We saw in Isaiah a glimpse of what Jesus' return will look like. The prophet Daniel gives us a look at what the world will look like right before Jesus returns. During the reign of king Nebuchadnezzar, who took Israel into captivity, the prophet Daniel was the only one who could interpret a dream that the king had. In short, the dream foretold what kingdoms would be the main players in the close of this age. In Daniels 2nd Chapter, Daniel interprets the dream and talks about an inferior kingdom, which later in a dream, Daniel came to know this kingdom as Persia. Daniel's later dream would reveal that the kingdom of Persia, as it makes a play to take over the middle east, will be defeated by the realm of Greece. Shortly after that, their will be a forth kingdom. This kingdom, we have learned, will be controlled by Satan when he is cast down to the earth. Daniel talks about this forth kingdom in his 2nd Chapter, verse 40-43;
(4)"Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron
crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush
all these in pieces.(41) And in that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's
clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the
toughness of iron, inasmuch as the iron mixed with common clay.(42) And as
the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the
kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle.(43) And in that you saw
the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another, in the
seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not
combine with pottery."(44) And in the days of those kings the God of heaven
will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not
be left for another people; it will crush and put to an end to all these kingdoms,
but it itself endure forever."
I have written in previous blogs all about this in more detail. It can all be found on this blog site.
This fourth kingdom will be the united kingdoms of the world. I explained in earlier blogs, that for there to be an agreeable peace covenant that will be satisfying to all parties involved, there will have to be an agreed state of Palastine and a recognized state of Israel. For this to be achieved, after a global effort to stop Persia's play for the middle east, there will have to be a peace keeping facility in the area. This is where the global capital, that will be built in Tyre Lebanon, will come in play. From Tyre, all the nations militaries will have a presence and a part in keeping the peace in the middle east. So you see in Daniel's interpretation, although they all make up one kingdom, they can not really combine to one another, because their motives for this peace are not in agreement. For some of them, their intention is to buy time to build up the military snare that will come against Israel. Remember, half way through the 7 year peace agreement, Satan will be kicked out of heaven. at the same time the leader of Tyre is assassinated. This leader will then back to life in the power of Satan, and come against Israel and seat himself in the temple of God in Jerusalem.
Daniel talks about this leader from Tyre, who is under the influence of Satan, when he writes this in Chapter 7, verses 25-27;
(25)"And he will speak out against the Most High(Jesus) and wear down the saints
of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations(to the peace covenant) in
in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for time, times and half a
time(3 1/2 years).(26) But the court will sit in judgment, and his dominion will be
taken away, annihilated and destroyed for ever.(27) Then the sovereignty, the
dominion, and the greatest of all kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given
to the people of the saints of the Highest One: His kingdom will be an everlasting
kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him."
If you remember, we saw in Revelation Chapter 12 that Satan and his demons are kicked out of heaven and down to the earth and authority was given to them for 3 1/2 years. In Revelation Chapter 13, John wrote this in verse 5-7;
(5)"And there was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies;
and authority to act for forty-two months was given him.(6) And he opened his
mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name(Jesus) and His
tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.(7) And it was given to him to make
war with the saints and to overcome them; and authority over every tribe and people
and tongue and nation was given him."
Jesus returns to stop Satan and those who rejected Him, from destroying the earth. Jesus judgment will be swift and thorough. What we will see from the other prophets will be what caused them to be killed. People do not want to believe that God could have a wrath. They don't understand that God's wrath and the day of the Lord is the solution to a major problem, Satan out of control. The prophet Joel has one of the best descriptions of what the day of the Lord will look like, when he writes this in his 2nd Chapter;
(1)"Blow a trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the
inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; Surely it is near,
(2) A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn
is spread over the mountains, so there is a great and mighty people; There has never
been anything like it, nor will there be again after it to the years of many generations.
(3) A fire consumes before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like
the garden of Eden before them, but desolate wilderness behind them, and nothing
at all escapes them.(4) Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; and like
war horses, so they run.................
Remember, we saw in Revelation Chapter 19 that Jesus gave His saints white horses, in heaven, to ride.
..............(5) With a noise as of chariots they leap on the tops of the mountains,
like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble, like a mighty people
arranged for battle.(6) before them the people are in anguish; all faces turn pale.
