JESUS RETURN TO EARTH AS GIVEN IN THE OLIVET DISCOURSE

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Baruch is the senior lecturer at the Zera Avraham Institute based in Israel. He holds a PhD in Jewish Studies. His dissertation was on the translation techniques of the Septuagint. Baruch has been married for 30 years to his wife, Rivka, and they have three adult children. The Kormans live in Israel.

Baruch teaches on Jesus’ return based on the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24. He correctly warns Christians that during the end times, they will face tribulation. Jesus tells us that just as Daniel prophesied (Daniel 11:31) Christians will see the abomination of desolation (Antichrist) in the temple. They will experience persecution metered out by the Antichrist but they will be kept from the wrath of God that is poured out with the Trumpet (Revelation 8 & 9) and Bowl (Revelation 16) judgements.

TIMING OF GOD’S COMING WRATH

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Imagine how the disciples felt when near the end of Jesus’ ministry He told them, three times, He was going to die and now He had just told them the temple would be destroyed. It was all bad news so the following conversation between Jesus and the disciples is understandable. Fortunately, Jesus gave them and us incredible details on what will take place before His second coming to Earth and it is not good news for believers because the world will be like it was before God poured out His wrath upon the Earth, the first time with Noah’s Flood.

“As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:3, 9-14

This is one of the reasons that for me the Bible is the word of God and therefore the true history of the world. It does not paint a “pretty picture” of the end as most “made-up” stories do.

MIKE JOHNSON GOT IT RIGHT – JOE BIDEN WAS GOD’S APPOINTMENT FOR PRESIDENT

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The House Speaker, Republican Mike Johnson, was asked by an unidentified member of the media at the weekly press conference for GOP leadership on Jan. 17 whether he thinks President Joe Biden’s victory in the bitterly contested and politically heated campaign was, in fact, “God’s will.”

Johnson, a 51-year-old Evangelical who was elected speaker last fall after receiving the backing of former President Donald Trump, told reporters he believes Biden’s victory “must have been God’s will” because of his personal faith in the Scriptures.

“I said in my speech before I took the gavel that, look, I’m a Bible-believing Christian, right? A Bible-believing Christian believes what the Bible says, right?” Johnson replied. “The Bible says that God is the one who raises up people in authority.”

He explained that not only does he believe God is “sovereign,” but that America’s Founding Fathers held a similar view. Johnson pointed to the Declaration of Independence, a document he said shows the Founding Fathers “acknowledge[d] that our rights don’t come from government, they come from God, and we’re made in His image. “Everybody’s made the same,” added Johnson. “We all are given equal rights and value and that’s something that we defend.”

Based on those beliefs, he said, “then you believe that God is the one that allows people to be raised in authority.” “Biden’s election must have been God’s will then. That’s my belief,” said Johnson.

At times, God ensures we get the government we deserve so that we live with the consequences. Fortunately, God has shown us what will unfold in the future as the world turns its back on God and lives as if he does not exist.

In the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24:36-39, Luke 17:26-27) Jesus told us that in the last days before He returns to Earth to enforce righteousness the world will be like it was in the days of Noah, evil and lawlessness will abound. We are even told that Satan and His demons are cast out of heaven and Satan knowing his time is short takes over the body of the Antichrist and declares himself to be God. During the reign of the Antichrist, for Christians, it will be like the time of the early church, it will be a time of great persecution. It will also be a time for the church, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to shine, knowing their redemption is close.

“For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads because your redemption is drawing near.” Luke 21:26-28

END TIMES SIGN POSTS

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The abomination of desolation is one of the primary end-time signposts Jesus emphasizes in his Olivet Discourse teaching Matthew 24 & 25, Mark 13, and Luke 21. And we should not forget Daniel 9:27 spoken of by Jesus in Matthew 24:15. This prophecy should be a central part of the Messianic community’s broader teaching on eschatology, especially as we draw closer to the return of Jesus.

