There are two
eternal judgments in the Bible for sin. The first was the judgment of Christ
for the sins of the elect in 33 A.D. The second will be the judgment of the
sins of all the unsaved (non-elects) of earth which we presently believe will
take place sometime in 2011. The latter judgment is preceded by a time called
the Great Tribulation (GT) which is the spiritual judgment upon the external
churches, the corporate body of Christ for their unfaithfulness in their
commitment to God via His Word, the Bible.
Now that we have
been in the GT for over 19 years (the GT started May 22, 1988-see my
ten virgins study) at this point of
writing in 2007, we are able to get a better understanding from scriptures of
what the GT is about and make comparisons with what we observe in the churches.
Also, because of where we are in time—the time when God is opening
understanding to the scriptures in rapid fashion and thereby honoring His
promise of the new covenant (Heb 8:7-13)—we are able to learn and compare what
we have learned about the GT and the final judgment with the period of judgment
on Jesus Christ in His first coming and see many similarities of the spiritual
depictions of the events leading up to and including the cross with that which
we are now experiencing. This comparison is not only of the events but even the
timing is similar and chronological!
The best way to
illustrate this comparison is to go point by point, each number indicating a
chronological progression from the start of the judgment of Christ in the
1.
Firstly, we find
that Jesus (while being in the Garden of Gethsemane, Matt 26:36 which is in the
Mount of Olives, Luke 22:39) had to drink the cup of the wrath of God at the
start of His judgment. This was a spiritual cup that was not observable
outwardly by any of His disciples:
Luke 22:42 Saying, Father, if
thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
Matt 26:37 And he took
with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very
heavy.
38 Then saith he
unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and
watch with me.
39 And he went a little
further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
The
Mark 13:3 And as he sat
upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and
Andrew asked him privately,
The
Mount of Olives therefore is the approximate location of the Mount of Moriah, the place where the first temple was built by King
Solomon and the place his father, King David, had bought from Ornan, the Jebusite, to erect an
altar unto the Lord because that was the very place that the judgment
pestilence of the Lord was halted (2Sam 24:15-25):
2Ch 3:1 Then
Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at
Also,
the Mount of Olives being in the approximate location of the Mount of Moriah would have been the place that Abraham went to
sacrifice his only son, Isaac, who pictured the Lamb of God and is called Jehovahjireh (The Lord will provide):
Ge 22:2 And he
said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac,
whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon
one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
Ge 22:14 And Abraham
called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen. {Jehovahjireh: that is, The Lord
will see, or, provide}
So
we see the extreme importance of the Garden of Gethsemane with all of its
spiritual connotations covered above and so it is fitting to be the very place
for the beginning of judgment on Jesus, the Head of the house of God, and mirrors exactly the judgment of the
churches beginning with the very house of God during the GT:
1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that
judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at
us (the
true believers within the churches), what shall the end be of
them (the unsaved in the churches and the rest of the world) that
obey not the gospel of God?
And
even as Jesus had to drink this cup spiritually in the Garden of Gethsemane
without any outward observable signs to His disciples, the same is true of
Babylon—the churches from the very beginning of the GT. They too drink of God’s
judgment spiritually but it is not physically observable to those in the
churches:
Rev 18:4 And I heard
another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not
partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
5 For her sins have reached unto heaven,
and God hath remembered her iniquities.
6 Reward her even as she rewarded
you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her
double.
Note:
The
2. Secondly, we read that as Jesus went forward a
little (while still in the
Mr 14:35 And he went
forward a little, and fell <4098> on the ground, and prayed
that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.
This action of falling to the ground is a portrait
of being under the judgment of God:
Joh 18:6
As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went
backward, and fell <4098> to the ground.
But this action
was a part of fulfilling the bountiful salvation of the elect fruit of
believers:
Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I
say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall <4098> into the
ground and die (picturing the judgment of eternal death), it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth
forth much fruit.
This
action involving the falling by Jesus to the ground is a depiction of the stars
(Jesus being the bright and morning Star, Rev 22:16 and the elect within His
body are stars, Ex 32:13) that are in Him being cast down to the ground by
Satan during the first 2300 days of the GT as part of the judgment of God upon
the churches:
Dan 8:10 And it waxed great, even
to the host of heaven; and it
cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and
stamped upon them. {to the host: or, against the host}
11 Yea, he magnified himself even
to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken
away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. {to: or, against} {by
him: or, from him}
12 And an host was given him
against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down
the truth to the ground; and it practised, and
prospered. {an host…: or, the host was given over
for the transgression against the daily sacrifice}
13 Then I heard one saint
speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning
the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both
the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? {of…: or, making desolate}
14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand
and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
And
even as Jesus predicted this very same event would happen on the churches
during the days of the GT:
Luke 19:43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass
thee round, and keep thee in on every side,
44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children
within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another;
because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.
