Prophecy Special - 9/11 - The Final Solution of God, No. 5

PS05

You must understand that what in the providence of God happened on 9/11 in the terrorist attacks has that as its objective--a new world order of socialism. In order to have peace and safety, the nations are seeking for the final solution, and they are being driven into each other's arms. That final solution is going to be one which excludes the Lord Jesus Christ, but which welcomes the strong man of the antichrist. He will lead in time to the world dictatorship, and he will prove himself to be a false prophet, and the Lord Jesus Christ will be rejected.

Even where Christ is mentioned today in public life, He is put on a plane with Muhammad; with Joseph Smith; and, with Buddha. He's just another one of the nice religious leaders. They're looking for the final solution, and they're being driven to it by the inexorable progress of the plan of God. Things are in control. The decree of God is being unraveled. Only a few people such as yourself are going to be privileged to know what is going on because you've taken the trouble to study Bible doctrine, so you know what God thinks. Do that now, and you will thank Him for all eternity.

God has revealed to the prophet Daniel that all of God's unconditional covenants (His promises) to Israel would be fulfilled in 490 years. This time period was to begin with the signing of the decree by the Persian King Artaxerxes Longimanus permitting the Jews to return from their Babylonian captivity, which had concluded its 70-year judgment, back to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls and to rebuild the temple. The date for the signing of that decree by Artaxerxes Longimanus was March 5th, 444 B.C. At the end of the 490 years, Daniel was told that the Jewish people would become the leading nation on the earth, ruled by the coming Messiah Savior over a world government from the city of Jerusalem. There is no question about that. That is where history is moving.

Three Stages of Jewish Prophecy

1. Stage one, Daniel was told, would be a period of seven weeks--a period of 49 years. We discover that every day represents one year. So seven weeks was a period of 49 years, during which time Jerusalem was reoccupied by the Jews returning from their Babylonian captivity. The walls were restored; the temple was rebuilt; and, the worship ceremonies resumed.
   
   
2. Then Daniel was told there would be a stage two. This would go for 62 weeks, or 434 years, during which time the national life of Israel was to be restored in the Promised Land, and things would come back to a normal day-by-day routine. This stage number two ended exactly on Palm Sunday, March 3rd, 33 A.D. This was the day when the Lord Jesus Christ made his formal presentation of himself as the Messiah Savior of Israel. As was predicted by Zachariah the prophet, He came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey which had never been ridden before. This officially announced that He had arrived to set up the kingdom.

   He came as "the Prophet," Israel's promised Messiah Savior, ready to set up the kingdom of heaven on this earth. The people welcomed him. They threw palm branches on the road as the donkey walked along. They shouted, "Hosanna" which means, "Save us. We pray." They were shouting this because they had in mind Psalm 118:25 which said that was exactly what they would do when the official presentation came. The religious leaders of Israel, however, rejected the Lord Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah Savior. They turned the people in Jerusalem against Him, and they had the Romans crucify Him on Wednesday of that week.

   On that Palm Sunday of rejection, the countdown of the 490 years to the fulfillment of all covenant promises stopped. 483 years had been fulfilled, but seven years were yet unfulfilled, at the end of which Christ would reign over all this earth. Those seven years have never been fulfilled. Daniel was told that at the end of the 483rd year (to the very day), the Lord Jesus Christ was to be cut off, and then nothing which rightfully belonged to Him as Messiah Savior was to be received by Him. He would not have the royal throne in the line of King David; He would not have His kingdom upon this earth ruling over all nations with the Jews as the leading nation of the world from the city of Jerusalem; and, He would not have recognition as the Savior, the redeemer of all mankind.

   The Lord Jesus Christ Himself was grieved as he sat outside the city after that entrance into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday (Matthew 23:37-39). The Lord Jesus Christ grieved over the terrible discipline that God would now bring upon the Jews because of their rejection of Him. In Matthew 23:37, Jesus says, "O, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. You were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate. For I say to you, from now on, you shall not see me until you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.'" The time is coming, while Israel now is out of fellowship with God; in rejection; and, under His discipline. The time will come when they will realize he was the Messiah Savior, and they will shout, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord" when he returns to this earth a second time.

   There is a period of time between the 69th and 70th week. The clock stopped at the 69th week. The seven years of the 70th week have not been fulfilled. That period of time now has been almost 2,000 years. It is the era of the church age. It ends at the rapture of the church when the church is called away into heaven. Israel has been temporarily set aside under the severe discipline of God until the church age is completed. The body of Christ is being made up of Jews and gentiles. There are no Jewish believers on this earth. There are no gentile believers on this earth. Once they are born again, they are Christians. That is what God is making--one body of the two--Christians to be the bride of Christ.

