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WHAT WILL END? The World Never Ends People have often spoken about the end of the world or "doomsday." Yet, the scriptures tell us that the world never ends but endures forever, "…like the earth that he established forever" (Psalm 78:69). Also, "Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever" (Ecc. 1:4). There will be a new earth (Rev 21:1), but the earth is changed from matter to energy—disappearing from visible sight; but in essence, it will be only a reconstitution.END OF THE WORLD vs. END OF THE AGE If the world never ends, then what is meant by several verses in the King James Version of the Bible that speak of the end of the world? Note especially: "And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when shall these things be? and what [shall be] the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world’" (Matt. 24:3, KJV)? To this Jesus replied, "So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just" (Matt. 13:49, KJV). The word "world" in the text is largely due to the mistranslation in the King James Version of the Greek word aion. The Greek word kosmos means the external arrangement of the natural world. Aion means age. In the above passages, kosmos does not appear, but aion does. World in this case should have been translated as "age." AN AGE DEFINED In both science and scripture, an age is from one "cataclysmic" or "climatic" change to another in the earth’s surface or condition. Thus, the age in which we now live began at the time of the flood of Noah. This is supported by evidence from both scripture and science. Scriptures tell us that before the flood the earth was quite different. Springs and artisan rivers watered the ground (Gen. 2:6, 10). There was no rain (Gen. 2:5), and the rainbow, which is formed from rain clouds, was not seen until after the flood (Gen. 9:13). Today, we see past evidences of tectonic action in the earth’s topography as exposed by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge—an underwater mountain range that has burst forth under the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, separating the world’s land masses into its eastern and western hemispheres (this is particularly noticeable between Africa and South America). Flood evidence from torrents of water are located along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and along our continental shelves. Genesis 7:11 speaks of this great bursting: "…on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth." The world of that time (before the Flood) was destroyed: "By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed" (2 Pet. 3:6). The Edenic Age The entire world at the time of creation had a tropical climate and atmosphere, from the North pole to the South pole, both of which supported and sustained an abundance of life. People lived to be 900 years old. Insects and reptiles, like the dinosaurs (which got bigger and longer as they grew older), achieved great size and length. We see the evidences of that great tropical world in our present world’s great fossil beds. The species of plant and animal life were abundant and varied. They, including the dinosaurs, were suddenly overcome by great volumes of catastrophic flood deposition—the flood of Noah. Other events occurred globally as the great deep burst forth. This bursting forth produced tectonic plates in the earth’s mantle. These great crustal sub-surface plates began to slide, generating massive volcanic action. This action, with the ash and super-heated water laden with minerals, caused petrification of organic material. Great tidal waves were generated, producing phenomenal destruction. The windows of heaven were opened (Gen. 7:11), bringing matter of cosmic proportions down upon the earth. Thousands of feet of flood deposition occurred all over the earth. In less than one year’s time, the earth acquired its "age" (Gen 7:6; 8:13)—not over millions or billions of years as evolutionists would like us to believe. When the end of our present age comes, the world will begin to revert back to the Edenic conditions of its earlier age. According to the prophet Isaiah, the life-sustaining power of the next age’s atmosphere will be as it was before the Flood: "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed" (Isaiah 65:17, 20). End One Age And Begin Another The "end of the world"—or as it is more accurately translated in the New International Version of the Bible, "end of the age"—will end the present climactic conditions and begin a renewed heaven and a renewed earth. It is only logical that when one condition ends, another condition begins. END OF PRESENT PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT End Harsh Atmospheric Conditions For this new beginning to take place, this author believes there will be a physical reversal of events that happened at Noah’s Flood. At the Flood, our great mountains, valleys, and oceans were formed as the great deep burst forth and the rains descended. In the coming end, these movements will be reversed—water will evaporate, mountains will sink, valleys will fill, and fountains will again be created in the process. When the earth’s waters evaporate, "the waters above the firmament" (Gen 1:7) will be re-established. In essence, this will create a canopy of water vapor throughout the upper atmosphere. This canopy will once again produce the earth-wide greenhouse effect that was once enjoyed by the antediluvians. The canopy will capture harmful cosmic radiation, producing a pleasant, warm climate, and evenly heated surfaces on the earth from pole to pole. Such an environment will eliminate all of earth’s traumatic weather conditions—blizzards, drought, hurricanes, tornadoes, and the like.
