We can’t be sure when the Antichrist will be Satan inspired to the point where he will know who he is and what he will do; but it seems to me that when he begins to work toward world peace, and especially peace with Israel, that that may be the point at which Satan starts to inspire him in his thinking. We know that he won’t be fully possessed and controlled until the midpoint of the Tribulation, but it could be that for a time, at certain points along the way that he will be Satan inspired, even if he is not fully aware of what Satan will want him to do. Here are a few ways in which he will demonstrate world peace and peace with Israel.
1. After the Rapture he may try to comfort the world by bringing a logical explanation of the disappearances. And he will no doubt agree with the top new agers.
2. He will bring a hearty endorsement of the new global religion, and this will be seen as the best way to draw people together in peace.
3. He may take credit for Israel’s success over the Muslim’s failed invasion of Israel in an effort to move the world toward him as a hero and as Israel’s champion. We don’t know how he will manage this, but with today’s fake news in the media, we know that any evil thing is possible.
4. He will make plans and put himself in charge of building the third temple. This will most certainly stir the hearts of most Israelis and they will see him as a hero of peace for Israel and for the world.
I think the signing of the 7-year peace covenant will certainly be tied to his promise to help Israel build their temple. And I think it will guarantee a peace for Israel as they reinstate their worship in the temple without Muslim conflict.
Now we know that the peace plan will be broken in the middle of the week (after three and one-half years), but nonetheless, all that this man will do in terms of world peace for Israel and for the world will be a sign that the beginning of the Tribulation is coming soon; and as soon as he signs that peace agreement, that will be the beginning point of the Tribulation (Dan. 9:27).
Even before the Rapture of the church—which will come before his ultimate rise to power—the Antichrist will be a man fully engaged in the military. We see this about him in Daniel 11:37-38; it says that “he will honor a god of fortresses.” In fact, it also says that “he will honor him [his military god] with gold, silver, costly stones and treasures”—which means that he will spare no expense in financing his military might.
We also know that he will at some point rise to power in the government; and ultimately it will be the government of the E. U. I say that because of what it says in Daniel 9:26. In that verse, “the prince who is to come” is referring to the Antichrist; and “the people of the prince” are the Romans, the ones who destroyed the city and the sanctuary—which already happened in A.D. 70. Therefore, this passage is prophesying that the Roman people (which is part of the E.U.) will have a prince, and this prince will be the Antichrist.
We don’t know for sure when it will all come about, but we know that there will be ten kings with ten kingdoms that will be set up in the E. U. It is my guess that he will be totally engaged in that work, so much so that he will have no time for a normal life; for as Daniel 11:37 says, “And he will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will magnify himself above them all.”
He probably won’t be fully convinced in himself that he is God (2 Thess. 2:4) until Satan possesses him at the midpoint of the Tribulation. However, I imagine that he will be demonized before that time, to the point that he will have no time for anyone else except himself; and he will more and more believe that he alone will fix the problems of the world.
In addition to government and military business, he will make it his business to aid and encourage those religious leaders who will be setting up a new global religion. For I think he will see how all the world is being influenced by the new religion and he will see that he must jump on that bandwagon to be effective himself.
In fact, Scripture (Rev. 17:2-3) seems to indicate that he and all the world leaders will be influenced and taken in with her false teaching, to the point that she (the harlot, which is the name given to the false religion) will control him. But soon, when he is given full power by Satan, he will destroy her.
Shortly after the rapture of the church, and after the Ezekiel war (Ezek. 38-39), he will find his opportunity to focus on world peace.
There are many scholars who believe that the Ezekiel invasion (Ezek. 38-39) happens during the Tribulation. But other scholars take the view that it will happen either before the Rapture or between the Rapture and the Tribulation. I believe, with Ron Rhrodes and Thomas Ice, that it will probably occur just after the Rapture and will set the stage for the signing of the peace covenant with Israel and the Tribulation.
As it is given to us by the prophecy of Ezekiel, God calls out Gog, who is probably a demonic inspired Russian leader; and He summons him, with all the nations under him, to invade the small country of Israel. The countries that come under his command are these:
Russia (called in Ezekiel Rosh)
Turkey (called Meshech and Tubal and Gomer and Beth-togarmah)
Iran (called Persia)
Sudan (Ethiopia)
And there will also be “many people with you” (I think this terminology suggests that non-military people will come with all the troops to join in the battle).