   Daniel 9:26, predicted that divine judgment would come upon the nation of Israel like a flood of water sweeping all away as the result of that Palm Sunday's rejection. This took place under the Roman General Titus in 70 A.D. when the city of Jerusalem was finally overrun. The Jewish people under the antichrist (the prince who is to come) will yet come as the final representative of the Roman Empire which is going to be put back together, and is indeed coming back together again today. During this period of the church age when Israel is dispersed in all nations, the Jews will suffer wars and desolation. Daniel 9:26: "Then after 62 weeks, the Messiah shall be cut off and have nothing. The people (the Romans) of the prince who is to come (the prince who is to come as the antichrist) will destroy the city and the sanctuary (in 70 A.D., they did exactly that), and to its end will come a flood (the end of Israel will come like a flood), even so, war and desolations are determined." This is suffering for Israel from then on--wars and desolation. What has been the history of the Jewish people? Exactly that.

3. Stage 3 of the 490 years is a period of one week, or seven years. This seven-year period will complete the 490 years to the arrival of the Messiah Savior, Jesus Christ, and the fulfillment of all of Israel's covenants resulting in world domination. The Bible calls this seven-year segment the tribulation. It will be the worst time on earth for mankind. I will lead you through that very briefly in the future. It's going to be horror beyond that of 9/11. But that too is a preview of coming disasters.

The Tribulation

However, after three-and-a-half years, in the middle of the seven-year tribulation period, the antichrist will break the treaty. He will turn upon Israel with satanic hatred because he is Satan indwelt, and he will demand that the Jews worship him as God. They will flee. The antichrist will move his headquarters from the city of Babylon to Israel between the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean Sea (Daniel 11:45).

Then comes the great double-cross in Daniel 9:27. In the middle of the week, he will put a stop to the sacrifice and to the grain offerings. The entire Levitical worship system, which has been resumed, will be terminated by the antichrist. The antichrist gains political power not only over the western nations that compose the Roman Empire. He has that at the beginning of the seven years. But once Russia and Egypt are out of the way, when God will bring destruction upon both of them, then there is a vacuum. The Antichrist becomes not only ruler over the western nation, but over the whole world. He is a supreme ruler. The antichrist will have his own religious system with the false prophet; they will assume control of religion in the tribulation period; and, they will establish a universal worship focused upon the antichrist.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 tells us about this: "Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come (the rapture of the church) unless the apostasy comes first (the falling away), and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction." Christ does not come back until apostasy comes in and the man of lawlessness, the antichrist, is revealed. He's also called the son of destruction. "Who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called God or object of worship, so that he takes a seat in the temple (the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem), displaying himself as being God."

Notice verses 5-12: "Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things, and you know what restrains him now so that his time may be revealed?" The restrainer is God the Holy Spirit which is in the church. When the church leaves, the presence of the Holy Spirit leaves with them (his local presence). But please remember that his omnipresence is still here. The Holy Spirit is still here, functioning, running things in the tribulation. The mystery of lawlessness is already upon us.

Verse 8: "The lawless one will reveal himself whom the Lord is going to slay." The antichrist is doomed. Verse 9: "His coming is in accordance with the activity of Satan: power; signs; and, wonders." How about that you charismatic people who love power, signs, and wonders? It never seems to occur to them that the greatest miracle worker ever, outside of the Lord Jesus Christ, is going to be this man, the antichrist, because of the power of Satan. Those are the miracles that you're here about today.

Bill Bright of Campus Crusade is always great for great crusades of one kind or another. He was telling an interviewer, who was interviewing about spiritual gifts, that he knew of a person that had been raised from the dead. He had heard of it someplace on the other side of the world. He had sent an agent and they said, "Yes, this person was dead, and has become alive." I'm shocked. How crazy can you be to actually get up and have that kind of esteem? If it was a nobody like myself, nobody would bother about that. But somebody of this kind of public stature said, "Yeah, I saw somebody raised from the dead." Then he quibbled (compromised) when the interviewer was trying to push him to say that people can heal today. He didn't want to say that, but he just finished saying that he found somebody who had the ultimate expression of the gift of healing--that's raising somebody from the dead. If you want to convince people you have the gift of healing, just raise someone from the dead, and you will have proven your case.

