Steps to Life

Prophecy Seminar

Session 6: The Seventieth Week & The Rapture

Revelation 12:9 "So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."

This verse says that Satan deceives the whole world. I wonder if he has any deceptions today? Yes, my friends, he has taken the world captive with his deceptions. People today are deceived, and the worst part is that many people like it that way.

Having lived in a boys’ dorm in college and in an army barracks in the military, I have met a certain kind of fellow. This type of fellow wants to have a "good time," so he finds a girl to have a good time with and tells her that he loves her. Later, back in the army barracks, he will tell about all of his "exploits" with this poor, deluded girl. Sometimes the girl might want to remain pure, but he would tell her he really loved her—planning on marrying her, you understand—and if the girl really loved him as much as he loved her, she would be submissive.

The poor girl was deceived and destined for heartache, but just let her parents try to tell her she is deceived. They could point out how many other girls the boy has been with—but she insists that it is different this time—he really loves her.

She is deceived because she wants someone to love her so much that she is going to believe that this young man loves her, regardless of any logic to the contrary.

So some people like to be deceived about certain things. Thus it is especially easy for the Devil to deceive people because he can tell them whatever will impress them. He has a deception for every mind. Our minds must change to accept Bible truth, and we don’t like to change. If we are willing to be deceived, Satan can tell us whatever we want to hear.

How Did Satan Deceive the People in Jesus’ Day?

When Jesus came the first time, the people were looking for a king to save them from the Romans. The Devil had introduced this deception. Since the people liked it, even Christ Himself could not change their thinking. No, the people wanted to believe it and, furthermore, the Devil had cleverly used the misapplication of prophecy to confirm them in their deception—he had used prophecies of Jesus’ second coming and applied them to His first coming. So widespread and popular were these deceptions that even Jesus’ own disciples were affected by them throughout His entire ministry.

Jesus’ coming was far different from what they expected. They expected the Messiah to deliver them from the Romans, but instead He came to deliver them from the tyranny of sin.

John 8:34 "Jesus answered them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. 36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.’ "

But they didn’t want to be freed from sin. They wanted only to be freed from the Romans. So much did they want to believe that this was the Messiah’s work, that nothing was going to change their thinking. When Jesus tried to tell them the truth, they hated Him and even tried to kill Him.

John 8:45 " ‘But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.’. . . 59 Then they took up stones to throw at Him."

The truth did not agree with their pet theories and explanations of prophecy. They didn’t want a Savior from sin, but a deliverer from oppression. They did not want a humble teacher, but a proud ruler. In John 6, when Jesus told them He had come to teach them the way of life, many left Him. They had been deceived, but they didn’t want to be undeceived. Even the disciples didn’t want to be undeceived.

John 6:66 "From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. 67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, `Do you also want to go away?’ "

The Devil Is Just as Successful Today

Friends, today people have been deceived. The Devil is just as successful today as he was in Jesus’ day. The Bible warns us:

I Peter 5:8 "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."

When Jesus came the first time, there were but few to receive Him (see John 1:10,11), and when He comes the second time there will also be but few who are ready. Jesus said it would be as in the days of Noah (Matthew 24:37) when only a handful of people went into the ark.

What Is Satan’s Scheme Today?

Today Satan is preparing the world for the greatest deception of all time, and he is working in the same way he has always worked—through religion.

2 Corinthians 11:13 "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works."

When Jesus came the first time, Satan used prophecies of His second coming to deceive the people. Today, before Jesus’ second coming, Satan is using prophecies of His first coming to deceive the people. Let’s look and see how the arch-deceiver has so ingeniously worked to deceive the world.

The Seventy Weeks

Daniel 9:24 "Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy."

This verse says that 70 weeks are determined, or "cut off" (the Hebrew word translated "determined" is "chathak," which literally means to "cut off"), for Daniel’s people, the Jews.

In the verses before, Daniel had been praying for the holy city and about the captivity of his people, the Jews. He had been confessing the sins of the Jewish nation and asking forgiveness.

Daniel 9:5 "We have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. 6 Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets. . . . 7 O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem . . . because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You."

Daniel recognized that the Jewish people, as forewarned by Moses, were receiving the curse of God for departing from His law.

Daniel 9:11 "Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law . . . , therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him."

Moses was referring to such texts as the following:

Leviticus 26:31 "I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not smell the fragrance of your sweet aromas. 32 I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it. 33 I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste."

God’s Promises to Israel Were Conditional

God made a covenant with the children of Israel to establish them as His people. They were to be His witnesses on earth. A covenant is an agreement between two people, and while God always upholds His side of the agreement, man sometimes does not uphold his side. God’s promises are on condition.

