“The Order Of Prophetic Events” – ‘Part #1’

‘Age of The Law’

We need an overall picture of things to come so when we look at detailed prophetic events we will know exactly where to plug them in. So I am going to try and paint you a picture with words and hope you can see it. If a picture is worth a 1,000 words, then this one ought to be worth 37 anyway. 🙂 The first thing we see is, ‘Creation.’ In 1658, Archbishop James Ussher’s work was published in Welsh, and now we have it in English. He calculated from the ‘Biblical Genealogies’ that Creation occurred around 4,004 BC. Rabbi Yose ben Halafta in 120 AD, 1,500 years before Ussher also calculated Creation occurred around 3,761 BC, a difference of 243 years. (see Ussher’s appendix G for an explanation, or my blog where it is posted). Halafta basically compressed the Persian Empire into 30 years so Daniel 9:24-27 would point to Simon Bar Kokhba in 135 AD as the Messiah, according to Rabbi Akkiba, this is verified in the Encyclopedia Judaica.  Halafta used a lunar calendar and Ussher used a solar calendar, today the Jewish people use a solar/lunar calendar. The ancient Rabbis believed there would be 2,000 years without the law, 2,000 years with the law, 2,000 years with the Messiah and then the Kingdom. Isn’t that part of the Lord’s prayer, which we are to pray, “Thy kingdom come!” The Jewish calendar says it is ‘5772,’ if you add the 243 year error it would be 6015, like our 4004 BC plus 2012 AD equals, ‘6016’ and they too would be expecting their kingdom and praying, “Thy kingdom come!” You have about 2,000 years from creation to Abraham, then about another 2,000 years from Abraham to Christ, and about another 2,000 years from Christ till today, for a total of 6,000 years, waiting for the 7th thousand years or the kingdom of God or the millennium. You can read this in the “Encyclopedia Judaica” vol. 14, pg. 1091, art. “Seder Olam Rabbah” or in “The Annals of The World” by James Ussher, pg. 931-934, appendix ‘G’ – “Seder Olam Rabbah”. Now as we look at the order of prophetic events we will begin with the present and identify the ‘Ten Major Prophetic Events’ that will lead us right into eternity.

“The Age of Grace”

The first thing we see after the cross is the ‘Age of Grace’ or the ‘Church Age.’ We are to be making preparation right now for Christ’s return. In Luke 19:13 He said to His disciples, “Occupy till I come.” In other words, be busy, be pragmatic, stay occupied with the Masters work! Later we will see the ‘Signs of The Times’ which will indicate the, “Imminence of His Eminence!” The Greek word for ‘Church’ (ek-klay-see-ah) comes from two words, the preposition (ek) out of, from, or away from and (kal-eh-o) to call. To call out, or ‘The Called Out Ones.’ Before Yeshua/Jesus left this earth, He promised Peter he would personally build His church. An organism that would not be threatened by Satan or the evil forces of hell, Matt. 16:16-18; v.18 says, “And I say unto thee, Thou art Peter (petros – a stone, a rock, pebble) and upon this rock (petra – a cliff, ledge, huge rock, boulder) I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (over power it).” That promise began on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2 and will continue until we hear the trumpet in I Thess. 4:16. For almost 2,000 years, Christ has been calling out from the world those who have turned their hearts to Him; Jew and Gentile; Male and Female; Bond and Free; Adult and Child. We are living in the end of that era right now. I know you are ready to meet Jesus but are you prepared for His return? There is a big difference between those two things, being ready and being prepared! This is not a game of ‘Hide and Seek.’ He said, “Occupy (prag-ma) till I come!” To busy oneself, or one who gets the job done. There is a big difference between idealists and realists; dreamers and reapers. As one of my dear friends used to say, “I’m packed up, prayed up and ready to be picked up.” If He were to come tonight would He find you ready, packed, and your lamp full or do you need to go buy some oil?

“The Rapture or Harpadzo”

The next event on God’s schedule is the ‘Rapture of Harpadzo‘ the ‘Great Snatch.’ I Thess. 4:17, “Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort/exhort one another with these words.” Kenneth Wuest said, “This Greek word, (harpadzo – caught up) has various meanings, to seize, snatch away, carry off, it is used proverbially to rescue from the danger of destruction.” The second coming of Christ will be in two stages; First, He will come ‘FOR’ His church in the clouds. I Thess. 4:13-18 gives us the event and I Cor. 15:51-53 gives us the two categories of the event: First the corruptible, the dead in Christ who must put on incorruption; second the mortal, the living in Christ who must put on immortality. Then later he will come ‘WITH’ His church from heaven, riding on a white horse, Rev. 19:11-16 to set up His kingdom and rule for 1,000 years. I Thess. 4:16-17 says, “The dead in Christ shall rise first; Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” Christ is the ‘Firstfruits among many brethren.’ How did He go? How do you think the rest of His harvest will go? I Cor. 15:20-23. Everything is ready and waiting, just one more soul to be saved to complete the bride and that angel will blow that trumpet! What a motive for soul winning, how would you like to be the one to lead that last soul to Christ when that trumpet blows and we are out of here!!!! I don’t think He will leave His Bride here one extra second, do you? After the ‘Rapture’ two things will happen simultaneously. The ‘Bema Seat’ in heaven for believers and the ‘Great Tribulation’ on earth for unbelievers.

