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EVENTS LEADING TO THE END OF THE WORLD

03-13-11

(Mat 24:1-3)  And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple [typifying the church]: and his disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down [i.e., total devastation]. And as he sat upon the mount of Olives [some time later], the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

(Mat 24:4,5)  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ [Gk: the anointed; Heb: Messiah]; and shall deceive many.

1.      (Rev 6:1,2)  And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals [the first seal], and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts [Gk: zoon; a live thing, i.e. an animal] saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse [an imposture and counterfeit of Rev 19:11; the white horse of deception]: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown [for perhaps the Prince of Liars] was given unto him: and he went forth conquering [present tense], and to conquer [future tense].

a.      Commentary: a bow = but no arrows, making it a frightening but ineffective weapon. All bark, and no bite. The Lord Christ Jesus shall return with “a sharp sword” (Rev 19:15) with a very sharp bite.

2.      (Rev 19:11,12)  And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

(Mat 24:6)  And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled [Gk: frightened]: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

1.      (Rev 6:3,4)  And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red [the red horse of war]: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

(Mat 24:7,8)  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows [Gk: a pang or throe, esp. of childbirth: pain, travail].

1.      (Rev 6:5,6)  And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances [a weighing scale] in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny [a day’s wages], and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

2.      (Isa 66:7-9)  Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God.

(Mat 24:9)  Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

1.      (Rev 6:7,8)  And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale [Gk: greenish] horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him [for the unsaved]. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts [Gk: therion; a dangerous animal: (venomous, wild) beast] of the earth.

(Mat 24:10-14)  And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity [Gk: lawlessness] shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

THE GREAT TRIBULATION, or THE GREAT PURIFICATION or the great sanctification

(Mat 24:15-22)  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:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

1.      (Rev 6:9-11)  And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

2.      (Rev 7:13-15)  And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.

(Mat 24:23-28)  Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is [Gk: lifeless body: corpse], there will the eagles [“eagles” NKJV;  “vultures” NIV] be gathered together [Gk: sunago; assembled together]. [eagle saints: Isa 40:31]

            1. Commentary: the wheat are sunago, but the tares are sullego, i.e., collected together (Mat 13:30).

THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST

(Mat 24:29-31)  Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet [“with the trump of God” 1 Thess 4:16], and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

1.      (Rev 6:12-17) And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal [on the Feast of Atonement], and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And [all] the [unsaved] kings of the earth, and the [unsaved] great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Amen