Jeremiah 18:7 "The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, 8 if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. 9 And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, 10 if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it."

And so it was with God’s promises to Israel—they were conditional from the start.

Deuteronomy 28:45 "Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. 46 And they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder, and on your descendants forever. . . . 63 And it shall be, that just as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess."

All the promises given to Israel were on condition of obedience to God. Should they prove unfaithful, they would be disinherited as a nation. Daniel recognized that they were in danger of this. Thus he was praying for forgiveness for his people.

Daniel 9:11 "Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. . . . 13 all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. . . . 19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name."

Daniel acknowledged that God was just. Israel was in captivity as the Lord had predicted, and yet with no repentance on the part of most. What was going to happen to Israel? How long would God bear with them?

God Answers Daniel’s Prayer

Daniel 9:20 "Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God, 21 . . . the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering. 22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, ‘O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. . . . 24 Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.’ "

Seventy weeks are determined, or "cut off," for thy people—seventy weeks of probation in which to repent and be re-established or to continue in sin and to be cut off as God’s chosen people. How many days is seventy weeks? There are 490 days in 70 weeks.

Now at this point it is necessary to learn something very important about time prophecies in the Bible. In the symbolic language of prophecy, a prophetic day equals a literal year. When God gave Ezekiel a forty-day prophecy in Ezekiel 4:6, He said, "I have appointed thee each day for a year" (KJV). The forty prophetic, symbolic days of Ezekiel 4:6 equaled forty literal years. So here we have 490 prophetic days, or 490 literal years.

God was telling Daniel that, although the Jews had been a rebellious people, He would continue to forgive them for 490 more years of probationary time before bringing about the final fulfillment of the curse given through Moses. Should they continue to rebel against His authority their probation would come to an end after this time.

Isn’t the long suffering of God beyond comparison? seventy times seven years of probation after so much rebellion already. Peter once asked Jesus how many times he should forgive his brother and Jesus told him, "until seventy times seven" (Matthew 18:21, 22). Here God was giving Israel seventy times seven years of probation. They had been in captivity only seventy years. Now He would give them seven times that much time of restoration in which to finish the transgression or to make reconciliation.

Verse 25 says that the time period was to begin "from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem." So we have a starting date. If we can find out what date that command went forth, we can figure out when the Jewish probation as a nation would end.

There were actually three kings who gave the decree to restore and build Jerusalem Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes.

Ezra 6:14 "So the elders of the Jews built . . . according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the command of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia."

The completion of this threefold decree was by Artaxerxes. That exact decree is recorded in Ezra 7:11-28. The date this decree went forth was "in the fifth (Jewish) month, which was in the seventh year of the King" (Ezra 7:8). Now it is in the providence of God that the Persians kept exact chronological records. This date was the fall of 457 B.C. Now, by simple mathematics, it should be possible to determine at what year the prophecy should come to a close.

However, ancient historians made a one year error in their reckoning when they went from B.C. to A.D. They did not include a zero year between 1 B.C. and A.D. 1. Thus this ``0" year has to be added into the figuring, therefore, when going from B.C. to A.D. you must always add one year. If on the above time table, you will count 4 years from 2 B.C., you will find that it ends in A.D. 3 instead of A.D. 2. That is why you must add a year when going from B.C. to A.D. So the real date the prophecy points forward to is not the fall of A.D. 33 but to the fall of A.D. 34.

But now turn back to Daniel 9. The Lord makes special mention of the last week of probation for the Jewish nation.

Daniel 9:27 "Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering."

As probation on the Jewish nation drew to a close, the Lord would make a special effort in which to reclaim them. In that week He would confirm the everlasting covenant to redeem mankind that is, He would offer His life during that week in order to atone for our sins. That everlasting covenant is summarized so beautifully in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

The Messiah Promised

At the beginning of this week, the long-looked-for essiah would appear.

Daniel 9:25 "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks."

Seven and sixty-two weeks is sixty-nine weeks. he reason the time was broken up as such was that it took seven weeks to complete the building of Jerusalem and then another sixty-two weeks before the Messiah would come. After the Messiah should come, the seventieth week would start. Thus the Messiah was to appear 483 years after the decree of Artaxerxes in 457 B.C., after which the Jewish nation would have one last week of probationary time.

Now the word Messiah, in Hebrew, means "anointed." Jesus, of course, was the Messiah, but when did He come as the anointed one? When was He anointed? He was anointed by the Holy Spirit at His baptism in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar.