These waters in the high atmosphere are spoken of in God’s Word as existing in the future and being established forever. "Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies.…for he commanded and they were created. He set them in place for ever and ever" (Psalms 148:4-6). Logically, if they existed prior to the flood, are not there now, yet will be in the future, then they must be restored. End of Volcanic Islands The mountains and the valleys will be leveled. "Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain" (Isaiah 40:4). This is confirmed in Revelation 16:20: "And every island fled away, and the mountains could not be found." These physical changes will restore the earth’s environment to its pristine state, which will make it a much more habitable place. Both the polar ice caps and the deserts will again become fertile land, suitable for grazing and farming. The immense oceans will become narrow, shallow seas. All prominent mountains will become hills. Volcanic islands (mountains under the ocean, such as Japan and Hawaii) will sink and become smooth sea floor. Fountains Restored The fountains under the earth are to be reformed by the collapse of the mountains, and will help restore abundant life to the earth. "Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; [Though] the waters thereof roar [and] be troubled, [though] the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. [There is] a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy [place] of the tabernacles of the most High" (Psalms 46:2-4, KJV). In chapter 47, the prophet Ezekiel saw this future river as flowing eastward into the Dead Sea, making the salt water fresh, and supporting swarms of living creatures. There will thus be an end to the famous Dead Sea that refuses to support life. END OF THE CURSE We have just reviewed some of the physical changes that will happen in the future, which will define the end of this age. Genesis 3:17 says the Omega will begin removing the curse of the earth that He had pronounced in the beginning (the alpha) of human history. The curse has brought to the earth what the Apostle Paul described in Romans 8 as decaying, groaning, and pain. As is well known, the curse was pronounced because of sin. Sin can be defined as man doing his own thing, which he certainly has done. Just as the antediluvians did their own thing and were awarded judgement—namely the Flood—so throughout history, people have been doing their own thing. In so doing, they are preparing themselves for judgement—the Tribulation, which leads to the end. The end is associated with the Day of Vengeance of Our God (Isa. 61:2), Who alone, after His judgement, will be able to remove the curse. SIGN & CLOUDS In Matthew 24:3, the Jewish disciples asked for a sign. A sign-seeker is someone who seeks a wonder or a miracle. Christ gave them the sign for the time of the end. At that time, the earth will no longer be without a sign of the physical presence of God. Therefore, signless times end. "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory" (Matt. 24:30). So the end comes with clouds. These clouds are like the cloud during the time of Moses’ wandering 40 years in the wilderness, with a cloud by day and a flaming fire by night for guidance (Exod. 13:21). This cloud is the glory of the Lord—the Shekinah Glory (for more detail, see "Feast Of Tabernacles" in Chapter Three, "WHEN"). The Shekinah Glory will appear and stay the next time (Isa. 4:5, 6). It will be the revelation of the Lord Jesus with His heavenly entourage (2 Thess. 1:7; Jude 14). MESSIAH’S REVELATION The end will be the revelation of the second coming of Jesus Christ, proclaiming the Day of Vengeance. He will come the next time as a lion and not a second time as a lamb; as the Messiah Ben David, not again as Messiah Ben Joseph: "…the Lord Almighty will come with…flames of a devouring fire…they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy one of Jacob, and will stand in awe of the God of Israel" (Isa. 29:6, 23). "They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be great" (Zech. 12:10-11). (Notice the end is associated with "that day," a term mentioned frequently in Scripture and equated with the Day of the Lord). The mourning over a son that was pierced is further elucidated: "Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him" (Rev. 1:7). Clearly, we see that the returning Christ will be known as the One who was pierced. From Jerusalem, and around the earth, there will be great mourning because they will finally understand the mystery they have denied, that Jesus Christ always was the Savior, the God, and the Messiah of Israel! On that great and terrible day, there will also be mourning because vengeance will be taken by the One who had come earlier to His people, "To proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor" (Isa. 61:2). With the priceless gift of the Son of Man, God had fulfilled that prophecy before their very eyes and ears when Christ told them who He was (Luke 4:17-21). If only they had believed! END OF NOAH-TYPE DAYS God will pour out His wrath on mankind because of their wickedness, corruption, and unbelief—a wrath that will grow to the extent it was in the days of Noah. The disciples had asked about the end in Matt. 24:3, and Christ told them then that it would be like it was during the days of Noah. There will be terrible times in the last days, as amplified and illustrated in 2 Timothy 3:1-4: "People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." It sounds as if the days of Noah are already here! When Christ was asked, "…what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age" (Matt. 24:3)? He described in detail what would happen (Matt. 24-25)—an account which outlines the book of Revelation from chapters 6 through 19. The book of Revelation was written with special attention to what is and will happen to the nation of Israel. It covers the spectrum of the end times, from the Ephesus synagogue in chapter 2, to the New Jerusalem as recorded in chapter 22. The last days of the different synagogues (churches) will be as they were during their first days.
