The refusal to accept the fact that God has long grown weary of the antics of humanity and retired to his throne, as depicted in Revelation 4:2 has led many down a path of darkness. We are clamoring for the blessing that God promised Israel, whereas God long ago acting upon his frustration for his chosen people gave them a bill of divorcement. "And I saw when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also." (Jeremiah 3:8) There is no reference in the scripture that declares the blessings of God to be transferable.
Many are failing to see the dark clouds rising on the horizon because we are not prepared to accept the angry God concept. Yet, throughout the scripture, God has displayed his anger. Whenever I mention the angry God concept in a bible study or Sunday school an usually there is an attempt to silence me. While sitting through church service there is a constant reminder of how much God loved me and even while I sleep God is working things out. I tend to shudder when I am told this, nowhere in the scripture have I found God spending such a vast amount of time working things out, when God spoke, it was done.
Jolted awake in the early hours of the morning the newscaster informed me that the intensity of war has increased. Much of the East coast is suffering from another snow storm in the middle of April, in the heartlands, fire are raging and even in my part of the world, we are still unable to plant our crops or garden. Tornados are ripping the central states apart, and soon we will be facing the hurricanes. Crime is on the rise as parents are killing their children and children are murdering their parents. Yet the powder-puff messages emulating from the house of God only speaks of God's love. We are well into the book of Revelation, the tribulation is upon us and what I see is the antics of an angry God. "For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" (Revelation 6:17)
Avid students of the Word of God ascribe to the ideology that the church will not be present here on earth during the tribulation spoken of by Jesus. In Luke 21 Jesus preached a sermon about the End of Days. The end of the world is easier to comprehend when we can compare it to the world around us. That is what Jesus did. He pointed to known things and said, amplify that, multiply that-exponentially, and then you will understand what is coming. "And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven." (Luke 21:11) Jesus was saying to the multitude, you see these things now but multiply that-exponentially. Jesus describes a Global final holocaust-not merely of Jews and Christians-but of humans under the full authority of the pawn of Satan.
Paul described an event that was scheduled to take place. The event is not hard to understand but it is the timing of the event that causes the problem. This event represents the church's removal from the earth. "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." (1st Thessalonians 4:16-17) We could better understand these verses if we accepted the ideology that this was Christ coming back for his church and that this is the first step of a transformation process. The Church once transformed and given crowns will return as the Holy Angels of Christ. This is not the end of salvation, it could be better understood as the beginning of the tribulation. It is a prelude to Christ returning to judge the nations.
"When the son of man shall come in his glory, and all of the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory; and before him he shall gather all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a Shepherd divides his sheep from the goats." (Matthew 25:31-32) As we have shown in many other studies, the nations do not represent churches as some propose.
Revelation 7: 9-17 speaks of a great number coming out of the tribulation. "And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." (Revelation 7:14)
In searching for information on the "End of Days", I realized that this subject trivialized through mass predictions that have failed, to movies and videos that have no scripture value all for the purpose of publicity and financial gain. Since Christ left this earth and promised to return, many have been cashing in on the publicity and profit gained by predicting the return of Christ. The early Christians were left with the belief that the second coming was any day now. This belief was partial fostered by the words of Jesus when he said, "...When he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels. But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:26-27) Did Christ come back to claim his church before it became a divided entity?" Are we well into the millennium of tribulation?
The common opinion that the Millennium is to be ushered in by the preaching of the Gospel and that after the Millennium there is to be a "General Resurrection" followed by a "General Judgment," and then the earth is to be destroyed by fire. This interpretation cast aside the different scriptural accounts and seeks to establish a general consensus as to how the judgment of the world will proceed. This is what most have been taught but is this all scriptural.
Our failure to understand these verses, amplified by our refusal to accept that Christ is speaking of several events can easily lead us down a path of darkness. In Luke 9:26 Jesus references the Holy Angels, the enforcement arm of his kingdom. This must take place after he has come back to claim his church. Also, to clarify, in Luke 9:27 he is referencing his beloved disciple John as one who would not die until he saw the kingdom of God, (Revelation 4) Remember the timeline is in Revelation. The disciples were concern about when would Christ establish his kingdom, this should also be our concern. The statement made by Luke and ascribed to Christ seems to indicate that this event was within the lifespan of some who was standing there listening to him.
The acceptance of the foregoing statement and the failure of some to see the arrival of the glory of God cause modern day cynics to exclaim that there must be some old people still walking around on earth. To explain this verse and to maintain the status quo belief in today religion system, we must interpret this verse from an alien perspective.
From the 1st century through the 19th century, a few brave souls predicted when the end of the world would come. Beginning with the 20th century and into the 21st-century end of day's predictions saw a sharp increase as newly emerging prophets and apostle vied for the attention of the masses. With advancement in the media, predicting the end of days, become a profitable business, the same as with the church, the shaping, and twisting of the scripture become commonplace.
The timeline of the end of days is in the book of Revelation. It is easy too followed, but it places the church in an untenable position. We are trying to justify the existence of a divided church. The progression of the church as depicted in Revelation 3:14-19 reflect that of a failed church. Any interpretation of the end of days, to be acceptable to the mass, must not attack the foundation of a billion-dollar entertainment business whose existence based upon the collection of tithes and offerings and has lost sight on its special and spiritual function. Revelation 3:18. Thirty thousand plus different denominations and belief structures attest to the fact that as an origination, the modern day church is a failed entity. If Christ were to return to claim his church today, what church or denomination would he be coming for?
When the "Times of the Gentiles" are about to end the Jews will be gathered back to the Holy Land "unconverted," and caused to "pass under the rod." Ezekiel 20:34-38. They will be cast into God's "Melting Pot" (Ezekiel 22:19-22), and pass through an experience spoken of by Jeremiah and Daniel as the "TIME OF JACOB'S TROUBLE." Jeremiah 30:4-7; Daniel 12:1. Christ calls it "The Great Tribulation," and He and Zechariah the Prophet associate it with the "Return of the Lord." Matthew 24:21-31; Zechariah 14:1-11. The human agent the Lord will use will be the Antichrist, the awfulness of whose rule will be supplemented by the pouring out of the "Vials of God's wrath" upon the earth. Revelation 15:1,5-8; 16:1-21.