Well, the devil is going to perform great signs, as we shall see in a moment. The antichrist himself is going to take a physical blow that should be mortal. But this antichrist is saved from death. Satan will heal him and preclude his dying. There is great power in the satanic world.

Verse 10: "With all deception and wickedness for those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved." What is the truth? The truth is Christ Jesus in us, the hope of glory. What is the falsehood? We are our own gods. The antichrist says you have deity. The Mormons are teaching us that you are to become a God. "And for this reason, God will send upon them a strong delusion so that they might believe what is false. God says, "Fine. Do you want to think that you're God? Go ahead. I'm going to turn you loose. You can believe that you're deity, and we'll see where that comes." Why? "In order that they may all be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness."

So the situation is that the antichrist with his false prophet assumes control of religion on this earth. That's what's devastating about these ecumenical movements and these ecumenical religious services. People get together and they're praying. Who are they praying to? If you say, "God bless America," which God are you talking about? If I'm in a service with a Muslim leader and a liberal Protestant, we're not all praying to the same God. That's for sure. In Revelation 13:8, which we'll get to shortly, "All who dwell in the earth will worship him (the antichrist). Everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life of the Lamb who had been slain." Those who are not saved are going to worship the antichrist. All organized religions during this tribulation seven-year period will be terminated, and the antichrist will declare himself to be Israel's Messiah God. He will set himself up as the one to be worshipped. This is the example of where a human being can go.

In Daniel 9:27, the antichrist makes a covenant with Israel, and then be breaks that covenant; puts a stop to the sacrifice and grain offering; and, sets up his own religious system: "And on the wing of abomination will come one who makes desolate." The "wing of abomination" means a place of abominations on the wing of the temple. Please remember that when the Bible uses this word "abomination" (a very big word in both the Old Testament and the New Testament), it has a very special meaning with God. It is one of the strongest expressions that God has. What does it mean?

Well, let me use my illustration that some of you just love to hear. You've been invited over to eat supper at the house of a lady that you know is a good cook. The dessert is a soufflé. She brings it out and she serves you a part of it on the dish. You put your fork in and pop a piece of this delicious soufflé into your mouth and start eating. You feel something crunchy, and you reach in and take it out. It's a cockroach. The feeling you had just then is the meaning of the word "abomination." It's hard to describe that word in the Greek or the Hebrew. It's a revulsion. When God wants to tell you that something absolutely revolts Him and makes him nauseous beyond imagination, He used this word "abomination." That's why homosexuality is called an abomination.

The antichrist, with all that he's doing with his own religious system, is here identified with what he is, the ultimate abomination of this man who makes things desolate. He is going to set up a kingdom of peace and safety without Jesus Christ. The greatest abomination is for a person to say that he is God.

Matthew 24:15 points this out, where Jesus says, "Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, let the reader understand. Then those who are in Jerusalem should flee to the mountains." Isn't that interesting? Jesus says, "Go to the mountains." The one place they'll think of is Petra. It is one of the enclaves. It's a narrow passage into an open area. The Romans used to use it as a great defense citadel. That's probably where many of the Jews will rush for safety, and where they will be saved when they realize who Jesus Christ is. But when Jesus says, "When you see the abomination of desolation spoken about by the Daniel the prophet," you will notice that Jesus calls Daniel a prophet. He is a true prophet. He spoke truly the Word of God.

I remind you that the book of Daniel is attacked as being a forgery written by somebody in about 100 B.C. or so, and who put the name "Daniel" on it? This is because they can't believe that a person could have written such detailed predictions, as Daniel has of the progression of world empires, and been proven so exactly correct in every detail. Well, Jesus says Daniel is a true prophet, and he did write that book. He also says, "When you see that happening, then get ready." Then along comes the book of Revelation, and it gives us the fulfillment of what Daniel was talking about. Revelation 13:14-15: "He deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given to him to perform (that is, the false prophet) in the presence of the beast (the antichrist), telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life, and there was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast. The image of the beast might even speak, and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed." So the Jews will not only have to worship the antichrist as their God, but if they won't, they'll be killed.

Islam

But here you have it again, exactly the same thing, that you have someone who is bringing destruction and who is being received as someone who speaks for God. Kill people when they won't convert to Islam. That comes right out of the Koran. There are at least 100 verses in the Koran that instruct Muslims to kill those who will not convert to Islam so that Islam may reign over all the earth. Do not be deceived, folks. We want everybody in this country to practice whatever religion he wants to. But we won't let you kill people who don't agree with you. You know who would be first in line if that were the case--the fundamentalist, evangelical, biblical Christians.

