The Rapture Sermon Series 24. Matthew 24-25 Explained - Part 4

you could open your bibles to the book of matthew chapter 24 and verse 15. thank you to jim who filled in last sunday morning i think that was my last speaking thing of the year so you guys are stuck with me for a while that's either good or bad depending on your point of view i guess but we have been dealing with the subject of the rapture as you might remember we talked about what is the rapture and then we got into the subject of when is the rapture and we gave you seven reasons why we think the rapture will occur before the tribulation period and at that point you know i had to make a decision do we just change subjects and deal with something else or do we go deeper so we decided to go deeper and we started going through various passages that we hadn't covered yet that have a lot to say about the rapture issue and there's four four of them and then you'll notice the one that's underlined there is our fifth one which is matthew 24 and 25. it's hard to really develop certainty on the soon return of christ to rapture his church out of the earth before the tribulation begins without trying to understand matthew 24 and 25 which is the olivet discourse because here we have a problem and the problem is there's a couple of verses towards the end of this discourse that look like the rapture verse 31 looks like the rapture and verses 40 and 41 look like the rapture and everybody says well if that's the rapture jesus mentions that at the end of the tribulation so if the rapture is at the end of the tribulation then pre-tribulationalism cannot be true and so that's why that's the reason why we're getting into this subject matter there actually is a pretty simple answer to this and it's the answer that traditional dispensationalism has held and it's the belief that the church is not found in matthew 24 and 25. the rapture concerns church age truth and so when people all of a sudden read the rapture into matthew 24 and 25 they're inserting something into israel's context that doesn't belong that's the answer now at this point all i'm asking for is understanding rather than agreement because now we have to prove that and so that takes us into the rest of this material in other words don't don't just jump down to verse 31 or verses 40 and 41 without understanding everything that's come before and that's what most people do with this and there's very little teaching on the totality of the olivet discourse but as you move through the totality of the of the olivet discourse i think it becomes very obvious as you move through it that this is dealing with israel in the end time and not the church and therefore verse 31 is dealing with israel in the end time not the church verses 40 and 41 is dealing with israel in the end time and not the church so this i believe matthew 24 and 25 as we've tried to explain is inserted into matthew's gospel because matthew is writing to hebrew christians he's answering a question that a hebrew christian in the first century would have and that question is if jesus is the king then where is his what where's his kingdom that's the issue that he's dealing with he's not writing to evangelize people here he's writing for a edification reason or even an apologetic reason now john's gospel is written for evangelism matthews is not and matthew organizes his material around the idea that the kingdom was offered to israel in the first century nationally rejected by the leadership the kingdom is in a state of not cancellation today but what postponement god is doing a completely different work today through the church because god never leaves the earth without a witness of himself but don't panic you hebrew christians although you're involved with the church today the day in history is going to come where god is going to fulfill his kingdom promises to israel and how that happens is included in matthew 24 and 25. so that's the larger context and then from there we went to the immediate context matthew 23 37-39 precedes the olivet discourse and it relates to the fact that jesus 21st century israel said because he says to them in verse 37 matthew 23 jerusalem jerusalem it's very clear he's talking to the jews here he talks about how he wanted to gather them and we've noted the fact that the word gather there is where we get the jewish word synagogue which is a jewish gathering so this is an obvious jewish context but the problem wasn't jesus the problem was them and then he says your house is left to you desolate in other words israel and the nation and the temple is about to enter a time of discipline where she's you know it's like putting your kids in time out israel has been in time out for two thousand years you know throwing a tantrum basically as god is dealing instead with the church but then jesus in verse 39 says to israel for i say to you that's the nation you will not see me until you say blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord so there's coming a future time in which israel will nationally acknowledge her messiah christ will fulfill his kingdom promises in and through israel and how and under what circumstances is this going to occur well that's what matthew 24 and 25 is about matthew 24 and 25 is answering the question left over there in verse 39 because jesus there opens the door to the idea that there is a future for israel so we might ask well under what circumstances will will the lord fulfill these promises that's what matthew 24 and 25 were doing in your bible so that moves us into or moved us into the disciples questions jesus at that point beginning this discourse made a statement about their temple which he told them was going to be destroyed they associated that event with the end times and so they asked this question tell us when will these things happen what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age and jesus says i'm so glad you asked that question let me spend two chapters that matthew is going to record answering it so he begins to outline events that are taking place after the church has already been removed from the earth he