Luke 3:1 "In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar . . . 21 when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. 22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, ‘You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.’ "

The Holy Word of God tells us that this was when Jesus was anointed, thereby becoming officially the Messiah, or "anointed one."

Acts 10:37 "That word . . . was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power."

Thus Jesus was anointed at His baptism by the Holy Spirit. When was Jesus baptized? God made sure this date was recorded. The Bible says He was baptized and anointed in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, which began in A.D. 27—exactly 483 years after the decree.

Daniel 9:26 "And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined."

The Prophecy Predicted Jesus’ Death

The Messiah was to come 69 weeks (483 years) after the decree to restore and build Jerusalem. It would take seven weeks (forty-nine years) to finish rebuilding the city after the decree went forth. Thus, the Messiah would come 62 weeks (434 years) after Jerusalem was completed. Then the prophecy predicted a most startling event. The Jews expected the Messiah to reign on David’s throne, but look what the prophecy says would happen to Him.

Daniel 9:26 "After the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be CUT OFF, but not for Himself."

Thus, after the Messiah’s appearance in A.D. 27., He would be "cut off," but not for Himself. Jesus did not die because of His sins, but because of our sins. This accords with the other Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah.

Isaiah 53:8 "For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people (not for Himself) He was stricken."

The next verse tells us exactly how long after the Messiah’s baptism that He would be "cut off."

Daniel 9:27 "In the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering."

When Jesus died, the sacrificial system given to illustrate the truths of the plan of salvation during the previous 4,000 years came to an end.

Hebrews 10:6 "In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. . . 9 Then He said, ‘Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.’ He takes away the first (covenant) that He may establish the second. 10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

And when were the sacrifices to come to an end? When was Jesus to become the sacrifice for all sacrifices so that animal sacrifices would never have to be offered again? In the middle of the seventieth week. A half of a week is three and one-half days, or three and one-half years. If we add three and one-half years to the fall of A.D. 27 it brings us up to the spring of A.D. 31. That brings us up to the exact time of Jesus’ Crucifixion.

Jesus Fulfills the Prophecies

Today many people are losing faith in Christ. How do you know He is the Messiah? How can you prove it? Was it just because He was a good man? No—He fulfilled prophecy, right down to the day!

Notice what Jesus preached after the fulfillment of the sixty-nine weeks at His baptism in A.D. 27.

Mark 1:15 "THE TIME IS FULFILLED, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."

What time was fulfilled? The only time that could be fulfilled—prophetic time. The sixty-nine weeks of Daniel 9:25 had been fulfilled. It is the only prophetic time in all the Bible that pointed forward to His baptism in A.D. 27.

Jesus’ Mission Was Especially To the Jews

Jesus’ work as the Messiah began at His baptism, which was the beginning of the last week of Jewish probationary time. Thus Jesus was to work in a special way for that nation—He was to "confirm the covenant with many" (Daniel 9:27). Now it should be pointed out that Jewish people can be saved today just the same as any other people, but the Jewish nation, as the Babylonian nation once before, was being weighed in the alances. As a last, final effort to save that nation, God sent His own Son to minister His grace to it. Jesus died for the whole human race, but He worked in a special way for the Jewish nation while here on earth.

Matthew 10:5, 6 "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

After three and one-half years of laboring among the "lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 10:6), the Lord was crucified, making the earthly sacrifices of no more effect.

God’s Ministry to the Jewish Nation Continued After Jesus’ Death

There were to be seven years of Jewish probationary time after Jesus’ baptism, but Jesus died three and one-half years after His baptism. That means that there were still three and one-half years after Jesus’ death when the gospel was still, in a special sense, to go to the Jewish nation.

Thus, when Jesus left the disciples after His resurrection, He told them to go back to Jerusalem and preach to the Jews.

Luke 24:46 "Then He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.’ "

For three and one-half years the disciples preached especially to the Jewish people, and not without effect. On the day of Pentecost, over 3,000 Jews were converted to Christianity, and the Lord added unto them daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:41, 47).

Acts 6:7 "And the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith."

Three and one-half years after Jesus’ death, marking the close of the seventy years of Daniel’s prophecy, an event happened that changed the course of history and sent the main thrust of gospel work from centering with the Jews to centering with the Gentiles.

At the time the gospel was increasing in Jerusalem, Stephen stood up, filled with the Holy Ghost, and portrayed before the leaders the whole history of the Jewish people and of their continual rebellion against God, which culminated with their crucifying the Son of God. They were filled with rage and rushed upon him and murdered him. Then began a general persecution of all Christians. At that point, the Christians were scattered everywhere and began to preach the gospel to the Gentiles.

