The End - Chapter 1 / WHO Is The End?

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Chinese Version -	CHAPTER 1

Messianic Prophecies

    Most end time prophecy is still future. The greatest prophecy, and the key to end time prophecy, concerns the Jewish Messiah. The Messiah is to be a human being, and at the same time equal (a fellow, or equal; see Zech. 13:7, KJV) to God. His divine nature is attested to by His being from everlasting (see Micah 5:2; Psalm 93:2, KJV). A single Old Testament passage speaks of His human nature (a child), His divine nature (a son), and addresses Him as Mighty God:

    "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isa 9:6).

    He is to reconcile man to God, necessary because of man’s fall in the garden of Eden at the beginning. As we shall see, a "who" can be "an end." The question of who is the Messiah, gives us the clue in answering our question of, "Who Is The End?"

    Some of the confusion over the Messiah is caused by the appearance that there were two of them. Jews began to designate them as "Messiah Ben David" and "Messiah Ben Joseph." Ben David became the conquering Messiah, and Ben Joseph became the suffering Messiah. Most Jews have only desired the Davidic Messiah, and have ignored the Josephic Messiah.

    According to the prophecy of Daniel 9:25-26, the Messiah was due to arrive 69 sevens (69 x 7, or 483) after the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. In order to interpret this unit of time (the sevens), e.g. seven days or seven years, we need to examine scripture.

"In the middle of the ‘seven’ he [a ruler] will put an end to sacrifice and offering" (Dan. 9:27).
This ruler who breaks his covenant in the middle of the seven (Dan 9:27) persecutes the Jews for 1,260 days (Rev 12:6).

    Since "half" of the seven is 1,260 days, it is clear that the use of seven refers to a period of seven years (360 days in a Jewish religious year), thus the 69 sevens referred to in the decree of Daniel 9:25 is 483 years.

    This decree was well known as the Edict of Artaxerxes and was given in March, 445 B.C. (Nehemiah, chapter 2). The great mistake of the Jews was that the Messiah they ignored, Messiah Ben Joseph, came but was not recognized! At the same time as Christ, about 70 others appeared, also making claim to be the Messiah. It was abundantly clear that prophecies in the Bible pointed to this time, which is the reason so many impostors showed up for their "cattle call."

    Nevertheless, a suffering servant is exactly what was predicted about the Messiah (or the Anointed One): "…the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing…"(Dan 9:26a). The Messiah was to suffer and die (cut off), before Jerusalem (the city) and the Temple (the sanctuary) was to be destroyed (Dan. 9:26b). Therefore, He came before Jerusalem and the Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D.

    An important note is that the prophets themselves did not see that there were not two Messiahs, but two separate appearances of one Messiah. They did not divide the prophecies that foretold of His suffering from those that foretold of His glory, even though they searched the Scriptures intently (1 Pet. 1:10-12). The Old Testament prophets saw what appeared to be one mountain peak event (one coming) in the distance. Actually there are two mountain peak events (two comings) with a long valley of time (2,000 years) between them. For example, the prophet Isaiah did not see the "2,000 year comma" in the verse, "To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God (Isa. 61:2, KJV)."

    We are now living in this "comma," better known as the parenthetical dispensation of the Church Age. Therefore, Isaiah saw the prophetic and kingly work of the Messiah, but did not see his priestly work, during this 2,000 year period of the Messiah’s human/physical absence from the earth. The prophets therefore saw the Altar (sacrificial suffering) and the Throne (glory), but did not see the Table (the Lord’s Table). The Table represents 2,000 years of His present, heavenly, priestly work.

    To the prophets and the inquiring Old Testament Jews, there seemed to be two Messiahs converging together in one distant climactic appearance. Because they rejected the notion of a separation of Messianic appearances by a single Messiah, to this day, many Jews still await their future Messiahs and the fulfillment of all Messianic prophecies.

THE TWO MESSIAHS

The Conquering King

    There is much prophecy concerning the Messiah (the Christ or the Anointed One). Many of the passages appear to be contradictory, from which came the previously addressed teaching that there are two Messiahs. The first, the "Conquering King," is found in one of David’s Psalms:

    "The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One [Messiah]. I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill. You are my Son…You will rule them with an iron scepter; Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment" (Psalm 2:2, 6, 7, 9, 12).

The Suffering Servant

    The second Messiah, the "Suffering Servant," is found in a number of passages: "After the sixty-two ‘sevens’ the Anointed One [Messiah] will be cut off and will have nothing" (Dan. 9:26). "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering… He was pierced for our transgressions… the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all… he poured out his life unto death…" (Isa 53:3, 5, 6, 12). (See also Psalm 22.)

Confusion by John the Baptist

    The concept of two Messiahs is also demonstrated in a question by John the Baptist, who was the last of the Old Testament prophets. While it is true that John first appears in the New Testament, the early parts of the New Testament still concern the Mosaic Law of the Old Testament. What separates the physical Old Testament and New Testament is time, not the different dispensations of Law and Grace. God was just silent for 400 years!

    In the last Old Testament book, Malachi, God speaks of a messenger who will come just ahead of the Messiah. In the first New Testament book, Matthew, scripture picks up the dialog where it was left off in Malachi. God announces through the angel Gabriel that His messenger would be coming to prepare the way before Him. That messenger was John the Baptist. John had the unique position of being both a prophet and the fulfillment of prophecy. However, this prophet had trouble understanding his own prophecy! If anyone ever was in the middle of cataclysmic prophetic events, surely it was John the Baptist. Since we are so far removed from his time and it is easier for us, in hindsight, to understand past prophecy, perhaps we can also understand John’s human uncertainty. John sent his disciples to ask the one called Christ (Messiah) if He was indeed the Messiah or if they should expect another (Matt. 11:3). Because it didn’t appear as if Jesus was in the process of "conquering," John was beginning to question if perhaps the Rabbis of his day were right—that there were going to be two Messiahs.

