The Rise of the Antichrist

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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.

Jesus and the Pharisees: from Luke 15:1-7

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This is our twenty-ninth study. Please click HERE for an introduction to this study.

Luke 15:1-7

Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Observations

In this parable the Pharisees though that the sinner had to seek God and His forgiveness—to earn the right to be in His presence. But God turns it all around. He is the one who reaches out to the sinner, to befriend the sinner in order to save him. God loves every one of his created ones, even those who are not yet found (saved).

Application

We all have a lot of work to do to bring the lost back into the fold. We must do whatever it takes to bring them to salvation. We must be a friend to them.

Earnest Prayer: a study of the greek word agonizomai

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Stephen Nielsen's avatarPrayer A to Z

Agonizomai.  This word means to struggle, to wrestle with, to contend or compete with an adversary.  In Colossians 1:28-29 we see that Paul labored and struggled (agonizomai) with all the energy of God, which was working (energeo) in him, to admonish and teach everyone with all wisdom, with the goal to present everyone perfect in Christ.  So here, whereas some people struggle just with their own personal problems, Paul struggled and worked (with the power of God behind him) in behalf of others. 

And we can believe that, as he struggled to admonish and teach, the real struggle was with the devil (Eph. 6:10-13), and his weapon against him was prayer.  For this reason, we can say that earnestness in prayer is working and struggling in prayer (by the mighty power of God) against the forces of evil.  And we do it with the goal…

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Work Vs. Welfare: America Needs to Be Working

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I grew up with a good work ethic. My Dad was a farmer and his dad was a farmer. On my mom’s side her dad was a house painter. Now I’m a house painter. I can truthfully say, I’m most happy when I’m working.

I have been reading Beyond Biden, by Newt Gingrich. He has a few chapters on this subject of work and welfare. I will just give you the sections that I highlighted.

  • Historically, America has been on the side of earned freedom, and the heart of that is work.
  • We need to help poor people learn how to get a job, and to get better and better jobs.
  • Benjamin Franklin: “It is the working man who is the happy man. It is the idle man who is a miserable man.”
  • The left (the socialists) wants to make poor people comfortable in poverty. They are willing to pay you more to do nothing than you can earn by going to work. Why? Because they want you to be dependent on the government. They want to control you.
  • Welfare teaches you to learn how to get money rather than how to earn money. They want you to find out all the ways that the government will pay you to stay home. They want you to find all the ways to get free money. Unfortunately, this welfare mentality creates a growing sickness of theft and corruption. For example, in the recent COVID bailout distributions in California, an estimated $31 billion was stolen from the unemployment compensation program.
  • Nationwide, during the COVID crisis $400 billion in tax dollars is now in the hands of criminals. But the sad thing about this is that they think they are just being smart or thrifty.
  • A culture that teaches people to get money without effort teaches a culture of indolence, poverty, and that looks for others to take care of them. But a culture of work leads to a constant search for learning and self-improvement.
  • Remember this adage? “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
  • When people come to expect something for nothing, it leads them to indolence. When they are used to getting something for nothing and have been reassured that they deserve the money just for being alive, many of them begin to believe it. Then they become aggressive in demanding money.

America is now on the brink of a decaying culture that demands to be taken care of without going to work.

The Ezekiel Invasion

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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.

Jesus and the Pharisees: from Luke 14:1-6

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This is our twenty-eighth study. Please click HERE for an introduction to this study.

Luke 14:1-6

One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. 2 There in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. 3 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”  4 But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him away.

5 Then he asked them, “If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?”  6 And they had nothing to say.

Observations

The Pharisees were much too rigid and legalistic in their Sabbath laws. Jesus wanted them to know that the Sabbath was made to help people not to restrict them. So He gave them an example of what to do if something came up: if an ox or a son falls in a well on the Sabbath.

Application

In our dealings with people, take time to explain why things are so; don’t just say that the bible says so.

Earnest Prayer: a study of the Greek word energeo

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Stephen Nielsen's avatarPrayer A to Z

Energeo.  We said earlier that earnestness, by the word ektenos, conveyed the idea of not relaxing in effort.  Well, energeo carries on that idea but goes further.  Energeo brings the idea of work being efficient, effective and productive.  In prayer our earnestness is effective for only one reason—because God is helping us.  He is the one who puts earnestness in us, and helps our prayers to be productive.  He works His power in us so that whatever effort we make in prayer, that work becomes effective—so that it will bring answers to our prayers.  But more than that, when He works in us by His mighty power—as He is putting His own earnestness into our prayers—He will bring things into our life that far exceed what we ever thought of asking for (Eph. 3:20).

Elijah was a great example of one who prayed with true earnestness—earnestness that was effective. …

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Update: Time off, Reading, Writing, Publishing

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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. 

Setting Up a New Global Religion

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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 Start Of 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 into it. 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.

Jesus and the Pharisees: from Luke 13:31-33

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This is our twenty-seventh study. Please click HERE for an intro to this study.

Luke 13:31-33

31 At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.”

32 He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ 33 In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day — for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!

Observations

The Pharisees were not being kind to Jesus by warning Him of Herod. As John MacArthur noted in his bible notes, “They hoped the threat of violence from Herod would either silence Him or drive him back to Judea.” Jesus’ comment of “that fox,” was a bold statement of fact and indicated that Herod was crafty. The Pharisees were probably astonished at His boldness. As for Jesus, He was not at all intimidated by Herod or slowed down in His mission.

Application

We ought to be steadfast in our  ministry like Jesus, willing to continue regardless of the threats of the world.