Scripture says that God will call them into battle at a time when Israel will be living securely ((Ezek. 38:8, 11-12, 14)—which is now. And these nations will cover the land of Israel “like a cloud” (v. 16). This suggests that they will completely cover the land; in fact, verse 15 says, many people, a great assembly and a mighty army will come. They will probably have tanks and trucks, and helicopters and planes, and some may even be on horseback. There will be millions of them that will come to do battle.
Hence, it appears that God will draw them in, in order to bring His four-fold judgement on them at this chosen time and place (Ezek. 38:19-22).
A great earthquake.Though this quake will be great, Scripture indicates that it will be local to the land of Israel. All living creatures and all men (in that region) will shake at His presence; and the mountains and every wall will be thrown down.
Infighting.Verse twenty-one tells us that God will “call for a sword against him [Gog]…Every man’s sword will be against his brother.” Hence, it appears that God will so confuse them that all communication will breakdown and no one will know who the enemy is. This strange phenomenon, as you may know, happened a few times before in Jewish history, where each time it was the Lord’s doing (Judg. 7:22; 1 Sam. 14:20; and 2 Chron. 20:23).
Disease. Because of all the dead bodies, and because of so many birds and animals feasting on them, this will cause on outbreak of disease.
Heavy rain, hail, fire and brimstone.This final judgment will be most devastating. The skies will pour down heavy rain and hail so hard that it will kill. And the sky will also rain down fire and burning sulfur; this may be from volcanic eruptions caused by the great earthquake.
As I mentioned above, it is likely that the invasion, along with God’s judgment on the invading nations, will occur just after the Rapture of the church. And for the following reasons, that will set that stage for the signing of the peace covenant with Israel and the beginning of the Tribulation.
1. Since almost all Muslims will be wiped out by God’s judgment, this will open the door to a more peaceful, or at least compliant, interaction with them. Since their power and influence will be limited, it will be likely that Israel will dominate the holy sites and will have no trouble building their third temple on the temple mount.
2. Since the soon-to-be-Antichrist will probably reside somewhere in the E. U. and will be one of those who will question the invasion (read Ezek. 38:13), this will put him in a good position, after the failed invasion. In fact, he may claim that he had something to do with it.
3. This Antichrist, who by this time will be a great leader, will take advantage of the situation and will make great friends with Israel; and he will make to them great promises of peace—all fake promises.
It’s that time of year when I see muskrats on the lakes.
Time Off
I’m getting over a month off from my painting work. I’m loving it! I feel I deserve some days off after forty years in the business. Painting is hard work, especially those ceilings. Today I’m getting my hair cut and meeting with my son at Olive Garden to celebrate his birthday and just to see him.
Reading Beyond Biden
This book, by Newt Gingrich is quite good and well documented. He is so smart and really on top of things—for his age. It’s nice to have a book like this to get accurate information about what’s happening in America and what we need to do about it. I’m learning so much about wokeism and related subjects. Newt also Has a lot to say about getting people back to work and off of welfare. And you know, he did that when he was the Speaker.
My New Book: The Tribulation
As is always the case, I learn so much by writing. I am really enjoying writing this book. I work on it every day—about forty-fiver minutes a day. In this book on the Tribulation, I am concentrating only on what I know to be true from the bible, and will focus on the Tribulation itself—that is, all the suffering of the seals, the trumpets, and the bowls. I am not going to worry about the order of things or to spend much time on things I don’t understand. I am just going to emphasize strongly those things that are clearly laid out in Scripture; and that the Tribulation is definitely coming soon for whose who are not saved!
Publishing
I’m a self-publisher and I suppose that’s the way it will stay. But I’ve been thinking lately that I need to make some changes. I love writing, but I hate all aspects of publishing; selling, marketing, all of it. So, I have been praying hard on it and looking over all my options. There are so many self-publishing companies I could use, or to do it myself. I’m feeling quite upset over it all and need to calm down and trust the Lord. He reminded me two days ago of a verse, Romans 8:32: “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things.” A wonderful verse. God gave His Son to die for me. How will He not also give me all things. That is, God will certainly give me everything that He wants me to have, everything that is good—good for His purposes and also good for me. So, if I keep trusting Him and follow His will, He will set me up with whatever He wants me to do as far as all this publishing nonsense. Oh, I still have a bad attitude about it. Hopefully, He will change that too.
I am well on my way through my book, The Tribulation (no subtitle yet). What I have written here (below) was for the first chapter; I wrote that a while ago. I’m actually on the third chapter now—on the different personalities in the Tribulation. And I’m learning as I go. Well anyway, pray for me in my writing and stay tuned. I will be submitting these bible prophecy posts about once a week.