talks about the tribulation period because the tribulation period is the tool that god is going to use to bring national israel which is currently in a state of unbelief into faith and so in verses 4 through 14 he outlines the events of the first half of the tribulation period through birth pains which by the way happened to dovetail exactly with the seal judgments in the book of revelation as you see i can see from this chart and then he says in verse 14 and this clearly clues us into a jewish context doesn't it the gospel of the what what does it say the gospel of the kingdom that's israel's national gospel shall be preached into the whole world as a testimony to the nations and the end will come now we are not today preaching the gospel of the kingdom we are preaching the personal gospel of salvation when we evangelize people we do not say repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand that's what was said to israel in the first century until they rejected the offer the millennial kingdom could have been theirs had they responded to their messiah on his terms back in the first century but that offer as we know for matthew 12 was turned down that offer is now off the table the kingdom of god as i'm describing it here is not in play right now it was in play when he was on the earth it could have come and in the events of the tribulation period it's going to be in play again as that offer of the kingdom is going to be re-extended so the expression the gospel of the kingdom is really a very clear clue that we're dealing with israel's national future and you see all of that in verses 4 through 14 and i think that's where we left off last time and now we come to the midpoint of this tribulation period what is going to be the heartbreaker for israel what is the event that's going to break her of national pride because the book of daniel chapter 12 i want to say around verse 7 explains that what god is doing in the second half of the tribulation period is he is shattering the holy people the holy people in context is israel he is taking israel to a point where her pride is gone and she basically almost has no choice but to trust in yeshua or christ alone not only for personal salvation nationally but for the millennial kingdom to come and so when you look at verses 15 through 20 you get the event that will really bring israel to the end of herself and that is something called the abomination of desolation which happens right in the middle of this time period notice what it says there in verse 15 therefore when you now who's the you it's national israel therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken through daniel the prophet standing in the holy place that is the event that brings israel to the end of herself and it is a reference to daniel chapter 9 verse 27 now if you're new to this church you may have never heard this expression the abomination of desolation but if you were with us in our daniel series i think we spent six or seven weeks just on that verse explaining it and what that verse which is very important it's yet future as spoken through daniel says and by the way that's what jesus is quoting here in verse 15. what daniel 9 27 says is he that's the antichrist will make a firm covenant with the many that's israel for one week the week is seven years but in the middle of the week that's what we're dealing with here in verse 15 of matthew 24. right 42 months into this or three and a half years into it or 1260 days into it something is going to happen but in the middle of the week he that's the antichrist will put a stop to sacrifice an offering and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate even until a complete destruction one that is decreed is poured out on the desolator what happens right in the middle is the antichrist who up to this point in time has sort of disguised himself as a friend of israel because he's entered into a covenant with them i would think allowing them to rebuild their temple and to offer sacrifices again in their temple and he's basically come alongside of them and he is entered into this deal with them and he is guaranteed their national survival and so at this up to this point they think he is their messiah the problem is 42 months into this seven year period he does a double cross he betrays them and he goes into the jewish temple and commits something called the abomination of desolation he tells the jews you can't offer sacrifices anymore in this temple he will set up a pagan image in the temple you'll see a description of that pagan image in revelation 13 and verse 15 and at this point he will actually begin to persecute the jewish people and that is happening right in the middle according to daniel's prophecy of this seven year time period yet future now that event more than any other event that i can think of is what the lord is going to use to drain israel of nationalistic pride why is that because when this happens they will know that they've made a deal with the devil and they will know that this guy that they've been trusting in for three and a half years is not their messiah at all and we better look elsewhere for a messiah and what the holy spirit is going to communicate to them is yeah look elsewhere for a messiah he actually came two thousand years ago and you turned him over to the romans for execution that's your messiah and they're going to begin to weep the prophecies of zechariah tell us as one weeps for a firstborn etc the reason that this event will be so significant to the jewish people is this whole thing has already happened to them in a time period that we call the inter-testamental time period between the testaments in between the very last book of hebrew bible malachi the very first book of the new testament matthew there's 400 years there and during that 400 year time period many of the prophecies that daniel made 400 years earlier in the 6th century start getting fulfilled and one of those things that daniel predicted 400 years in advance is in the inter-testamental period your temple israel is going to be desecrated and he made that prediction in daniel 