Flavius Josephus, who was an unbeliever, inserted in his
book (you can read page after page of the terrible things which
happened when the abomination moved in), "It is god,
therefore, it is God himself, who is bringing on this fire to
purge that city and temple by means of the Roman…"
You may play along lightly with God time after time, but
remember, a day is coming when God will take vengeance. You are
going to reap what you sow. There are many mocking God today,
but a reaping time is coming. The lesson is right before us.
History tells us that the slaughter was so great that, in some
instances, the bodies were piled five feet deep, so they could
not get through the streets of Jerusalem. The Romans, starting
with the priests, hung the people on crosses. They kept
crucifying them until there was no more room to put crosses in
the ground. It sounds terrible, but it was guided by the hand of
God. We need to behold the goodness and the severity of God.
Certainly, God is love; but when love turns to wrath, you have
never seen such wrath.
Josephus tells us that there were more people who perished
within the city at the hands of their own people by rebels,
suicide, anarchy, and the famine than from the hands of the
Romans. Why? Jesus told them before He left that a "house
divided against itself shall not stand" (Matthew 12:25).
That house became divided against itself until they killed one
another by the hundreds of thousands. The Romans stood and
watched them kill one another.
How can people get in such a state that they turn on one
another? Let us read Matthew 12:43-45 to find the answer. Jesus,
speaking to these very people said: "When the unclean
spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places,
seeking rest, and findeth none. Then saith, I will return into
my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth
it empty, wept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with
himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they
enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is
worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked
generation."
When the Jews rejected the Gospel and rejected the One who
could come in and take control of the house, they invited seven
other spirits more wicked than the first. They were mad,
devil-possessed men and women.
Do you know why this world is waxing worse and worse? Do you
know why people are doing such terrible things today? Many of
them have invited seven other spirits worse than the first. That
is why I definitely do not agree with the theory that Jesus
cleans you up, and they you may go for months before He moves
in. No, Sir! That will not line up with the Bible. Unless you
allow the Master of the house to move right in through the Holy
Spirit, the devil will come back with seven other spirits and
take over.
No one has had to tarry for the Holy Ghost since Pentecost.
The reason they tarried at Pentecost was that the Holy Ghost had
not yet been poured out. John 7:37-39 tells us: "In the
last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried,
saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He
that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his
belly shall flow rivers of living water.
"(But this spake he of the Sprit, which they that
believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet
given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)" He was
speaking of the Spirit which every believer should receive, but
they could not receive Christ then because He was not yet
glorified. However, since Christ has been glorified, every
believer receives the Holy Spirit in the initial work of
salvation.
Fulfillment of God's Word
Why did the Jews act as mad men and kill one another and
their own companions? Jesus told them what would happen. Today
people come service after service and take the preacher and the
Holy Spirit lightly, but mark it down, a day of vengeance is
coming. Go back to the Old Testament prophecies. God, through
the Prophet Isaiah, said, "Yea, they have chosen their own
ways…I also will choose their delusions…" (Isaiah
66:3-4).
My friend, time and goodness would not allow me to tell you
the terrible things that went on as historians set it forth; yet
most everything they tell us is in the Bible. In Deuteronomy God
gave Israel a picture, hundreds of years before, of this very
thing I am preaching about: the abomination of the desolation.
"But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto
the voice of Lord thy God…that all these curses shall come
upon thee, and overtake thee…The Lord shall cause thee to be
smitten…and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the
earth" (Deuteronomy 28:15, 25). That is where the Jews are
right now, and they never will be gathered together again.
These things came on Jerusalem "Because thou servedst
not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of
heart, for the abundance of all things; Therefore shalt thou
serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in
hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all
things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he
have destroyed thee.
"The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far,
from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth [Here is
a picture of the Romans. The eagle was their emblem.]; a nation
whose tongue thou shalt not understand [they could not
understand the Roman language]; A nation of fierce countenance,
which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to
the young [Josephus said it did not make any difference whether
the soldiers met an elderly person or a woman carrying a baby;
they would throw the baby up and catch it on their spears.]:
"And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit
of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave
thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or
flocks of thy sheep [Josephus tells about all of this], until he
have destroyed thee. And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates,
until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou
trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in
all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the Lord thy God
hath given thee.
"And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body
[Josephus stood and watched a woman cook her child and eat it.
In Haiti I have seen people die from starvation; but I have
never, in all of my journeys there, seen any of them try to eat
their own flesh. We need to take what God says to us more
seriously!], the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which
the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the
straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee"
(Deuteronomy 28:47-53).
Written for Our Admonition
I want you to see why Matthew refers to this as a
tribulation like never before or which never will be again. I
thank the Lord that the day of this great tribulation has
passed. Let us read farther: "…thine enemies shall
distress thee: So that the man that is tender among you, and
very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and
toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his
children which he shall leave: So that he will not give to any
of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because
he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness,
wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee…" (verses
53-55). After the Romans had killed hundreds of thousands, they
just surrounded the city, waited day by day, and watched hunger
work on the people. The hunger set them so crazy that a man
would kill his wife and eat her.
The big move of the devil in religion today is to pad the
wrath of God. Many of the messages coming forth from the pulpits
are about how God loves you with an everlasting love. Certainly,
He does; but my friend, what God says in His Word, He means.
God's love is manifested in keeping His Word just exactly as He
says.