Scripture is clear that the abomination of desolation relates to some action the Antichrist will take in the Temple, midway through the 70th week (the final year before Jesus returns to earth, first to rapture the Saints and then to pour out His wrath upon unrepentant earth.). Beyond this general description, we are not given too many other details that explain what exactly the Antichrist will do at this time. 2 Thessalonians 2:4 offers some information when it states that the Antichrist will “take his seat in the Temple of God, displaying himself as God.” Jesus also mentions that the abomination of desolation will be seen “standing in the holy place.” In a sense, both Jesus and Paul seem to refer to the Antichrist himself as the abomination of desolation. At the same time, Daniel 12:11 says the abomination of desolation will be “set up.” This language could point to some type of idolatrous image or idol of the Antichrist that will be will be set up in the Temple (Revelation 13:15).

The fact that Jesus drew an analogy between the past actions of Antiochus and the future actions of the Antichrist, further proves that the abomination of desolation will involve events that transpire within the Temple’s holy place while the Temple is still intact.

When Daniel 8:11 says the Antichrist will cause the sanctuary to be “thrown down,” this language indicates that he will not merely defile the Temple, but instead, he will also destroy it, which is something Antiochus never did. Antiochus only plundered and profaned the Temple. It appears the Antichrist will go one step further.

Luke also adds some important details that are left out of Matthew and Mark’s accounts. We read:

But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city; because these are days of vengeance so that all things which are written must be fulfilled. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people; and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” Luke 21:20-24

Luke does not mention “the abomination of desolation” in the holy place. Instead, he mentions that Jerusalem will be “surrounded by armies” and invaded. This invasion will lead to a time of “great distress” and a period of captivity for the Jewish nation. At the midpoint of the 70th week, right after the Antichrist fulfills the abomination of desolation prophecies of Daniel, his armies will conquer Israel, and the nation will remain under the control of the Antichrist until Jesus returns (Luke 21:27).

Hence, Luke 21:20–24 adds the important detail that not only will people see the Antichrist in the Jewish sanctuary at this time, but they will also see Jerusalem surrounded by armies. When the Lord’s people in Jerusalem witness these events, they should recognize them as a sign of imminent destruction, and as a final opportunity to “flee to the mountains” (Lk. 21:21).

As difficult as the Time of Jacob’s Trouble will be, Revelation 12:6 and 12:13–16 do also make clear that a Jewish remnant that heeds Jesus’ advice to “flee to the mountains” will be protected and preserved in the wilderness during the last half of the 70th week. God’s preservation of the Jewish remnant during the final half of the 70th week also raises an important practical point for the followers of Jesus today. We need to alert Jews, particularly Messianic Jews to the protection that is available to them during the great tribulation (3 1/2 years).

The abomination of desolation will lead to Israel’s final period of purging and discipline before the Messianic Age. According to Daniel, this time will last for three-and-a-half years (1,260-1,290 days; Daniel12:11). Also, Daniel 12:7 says, Israel will suffer at the hands of the Antichrist “for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people [i..e Israel], all these events will be completed,” 1,290 days after “the abomination of desolation” is set up (Daniel 12:11–13).

This information is extracted from Travis Snow’s excellent book “The Seventy Weeks Jubilee”.

PROPHESIED “END TIMES” SIGNS

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You have probably heard of the Abomination of Desolation. Jesus spoke of it as an important “end times” sign when the disciples asked Him about His second coming.

“So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” Matthew 24:15-16

But what exactly is Desolated? Is it the Temple of God, is it the city of Jerusalem, or something or someone else. (Also watch What End Time Prophecy Did Jesus Command Us to Study? https://youtu.be/WnfAmYrfeYE) It is in Daniel.

In Daniel 9:27, we learn the Antichrist is the Desolator. He is the one who makes desolate. In Matthew 24:15-20 we learn Jesus commands those in Judea to flee from this act. Is that a clue? Watch this Nelson Walters video to find out.

URGENT WARNING: CHURCH WAKE UP

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“The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And when He is killed, after three days He will rise.” But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.” Mark 8:31-32

Just before Jesus death and resurrection when the disciples were shattered at the events unfolding and Jesus telling them He was going to die (three times) they asked Him about His future coming in power to rule and reign on earth.

“Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Matthew 24:3b

Jesus account of the events preceding His second coming (Olivet Discourse) is given in the three Gospels, Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 so it should be obvious that God wants us to heed this information.

