Rapture and End Times

Why do the nations rebel
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth take their stand,
and the rulers conspire together
against the Lord and His Anointed One. (Psalm 2:1-2)

Some critical indicators that are pointing to the “End Game” include the invasion of Israel, the rise of the Beast and the False Prophet, the formation of a one-world government, and the roll-out of the Mark of the Beast.

As we watch the events unfolding in the Middle East today, we cannot help but see the hand of God moving, setting the stage for the final act of human history before the glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Washington Post’s headline on August 2, 2024, “The Middle East is on the brink, again,” barely scratches the surface of the prophetic significance of what we’re witnessing.
Let us examine the signs and connect them to the prophecies laid out in God’s Word.

The Bible tells us in Matthew 24:6-7, “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.” We see this playing out before our very eyes. The constant Israeli bombardments on Gaza, the rocket attack allegedly by Hezbollah that killed 12 children in the Golan Heights, and Israel’s retaliatory strike on Beirut killing a Hezbollah commander – these are not isolated incidents, but part of a larger pattern prophesied thousands of years ago.

The assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’s political wing, in Tehran, and the confirmed death of Mohamed Deif, a Hamas military commander in Gaza, are not mere coincidences. These events remind us of Daniel 11:40, which speaks of the time of the end when the king of the South will engage in conflict with the king of the North. While the identities of these kings may not be clear yet, we can see the chess pieces moving into place.

Turkey’s President Erdogan’s statement about potentially entering Israel to support the Palestinians is a clear fulfillment of Ezekiel 38-39, which prophesies about Gog and Magog. Many Bible scholars believe Turkey to be part of this alliance that will come against Israel in the last days.

The vows of “severe punishment” and “real response” from Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei and Hezbollah’s leader Hasan Nasrallah echo the words of Psalm 83:4, “They say, ‘Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more!‘” This escalating cycle of violence is setting the stage for the great tribulation spoken of in Matthew 24:21.

When experts speak of “many red lines” being crossed, they unknowingly echo the prophetic words of Daniel 8:23, which speaks of a time when “transgressors have reached their fullness.” We are witnessing the fulfillment of this prophecy as nations push boundaries and escalate conflicts beyond previous norms.

The potential for a “full-scale war” mentioned by analysts aligns with the apocalyptic visions of Revelation, particularly the battles described in chapters 16 and 19. While these may not be the exact conflicts prophesied, they certainly set the stage and condition the world for the final confrontations.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of Middle Eastern conflicts. This aligns perfectly with Zechariah 12:2-3, which states, “Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples… On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples.“

Iran’s central role in these conflicts, particularly its support for Hamas and Hezbollah, brings to mind the prophecies about Persia (modern-day Iran) in Ezekiel 38. Iran’s vow of revenge against Israel is setting the stage for the alliance that will come against Israel in the last days.

The sophisticated Israeli intelligence operation that allegedly took out Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran demonstrates the fulfillment of God’s promise in Genesis 12:3, “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse.” God continues to protect and empower Israel, even as the nations rage against her. 

As the Lord’s timeline for the rule of Man draws to a close, the key players for the Tribulation are being moved into their positions. Nations and their leaders are gaining more power, and are exerting their influence.

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The Players

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, turn your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him and say: This is what the Lord God says: Look, I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws, and bring you out with all your army, including horses and riders, who are all splendidly dressed, a huge company armed with shields and bucklers, all of them brandishing swords. Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shields and helmets; Gomer with all its troops; and Beth-togarmah from the remotest parts of the north along with all its troops—many peoples are with you.

“Be prepared and get yourself ready, you and all your company who have been mobilized around you; you will be their guard. After a long time you will be summoned. In the last years you will enter a land that has been restored from war and regathered from many peoples to the mountains of Israel, which had long been a ruin. They were brought out from the peoples, and all of them now live securely. You, all of your troops, and many peoples with you will advance, coming like a thunderstorm; you will be like a cloud covering the land.

“This is what the Lord God says: On that day, thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will devise an evil plan. You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of open villages; I will come against a tranquil people who are living securely, all of them living without walls and without bars or gates— in order to seize spoil and carry off plunder, to turn your hand against ruins now inhabited and against a people gathered from the nations, who have been acquiring cattle and possessions and who live at the center of the world.’ Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its rulers will ask you, ‘Have you come to seize spoil? Have you assembled your hordes to carry off plunder, to make off with silver and gold, to take cattle and possessions, to seize great spoil?’ (Ezekiel 38:1-13)

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Recep Erdogan – President of Turkey “The Beast”

They worshiped the dragon because he gave authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to wage war against him?”

A mouth was given to him to speak boasts and blasphemies. He was also given authority to act for 42 months. He began to speak blasphemies against God: to blaspheme His name and His dwelling—those who dwell in heaven. And he was permitted to wage war against the saints and to conquer them. He was also given authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation. All those who live on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name was not written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered. (Revelation 13:4-8)

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Pope Francis “The False Prophet”

Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; he had two horns like a lamb, but he sounded like a dragon. He exercises all the authority of the first beast on his behalf and compels the earth and those who live on it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. He also performs great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in front of people. He deceives those who live on the earth because of the signs that he is permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image of the beast who had the sword wound and yet lived. He was permitted to give a spirit to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast could both speak and cause whoever would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. And he requires everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to be given a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark: the beast’s name or the number of his name.