TRIBULATIONS WILL LEAD TO THE END People will suffer terrible tribulation (as clearly shown with the Churches of Smyrna and Thyatira)! Such tribulation will be unequaled from the beginning of the world, including the days of Noah, and will never again be equaled (Matt. 24:21). The things that will happen will first be God’s judgement of Israel, and second God’s judgement of the Gentiles (the rest of mankind). What will happen to Israel is outlined in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible—in Daniel and Revelation. END 490 YEARS OF SIN God decreed 490 years for the Jews and Jerusalem to finish transgressions, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to fulfill scriptural vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy (Dan 9:24). (For more detail, see "The Count Down" in Chapter 3, "WHEN.") This reconciling for sin is explained in the New Testament: "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation… Be reconciled to God… God made him who had no sin to be sin (a sin offering) for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor. 5:18, 20, 21).
We can determine that 483 years of God’s 490-year decree has been completed. The 483 years ended with the Anointed One (Messiah) being cut off (Dan. 9:26). After being cut off, He went back to His place (heaven) and will be there until, in their misery, the Jews earnestly seek Him (Hos. 5:15). The seven years that remain are known as the Seventieth Week of Daniel, or the Tribulation. It is the time of Jacob’s (Israel’s) Trouble. An outline of what will happen in this end-time period is given in the book of Daniel: "The end will come like a flood; War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven’ but in the middle of that ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And one who causes desolation will place abominations on a wing of the temple until the end that is decreed is poured out on him" (Dan. 9:26, 27). So it is that, with the Tribulation, the Lord brings an end to 490 years of unreconciled sin and its consequences. THE ANTICHRIST Daniel identifies the figure in the above scripture as the one from the people who would destroy the city and the sanctuary—after the Messiah had come (Dan 9:26).5 Since Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Romans, one "from the people" would be one with Roman citizenship. This individual will be a significant "what" of the end, whose demise will coincide with the end. Since he will be the center of so many things that will take place during the Tribulation and will be such a mighty "servant" (a deliverer of judgement) of the Omega, let’s look more closely at him. For our purposes, it is not possible to expound about him in as much detail as other noteworthy works.6 This substantial "what" was prophesied at the very beginning of scripture (at the same time the Messiah was first prophesied), immediately after the Fall, when man and Satan first decided to disobey! The following was spoken to the serpent (the Devil): "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed, it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel" (Gen. 3:15, KJV). This seed of the serpent will be received by the Jews as their Messiah when he appears. This person will be Satan’s master deceiver on earth. In him shall dwell all the fullness of the Devil bodily. He will be the Superman who will appear according to God’s prescription. "For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth, but have delighted in wickedness" (2 Thess. 2:11, 12). Jesus Christ said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). We see why the apostle John selected the name the Anti-christ (1 John 2:18). He is The Lie, in perfect contrast to Christ, who is The Truth. God then will send the Lie, because the Truth has been rejected. Christ confirmed this: "I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him" (John 5:43). The Lie, who will bring damnation, will unfortunately be well received both by Israel and the rest of the world. In fact, with the exception of Jesus Christ, he will be the most remarkable person ever to appear in human history. The Antichrist will be:
Here we see that, in the future, great wealth will be obtained in a revival of the value of precious metal. As the tribulation approaches and the world economies begin collapsing, people will flock to purchase precious metals in an attempt to find security in gold and silver.
The mouth of a lion is symbolic of an orator who gains attention and commands respect. This speaks of the majesty and awe-inspiring effects of his voice.
According to Rev. 14:11, all who participate in this new "implanted" banking system will receive eternal damnation: "And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name."