Acts 8:1 "At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles."

Yet it was not easy to end a tradition of 1500 years. The Lord had to send Peter a direct vision telling him that Gentiles could be saved without becoming a part of the Jewish community through circumcision.

Acts 10:9 "Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. 10 Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance 11 and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. 13 And a voice came to him, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ 14 But Peter said, ‘Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.’ 15 And a voice spoke to him again the second time, ‘What God has cleansed you must not call common.’ 16 This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again."

Peter wondered what the vision meant. Just then some Gentiles came to the door inquiring about Peter. Then God revealed to Peter that the vision referred, not to animals, but to people.

Acts 10:28 "Then he said to them, ‘You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean.’ "

Peter later had to refer back to this incident to prove to the Jews at a church council that the time had indeed come to give the gospel to the Gentiles.

Acts 15:7 "And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: ‘Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as He did to us, 9 and made no distinction between us and them.’ "

From that time, those Jews who had rejected the Son of God and the gospel of His grace were "broken off" (Romans 11:17), and the nation of Israel ceased to exist as the God’s chosen people, His professed people. God rejected them and only those who were the remnant of Israel, who according to the election of grace, believed in Christ, remained as part of "Israel," (Romans 11:5). There was, henceforth, as Peter said, no distinction between Jew and Gentile. From that time forward and forever the Christian Church became Israel.

Thus in the New Testament, after the stoning of Stephen, Israel always refers to the Christian Church. And to be a ``true Jew" meant to be a follower of Jesus.

Romans 2:28 "For he is NOT a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; 29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, and not in the letter."

The whole of Romans 9 through 11 is about this very subject. "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him" (Romans 10:12). In Romans 11, Paul describes how the Gentiles have been grafted into the Jewish tree: "So all Israel (whether literal Jew or Gentile) will be saved" (Romans 11:26).

Galatians 3:7 "Therefore know that ONLY those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. . . . 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise."

If you are Christ’s, then you are what? You are "Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise." Christ was the Son of Abraham, and through the new birth we become a part of the family of Christ, and thus of the family of Abraham also. Jesus was a Jew, and as Paul says in Romans 2, when we spiritually become a part of God’s family, we also become spiritual Jews. Many people do not want to be Jewish, but listen to what Jesus said:

John 4:22 "You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews."

Paul said that if we are not a part of the commonwealth of Israel, then we are lost, without hope. But through Christ, the Gentiles can become a part of the family of Abraham. Christ broke down the middle wall of partition, which was circumcision.

Ephesians 2:11 "Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— 12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off (from the Jewish nation) have been made near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of division be- tween us, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two (Jew and Gentile), thus making peace, . . . 19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone."

That is the gospel, friends, but Satan, that arch-deceiver, has been developing a master deception by which he is deceiving the whole world. It is such a masterful deception that he is having just as good success as he did at Jesus’ first coming. Today people no longer believe that the middle wall of partition has been broken down they still believe that there is a literal Israel that is going to again be God’s people for seven more years. At Jesus’ first coming, Satan used prophecies of His second coming to confuse people. At His second coming, Satan is using prophecies of Jesus’ first coming to confuse people. See Daniel 9.

Daniel 9:27 "Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering."

Here is a prophecy that is never found in the New Testament. It refers to Christ. But Satan has taken this prophecy, that applies to Christ Himself, and made it apply to the Antichrist. What an abomination!

It is claimed, somehow, mysteriously, without any scriptural warrant for it whatsoever, that the seven years of the seventieth week are cut off from the rest of the 490 years (there is absolutely nothing in the text that indicates such a thing) and that at the end of sixty-nine weeks the gospel went to the Gentiles (again, no scriptural basis rather the Bible says just the opposite, that Christ had a special ministry for the Jews.). The gospel, it is claimed, went to the Gentiles after sixty-nine weeks; but the Jews, as a literal nation, still have one week of probation which will begin after the Christians are raptured out of the world. At this point, 144,000 literal Jews will be converted and will accept Jesus as the Messiah, but in the middle of the week the Antichrist will come and will force them to stop sacrificing.

Preposterous! What in the world are converted Jews doing sacrificing in the first place? But the world has swallowed this kind of reasoning this deception of Satan. The whole thing is based upon mere man-made inferences and assumptions, a false foundation. And yet it is serving a very real purpose, and that is this—it causes people to falsely believe that the Antichrist and most of the warnings of Revelation and of the deceptions of Satan come AFTER the rapture—so don’t worry about them. Don’t worry about being deceived. Don’t worry about the Antichrist. Don’t worry about the mark of the Beast. You are not going to be here anyway, for you are going to be raptured away.