Here is wisdom: The one who has understanding must calculate the number of the beast, because it is the number of a man. His number is 666. (Revelation 13:11-18)

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        The Fourth Kingdom

This is what he said: ‘The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, different from all the other kingdoms. It will devour the whole earth, trample it down, and crush it.” (Daniel 7: 23)

“My king, as you were watching, a colossal statue appeared. That statue, tall and dazzling, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was terrifying. The head of the statue was pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its stomach and thighs were bronze, its legs were iron, and its feet were partly iron and partly fired clay. As you were watching, a stone broke off without a hand touching it, struck the statue on its feet of iron and fired clay, and crushed them. Then the iron, the fired clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were shattered and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors. The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

“This was the dream; now we will tell the king its interpretation. Your Majesty, you are king of kings. The God of heaven has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and glory. Wherever people live—or wild animals, or birds of the air—He has handed them over to you and made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold.

“After you, there will arise another kingdom, inferior to yours, and then another, a third kingdom, of bronze, which will rule the whole earth. A fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron; for iron crushes and shatters everything, and like iron that smashes, it will crush and smash all the others.

You saw the feet and toes, partly of a potter’s fired clay and partly of iron—it will be a divided kingdom, though some of the strength of iron will be in it. You saw the iron mixed with clay, and that the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly fired clay—part of the kingdom will be strong, and part will be brittle. You saw the iron mixed with clay—the peoples will mix with one another but will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with fired clay.

“In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be left to another people. It will crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself endure forever. You saw a stone break off from the mountain without a hand touching it, and it crushed the iron, bronze, fired clay, silver, and gold. The great God has told the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its interpretation certain.” (Daniel 2:31-45)

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Xi Jingping – President of China “The King from the East”

The sixth angel blew his trumpet. From the four horns of the gold altar that is before God, I heard a voice say to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels bound at the great river Euphrates.” So the four angels who were prepared for the hour, day, month, and year were released to kill a third of the human race. The number of mounted troops was 200 million; I heard their number. (Revelation 9:13-16) 

The sixth poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the east. Then I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming from the dragon’s mouth, from the beast’s mouth, and from the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons performing signs, who travel to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for the battle of the great day of God, the Almighty.

“Look, I am coming like a thief. The one who is alert and remains clothed so that he may not go around naked and people see his shame is blessed.”

So they assembled them at the place called in Hebrew, Armagedon. (Revelation 16:12-16)

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The King

In Revelation 19:16 Jesus is given the full title “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS”

The title indicates someone who has the power to exercise absolute dominion over all His realm. In the case of the Lord Jesus, the realm is all of creation. In John’s vision, Jesus is returning to judge the world and establish His earthly kingdom.

When Jesus is called “King of kings and Lord of lords,” it means that, in the end, all other rulers will be conquered or abolished, and He alone will reign supreme as King and Lord of all the earth. There is no power, no king, and no lord who can oppose Him and win. There are myriad references to this absolute rule of Jesus and His preeminence over other rulers throughout Scripture.

He reduces princes to nothing
and makes judges of the earth irrational.
They are barely planted, barely sown,
their stem hardly takes root in the ground
when He blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind carries them away like stubble. (Isaiah 40:23–24)

The mere breath of the Lord will “carry them off like stubble.” Daniel’s vision of the son of man in Daniel 7:13–14 is of one whom he calls “the Ancient of Days” whose everlasting dominion is over all people, nations and languages. In the New Testament, we get a better view of the One these passages refer to. The writer of Hebrews speaks of the Lord Jesus: “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3). The next verse speaks of Jesus being “much superior” to the angels. Clearly, His rule over creation is absolute.

Paul makes the point that Jesus was humbled in His earthly ministry and that His humiliation will result in glorification. In Philippians 2:5–11, Paul discusses the extent to which Jesus went to atone for sinners; Jesus’ perfect obedience is the reason that “God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (vv. 9–11). The Suffering Servant becomes the King of kings (see Isaiah 53:10–12).

Finally, in the book of Revelation we see the Kingship of Jesus made manifest. In chapter 5, the Lamb (Jesus) is the only one in all creation found worthy to open the scroll containing the judgments of God (vv. 2–5). In chapter 11, we hear voices in heaven proclaiming that the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of Christ and that He will reign forever and ever (v. 15). In chapter 12, we read that the authority of Christ is what causes Satan to be thrown down to earth (vv. 9–10). In Revelation 17:12–14, the Lamb conquers all those arrayed against Him, and John stresses that He conquers because He is King of kings and Lord of lords. Finally, in chapter 19, we read of Jesus’ triumphant coming to strike the nations and tread the winepress of the wrath of God, having the authority to do so because He is King of kings and Lord of lords (vv. 11–16).

Fundamentally, the idea of Jesus being King of kings and Lord of lords means that there is no higher authority. His reign over all things is absolute and inviolable. God raised Him from the dead and placed Him over all things:

far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put everything under His feet and appointed Him as head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of the One who fills all things in every way. (Ephesians 1:21–23).

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If you are not sure that you are saved, you can accept Christ into your life right now, by praying:

“Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins.  Please forgive my sins and give me the gift of eternal life.  I ask you in to my life and heart to be my Lord and Savior.”

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