The Antichrist integrates the Grecian, the Medo-Persian, and the Babylonian empires. Scriptures and history show us that these animals represented these empires. The beasts are spoken of in Daniel 7:1-6, and represent the successive kingdoms in King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the statue (Dan. 2:31). They are further identified in Daniel 2:38, 5:30-31, and 8:20-21. "They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast" (Rev. 17:13).
"He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed" (Rev. 13:15). END OF THE ANTICHRIST AND 666 Good news! At the end, the Antichrist will come to his end via the laser of lasers: "God came… His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand,… Sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows, at the lightning of your flashing spear. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you stripped him from head to foot" (Hab. 3:3-4, 11, 13). "And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming" (2 Thess. 2:8). Jesus Christ crushes this lawless one at His Revelation and fulfills Genesis 3:15, "…he will crush your head." At the time of the crushing of the son of Satan, those who will have received the mark and worshiped the beast or his image (Rev. 14:9) will be put to the sword (Rev. 19:21). God brings an end to the 666 system. The false prophet, and the lawless one, will be cast into the lake of fire, and Satan will be seized, bound, and thrown into the Abyss. The above "mark" will be necessary for buying and selling, but it will undoubtably have other uses. With emerging nanotechnology, computer programers may use it to provide the genetic code information necessary to synthesize molecules and compounds to cure hereditary diseases and defects. One’s passport, social security card, healthcare card, foodstamps, and transportation tokens will all be securely implanted under one’s skin. It could even be used as a house key to get into one’s government subsidized house. As a passport and bankcard, national boundaries will come down. As supreme ruler, and in fulfillment of scripture, the Antichrist will say, "‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, because I have understanding. I removed the boundaries of nations, I plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their kings. As one reaches into a nest, so my hand reached for the wealth of the nations; as men gather abandoned eggs, so I gathered all the countries; not one flapped a wing, or opened its mouth to chirp’" (Isa. 10:13-14). The "mark" and its system that promised benefits such as convience, identification, security, etc. will instead become enslaving, demanding, monopolistic, and predatory. In this diabolical, encompasing, economic, political, and religious system, the governor becomes god. And like good dogs, the ones provided for will worship the provider.
For those who come to faith between the pre-tribulation rapture and the mid-tribulation rapture (for explanation of these events, see "The Festivals" in Chapter Three), the Lord has given a way to figure out who the Antichrist will be—by calculating his number. With this foreknowledge they will be forewarned and able to make preparation. God tells them that the Antichrist’s number is 666 (Rev. 13:18). Perhaps the mystery will be solved through gematria, explained by Salem Kirban in the Salem Kirban Reference Bible (AMB Publishers, Chattanooga, TN ©1992, pg. 220): "Gematria was the ancient system of number coding and of spelling out numbers by letters. Any alphabet can be used. The code uniformity runs like this, here using English: a=1; b=2; ….; j=10; k=20; …; s=100; t=200;…; etc. Thus the name "fox" would yield 6+60+600 or 666." END OF THE TRIBULATION With the destruction of the Antichrist and his armies, the Seventieth Week of Daniel, or the Tribulation, will come to an end. Moreover, with the end of the Tribulation, the purification process of Israel ends as well, as described in Daniel 9:24: (paraphrase): "Transgression is finished. Their sin is put to an end; it is reconciled for, everlasting righteousness is brought in; vision and prophecy is fulfilled; and the most holy anointed (the anointed one, or Christ) is anointed king." So Earthly kingdoms will end, along with the Tribulation. "In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms but it will itself endure forever" (Dan. 2:44). END OF THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES Along with the end of the Antichrist, the tribulation, and the purification of the Jews, the time of the Gentiles also comes to an end. Their existence began in 606 B.C. when, after the Jews fell into idolatry, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon carried them into a 70-year captivity. Since then, God has permitted the Gentiles to have world power, as outlined in Daniel 2:37-43. Christ remarked about these times: "Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled" (Luke 21:24). THE DAY OF THE LORD The End Day + 1000 Years This last or end day is known in scripture as "That Day." It is also known as the Last Day, the Great Day, and the Day of the Lord, among other names. The Day of the Lord begins after the multitudes gather (for the Battle of Armageddon) in the valley of decision; and at the time that the sun