3.
Thirdly, while
in the
Luke
22: 44 And being in an
agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of
blood falling down to the ground. 45 And when he rose up from prayer, and
was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow, 46 And said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.
This
passage mirrors the start of the judgment on the churches during the first 2300
days of the GT even as all the ten virgins slumbered and slept (Matt 25:5)
during that time for sorrow of the Bridegroom not coming and not being present
with them (see the study on the
ten virgins).
4.
Fourthly, we
find that as Jesus was taken for temporary imprisonment because it was the hour
of the power of spiritual darkness, the time when Satan had temporary power
over Jesus:
Luke 22:53 When I was daily
with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is
your hour, and the power of darkness.
This
parallels the first 2300 days of the GT when Satan was reigning over the true
believers (the five wise virgins-picturing the body of Christ) in the churches and
they were asleep—hence the abomination of desolation occurred even as Satan was
being worshipped as God and it was the time when the power of darkness had
temporary ascendancy over the body of Christ! Also, it was spiritual night even
as the candlesticks of the churches were removed so that the churches were in
spiritual darkness and it was the time also when the body of Christ, the Son of
God was under the hand of the chief sinner—Satan as depicted by the following
passage:
Mark 14:41 And he cometh the
third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and
take your rest: it is enough, the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the
hands of sinners.
5.
Fifthly, after
Jesus was apprehended, we also see that all the disciples forsook Jesus and
everyone of them were scattered to their own things:
Matt 26:56 But all this
was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the
disciples forsook him, and fled.
Joh 16:32 Behold, the hour
cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and
shall leave me alone: and yet
I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
This
event portrays what happened with the churches—they forsook Christ and this
resulted in the divorce of the churches from God in 2Thess 2:3 where it is
wrongly translated as the “falling away” which was the reason for the divorce.
Please see my study “Why
I no longer attend church” for a more
complete exposition. Also, the scattering of the disciples to their own thing
reminds us that during the spiritual hour of GT, there is no stone left one
upon another in the churches even as Jesus prophesied from the Mount of Olives:
Lu 19:44 And shall lay
thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not
leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of
thy visitation.
Lu 21:6 As for these
things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be
left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
However,
outside the churches, Jesus and the Father are still together in their work of
salvation as shown in the last phrase of John 16:32.
6.
Sixthly, we read about an unidentified young man who
was following Jesus after all His disciples fled:
Mark 14:51 And there followed him a
certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body;
and the young men laid hold on him:
52 And he left the linen cloth, and fled
from them naked.
This
young man represents the external church in the GT which had a linen cloth (the
righteousness of the saints-Rev 19:8) about their naked body but they were
still naked on the inside as the righteousness represented by the linen cloth
was external even as the Pharisees exhibited external righteousness but
inwardly they were rotten with sins (Matt 23:28 ). So when Christ is taken out
of the external church during the GT,
Satan and his hosts (the young men in the Mark 14:51) are able to strip the
church of this external righteousness and leave them naked and under the wrath
of God even as Babylon is exposed in her sins under judgment:
Re 14:8 And there
followed another angel, saying,
Re 16:19 And the great
city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and
great
Re 17:5 And upon her
forehead was a name written, MYSTERY,
Re 18:2 And he cried mightily with
a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and
is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a
cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
7.
Seventhly,
Jesus, as He stood facing Caiaphas, testified that Caiaphas was now seeing the
very Son of God and then He links this seeing of Him to the time when Caiaphas
again will see Him at His second coming in the clouds of heaven which we
believe will occur in 2011. For this to happen Caiaphas must be resurrected
before Christ comes again in the clouds of heaven (Mark 14:62):
Matt 26:63 But Jesus held
his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the
living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. 64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto
you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power,
and coming in the clouds of heaven. 65 Then the high
priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need
have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his
blasphemy.
Caiaphas
was the head of the church being the high priest. He is the one who prophesied
that one man (Christ) should die for the people rather than the whole nation
perish (John 11:49-52) and his actions portray the actions of the heads of
churches today during the GT even as they have changed God’s laws and doctrines
and twisted the scriptures thus denying it as the Word of God and thereby
crucifying Christ afresh and putting Him to an open shame:
Heb 6: 4 For it is
impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly
gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
5 And have tasted the good word of God,
and the powers of the world to come,
6 If they shall fall away, to renew them
again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh,
and put him to an open shame.