So the covenant is broken. He sets up on the wing of the temple his own image, even he who makes desolate. He turns against Israel. At this time, Israel has the worst suffering it has ever experienced. Jesus said that this is what's coming to the Jews: "When you reject me, here's what's going to happen." In Matthew 24:15-21, Jesus said, "Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation (quoting Daniel again), which was spoken through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, let the reader understand, let them who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the house stop not go down to get things that are in his house." What he is saying is, "Get out of town. As soon as you've heard that the antichrist has set up his image in the Jews' temple, Jews get out of town." "And let him who is in the field, not turn back to get his cloak." If you're in a field, don't go back to the house even to get your coat. Beat it. Head south to Petra.

The Great Tribulation

If you've ever seen pictures of the kinds of persecution the Jews experienced under Nazi Germany during World War II, it is hard to imagine that the worst is yet to come. But that's it. Then Daniel goes on to say that this is going to go on even until "a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate." "The one who makes desolate" is the antichrist. God has a plan of complete destruction for this person. The antichrist (a human being) and his false prophet (a human being) are going to be taken care of by Jesus Christ at the Second Coming. Complete destruction is decreed. It's decreed. There's no turning back. It will be carried out. It is going to be poured out like a flood upon this one who is bringing such desolation to Israel this last time.

Revelation 19:20 gives us a little more insight on that. The Book of Revelation fills out the timetable of the Book of Daniel. That's why you have to put them both together to understand what they're saying. Revelation 19:20: "And the beast (the antichrist) was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence." These are all those miracle signs, the things that the charismatics love to pursue. "By which he had deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image (set up in the temple). These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat upon a horse, and all the birds were filled with the flesh." This is near the end of the tribulation. The one who sits upon a horse is the Lord Jesus Christ, and the sword is the Word of God that speaks. And the armies gathered on Armageddon are destroyed. And the birds no longer go hungry. They have a feast day. On the antichrist, there will come complete destruction.

Daniel 7:11 also points this out: "Then I kept looking because of the sound of the boastful words which the horn (this is the little horn, another term for the antichrist) was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain, and his body was destroyed and given to the burning fire." Daniel sees what's going to happen to the antichrist, who here is described as a little horn. This is so traumatic for Daniel that when the vision (the information from God) is finished, he is so exhausted physically that it knocks him flat on his back for three days. Daniel 7:24-27: "As for the ten horns out of this kingdom, ten kings will arise. And another will arise after them. He'll be different from the previous ones, and he will subdue three kings." That'll be the antichrist.

Ten nations are gathered in Western Europe. Along comes the antichrist. He conquers three of them, and the other seven succumb to his demands (his ultimatum), and they join him. "He'll speak out against the most high (against God), wear down the saints of the highest one (the Jewish people). And he will intend to make alterations in times and in law, and they will be given unto his hand for a time (one year), times (two years), and a half-time time (a half of a year)." This is a poetic way of saying three-and-a-half years. "But the court was set for judgment, and his dominion (the antichrist's dominion) will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever." The antichrist is going to be destroyed by Christ. "Then the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdom under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the highest (the Jewish people). His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions will serve and obey him." This is the Lord Jesus Christ. It says "an everlasting kingdom." The Kingdom of God for the Jewish people goes on after the millennial kingdom period is over. This is forever--as much as salvation is.

In Daniel 9:27, this is decreed "By the one who makes desolate." That means "causes horror." Revelation 6 through 19 describe the horror that the antichrist is going to bring upon the people of the world, and particularly upon the Jewish people.

So here you have it. Israel's 490-year history is fulfilled at the end of the tribulation with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to the earth to finally set up His kingdom of a world government from the city of Jerusalem. This will go for 1,000 years. Do we make this up? Do we imagine it now? No. You know that we are very literal in terms of interpretation of Scripture. We let the words say what they say. Here's where we get a 1,000-year millennial kingdom on this earth.

Revelation 20:1: "I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having a key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand." The key of the abyss is in the middle of the earth where Hades probably is. "And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for 1,000 years." He will be bound for 1,000 years. An angel has a key to open the door to the abyss, down to the middle of the earth, to a special place of containment for Satan. He's going to be incarcerated for 1,000 years. "And threw him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him so that he should not deceive the nations any longer, until the 1,000 years were completed. After these things, he must be released for a short time."