Setting Up a New Global Religion
After the Rapture of the Church and Leading up to the Tribulation, along with the frenzied effort made to set up a new global government, there will also be an urgent effort to establish a new global religion. In fact, from the start, the new government and the new religion will work together as one. Though the Antichrist and the new false religious system (called the harlot in Scripture) are constantly struggling against each other and using each other, they will find a way to work together.
And though we are saying that this new global religion is new, it is essentially quite ancient. In some respects, it will be new, being made up of all the false religions of the world, but its base will be the ancient mystery Babylon religion, which began with Nimrod (the grandson of Ham) at the tower of Babel.
This false, Satanic religion of idol worship began at Babylon but quickly spread over the earth. And even as Abraham was called by God to leave his pagan country in order to establish a new God-believing nation, they too were eventually overcome by this Babylonian religion—as was the cause of their captivity in 586 B. C.
In 539 B. C., Babylon was destroyed; but Satan found a way to keep the religion going. The cultic high-priest, with his followers, fled to Pergamos and then to Italy where the ancient cult was eventually established in Rome. Beginning with Julius Caesar, the Roman emperors shared their power with the Babylonian chief priests; and then, tragically, under Constantine the Great, the devil began working to corrupt the church, as many pagan idolatrous practices became part of the Catholic/Christian religion.
In my observation, some Catholic churches have managed to be somewhat Christian; but on the whole I think the Catholic church has remained the same—embedded in idolatry. Nonetheless, whatever you think, as soon as the Rapture occurs, we will see it as it really is. That is, we will see its ancient roots. And I believe we will see it as Revelation 17 describes it: BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS.
I think the Roman Catholic Church will probably be the center of influence and control; however, I think all other false religions will be attracted to it, and will unite together as one under the False Prophet and the Antichrist.
It will certainly be strange to see this false religion rise up and to present itself as a true and holy religion, with the Antichrist declaring himself as God (2 Thess. 2:4). The places of worship will no doubt be beautiful and appealing, and the religious leaders may put on a great show of spirituality and power. But to all who find true salvation in that day, if they are fill with His Spirit, they will be able to see the evil powers at work and to see the pride and arrogance of the false teachers and their murderous hatred toward Christians.
However, just after the Rapture, there won’t be any believers; and so, this will be the time when the doctrine of demons (1 Tim. 4:1-3) will take hold and when many are corrupted by evil teaching. This evil corruption will be the devil’s preparation for his new false religion.
The world’s leaders will be the first to go, and then with their insistence and example, they will cause the world to follow them into corruption and harlotry.
We don’t know how long it will take before this new false religion is fully developed and when it’s official beginning will be, but whenever that is, I think it will coincide with the signing of the peace covenant with Israel. And that will be the actual beginning of the Tribulation. Here are …
Five Factors That May Contribute to The Official StartOf the New Global Religion
1. I think it may start just after the Ezekiel 38 and 39 war.This makes perfect sense to me, because since that war will eliminate most of radical Islam, that will conveniently open the door to a peaceful start, as well as to open the way to begin building the third temple.
2. It will begin as soon as the harlot and the beast discover that they can work together.We know from Scripture that there will be conflict, but we also know that they will learn to work together and support each other for the good of the new evil kingdom.
3. It will begin as soon as its leaders and sits evil system are in place.
4. It will begin as soon as all nations and all religions are united and committed to the new global religion.We don’t know exactly how this commitment and willingness will occur, but we may conclude that it will be either by force or by allurement—or by a combination of the two.
5. It will start when all the world leaders and all the people are beginning to be absorbed intoit.When this drawing of the people begins to happen, the official start will be imminent; and you will see a movement of the nation heads toward the peace table to witness the signing of the peace covenant with Israel.
I am writing a book now on THE TRIBULATION. I have written the first chapter entitled Leading Up to the Tribulation, and I presented six points: 1) Dealing With, Or Not Dealing With The Aftershocks Of The Rapture; 2) Setting Up A Global Government; 3) Seeing The Beginnings Of A New Global Religion; 4) The Ezekiel Invasion; 5) The Rise Of The Antichrist; and 6) World Peace, Temple Preparation And The Peace Covenant.
I will be blogging these points as I go. Here is point number two.