8.
Eighthly, we
find that Peter (the lead disciple) is denying
Christ and even cursing and swearing which are activities associated with
children of darkness and are contrary to God’s word:
Matt
26:73 And after a
while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou
also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth
thee. 74 Then began he to
curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And
immediately the cock crew.
This
reprehensible behavior of Peter portrays the behavior of the five wise virgins
during the 2300 days. They were no different from the foolish virgins in their
behavior as they were now under the power of Satan and were obeying his will
and not Christ’s. This is evidenced by the elects’ willful participation in
various church activities (freewill preaching, divorces, speaking in tongues,
etc.) prior to September 7, 1994 which were not God-glorifying and were
unequally yoked together with unbelievers in their churches thus denying the
Word of God.
9.
Ninthly, we are told that Barabbas (literally “son of
the father”), a notorious insurrectionist and murderer (Luke 23:19), is
released and set free from prison and his death penalty instead fell upon Jesus
and this shows the substitutionary work of Christ in
the salvation of an elect who is pictured by Barabbas (Rom 15:3):
Mark 15:15 ¶ And so
Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and
delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.
Barabbas,
not being a member of the churches of Jesus’ day, represents an elect saved outside
of the churches during the GT leading up to the outward physical judgment to be
revealed on the Day of the Lord when the sun is darkened immediately after the
GT!
10. Tenthly, we
learn of this interesting account also even as Jesus is being led to the cross:
Luke 23:27 And there
followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and
lamented him.
28 But Jesus turning unto them said,
Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your
children.
29 For, behold, the days are coming, in
the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that
never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.
30 Then shall they begin to say to the
mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.
31 For if they do these things in a green
tree, what shall be done in the dry?
The
women (the daughters of Jerusalem) that are bewailing and lamenting Christ as
He is headed for crucifixion represent the true elects who have departed the
churches since September 7, 1994 (see my
ten virgins study) and these see
the judgment that is taking place on the churches even as these see Jesus going
to judgment. The great company (literally--great multitude) of people that are
bewailing and lamenting Christ is a portrait of those who came out of great
tribulation:
Rev 7:9 After this I beheld, and,
lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne,
and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
10 And cried with a loud voice, saying,
Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne,
and unto the Lamb.
11 And all the angels stood round about
the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before
the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,
12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory,
and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto
our God for ever and ever. Amen.
13 ¶ And one of the
elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white
robes? and whence came they?
14 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.
15 Therefore are they before the throne
of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither
thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of
the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall
wipe away all tears from their eyes.
The
living fountains of water are a reference to the completion of salvation of the
composite incorruptible body and soul probably on the last day, the great of
the feast of tabernacles on October 21, 2011:
John 7:37 ¶ In the last day, that great day
of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come
unto me, and drink.
38 He that believeth on me, as the
scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
39 (But this spake
he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy
Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
In
Luke 23:28-29 (quoted earlier), Jesus tells the daughters of Jerusalem (the
true elects who have departed the churches since September 7, 1994) not to weep
for Him but to weep instead for themselves and for their children and explains
His reason for this statement—The days that are coming are the days of the GT
during which time no one will be saved (spiritual barreness)
in the churches, no one is being born again from above (similar to entering
into their mother’s womb a second time-John 3:3-7- wombs that never bare) in
the churches and with no one is being born again as a babe there will be no
need for the spiritual breasts of the Holy Spirit who used to feed the baby
elects with milk (the Holy Spirit having been removed from the churches—see my
study “Why
I no longer attend church”) and instead
there will be now be counterfeit spiritual breasts which have never given suck
(paps which never gave suck). Yet with all of these
spiritual conditions, “they” in the churches during the GT will be calling the
churches blessed! Jesus tells us to behold these things!
Next
in Luke 23:30 (quoted earlier), Jesus makes reference to the same group “they”
who are in the churches and calling the churches blessed, these will be the
first ones, in the Day of the Lord which begins immediately after the GT with
the sixth seal, to be saying to the mountains and hills to fall on them and
cover them from the wrath of the Lamb:
Rev 6:12 And I beheld
when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and
the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the
earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs,
when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll
when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of
their places.
15 And the kings of the earth, and the
great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and
every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens 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 that sitteth
on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
Then
in Luke 23:31, Jesus says the following:
31 For if they do these things in a green
tree, what shall be done in the dry?