This is why life in the millennium is going to be so magnificent. There'll be no devil to deceive anybody. He's out of the picture. He's imprisoned. There'll be no evil society world system because Jesus Christ is running it. He will not tolerate an evil society out of keeping with moral laws. The only place of evil is the sin nature in man. The children who are born will have that sin nature, and a lot of them will rebel against Jesus Christ near the end of the millennium when Satan is released from his abyss, and he rallies them once more to try to conquer Jesus Christ. So he's going to be released for a short time.

Resurrection

Those without the mark of the beast--this is the first resurrection. The first resurrection includes only believers. It has several stages: the church; Old Testament believers; and, tribulation saints. Then the unbelievers from all the ages are not raised until the end of the tribulation.

So verse 6 says, "Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection." This is the resurrection of believers--saved people. "Over these, the second death has no power." The second death is eternal separation from God in the lake of fire. "But they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him for 1,000 years. Do you know what "reign with Him" means? You're going to be running city governments. You're going to be running this earth. You're going to be running nations. We will be reigning in the millennial kingdom as a representative of Jesus Christ. You will have a body that cannot die. You will have a body like Christ. The sin nature will be gone. You will have a resurrected, glorified body.

When I was at that citadel of all knowledge, the Bible Department at Baylor University, after World War II, the professor who was the head of the Bible Department was an amillennialist. He got up in class and told us how, now that the war was over, a great era of peace was going to cover the earth, and that there would be great power now for all nations once more to come together in peace. The Word of God would be spread over the whole world in a magnificent way now. Well, I knew enough about Scripture, on my premillennial rearing, to know that that isn't the way it's going to be. I pointed out that the Scripture actually says that there will come a time of great tribulation, and then 1,000 years of Jesus Christ ruling on this earth. I also pointed out that even after that, at the end of it, when Satan is released, people will rally to him. The professor said, "Oh, John, that's not 1,000 years, meaning 1,000 years. That just means a long period of time. It's like when you say, 'I've got so much to do it's going to take me a million years to get this done.' You don't mean a million years."

That is spiritualizing and symbolizing the words of Scripture. You should know that the great churches that came out of the Reformation all symbolize Scripture. They all symbolize the whole book of the Revelation. They all say that everything in the book of the Revelation was completed by the year 70 A.D. Understand that about your Reformed friends and all these churches, and even in the Southern Baptist Seminary, which are biblically oriented, it's all over by 70 A.D. And they say that there is no future for the Jew. The only thing is in heaven.

The Day of the Lord

"The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying, "Thus, says the Lord God of Israel, write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book." The prophets in the Old Testament weren't making this stuff up. They were not just giving their ideas like Mary Baker Patterson Eddy does. They were not just creating a pretense of a message from God the way Muhammad did, or the way Joseph Smith did. This was actually the Word of God. It was given to these men. They had a direct communication with God, such as we do not have. They took a pen and paper and they wrote it down. The Holy Spirit stood there watching, guiding their thinking, not changing their style of writing and their style of composing, but did not permit them to put anything down which was not true: nothing false; nothing that was false doctrine; nothing that was false history; and, nothing that was false geography. The Book of Mormon is a joke when it comes to geography. It's all made up. They've had a department trying to find where some of these places are that Joseph Smith talks about on the face of the Earth. It's impossible. But we know where all these places are in Scripture. So Jeremiah says, "When God spoke to me and told me to write it down, I did it. But even that I did by the power of the Holy Spirit, protecting me from recording any error." That's why we can say the Bible is inerrant.

Verse 3: "For behold," Jeremiah says, "The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah." Well, has that been done, folks? Have the fortunes of the Jewish people been restored to the glory days under Solomon? Not by a long shot. You have to be a real nut to suppose that that's happened. Well, what's the answer? The amillennialists say, "Well, that's because they've rejected Jesus Christ. They're not going to have the glory days." Yeah, but we just read that the kingdom that the Jews will have will be eternal. How long is eternal?

"The Lord says, I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers, and they shall possess it. In 1948, that began--coming back to the land, the land of promise. Do they possess it now? No. They possess only a portion of it. The land that was given to them was from the Euphrates down to the Red Sea, all the way to the Arabian Peninsula. They have a sliver of land. If they could create a Palestinian state, Israel would be only nine miles wide at one point. Even our state department now is talking about that madness--to give the Palestinians that West Bank, part of Israel, which is a very lovely, terrific part to drive through on your way down to Masada.