One stark lesson Jesus gives us is in the parable of the ten virgins.

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.” Matthew 25:1

It is clear in this parable that Jesus is the bridegroom and the virgins are the church. The first thing we learn is that half of them were foolish and did not have oil for their lamps. Moreover, when they get oil and return Jesus says to them depart from me I do not know you.

“Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” Matthew 24:11-13

This should cause all pastors to be concerned. Half of the people in the church in the “last days” are not born again. What is the state of the church you attend?

A sure sign we are in the last days is the state of the church today with gay and transgender pastors accepted in many institutional churches. Therefore most people including the pastor in these churches are not born again with the Holy Spirit.

God’s word is clear, leadership in the church must be male just as leadership in the home is male. God has assigned roles and responsibilities for male and female and he assigns our gender at conception.

Bishop-elect Megan Rohrer of the Sierra Pacific synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. Via Facebook.

The Rev. Megan Rohrer was elected bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Sierra Pacific synod on Saturday (May 8, 2021), becoming the first transgender San Francisco pastor, Megan Rohrer is the first transgender person to be elected bishop in the denomination or in any of the U.S.’s major Christian faiths.

The Sierra Pacific synod encompasses 180 congregations in northern California and northern Nevada, with more than 36,000 individual members and about 13,000 worshipers attending on Sundays. Bishops are elected to six year terms in the ELCA.

Rohrer was elected on the fifth ballot in Saturday’s episcopal election, edging out the Rev. Jeff R. Johnson, pastor of the University of California, Berkeley’s Lutheran chapel, who led the voting until the final ballot. 

While gay bishops have served in mainline Protestant denominations since Bishop Gene Robinson was named a bishop in the Episcopal diocese of New Hampshire in 2003, transgender priests and ministers are only slowly finding acceptance. In 2007, Drew Phoenix was permitted to remain as pastor of a Baltimore United Methodist parish after coming out as transgender; the UMC appointed its first transgender deacon in 2017. The Episcopal Church approved transgender priests in 2012.

The other major concern from this parable is that at Jesus return all ten were asleep not just the five without oil. This is a clarion call for all believers and a reason for my call to alert the church to the coming tribulation and the prophesied events Jesus gave us so we would not be taken by surprise particularly by the great falling away that we are observing in the church today. I am glad to say that God has called many others to do as I am doing and it is important we stay connected. I make sure I include videos and message from these brothers in Christ on this website.

FOUR SPECIFIC SIGNS OF JESUS RETURN

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What are the four specific signs of Jesus Christ Coming? In Matthew 24, the Olivet Discourse, Jesus told his disciples a number of signs, but only four were specific. Most of the signs of Jesus’ return were general, or warnings if you like, which let us know the “season” of His coming. But there are four specific signs every Christian should know. The first specific sign tells us when the final period of the end times begins (see my recent post, The Most Important End-Times Sign) and then three signs to be able to recognize Jesus when he comes. Watch this very important Nelson Walters video to learn these four signs.

TIMING OF THE RAPTURE AND THE DAY OF THE LORD’S WRATH

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The Rapture initiates Jesus second coming, not to earth, but to receive the risen saints in the air and to take them to heaven. The same day that the rapture occurs will be the same day that The Day of the Lord’s Wrath will begin.

The apostle Paul links the return of Christ with The Day of the Lord’s wrath (1 Thessalonians 4:13–5:9). Paul teaches that when Christ returns to pour out His wrath upon the wicked, His return will be like a thief, and it will occur suddenly like a woman in labour pangs:

“For you know quite well that The Day of the Lord will come in the same way as a thief in the night. Now when they are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction comes on them, like labour pains on a pregnant woman, and they will surely not escape.” 1 Thessalonians 5:2–3

Before the battle of Armageddon occurs, the world will have been devastatingly pummelled by The Day of the Lord trumpets and bowls judgements. The wicked will clearly know that the judgements are from God (see Revelation 6:14–17; 9:20–21; 11:3–19; 14:6–11; 16:9–11, 21; 17:14 cf. Luke 21:25–28). By the time the divine trumpets and bowls have been poured out, the battle of Armageddon will not be a surprise! It climaxes the period of God’s wrath, not initiates it. Paul clearly teaches that the wrath of God will not begin until the second coming of Christ at the Rapture, which will catch the wicked off guard as a thief with sudden destruction as a woman in hard labour. Therefore, Armageddon cannot be considered the beginning of the second coming.