    From our present day vantage point, we can easily understand that instead of having two Messiahs coming at the same time and each performing different roles, we have one Messiah with two comings and two roles, 2,000 years apart. According to prophecy in Daniel 9:26, at the first coming, the Messiah is cut off (dies). Jesus’ death after His first coming demands a resurrection and a leaving in order for there to be a second coming, which will occur at the end (Matt. 24:3).

    As we will see, the End is associated with the second coming of the Messiah. Follow now as we step through the incredible, interconnected relationship of the Last, God Almighty, the Omega, the End, and the Messiah.

The Last Is God

    Isaiah the prophet says, "This is what the Lord says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come—yes, let him foretell what will come. Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No there is no other Rock; I know not one" (Isa. 44:6-8).

    Here we see that the Last is God.

The Last Is Creator

    The following is also from Isaiah, "Listen to me, Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am he; I am the first and I am the last. My own hand laid the foundations of the earth, and my right= hand spread out the heavens" (Isa. 48:12-13).

    One sees here the first and last is the Creator.

The phrase Alpha and Omega aren’t used for First and Last because the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew, and Alpha and Omega are Greek letters. The New Testament was written in Greek and we need to look there to find that phrase.

The Omega Is The Last

    Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet; thus the meaning of the many scriptural references to the first and the last. The book of Revelation states: "…I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last…" (Rev 1:11, KJV). (See also Rev. 1:17, 2:8, 22:13.) The One who is the Alpha is also the Omega—He is both the Creator and the Consummator. What could make more sense than for the One who created the world to be the One who also consummates it?

The Omega Is God Almighty

    From the book of Revelation we find, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty" (Rev. 1:8). (See also Rev. 4:8.)

    One sees here that the Lord God Almighty is the Omega.

The Omega Is The End

    In Revelation 21:6, we find, "He said to me: It is done.⁴ I am the Alpha and the Omega the Beginning and the End."

    Here we see that the Omega is the End. Lastly we see, "Behold I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End" (Rev. 22:12, 13)." This passage explains that the Almighty God of Revelation 1:8, "who is to come," is the End.

    The Omega is not only the End but is coming again at the end to reward both good and bad.

The End Is Messiah Ben David

    In the 22nd chapter of Revelation, the Last, God Almighty, the Omega, the End explains, "I am…the End (v. 13)" and "I am the Root and Offspring of David, and the bright and morning star" (v. 16). This is the long awaited "Messiah #1," Messiah Ben David. He comes like the morning star Venus, appearing after a dark night before a new day.

The End Is Jesus

    The Omega or the End—the Lord God Almighty—more specifically identifies Himself in the first half of Rev. 22:16:

    "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches."

    This star is the One who was promised in the Old Testament: "A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel (Num. 24:17)." This One who is to descend from Jacob (Jacob’s Portion) is no less than the Creator: "He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including the tribe of his inheritance—the LORD Almighty is his name" (Jer. 51:19).

    Again, the Messiah is human, and at the same time God. He is God’s equal ("fellow" in Zech. 13:7, KJV), and of course eternal (Micah 5:2). He is one being, who makes two dramatically different appearances on the stage of human life.

God The Creator Came As A Human

    First Timothy 3:14 tells us that God appeared in a body (in the flesh). John 1 explains that in the beginning (alpha) the Word made the world (Creator). He came to His own (the Jews) but they did not recognize or receive Him. In John 1:14, we see that He came in the flesh (a body) as testified to by John the Baptist. This One who is the First and the Last is also the Creator and the Lord God Almighty—about whom John the Baptist testified to being the Jewish Messiah—and who later "poured out his life unto death" (Isa 53:12), "was cut off and had nothing" (Dan 9:26)"

    Who is He who died at the cross on calvary? He is none other than the Christ, the Messiah, the One who was, and who is…and the same One who is to come. He is none other than Messiah Ben Joseph!

Lord God Almighty Died And Is Alive

    "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever" (Rev 1:17-18).

    Here, part of Rev 1:8’s mysterious quotation, "who is, and who was, and who is to come" has been explained.

    The one "who was" means the one who existed in the past was dead (the Lord God Almighty died). Certainly, the only way for a spirit to physically die is to take on flesh, since one cannot physically harm a spiritual being. God tells us that He was pierced (Zech. 12:10), and therefore He had to have taken on a physical body.

    The one "who is" means the one who exists in the present, who is the I AM (Exod. 3:14) or Jehovah "the existing One," who is alive forever and ever. (He is alive again and is going to stay that way.)

    The one "who is to come" is the End. He is coming again as explained earlier, to reward everyone according to what he has done (Rev. 22:12).

SUMMARY

    We can now very easily understand what the ancient prophets could not. It appeared to them that there were to be two Messiahs coming at the same time. Instead we have one Messiah and two comings. The enigma is solved when the suffering Messiah dies and is resurrected! He was Messiah Ben Joseph, the one without spot or blemish (Heb. 9:14), the sacrificial lamb (sin bearer) for those who believe (Heb. 9:28, 10:10). He is presently alive and preparing to return as Messiah Ben David, Jesus, the End, who is to be the conqueror, pouring out blood like wine and becoming king over all the earth (Rev. 19).

    Depending on your relationship to Him, you could either be rejoicing in the finished work of Messiah Ben Joseph, or shaking in your boots because of the coming vengeance of Messiah Ben David, who is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5).

    Now that the question, "Who is the End? has been answered, our next question is, "What will End?"

Part of what is "done" concerns the earth. In the past tense of this scripture, our present home was just "done" (or "done in" to use contemporary language); in other words, it was destroyed (2 Peter 3:10)!