SETTING UP A GLOBAL GOVERNMENT
As the world tries to deal with the aftershocks of the Rapture, key leaders of many countries will begin to meet together to find global solutions. And we know, according to Scripture, that the world will come to a unified agreement on the establishment of a new global government—as well as a new global religion. It is likely, however, though many ideas will be discussed and agreed upon, that the new government won’t actually begin until the commencement of the signing of the peace accord with Israel, which will mark the beginning of the Tribulation.
There is no way of knowing the details of what will be discussed when the key leaders come together, but the topic of a new global government will probably be the most immediate. Under this major topic they will likely discuss and seek to make decisions on a global currency, the form of government and controls of the government.
It seems that the world has already made huge strides with currencies, or with many new methods of payment, especially with credit cards and also by bank transfers. I don’t see that there will be any problems with converting to a global currency or maybe with on credit card used by all.
As far as the government itself, most bible scholars agree that the new world government will be a revived Roman Empire. Biblical proof of this is taken from three Daniel passages.
Daniel 2:32-40. This passage gives us the familiar story of king Nebuchadnezzars’ dream and Daniel’s interpretation of it. He saw in his dream a huge statue of a man with a head of gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron and feet of both iron and clay. Along with Daniel’s recognition of the four different world kingdoms, scholars now recognize these kingdoms as such: the head of gold as Babylon, the silver breast and arms as Medo-Persia, the belly and thigh of bronze as Greece, and the iron legs and feet as Rome.
Our focus in these last days are on that forth empire of Rome, and particularly on the feet which, in the dream, were made of a mixture of iron and clay. The strong legs of iron we reason represents the early historic Rome, and the feet represents the revived future Rome. And we must take note that since the feet are of that mixture, that the coming revived Roman empire will be somewhat weaker than the early Rome.
Daniels 2:41-42. From these verses the writer of Daniel does not say that there are ten toes on the feet of the statute, but we can make that assumption. Hence, we may surmise that the ten toes symbolize the same as the ten horns of the fourth beast of Daniel 7:24, which, as we are told, represents ten kings—ten kings that are in our future and which will be a part of the future Roman empire.
Daniel 9:26. In this verse we see a timeline of events from the Messiah’s death to the beginning of the Tribulation. Our focus is now on the phrase “and the people of the prince who is to come.” “The prince” here refers not to Jesus but to the Antichrist, the “he” in verse 27. “The people” of the prince are the Romans, because, according to history, they destroyed “the city and the sanctuary” (Jerusalem and the temple).
So, we see from this passage that the Romans are called “the people of the prince,” which are the people of the Antichrist. Hence, this gives us proof that the Romans will be revived during the days of the Antichrist.
Now besides this evidence of the Revived Roman Empire, there is also evidence that its government headquarters will be located in the European Union. Here are…
Seven Reasons why the European Union will becomeThe Revived Roman Empire
1. The EU has the dimensions of an empire in the same area of the old Roman Empire.The EU presently has 28 countries and it has the goal of enlisting a total of 50 countries, including North Africa, North and South America, and Israel.
2. The EU has a power structure that will work for the Antichrist.They have a federalist ideology that is divided between a strong undemocratic central authority and individual units. Hence, it would be very easy for them to give way to a dictatorship and also to set up ten main divisions of power—which will happen in the Revived Roman Empire under the Antichrist (Dan. 2:41-42; 7:24; Rev. 17:12).
3. The EU is preparing its people for the Antichrist. In the last few years, they have been using devious means to make the nation states less autonomous, less powerful, and more willing to be controlled by a central leader.
4. The EU has a goal to unite the world in peace.This goal fits well with what the Antichrist will accomplish during the first few months of his reign.
5. The EU has peaceful plans for Israel. It is in their plans to offer Israel free trade, protection and peace. This Israeli friendship may be the key element confirming the EU as the Revived Roman Empire.
6. The EU’s conflicts of authority. we are seeing a growing problem in the EU between the central power and the weaker national powers. It seems to me that the conflicts have to do with allowing too many people of different cultures to enter their countries without properly vetting them. In any event, this problem matches well with what we see in Daniel 2:431-43: the problem with the iron and the clay.
7. There are some reports that the EU is moving closer to a ten-nation federation. The ten toes and the ten king’s prophecy are coming into view.