Here,
Jesus is comparing the two eternal judgments that are for sin! He is comparing
His judgment for the elect (the green tree) and the judgment for the non-elect
(that which we believe is ongoing and will culminate with the Day of the Lord
and ending with the eternal fiery judgment) which is the dry. The “they” are a
reference to the churches of Jesus’ day which are crucifying Him. But notice,
Jesus does not say who is exacting the judgment on the non-elects—it is not
“they” of the churches—instead it is the unseen God who will exact judgment on
the non-elect. Also, Jesus is saying if the judgment on Him is so terrible then
how much more terrible shall the judgment by God be on the unsaved.
11. Next, we find that there are two thieves
(malefactors) that are to be crucified with Jesus:
Luke 23:32 And there were
also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death…...
39 And one of the malefactors which were
hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
40 But the other answering rebuked him,
saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?
41 And we indeed justly; for we receive
the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.
42 And he (the thief on the right
hand of Jesus) said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
44 ¶ And it was
about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the
ninth hour.
45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil
of the temple was rent in the midst.
The only time in
this world since the end of the flood of Noah that salvation was not possible
in the whole world was this three hours of darkness which commenced exactly
after the last elect, the thief, (the thief on the right hand would NOT have
been a member of the churches of Jesus’ days) of Jesus' earthly ministry was
saved outside of the churches at the cross:
The
historical events here surrounding this time of judgment mirrors that which
will occur at the end of the GT. We see the last elect is saved outside of the
churches and then immediately the sun is darkened over all the earth, the veil
of the temple is rent by God indicating His judgment has started and that there
is no more salvation and Christ finishes His physical earthly ministry in
suffering the eternal death portrayed by His physical death.
The
thief that was saved is a portrait of the final elect saved at the very end of
the GT just before the sun is darkened at the beginning of the Day of the Lord
immediately after the GT:
Mt 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those
days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the
stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
The Day of the
Lord is also the end of time (from a human perspective of tracking time because
the sun and moon are no longer in commission) and when the end comes there is
no further preaching of the gospel, all elects having been saved prior to this
point:
Mt 24:13 But he that
shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be
preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the
end come.
Note: At this
point we officially switch to similarities with the Day of the Lord.
12. We find that
after the three hours of darkness there is an earthquake and the rocks are rent
even as there is judgment on the temple (the churches-Babylon):
Matt 27:51 And, behold,
the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks
rent;
These events depict the following events that will
occur after the GT:
Rev 16:17 ¶ And the seventh
angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the
temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. 18 And there were
voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such
as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and
so great. 19 And the great city was divided into
three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great
13. After the sun
is darkened for three hours we find a portrait of the rapture which should
occur in 2011:
Matt 27:52 And the graves
were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
53 And came out of the graves after his
resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
54 Now when the centurion, and they
that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that
were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.
This
resurrection was a supernatural phenomenon at that time that illustrates that
there will be supernatural activities as shown in Revelation 9 that will occur
during the pseudo-eternity period of the Day of the Lord which will commence at
the end of the GT! Also, notice that when the unsaved centurion and the other
unsaved enemies of Christ saw these things (including the resurrection), great
fear came upon them thus paralleling what will take place during the bodily
resurrection of the saved during the Day of the Lord which follows the GT which
encompasses the three and a half days of 84 hours:
Rev 11:9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and
an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
10 And they that dwell upon the earth
shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another;
because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
11 And after three days and an half
the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw
them.
1. Then we read the following:
Luke 23:49 And all his
acquaintance, and the women that followed him from
We
see these wise virgins depicted as the kings of the earth who when they have
left the churches they are lamenting Babylon, the churches, but we are told
that they too at one time were involved with the fornication that was in
Babylon:
Rev 18:9 ¶ And the kings
of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her,
shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her
burning,
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her
torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city
2.
We find that
after the sun is darkened for three hours that God will not hear Jesus:
Matt 27:45 Now from the
sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.
46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried
with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?
that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me?
In
fact, at the start of judgment on Mount of Olives in the
Luke 22:42 Saying, Father, if
thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
43 And there appeared an angel
unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
But
now in Matthew 27:45, Jesus’ access was cut off! There was no help this hour of
judgment (the Day of the Lord which starts immediately after the GT when the
sun is darkened-Matt 24:29) as opposed to the start of judgment (the beginning
of the GT in 1988 when not all the churches were fully decimated by Satan until
after 2300 days illustrated by the ten virgins gradually slumbering off to
sleep!). It was the dreaded hour of silence from heaven thereby illustrating
the event of the seventh seal when it is opened by Christ (the silence in heaven) which will take place chronologically after
the sixth seal in which we have the sun darkened illustrating the end of the GT
(Matt 24:29):
Re 6:12 And I beheld
when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo,
there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as
blood;
Re 8:1 And when he had
opened the seventh seal, there was
silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
3.