and moon are darkened (Joel 3:14-15). At the time the sun and moon are darkened, the Son of Man (the Messiah or Christ) comes in great glory (Matt. 24:29-30). Therefore, the Day of the Lord (That Day) begins at Christ’s return. This end "day," or Day of the Lord, is 1,000 years in duration. At its beginning it ends this present age; at its end, it ends the Millennial Age or Day; consequently ending two ages. The future end (1,000 years plus) is spoken of by Peter, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up" (2 Pet. 3:10, KJV). We who have studied physics, and many others, see these "elements melting" as atomic fission.7 Elemental matter (the earth and its atmosphere) is converted into energy, and disappears—releasing "fervent" heat. This elemental disappearance of the earth after the 1,000-year Day is yet a different end. Its destructive end leads to judgement for those in Hades, who did not bow their knee to God while they were alive (Isa. 45:23). These damned ones under the earth will bow their knees before God/Christ (Phil. 2:10), and will be judged after the earth disappears—at which time they are exposed and resurrected in preparation for the "second death," which is explicitly described in scripture: "…all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul" (Psalm 22:29, KJV). "And when the thousand years are expired…the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are… And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them…and hell delivered up the dead…and they were judged according to their works. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire… This is the second death" (Rev. 20:7, 10, 11, 13, 15, 14 KJV). The "second death" is when death, hell, sin, unrepentant sinners, and Satan find their end. Only then can God lift the curse He pronounced at the beginning, after mankind fell in the garden of Eden. Humanity has come full cycle; we are back to the very beginning: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). In this new beginning God has prepared, "a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away…" (Rev. 21:1). He will have purged the rebellious men and angels, and a perfect earth is possible once again, this time without the existence or presence of sin and evil. SATAN’S & MAN’S 6,000 YEAR "WEEK" ENDS The end at the beginning of the Day of the Lord (a 1,000 year "day") will end man’s week. (Man will have had approximately six 1,000-year "days" since the garden of Eden, as calculated by tracing the genealogies in the Bible from Adam to Christ and through the present). God will then regain control. The book of Revelation expounds many details of God’s "take-over." God takes back the title deed to the earth that He gave to Adam, who in turn gave it to Satan at the Fall. God gets the deed back from Satan (the god of this age, 2 Cor. 4:4) by unrolling the seven sealed scroll of Revelation. By God’s decree, man will no longer have to suffer under the curse, or pay the price for being painfully educated by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:17). Seven Seals Seven seals in the book of Revelation outline the entire period of tribulation. Inexplicably, the sixth seal seems to be at the very end, for the events that coincide with its "opening" appear to be the same events that take place at the end of the tribulation: The sun turns black, the moon turns red, the stars fall, the sky recedes, the mountains move, and men hide (Rev. 6:12-16). Yet the sixth seal is opened before the seventh seal, which contains the seventh trumpet, heralding the end time events that bring in the Day of the Lord. This presents an enigma. How can we have the Day of the Lord both at the middle of the tribulation and at its end? As shown above, the Day of the Lord begins after the multitudes are gathered in the valley of decision, to await the Battle of Armageddon (Joel 3:14). One plausible answer is that there is a proclamation at the middle of the tribulation, a warning if you will, that has some of the same signs as the Day of the Lord. The prophet Zephaniah associates a voice with the Day of the Lord, which could be a type of preceding proclamation: "The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and haseth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly" (Zeph. 1:14) (KJV). This voice then, preluding the Day of the Lord, apparently acts as a warning three and one-half years before the actual event. It is at the sixth seal (not the end, or day of the Lord) that people will say to the mountains, "Cover us" and to the hills, "Fall on us" (Hos. 10:8; Luke 23:28-30; Rev. 6:16). Seven Trumpets Within the seventh seal are seven trumpets, four of which are trumpet plagues that bring to an end the following: 1/3 of the trees and grass; 1/3 of the sea (with its ships and sea creatures); 1/3 of the drinking water; and temporarily dims 1/3 of the energy output from the sun, moon, and stars. After these four "warnings" come the remaining three trumpets, known as woe judgements. A visible, flying angel announces three supernatural woe judgements, which soon follow. The fifth trumpet inflicts tormenting "locusts." The sixth trumpet releases 200 million "horsemen," killing 1/3 of humanity. The seventh and last trumpet is composed of seven bowls of wrath. Seven