As we go down through these verses of Scriptures, keep in
mind the words of the Apostle Paul. He said, "Now all these
things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written
for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are
come" (1 Corinthians 10:11). There is nothing too good for
God to do, and there is nothing too terrible for God to allow to
have done, if He so decides.
Deuteronomy 28:56-57 continues: "The tender and delicate
woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of
her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her
eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward
her son, and toward her daughter, And toward her young one that
cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which
she shall bear: for she shall eat them…" I am talking
about tribulation. When we get our God stirred, we have Someone
on our hands.
The historians have verified these things in their writings.
Josephus said that he stood and watched these things with his
own eyes. This was the "great tribulation." It was the
curse for disobedience and the day of God's vengeance. We must
realize some things, which God has put before us. Preachers are
using Scripture today:"…except those days should be
shortened, there should no flesh be saved…" (Matthew
24:22). That has nothing to do with us today. First of all, it
is not our flesh, which is being destroyed but our souls, and we
are getting our souls saved. That Scripture deals with the
literal destruction of Jerusalem.
The Believers Are Saved
After Jerusalem had been destroyed and the temple had
been torn down (not one stone was left upon another), the city
was so full of dead, stinking people that the Roman armies
started out through Judaea killing everybody everywhere. Jesus
had told the Christians to flee to the mountains of Judaea.
Josephus said the Romans went up to the very edge of the
mountains and God stopped them. If He had not shortened the days
of tribulation, there would not have been any flesh left. They
would have killed the Christians, but God protected them.
Josephus and other historians tell us that, to their
knowledge, there was not one Christian hurt. Why? God gave them
a sign. When they saw the sign, they were to flee, and every
believer who fled was protected. If you will believe what God
tells you, you will be protected by the hand of God too.
Before God pours one vial out on spiritual Babylon (fallen
religion), He sounds the trumpet and gives every one of His
people a chance to flee. He does not want them to suffer the
vials of wrath that are coming on Babylon.
As Christians, we will have tribulation serving God, but not
the "great tribulation." I want you to see the
difference. Jesus said, "In the world ye shall have
tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the
world" (John 16:33b). Thank God, Jesus suffered it all; He
overcame the world. Why did He come down to the earth, take on
the likeness of sinful flesh, and overcome it? For you and me.
"This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our
faith" (1 John 5:4). Sure, there is great tribulation, but
we can be of good cheer right while we are going through it.
There is a vast difference between the tribulation of the world
and the tribulation of Jerusalem.
Let us read Luke 21:33 for a few words of admonition from
Jesus. He said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my
words shall not pass away." We have studied how God's Word
was fulfilled. Here Jesus was letting us know that His Word will
reach fulfillment.
He went on to say in verse 34, "And take heed to
yourselves…" When Jesus warned them about the "great
tribulation," He told them to take heed about other men.
Today, however, who is your biggest enemy? Yourself! No one can
keep you out of Heaven except yourself. You can blame your
backsliding on other people, but there is only one to blame:
look in the mirror. God has planned salvation so that no man can
stand before you. You can serve God even if everybody is against
you. Romans 8:31 tells us, "If God be for us, who can be
against us?"
Now, we have words of warning from the same Savior who warned
the people of Jerusalem. He is talking to us in this generation.
He said, "And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time
your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness
[Christians do not drink, but they can get drunk on things other
than wine or alcohol: they can get drunk on Babylon's (fallen
religion) wine or on the cares of this life.], and cares of this
life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare
shall it come on all them [That is all of us, friend!] that
dwell on the face of the whole earth." (Luke 21:34-45)
Just the same as Satan closed in on Jerusalem, he is closing
in on the church. He is surrounding the camp of the saints and
putting the pressure on us. He is not using guns and tanks; he
is working on our minds. He is working through the cares of life
to rob us of our spirituality.
Watch and Pray Always
Luke 21:36 tells us, "Watch ye therefore, and pray
always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape …" It
is the same thing He told the others. When we see things
affecting us, we need to seek high ground in our Christian
experience. I heard a story once about a duck flying toward
Florida. When he saw a farmer out feeding the chickens and
ducks, he circled around and said, "Boy, they have it
made!" So he landed and stayed with them a few days. He
just ate and enjoyed himself. Soon, another flock of ducks flew
over. The weather was getting cold, and he said to the chickens,
"I think I'm going to go south with them. I'll see you
fellows later." He flopped and ran real fast, but he could
not get off the ground.
Today many people are flopping and putting forth a lot of
effort, but there are not many flying too high these days. They
are weighed down with the cares of life. We all have cares of
life. Yet, how are we going to escape the loss of our souls?
"Pray always." The first picture of that "great
tribulation" was the destruction of the flesh. Now, we must
watch and escape the destruction of the spirit. The devil is
against spirituality. He will let you go to church; he just does
not want you to be spiritual.
Oh, how the world needs to know the truth about these things!
May God help us to realize, Church of God, we are the dispensary
of truth. May God help us to sound it forth and live it.
I pray that you will take these last words as words of
warning. All those people had to do in Jerusalem was to take
Jesus' words lightly, and they were caught in the terrible
destruction of the flesh. Now, all you have to do is take these
words lightly (Luke 21:33-36), and you will be caught in the
terrible destruction of your soul. On the other hand, by taking
heed to God's warning, you can escape.
| ||||