That, friend, is a doctrine that is not found in the Bible. It is a master deception of Satan.

Revelation 12:9 "So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."

Listen to what is going to happen to the Antichrist, as well and those who have been deceived by Satan, when Jesus comes:

2 Thessalonians 2:8 "Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness."

The Antichrist does not come after Jesus comes, but rather he is destroyed when Jesus comes. Revelation was not written for some future generation of people—it is written for us. But the rapture theory lulls us to sleep and prevents us from rightly understanding the teachings of Revelation or applying them to ourselves.

The very term, rapture, friend, is a term that is not even found in the Bible. Not one place in all the Word of God does it say that people are going to suddenly disappear in some secret and quiet depar- ture. No, it says that Jesus is going to come with power and great glory; and then He is going to take His people home.

John 14:3 "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also."

And how is He going to come? Secretly? No, but literally. Every eye will see Him.

Acts 1:11 "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven."

Revelation 1:7 "Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, and they also who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen."

This is the event the Bible always points forward to. The Bible talks about the Second Coming hundreds of times. It is plain and une- quivocal. It is impossible to misunderstand the Second Coming unless a person is determined not to believe what the Bible says.

Matthew 24:23 "Then if anyone says to you, `Look, here is the Christ!’ or `There!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect. . . . 26 Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or `Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be."

True enough, the Bible says "two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left" (Matthew 24:40). But notice, it does not say the one will be taken secretly nor that the other one will be left alive. Both of those are supplied interpretations that are not supported anywhere in the Bible. Rather, it says, it will be as in the days of Noah—one was taken and one was left then also—but it wasn’t done secretly and the one wasn’t left alive (see Matthew 24:38-42).

2 Peter 3:3 "Knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? . . . 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which now exist are kept in store by the same word, reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. . . . 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells."

Paul says that Jesus’ coming will be with a shout and that the dead will be resurrected.

1 Thessalonians 4:16 "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord."

The righteous will be taken to heaven and the wicked will be slain at Christ’s return.

Matthew 25:31 "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you’. . . 41 Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’ "

There is a great deception in the world today. The Devil is deceiving the whole world. The warnings which God so graciously gave, that we might not be deceived and receive the mark of the Beast, the Devil has covered up and said that it does not apply to us—but some day, when it is too late for most people, we will see Jesus coming in the clouds of heaven. Then most people are going to wake up to the awful reality that they have been deceived and they are lost—they have received the mark of the Beast—but it will be too late! They have inadver- tently received the mark of the Beast because, as the Bible says, "they did not receive the love of the truth" (see 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12). Then will be fulfilled the following prophecy:

Revelation 6:14 "Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. 15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’ "

Friends, there is not a person who has to be lost. God has made provision for everyone to be saved. There is not a person who has to be deceived. God has given us ample warnings so that we may detect the deceiver if we will but accept the Word of God just as it reads. God has made it plain and simple so that we can understand it.

I suppose there may be someone here who has strongly believed in the rapture who won’t want to come back after tonight because it is too hard to rethink something we have accepted. It is what Jesus called a cross. But I would have you think of the treasure that we talked about in our last lesson—eternal life. Is it worth it to study these things and to rethink our positions if it could mean eternal life?

Did you know that the rapture is a docrine that none of the early church believed, neither Roman Catholics or Protestants believed it or even knew anything about it in the time of Martin Luther. It is a relatively new doctrine that was invented after the time of Luther. Believe me, if the Devil, the arch-deceiver, went to all the trouble of inventing this deception that is nowhere in the Bible, he has a very good reason for doing so. In our forthcoming lessons you will discover why the Devil has invented this philosophy. There is a reason.

Tomorrow night we are ging to look at the Key that will unlock the book of Revelation. We have already seen that to understand the book of Revelation we must understand the book of Daniel first because only in Daniel are the symbols explained. But in addition to this there is another key to unlock the prophecies of Revelation. As soon as you possess this key you will be able the unlock all the prophecies of Revelation—the prophecy of the seven churches, the prophecy of the seven seals, the prophecy of the seven trumpets, of the two women and the dragon, the prophecy of the three angels and the seven last plagues, and the final scenes in the last chapters. You will be able to unlock the meaning of them all when you have this key. We will study tomorrow night the "Key to Understanding the Revelation."

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Last Updated: 06/18/03