“The Bema Seat” 

The ‘Bema Seat’ is where believers will receive their rewards in heaven, II Cor. 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgement seat (bema) of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he has done, whether it be good or bad.” Rom. 14:10, “But why dost thou judge thy brother? Or why dost thou set at naught thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgement seat (bema) of Christ.” Two things are going to be judged at this judgement; Your faithfulness in the realm of your gifts and abilities. In other words, what you did with what you were given, idealists are in trouble here; Second, your motives, ‘Why you did, what you did, with what you were given,’ realists could be in trouble here, because your motives will be judged. Rom. 14:10-12; I Cor. 3:11-15; I Cor. 4:1-5; II Cor. 5:10. This judgement is purely motivational and does not deal with salvation only with our rewards. This will happen in heaven for believers, raised at the rapture. Our life and conduct on earth will be evaluated in light of our obedience and rewards will be given to us (or not) by the Lord.

Here are the first four brush strokes of our snap-shot of these prophetic events we will be dealing with in greater detail. I hope you’re getting the picture of what we want to focus on. Make sure you take time to look up the verses and study these portions of Scripture and read, “…Between The Lines…”

“The Order of Prophetic Events” – Part #1 – 5/8/13

“Survey of Bible Prophecy” – ‘Part #6’

Yeshua/Jesus told His disciples that He would suffer, be killed, and rise again from the dead ‘ON’ the third day and His predictions soon came to pass to the very letter. Matt. 16:21 says, “From that time forth began Jesus to show His disciples, how He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.” Matt. 17:22-23 says, “The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men; And they shall kill Him, and the third day He shall be raised again.” Matt. 20:17-19 says, “The Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes and they shall condemn Him to death and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify Him. And the third day He shall rise again.” Three times He told His disciples that He was going to be crucified, die and be buried and rise again on the third day, did they believe Him? No! Did that have any bearing on the prophecies? No! But you say, “I don’t believe God wrote the Bible!” That’s alright, He still believes in you, and His Word is still true! I don’t know if you picked it up or not but every time Yeshua/Jesus said He would rise from the dead, it was ‘on the third day’ not after the third day but on the third day. In fact all of His appearances immediately after His resurrection were on Sunday, the first day of the week. Matt. 28:1-10, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary; Mark 16:1-14; and Luke 24:13-32, the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, in v.21 said, “today is the third day, since all these things were done.” Now at least three times Yeshua/Jesus warned His disciples of His execution and told them of His resurrection to follow, but they were not listening.

Don’t get to caught up with Jonah, his fish story and Matt. 12:40-41 and try to keep Yeshua/Jesus in the grave for 72 hours, you can’t have 72 hours, no matter how you calculate it. He died at 3 pm, and was buried before sundown and arose before sunrise on the first day of the week. I don’t care how you fix it you can’t put 72 hours, or three days and nights in there.  Besides, doesn’t Hebrews say, “The less is blessed of the Greater!” So, couldn’t Jonah have been thrown overboard about 5:00 pm on Friday, swallowed by a great fish (whale) and vomited up on a beach very early in the morning on Sunday, the first day of the week? Is that not possible? In Jewish culture and customs, any part of a day or night is considered a day and a night, even a fraction of a day or night. (Dr. Alfred Edersheim) In Genesis the evening and the morning constitutes a day and that is how Jewish people regulate their calendar. So, Thursday evening to Friday evening was the first day, the 14th of Nisan, and He gave up His spirit at 3:00 pm and was buried before sundown and in the earth, thus fulfilling part of the first day: Friday evening to Saturday evening was the second day, the 15th of Nisan, and He laid in the tomb the whole Sabbath, thus fulfilling the second day; Saturday evening to Sunday evening was the third day, the 16th of Nisan, and He arose very early in the morning before sunrise, thus fulfilling part of the third day. Therefore, He observed the Jewish custom that,  ‘any part of a day or night is a day and a night’ and He kept His word and arose, ‘the third day,’ and He kept the promise in Heb. 7:7, “And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better.” (Who is better or greater, Jesus or Jonah?)