(7) They run like mighty men; they climb the wall like soldiers; and they each
march in line, nor do they deviate from their paths.(8) They do not crowd each
other; they march everyone in his path. When they burst through the defenses,
They do not break ranks.(9) They rush on the city, they run on the wall, they
enter through the windows like a thief.(10) Before them the earth quakes, the
heavens tremble, the sun and the moon grow dark, and the stars lose their
brightness.(11) And the Lord utters His voice before His army; surely His camp
is very great, for strong is he who carries out His word. The day of the Lord is
indeed great and very awesome , and who can endure it?
The prophet Joel gives a call on how to escape the coming wrath, when he writes this later in
Chapter 2,verses 30-32;
(30)"And I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire and
columns of smoke.(31) The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon
into blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.(32) And it
will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered;
For from Mount Zion (the heavenly Jerusalem) and in Jerusalem (the earthly)
there will be those who escape, as the Lord said, even among the survivors
whom the Lord called."
You find in these few short verses the description of what it will be like right before Jesus returns. We found the same description in Revelation about the sun turning to darkness and the moon to blood. This is what will be caused in the sky by Satan's rage of destruction. From the warfare and the shedding of blood on the earth, will result a sky full of dark smoke and blood. We also see the way of escape and it is interesting to see on how it relates to the simple gospel message laid forth in the New Testament. When it says that it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered, it is the same message that we see in Paul's letter to the Romans in Chapter 10, verses 8-13, when Paul finishes in verse 13 quoting Joel;
(8)" But what does it say? 'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your
heart'-that is, the word of faith that we are preaching,(9) that if you confess
with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him
from the dead, you shall be saved;(10) for with the heart man believes, resulting
in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses resulting in salvation.(11) For
the Scripture says, 'Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.'(12) For
there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all,
abounding in riches for all that call upon Him;(13) for 'Whoever call upon the
Name of the Lord will be saved.'"
Then in the book of acts, in the 4th Chapter, verse 12, the apostle Peter said this;
"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is other name under heaven that
has been given among men, by which we must be saved."
There are three groups of people who are mentioned in the above passage from Joel. There are the ones who call upon Jesus name to be saved. These are the saints, the new creations. These are the ones who escape to Mount Zion, the heavenly kingdom that Jesus said that He was going away to prepare. The second group are the ones who escape to the earthly Jerusalem. Before Jesus returns to execute His wrath, He is going to bring a remnant of Israel back to Jerusalem. These are the 144,000,
from the 12 tribes of Israel, who are going to receive the seal of God. This seal will prevent them from being killed by Satan when he is cast down to the earth for the three and a half years destruction. Isaiah mentions this in his 10th Chapter, verse 12 and 20-22;
(12)"So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion
and on Jerusalem, He will say, "I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of
the king of Assyria and the pomp of his haughtiness...............
Once the saints are caught up to be with Jesus, at the first resurrection, and Jesus brings His remnant of Israel back to Jerusalem. Then He will return to execute His wrath against Satan and all who followed him. When it says that Jesus will punish the king of Assyria, it is good to recognize that the city of Tyre was in the Assyrian empire. So this is referring to the king of Tyre, Satan.
................(20) Now it will come about in that day that the remnant of Israel, and
those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one
who struck them, but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy one of Israel.(21) A
remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God.(22) For though your
people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will return; A
destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness."
The final group are the survivors whom the Lord calls. This has always interested me, because these are going to be people who somehow survived not only the wrath of Satan, but also were spared from wrath by Jesus. Jesus is going to rule over the earth for a thousand years and it is going to have people living on it and multiplying. He had to allow some life to survive on the earth. This is one of the reasons why Jesus had to cut Satan's destruction short. Jesus noted this in the gospel of Matthew in the 24th Chapter, verse 21-22;
(21)"For then there will be a great tribulation, such has not occurred since the
beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall.(22)And unless those days had
been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those
days shall be cut short."
One thing to note is, who causes this great tribulation. Right before Jesus says that these days must be cut short, he says this in verse 15;
"Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken
through Daniel the prophet, standing in the Holy place."
This is when the king of Tyre, now under the influence of Satan, comes against Israel and then seats himself in the temple of God in Jerusalem claiming to be God. This is the abomination that makes desolate and brings in the great tribulation.
May Jesus peace and understanding and salvation be with you and your family.
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