Jesus taught the exact same point that sudden destruction will occur when the second coming begins, using five parables/illustrations: 1. Noah and the flood, one taken and one left, 2. the thief in the night, 3. the master of the household, 4. the ten virgins, and 5. the talents (Matthew 24:37–25:30; cf. Luke 17:28–30).

Peter also draws the “thief” motif from Jesus’s Olivet Discourse illustrating the sudden destruction when the parousia begins (2 Peter 3:10–12).

Jesus, Paul, and Peter are consistent in their message that the second coming of Christ at The Rapture will begin like a thief catching the wicked off guard in their oblivious state.

Since the battle of Armageddon occurs at the end of God’s wrath, the second coming does not begin with Armageddon, because that would remove the surprise element—the whole point of invoking the thief metaphor!

The resurrection and rapture, followed by the trumpets and bowls judgements, will occur at a much earlier point than the climax of God’s wrath at the battle of Armageddon and Jesus second coming to earth to rescue Israel.

The following explanation of the parenthetical exhortation that seems arbitrarily placed in Revelation 16:14-16 is extracted and abbreviated from Alan Kurschner’s post “The Day of the Lord’s Wrath Begins before Armageddon” Eschatos Ministries.

Revelation 16:14–16 begins at the 6th Bowl judgement just before the 7th and last Bowl judgement which precedes the Battle of Armageddon

“For they are the spirits of the demons performing signs who go out to the kings of the earth to bring them together for the battle that will take place on the great day of God, the All-Powerful. (Look ! I will come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays alert and does not lose his clothes so that he will not have to walk around naked and his shameful condition be seen.) Now the spirits gathered the kings and their armies to the place that is called Armageddon in Hebrew.” Revelation 16:14–16

This parenthetical exhortation in Revelation 16:15 is not intended to give a temporal indicator to when the Lord will return, as is often interpreted. It does not mean that his parousia has not occurred up to this point with the church still on earth. Nor does it mean that his parousia will begin at Armageddon. it makes no sense to say that Jesus is coming back as a “thief” after the world just experienced his previous earth-destroying judgements.

So then how should we understand this parenthetical statement that seems to be arbitrarily placed at this point. As it is placed at the culmination of God’s wrath, the likely meaning is that the warning represents the unified complex-whole of the day of the Lord’s wrath. And what are the implications of this statement? There are basically three interpretations but the one I believe it means is; the one who does not stay alert is a false believer (the many nominal Christians in our churches today), who will be left on earth and on the receiving end of God’s wrath.

ROAD MAP OF THE END TIMES

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There is a road map to the end times. Two passages in Scripture, each describing the same 13 events are found in exactly the same order. What will it tell us about Jesus’s coming on the clouds? How does the Tribulation period begin? What’s the timing of the Rapture? When is the Antichrist revealed?

Another great video from Nelson Walters, this time to provide the Road Map of end times events as given by Jesus in both the Olivet Discourse and in Revelation 6. What are the odds of these being the same events and in the same order? Nelson reveals that the odds are extremely high.

God has provided this road map for a reason. As I have said many times, there are far more prophecies about Jesus second coming than there were of His first coming. Surely, it is to prepare the church particularly as God is going to allow the church to experience tribulation, even great tribulation, just prior to His return to rapture the saints.

https://youtu.be/OZbPcY7pClM

ROAD MAP TO THE END TIMES

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ROAD MAP FOR END TIMES EVENTS BASED ON BIBLICAL PROPHECY

What are the order of the end times events given by Jesus in the Olivet Discourse and Revelation?

In these two books of the Bible the same 13 events are prophesied to happen in the same exact order. Is this Road Map confirmed in 2 separate books? What are the odds that this could happen by chance? Watch this 18 minute video by Nelson Walters and you will find out.

https://youtu.be/OZbPcY7pClM