Bowls Of Wrath The seven bowls are seven supernatural plagues. The first bowl produces sores on those who accepted the mark of the beast. The second turns all the oceans into blood, killing all sea creatures. The third turns the rivers and springs that are used for drinking water into blood. The fourth causes the sun to scorch humanity with great heat. The fifth plunges the Beast’s seat of government (Babylon) into darkness. The sixth dries up the Euphrates River and releases demons to gather the world’s armies to Armageddon. The seventh produces the incomprehensible earthquake that tumbles all major cities (with their "indestructible" skyscrapers)—and also produces great hailstones, which cause the future city of Babylon (in present day Iraq) to go to meet the earlier sin-consumed cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. It goes down into the earth and is covered by the sea (Jer. 51:42, 64; Rev. 18:17-21). Numerous Other Ends Throughout Scripture are prophecies of yet more ends. The wicked and their cities come to and end (Ps 9:5,6); the sadness of the earth ends (1 Chr. 16:31-33); wars end (Ps 46:9); and the carefree life of the wicked, along with their increase in wealth ends (Ps 73:12,18). The physical bodies or ashes of the righteous multitude, which are in the graves of the earth end (Dan. 12:2; Isa. 26:19; Hosea 13:14); the frustration of the earth with its bondage and decay ends (Rom. 8:20,21); and perhaps the division of languages, which was instituted at the Tower of Babel, ends (Zep. 3:9). Satan, the god of this age, blinds the minds of unbelievers so they don’t see the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Cor. 4:4). So, along with Satan’s end (Rev. 20:2), there will be an end to all the blindness that he has perpetrated. The flogging, impoverishing, imprisonment, mistreating, ridiculing, robbing, squelching, torturing—and killing—of the faithful will end forever (Heb. 11:35-38). Amen and amen! Lord’s Prayer Will End All the way to the end of time, the faithful will have been praying what has been historically known as the Lord’s Prayer. Their petitions—for God’s kingdom to come; for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven; for daily bread (including supernatural manna, Isa. 33:16); for not being led into temptation (the testing of the tribulation); and for deliverance from the evil one (the Antichrist, Matt. 6:9-13)—will all be answered on the day of the Lord! As of that glorious day, the Lord’s Prayer will no longer need to be prayed by any of God’s saints. Evildoers End The Lord will bring an end to Nineveh (present day Mosul, Iraq), and some of her descendants who were born there, such as the Antichrist (Nah. 1:11, 14).8 The whole seventh chapter of Ezekiel speaks about The End. At the end, God’s anger is unleashed. One can see in this chapter things that will happen throughout the tribulation as well as at the end. These are the same events that are detailed in the book of Revelation. The end brings separation of the sheep and the goats (figuratively, the good and the evil). These are the people who make it through the tribulation period alive and are on the earth when God reveals Himself (Zech. 12:10). The evil are separated (as they were in Noah’s day): "Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left" (Matt. 24:40). Jesus will first put the evildoers on His left side (Matt. 25:33), and then into eternal fire (Matt. 25:41). Man’s System Ends Man’s week in the sun ends; his politics centered at Rome, his religion centered at Israel, and his commerce centered at Babylon, all come to a prophesied end. Man’s new "miraculous" world order, created by the illustrious and charismatic Antichrist, crashes like a lead balloon! SUMMARY Also terminated at the end is the fragmentation and division of believers within the Church. Finally, the end brings the bodily resurrection of the righteous, and with this glorious day an end to the long separation between God’s living elect and all who died in Christ. As stated previously, the world is never completely destroyed, but it is only the age in which we now live that will definitely come to an end. Our present higher mountain ranges and volcanic islands will disappear, giving us a radical change in climate worldwide. Satan’s reign of authority over the people of the earth, epitomized in the Antichrist, will end. The seed of the woman, Christ, will crush the seed of the serpent, Antichrist (Gen. 3:15). One thousand years after the end of this age (after the 1,000 year Day of the Lord), the earth as it now appears will disappear in an elemental level reconstitution, and a new heaven and a new earth will be formed. The earth will be reconstituted to its original perfection, and man will become immortal. Both earth and mankind will have come full circle, returning to their pristine, original state of existence. Once again, being made in the flawless image of God, man will live forever in an Edenic environment with his Creator. With all this simultaneous good and bad news, we naturally seek to know when all these things will take place. "WHEN" is the subject of the next chapter.
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Copyright © 1997-2008 For comments and/or suggestions, send mail to Dr. George Madray |