It is my opinion that there will be a few years between the Rapture and the Tribulation in order to set up everything that is needed for the seven-year Tribulation. Of course, we know that God can do anything in His wisdom to make things work according to His plans. And so, He can fix it so that the Tribulation will start immediately after the Rapture if He chooses. However, it seems more logical to me that there will be a period of time between the Rapture and the Tribulation. In my next few posts we will look at six events that I think will take place before the Tribulation—things that I think will need to happen before the signing of the peace covenant, which will mark the beginning of the Tribulation. The first is…
Dealing with the Aftershocks of the Rapture
During the first few days, weeks and even months after the Rapture people will be too shocked and saddened to do much of anything. Disturbing emotions of fear will be common. Many will have no idea what happened—why so many have disappeared. Some will just sit in their homes in shock. Others will go for long walks to try to figure out what happened. Hopefully, a few will turn to God in prayer and find salvation.
Along with fear there will be panic, anger and sadness. The grief and sadness will probably come first over the loss of loved ones, especially over missing children; all young children will be discovered as missing. Before long anger and panic will set in, especially at God for allowing whatever happened to happen.
Who knows how long these troubling emotions will last? For those who have more earthly treasures and large families, their suffering will be the worst.
After the most immediate effects of the Rapture are experienced, the next consequence may be rioting and looting. More than likely, only the worst types (thugs and criminals) will engage in this behavior; but there will probably be enough of them to overwhelm the police so that the National Guard will need to be called out. It is my guess that this kind of behavior will continue for some time, since all Christians will be absent.
We can’t foresee how much of an institutional collapse there will be; but undoubtedly, law enforcement, hospitals and the military will be stretched to the limit and put under a great strain.
Also, with true Christians being noticeably absent, I think the world will definitely see a moral collapse like never before. People everywhere will undergo a kind of panic of not knowing who to turn to for help. But the most wayward ones will probably be glad in the Rapture, knowing that they will be freer to do evil—and so lawlessness will increase on the earth.
Click on the picture above to see a YouTube: a 3D animation of Ezekiel’s temple, showing all the measurements.
In Ezekiel 43:7 it says,
And He said to me, “Son of man, this [the millennial temple] is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever. NASB
When I first read this I was a little confused. If the temple in the millennium is built with earthly building materials like iron and concrete and wood, etc., how can it last forever? And besides, if after the millennium the earth is destroyed and God creates a new heaven and new earth, how can the millennial temple then still exist?—unless God pulls it from the earth and then sets it back down on the new earth. Well then, if He can do that, He will have no problem…
Reading in Job this morning, I ran across an interesting passage: Job 27:16-17 (my thoughts mainly on verse 17). It reads…
Though he [the wicked] heaps up silver like dustand clothes like piles of clay,17 what he lays up the righteous will wear,and the innocent will divide his silver. NIV
Adam Clark says of verse 17:
Money is God’s property. “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord; ” and though it may be abused for a time by unrighteous hands, God, in the course of his providence, brings it back to its proper use; and often the righteous possess the inheritance of the wicked.
Another verse that says something similar is Proverbs 13:22. It says…
A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children,but the sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous. RSV
There is a man that I, for many years, have regarded highly for his knowledge of the bible and his doctrine. But recently I have discovered how he believes in future things. To me his eschatology is wrong. And because of that I have been sulking. I feel so disappointed in him. How can such a brilliant man be so wrong on this—not to believe in the rapture of the church?
I heard a 45-minute sermon by him on Daniel 9:24-27. He took it bit by bit, and he explained the pre-tribulation rapture view perfectly; and then, in just a few minutes, rejected it and taught his preterist view. He just couldn’t except that there is a gap of time between the 69th and 70th week. And he gave the lamest reasons. And then he preceded to cut down the rapture view and said that it all started in 1830 by someone’s vision. You may be aware of all the stories.
But since my great disappointment, and after much prayer, I have come to except that he is just a man who, like us all, is not perfect. And though I think he is wrong with his eschatology (and I try to keep an open mind), he is still very brilliant in his knowledge of the bible and a true believer. And like most scholars his age (he died in 1981), he just missed some of the best teaching on the pre-tribulation rapture. And I do believe that all those who were great scholars of the 1700s and 1800s didn’t hear too much about the rapture either.
But just because a doctrine comes late doesn’t mean that it is wrong. The belief in the rapture is fairly new, yet we believe that it is a correction of the error that the church has had for centuries. I think the apostle Paul has given us a good explanation of the rapture. But it is too bad that just a couple centuries later it was explained away by allegorical views.
But thank God, errors in eschatology will not disqualify a person for salvation. Though some will miss the joy of expecting Him, we who are believers will all meet together in the air before Him—regardless of how we believed.