In looking at the scriptures from the time in
the Garden of Gethsemane when judgment first
began on Jesus right up to the time before the sun darkens and the veil
of the temple is mysteriously rent in two, we do not find that there is any
physical outward observations of supernatural manifestations that signify judgment is taking place. This lack of
outward observable signs parallels the judgment during the GT on the churches.
There are no physical observable signs that those in the churches during the GT
can see that they are evidently under the spiritual judgment of God. We who are
truly saved and outside of the churches can however see the sign of tongues in
the churches which is an evidence that those who practice this phenomenon are
still in unbelief (1Cor 14:22).
4.
Now pertaining to the judgment of the cross we
find it referred to as the “great and dreadful Day of the Lord” by God when
prophesying of the coming of John the Baptist:
Mal 4: 5 Behold, I will
send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of
the LORD (The time of the
crucifixion of Christ which is in itself a depiction of the Great Tribulation
leading directly into the dreadful Day of the Lord in the days immediately
after the GT when no salvation is possible):
6 And he shall turn the heart of the
fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers (fulfilling Zacariah’s
prophecy in Luke 1:76-79 concerning his son, John the Baptist),
lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
We see the
fulfillment of the above by John the Baptist as he was the Elijah to come
before the crucifixion of Christ:
Matt 17: 10 And his
disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first
come? 11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly
shall first come, and restore all things.12 But I say unto you,
That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him
whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. 13 Then the
disciples understood that he spake unto them of John
the Baptist.
Indeed Elijah (being a prominent prophet who
received training from first hand God at the beginning of his ministry for
three and a half years, 1Kings 17) will again come again as Christ prophesied:
Matt 17: 11 And Jesus
answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall
first come, and restore all things.
He comes in the period during the GT leading up to
the Day of the Lord when Christ comes a second time but in the form of the true
prophets of God who have been trained first hand by God over a period of time
and who are teaching the message of Christ's return in judgment (end-time
teaching even as John the Baptist's ministry, their foreshadow, was focused on
Christ's first coming) and communicating same worldwide to others who will run
with it as part of the new covenant of Hebrews 8 and 10.
Note also that
the there will be supernatural activity (wonders in heaven and signs in the
earth even as the graves were opened and the saints resurrected at the cross)
and sun and moon are taken out of commission before the next “great and notable
Day of the Lord” which is the Day of God, the last day of the period of the Day
of the Lord (see my study on the
sequences of the events of the Day of the Lord):
Act
2: 19 And I will shew
wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
20
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,
before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
5. The New Testament started with John the Baptist being the last of the Old Testament prophets:
Lu 16:16 The law and the
prophets were until John: since that
time the
John’s ministry officially ended at Jesus’ baptism
in the Summer of 29 AD (15th year of
Tiberius Caesar, Luke 3:1-22), thus officially ending the Old Testament and
starting the New Testament. At the outset of the New Testament we find the 1335
days (Dan 12:12) commencing more than 40 days after Jesus’ baptism (Jesus went
into the wilderness for forty days after His baptism and then went preaching in
Galilee, Luke 4:1-14, See Study—“Was
there a 1335 days ministry at the first coming of Christ”) but still in the
same year on Ethanim 1 (Feast of Trumpets),
Wednesday, September 26, 29 AD and running through Pentecost, Sunday, May 22,
33 AD when the Holy Spirit was poured out and 3000 souls were saved (Acts 2).
Even as the New
Testament started with 1335 days so will the New Testament end with 1335 days,
the 1335 days starting exactly 1978 (2 x 43 x 23) years (to the day of the week
and date) later on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 AD (start of Feast of Tabernacles in the evening) and
ending on the start of the period of the Day of the Lord on Sunday, May 22,
2011, thus fulfilling Daniel 12:12:
Dan 12:12 Blessed is
he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three
hundred and five and thirty days.
(For further
information—See study on
Daniel 12-Spirtual Implications).
The number 1978
points to the true witness (2) coming out of the bondage of the churches in
world (43—430 years in
Ge 13:10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all
the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the
LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the
land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.
Re 11:8 And their (the two
witnesses) dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city (the external
church-the great city
THE END
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