Well, they don't have the land. Has God put a condition here? No. There are no "ifs," no "ands," and no "buts." I'm going to do this for you. He has not yet done it, but He is in motion. These are the words which God spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah: "For thus, says the Lord. I've heard the sound of terror, of dread. There is no peace." That's today; and, more so in the tribulation. "Ask now and see if a male can give birth. Why do I see every man with his hands on his loins as a woman in childbirth? Why have all faces turned pale?" Why is there this fear and terror? That's the tribulation. It's going to be a nightmare.

"Alas, for that day is great. There is none like it. It is a time of Jacob's distress. But he will be saved from it." Israel will be preserved as Israel. "And all the covenants will be fulfilled." Daniel was told that Israel had 490 years. 483 years have clicked off. They're waiting for the last seven. Then it's going to happen.

"And it shall come about on that day, declares the Lord of hosts, the Lord of the Armies. I will break his yoke from off their neck and will tear off their bonds, and strangers shall no longer make them slaves. The Jews will be freed from all the oppressors that they fear now. God help the United States if we do not continue to be the close ally and buddy and friend of Israel who has been very loyal to us. The reason the United States has been under such enormous divine blessing is not only its Christian orientation, but because it's been the friend of Israel. God told this right up front to Abraham, "Those who bless you, Abraham, I will bless. Those who curse you, Abraham. I will curse." We have blessed the Jew. We are under divine blessing. What are we talking about when we say a Palestinian state? That's Galilee, folks. That's Judea. That's part of the ancient land. It's always been there. Well, wait till the next session, and you'll get the full picture.

"But they shall serve the Lord, their God, and David their king will I raise up for them." Do you understand what that means? David's going to be resurrected. What's he going to do? He's going to be ruling over Israel in the new millennium under Jesus Christ. They're going to have their king, and David's greater son, Jesus, will be ruling over the whole world. "And fear not, Jacob, my servant, declares Lord, and do not be dismayed, O Israel. For, behold, I will save you from afar, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. And Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease. No one shall make him afraid." Is that true of the Jew today? No. It has never been true.

So what does the amillennialist say? He says, "Well, they forfeited that when they rejected the Messiah." No. Those covenants had no "ifs." The Abrahamic Covenant; the Palestinian Covenant, relative to the land; the Davidic Covenant; and, the New Covenant of salvation had no "ifs" in any of these. Yes, the Mosaic Covenant had lots of "ifs," but that's the only "if" covenant. The Mosaic Covenant said, "If you do this, then I'll bless you. If you don't. I'll curse you. But there are no "ifs" in these other covenants that were given to Israel that Daniel was told would be fulfilled in 490 years.

Verse 11: "For I am with you, declares the Lord, to save you. For I will destroy completely all nations where I have scattered you, only I will not deny you completely. But I will chasten you justly, and will by no means leave you unpunished." God says, "Yes, I'm going to put you under discipline. You will be punished, but you will not be abandoned." That's where history stands. Israel is on its way to its greatest glory and up to its greatest fulfillment. It is still under blindness and a double whammy blindness. That's the problem when you deal with Jewish people. All of us have by nature the blindness of the sin nature. We have that by nature. But because the Jews said, "The blood of Jesus Christ be upon us and our children," there's a second blindness. The Scripture tells us that they have a double whammy. They are twice blind.

Nobody sees the truth about God; about Christ; about salvation; or, about spiritual things until their eyes are opened. You may have some religious relatives. Do you notice the glaze in their eye when you speak about spiritual things and when you talk about the church age power system of doctrine and the Holy Spirit indwelling in fellowship with God? Their eyes glaze over. They don't know what you're talking about. Very often their churches are right out of the Reformation. They never got straight the power system of church age living--what it is to be able to be a real princess and a prince in the family of God. They don't understand what our future holds as members of the body of Christ. Well, we are the people who are in the know. Concerning these terrible things that are going to come upon the world, you saw a preview on 9/11.

I want to close with telling you that the antichrist has several names in the Scriptures. In Daniel 7:8, he is called "the little horn." He is that little horn that pops up. That's the antichrist. He pops up among the other horns--the big ones. In Daniel 8:23, he is called "the insolent king." He does not fear God, and he does not fear man. In Daniel 9:26, he is called "the prince who is to come." In Daniel 11:36, he's called "the abomination of desolation." In 2 Thessalonians 2:3, he's called "the man of lawlessness. In 2 Thessalonians 2:3, he's also called "the son of destruction." In 2 Thessalonians 2:8, he's called "the lawless one" or "the wicked one." In Revelation 13:1, he is "the beast out of the sea," and we will get to Revelation 13 next time. Then in 1 John 2:2, he is called the antichrist.

Dr. John E. Danish, 2002

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