Yeshua/Jesus also warned His disciples before hand that Judas would betray Him before it happened, Matt. 26:24-25, “The Son of man goes as it is written of Him, but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It had been good for that man if he had not been born. Then Judas, who betrayed Him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.” Judas knew it, but no one else believed it, why? Because he had the bag, he was the most trusted, the treasurer, the financial officer, the CFO. Even in the upper-room after Yeshua/Jesus washed their feet, and gave Judas the sop, and Satan entered his body and he went out to betray Him, they didn’t believe it, John 13:27-28. Psalm 41:9 says, “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who did eat my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.” (Jn. 13:18-19)

Yeshua/Jesus said that all His disciples would be offended at Him, Matt. 26:31, “Then said Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of Me this night, for it is written, I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.” Zech. 13:7, “Awake, O sword, against My shepherd, and against the man who is My fellow, saith the LORD of hosts; smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered; and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.” Zechariah 9:1-9 is an amazing prophecy, take some time to read it and meditate upon it.

Yeshua/Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him three times the night of His trial before the cock crowed, Matt. 26:34, “Jesus said unto him (Peter) Verily I say unto thee that this night, before the cock crows, thou shalt deny Me thrice.” Mark 14:30 says, “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, This day, even in this night, before the cock crows twice, thou shalt deny Me thrice.” Luke 22:34 says, “And He said, I tell thee Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest Me.” John 13:38 says, “Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for My sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied Me thrice.” Interesting prophecy, Matthew says before the cock crows you will deny Me three times; Mark says, before the cock crows twice you will deny Me three times; Luke says before the cock crows you will deny Me three times; And John says before the cock crows you will deny me three times. They all say Peter will deny his Lord three times and all except Mark claim the cock will not crow until Peter denies Him three times. Mark was Peter’s secretary, was Peter privy to some private conversation with Jesus? I think so, that’s why Mark’s may be a little different. However, was the cock really a rooster crowing at sunrise or was it something else? Remember, Peter was warming himself by the enemies fire and he denied the Lord, the faith and the brotherhood in Luke 22:54-62 and the cock crowed. Then he went out and wept bitterly Luke 22:62, but it wasn’t day time yet when rooster’s normally crow.  There were four watches in the night; the evening watch 6-9 pm (opse); the midnight watch 9-12 am (mesos); the cockcrow watch 12-3 am; the morning watch3-6 am (proee). Many believe the ‘cockcrow watch’ sounds an alarm at 12 am and at 3 am, twice during his watch, at the beginning and end, which would fit Mark’s account.

Yeshua/Jesus also stated that Jerusalem would be destroyed in, Matt. 24:15-20;  Luke 21:20-24; Two sieges are in view in the ‘Olivet Discourse’ the one fulfilled in 70 ad by Titus and the other to be fulfilled at the end of the age. The difference is the ‘Abomination of Desolation’ in Matt. 24:15-20 and Mark 13:14-18 and the ‘Armies Surrounding Jerusalem’ in Luke 21:20-24. You need to take time to read these passages to get a better understanding of the differences between them. There are many other New Testament prophecies that have been fulfilled some we will see as we continue. However, there are innumerable New testament prophecies that are not yet fulfilled. John 14:3 for instance where Christ talked about His coming to receive us unto Himself. Matt. 24:15 & 21 where Christ speaks about the ‘Abomination of Desolation’ and the ‘Great Tribulation’ or the ‘Time of Jacob’s trouble.’ Or, Matt. 24:29-31 where Christ speaks of His coming in majesty and glory to reign on the earth. All these and many more are all in the future and the New Testament abounds with prophetic statements that await fulfillment. Not to mention the book of Revelation which is one giant prophetic event after the other and that is a study all by itself.

So, there are two basic areas of Biblical Prophecy in the Older Testament and the Newer Testament, ‘Fulfilled and Unfulfilled.’ The basic area of our blog will be ‘Unfulfilled’ in both Testaments, ‘That which has not come to pass as of yet.’ The accuracy of those that have been fulfilled, guarantees the accuracy of those yet to be fulfilled. This will allow us to view events of current history without alarm and face the future unafraid, and without fear, II Tim. 1:7. We may not know what the future holds, but we know Who holds the future. It has been said, “There are only three kinds of people in the world; Those who are afraid; Those who do not know enough to be afraid; And those who know their Bibles.” Unbelievers or those who have not put their full faith and trust in Israel’s Messiah for ‘Eternal Life’ should sense, as they study prophecy that His return is imminent. They should turn humbly and quickly to Him for salvation before it is too late and you can wait too long. I am not a big fan of the ‘Left Behind Series.’  However, I do believe if you hear the gospel and don’t receive “the love of the truth” you will be “Left Behind,” of that I am a big fan, but I hope no one is left behind. II Thess. 2:1-12, “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie.” So, until next time, we will see you, “…Between The Lines…”

“Survey of Bible Prophecy” – ‘Part #6’ – 4/8/13