Study – Grow – Know

Moving Toward Peace and Safety Ultimately Means Destruction, Part 3

November 19, 2015 at 7:50 AM 5 comments

While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

Paul brings it home for us in no uncertain terms in the above text. We are moving toward a time when global leaders will champion the alleged fact that the world will have achieved what they will term “peace and safety.” Certainly, we would do well to ask at what cost? More importantly though, Paul tells us pointedly that this peace and safety will be nothing more than a facade with no foundation to the claims. In fact, as noted above, Paul tells us that leaders will no sooner start bragging about what they believe is peace and safety when the bottom will fall out entirely.

This marks the midpoint of the Tribulation period, three and a half years into the final “week” or seven years (Daniel 9:27). It is at this point that the Tribulation becomes what Jesus calls the Great Tribulation because of its ferocity and unprecedented evil that will be unleashed on the earth. These will be severely trying times for everyone on planet earth then.

In the middle of His Olivet Discourse, Jesus tells the crowd the tone of the times at the end of this age.

“For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will, (Matthew 24:21).

The beginning of this great tribulation will occur immediately following the Abomination of Desolation that Jesus spoke about in previous verses. Jesus also referred back to Daniel in doing so and you can read about it there in Daniel 9:27 and also in Daniel 8 and 11. These sections talk of a coming man of sin (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2) who will defile the rebuilt Jewish temple by doing as Antiochus Epiphanes IV did in 168 BC. As Epiphanes defiled the Holy of Holies and essentially proclaimed himself to be a god, the final man of sin or Antichrist will replicate that same abomination. Once he does this, the Jews living during that time will understand they’ve been had will run for the hills or be slaughtered.

But prior to this coming time of unleashed hell on earth, global leaders will announce that the world will have reached a time of unprecedented peace and safety. The recently departed Jack Kelley of Grace Thru Faith talks about this very event. Kelley paints an interesting picture, based on what he sees in Scripture.

He notes that an upcoming event will occur and have global ramifications for every person on earth. That event – the Rapture of the Church – will create cataclysmic changes on earth. Imagine if you can, 20, 30, 40 million or more – who knows what the actual number will be considering there are over 7 billion people living on earth now – people suddenly gone without a trace! Imagine what that will create in this world.

The effects of this celestial kidnapping will be immediately apparent and leave a world in complete disarray. I’ve written about this before and so have others. In fact, this belief is not simply part of what the Church celebrates. This teaching has also been part of the New Age movement with people like Barbara Marciniak and others teaching a type of “rapture” event they’ve called The Great Evacuation since at least the 1950s. They teach that at some point in the future, upwards of 20 million people will be gone in the twinkling of an eye. Of course, in their scenario, they say these people are being “vacuumed” up to waiting space craft that will take them to other planets where they can take the time needed to “mature” and “evolve” because their presence on earth is keeping Mother Earth from evolving to the next spiritual level.

Imagine how leaders will scramble after this coming Rapture. They will do their best to calm everyone, telling them that the people taken were the malcontents who kept the earth from evolving. Now that those malcontents are gone, the real progress on the earth can begin. Real leadership will be needed at this point and one man – the Antichrist – will rise from the rubble. To many, he will certainly seem like a god. His powers of persuasion will be beyond the scale of the most charismatic person on the earth. People will willingly follow him.

Kelley also believes that the incidence of Marian apparitions will also increase during this time and will serve to convince people that this Antichrist is the real Christ. Kelley rightly points out that as Jesus stated, the deception will be so strong and complete that even the elect would be fooled if that were possible (it’s not). That says something, doesn’t it?

But think of how quickly global leadership can move to fully ensnare global society after the Rapture occurs, leaving the world in absolute chaos. Fortunately – for the elite – there will be many things already in place that they can use to help corral global society. But imagine how restrictive this future society will be in the name of “peace and safety.”

Like Jack Kelley, I also believe that the Northern Invasion highlighted in Ezekiel 38-39 will occur after the Rapture, but before the Tribulation. It could very well be one of the events that helps create the needed chaos for the final man of sin (2 Thessalonians 2) to rise to the top of the heap, so to speak. If you take the time to read through these two chapters in Ezekiel, there is plenty of mayhem, death, and destruction as troops of various nations gather under Gog’s leadership in an attempt to attack Israel. All of that mayhem, death, and destruction is precipitated by God Himself long before Israel even knows what’s happening.

So if we consider the fact that the Rapture and this Northern Invasion likely occur before the start of the Tribulation, it would seem that a very intelligent, charismatic leader would be desperately needed at that point, someone who could pull the world together under his leadership (though at this point, he would ostensibly be speaking for the Global Elite). This would also put this same man in position to solve the biggest problem the world has ever faced – peace (or lack of it) in the Middle East! Imagine the chaos created from the Rapture. Then imagine the additional chaos created from the Northern Invasion.

But consider Israel’s response even though God just defeated their enemies in a mighty show of force. They then turn around and enter into a peace agreement with the Antichrist! Israel has done this repeatedly as we’ve seen in the Old Testament. In spite of God gaining them one victory after another, they eventually come to a point of ignoring God and making pacts with kings of other nations. They have repeatedly failed to rely solely on God for His salvation, His provision, and His victory. It will be no different in the future following the Rapture and the Northern Invasion. Though God will provide them with nothing short of a very miraculous victory over Gog and his gathered troops, it won’t be long when the Antichrist steps up and promotes a deal for peace that Israel’s leaders will not be able to ignore.

I believe the Antichrist will step up following Gog’s failed attempt to attack and conquer Israel because it will be a time when Israel will unfortunately see itself as vulnerable to world powers. Antichrist however, realizing that God gave them the victory, will rush into take advantage of their doubts. In essence, the world will be in shock at just how supernaturally Gog and his troops were defeated. There will be no other explanation for that defeat.

It is clear from Ezekiel 38-39 that Israel does not lift a finger to help itself. The world will be stunned, but Antichrist will take full advantage of the situation. Instead of cowering because of God’s great victory, Antichrist will rush in and seemingly come alongside Israel, helping them believe that he (Antichrist) is the guy who can make sure that no one even tries to attack Israel for the next seven years (cf. Daniel 9:27). Unfortunately, Israel’s leaders will gladly agree to this, proving to God that they have no faith in Him.

This covenant Israel enters into is really signing a deal with the literal devil – Satan himself – and this is the event that actually kicks off the Tribulation period. It is God saying, “Okay, my patience has run out and my wrath now begins to pour out on Israel and the world!”

As noted, Daniel 9:27 tells us that this coming Antichrist will actually bring a type of peace or something that is ballyhooed as peace to that region of the world for seven years (the final “week” of Daniel’s 70 weeks). Of course, the verse also points out that he destroys that peace in the middle of the “week” by creating the abomination of desolation.

And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.

Frankly, I really cannot imagine the world at this point. With the chaos created by the Rapture and the Northern Invasion, the world will be left spinning seemingly out of control. There will be many voices all claiming to have the answers. One man will rise above the rest and promise the world what it seeks – peace and safety. As stated, it will all be a mirage and will come tumbling down on the world like a building that pancakes to the ground in a controlled building demolition.

In the meantime, things are most certainly coming to a head as we’ll see in our next installment.

Entry filed under: christianity, eternity, Global Elite, ISIS, Islam, israel, Political Correctness, Politically Correct, Radical Islam, Religious - Christian - End Times, Religious - Christian - Prophecy, Religious - Christian - Theology, salvation, Shadow Government. Tags: daniel 9:27, daniel's 70 weeks, ezekiel 38-39, northern invasion, peace and safety, syrian refugees, terrorism, tribulation.