Study – Grow – Know

Bible Warns of Apostasy and Persecution: Birth Pang 4B

March 17, 2016 at 9:04 AM 1 comment

Last time, we talked about the Northern Invasion coordinated and led by a guy with the title of “Gog” in Scripture (Ezekiel 38-39). We spoke of how God would plant an idea into Gog’s brain and Gog would think it was his idea. In all likelihood, he was probably thinking about it and wondering how he might pull it off for some time, but who knows? In truth, a guy in the future that the Bible assigns the title “Gog” to, will coordinate the efforts of numerous nations and seek to attack Israel when he thinks they least expect it.

What I find fascinating about this attempted invasion is that, according to Scripture, Gog and his troops get as far as the Mountains of Israel and then God steps in even before Israel has opportunity to rise to their own defense. Let’s look at the text with Ezekiel 38:18-23.

18 “And it will come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” says the Lord God, “that My fury will show in My face. 19 For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: ‘Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, 20 so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.’ 21 I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains,” says the Lord God. “Every man’s sword will be against his brother. 22 And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. 23 Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.”’

God plants the idea in Gog’s brain when Gog chooses to act on it by actually attacking Israel, God moves and quite swiftly too. Verse 19 notes that the first thing God does (after He becomes severely angry) is to bring about a “great earthquake” in Israel. This earthquake will be so large that according to verse 20, the fish, the birds, and the beasts of the field, along with all men will “shake at [God’s] presence.” If you stop to consider it, that will be an absolutely enormous earthquake! Essentially, every living thing either on land, sea, and even in the air will take notice of its occurrence.

The end of verse 20 says that “the mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.” Again, wow at the immense nature of this future earthquake behemoth! I don’t believe God is using hyperbole or metaphors here either. I believe He is describing the results of this gargantuan earthquake. Again, what happens?

• mountains thrown down
• steep places shall fall
• every wall shall fall

That’s huge! But this is also why I believe that this earthquake occurs prior to the start of the Tribulation. Consider the fact that if all mountains will be knocked down, steep places and walls will fall, what do you think that means for the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa mosques that currently sit atop the Temple Mount area? If the earthquake described is as large as the Bible indicates, then clearly anything that is standing on the Temple Mount before the earthquake will also be affected and will likely not be standing after the earthquake is over, right?

What I’m describing is a potential scenario. Remember that I mentioned that some scholars believe that the Northern Invasion will not occur before the Tribulation and others believe the Northern Invasion is the same event as Armageddon, which occurs at the end of the Tribulation. I could be wrong about the timing. I’m simply saying that if the Northern Invasion occurs before the Tribulation, then in all likelihood, the two mosques that are currently residing on the Temple Mount area will no longer be standing.

If this happens – flattening these mosques and everything else that this massive earthquake touches – then obviously, the way is cleared for the Jewish people of Israel to build their third Jewish Temple, otherwise known as the Tribulation Temple. This will be the very same Temple that the Antichrist goes into at the midway point of the Tribulation (the “middle of the week,” 2 Thessalonians 2) where he declares himself to be God.

[Antichrist] opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, and as a result he takes his seat in God’s temple, displaying himself as God (2 Thessalonians 2:4).

In reality, some way, some how, the path will be cleared for a new Jewish Temple to be built on the Temple Mount at some future point. The Antichrist will duplicate what Antiochus Epiphanes IV did in 168 BC, but with a slight twist. Those who refuse to worship him as God will be dealt with harshly, by execution. Revelation provides the background for this as well as the second “beast,” the False Prophet who will direct attention toward the first “beast,” the Antichrist.

In fact, this False Prophet (or second beast) is pretty important to the first beast (Antichrist) in Scripture. Here is Revelation 13:15.

15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

We need to remember that during the Tribulation, Satan will be given permission to attempt to create a counterfeit Trinity. Satan as the “Father,” Antichrist as “the Son,” and the False Prophet as the “Holy Spirit.” This is why the False Prophet plays such a large role, however, if we look carefully, we’ll note that his role is to direct attention not to himself, but to the Antichrist.

There are those who see a far more allegorical interpretation of Scripture regarding Paul’s words in 2 Thessalonians 2:4. They understand that Paul’s words are spiritual in that he is referencing how Satan takes his “seat” in the heart of people redirecting their attention away from God and onto things. This cannot be what Paul meant though because there is nothing here that indicates Paul was using figures of speech, metaphors, or allegory. In fact, it is very likely that Paul had several passages from the Old Testament in mind, among them Daniel 9:27. While I fully realize that some refer to the Greek verbiage in an attempt to show that Paul used a different Greek word for “temple” than did Jesus. But in reality, in most languages there are numerous words that have similar meanings that can be used to describe the same thing. We call them synonyms. Just because Paul did not use the exact same Greek word for “temple” that Jesus did does not mean that he did not mean the same thing.

Paul may also be intending a double meaning here. Many to most people today – including many in churches – worship things or people that are not God. While it is very possible that this coming Antichrist will take a physical seat in the physically recreated Temple of the Tribulation period, it is also very clear he will spiritually usurp God in the hearts of most. The incident of seating himself in the Holy of Holies will simply be a personal act that signifies to the world what they already likely believe. A careful reading of the earlier verses in Revelation 13 provides enough information for us to understand that prior to seating himself in the Holy of Holies, the world is already following him in worshipful wonder.

3 One of the beast’s heads appeared to have been killed, but the lethal wound had been healed. And the whole world followed the beast in amazement; 4 they worshiped the dragon because he had given ruling authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast too, saying: “Who is like the beast?” and “Who is able to make war against him?” (Revelation 13:3-4)

It is later on in the chapter – v. 15 – after the second beast (False Prophet) arrives on the scene that a new law is set up whereby anyone who refuses to worship the first beast (Antichrist) will be slain.

Nonetheless, the Northern Invasion is scheduled to happen at some point in the future. We don’t know when, but I believe it will occur prior to the start of the Tribulation period for reasons stated in this article and the previous one.

We’ll move onto the next Birth Pang #5, a one-world government. See you then!

Entry filed under: christianity, Cultural Marxism, Emotional virtue, israel, Judaism, Religious - Christian - End Times, Religious - Christian - Prophecy, Religious - Christian - Theology, salvation, second coming, temple mount. Tags: antichrist, ezekiel 38-39, false prophet, first beast, northern invasion, revelation 13, russia and allied invasion of israel, second beast.