11 31 it says forces from him will arise desecrate the sanctuary fortress and do away with regular sacrifice and they will set up the abomination of desolation now when you read the maccabees books which we don't accept as canonical but they contain valid history in them what you'll see is that there was a man about 167 bc give or take named antiochus epiphanis who went into the rebuilt jewish temple he betrayed the jewish people by telling the jewish people you can't offer your sacrifices in this temple anymore and he set up a pagan image in that temple now this is a couple hundred years before the time of christ four hundred years after the prophet daniel was dead okay he set up a pagan image in that temple of i think it was zeus and he betrayed the jewish people now the jewish people revolted against that through a man named judas maccabias he kind of gathered a rebel army they liberated the temple from the rule of antiochus antiochus was a seleucid they it liberated the temple from his rule and they cleansed the temple and there was a special feast day added to the jewish calendar because of this event that they celebrate around this time of the year you know decemberish called what feast day hint that's at the top of the screen there hanukkah sometimes called dedication feast of lights and israel prior to that period of time had seven feasts they were supposed to recognize and because of the miraculous nature of this event such as the fact that the menorah had to burn eight days for the temple to be rededicated they only had oil for one day and it miraculously burned eight days and given the fact that how did this rebel army of jews overthrow the seleucid reign of judas maccabees it must be god it must be a miracle the jews or the hebrews added to their feast days they have seven feasts as given all the way back in the time of moses they added another one called hanukkah and a few hundred years earlier they added another one called purim or lots to celebrate jewish deliverance from haman's plot to exterminate them in which book of the bible book of esther so the victory that's described in the book of esther is added to the feast days it's called pirim and now because of what's happened in 167 bc hanukkah or dedication or feast of lights is added to the feast days so now that brings us up to what nine nine feasts instead of seven so we've got seven levitical feasts two are added later and what's interesting is the lord jesus christ yeshua himself in john 10. i think i have the scripture back here somewhere there it is at the very bottom verses 22 through 24 was very diligent to show up at those feasts and there's an actual historical record in john 10 verses 22 through 24 of yeshua or jesus celebrating hanukkah or the feast of lights or the feast of dedication alongside the jewish people so what i'm trying to get at is this whole idea of the temple being desecrated that is something that is etched into the thinking of the jewish people we as gentiles hardly know this story we have to study it to learn it but they're taught this from from infancy from their youth this is something that is etched into the hearts of the jewish people and when the jewish people see the antichrist who they don't think is the antichrist yet they think he's their messiah when they see him go into the temple midway through the tribulation period now as predicted by daniel in daniel 9 27 see daniel said in daniel 11 31 this is going to happen during the reign of antiochus epiphanus that's historical that's a fact that transpired and then daniel in daniel 9 verse 27 says it's going to happen again in the middle of the tribulation period that is yet future so antiochus in a sense is a type if you will of the coming antichrist so when the jewish people see this happening all over again something that one of you know the antichrist replicating what one of the villains in their well-known history did to them that is the event that's just that's the shock to the system that is what the holy spirit uses to show them that look this guy you've been following and signed this deal of the century with is not your messiah your messiah is jesus christ this guy can't be your messiah because he just double-crossed you and he just replicated what one of your enemies in ancient history that you all know very well hanukkah accomplished and so when jesus speaks of this in matthew 24 15 backing up just for a minute therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken through the prophet daniel standing in the holy place that's what he's speaking of and this is clearly jewish imagery jewish vernacular it's not dealing with the church at all it's dealing with the history as a type for the future of israel and this is all part of a clock daniel 9 27 a 490 year clock that god gave to israel god to gabriel to daniel in daniel 9 24-27 gave to israel a clock with 490 years on it 483 of those years have already happened that's the time period between nehemiah 2 and palm sunday palm sunday is very significant because that's when yeshua presented his messianic credentials to the nation formally which they rejected the moment you get to palm sunday is this clock with 490 years on it is put on hold there's a pause button and it's been on pause for the last 2000 years where god is dealing with his church it's not dealing with israel israel is in time out pardon the pun there and that whole clock 483 years past seven years future was specifically given to the nation of israel not the church see what jesus or what yeshua is unfolding here is what's going to happen in the final seven years yet to come do you believe that the final seven years are going to elapse literally i sure do because the prior 483 years elapsed literally to the exact day so the final seven years is going to be just as punctual just as timely just as literal as the first 483 years and so when jesus or yeshua is speaking here of the desecration of the temple he's talking about what is going to happen in the middle of that 7 year period yet future but what i want you to see is when god to gabriel to daniel receive this clock the whole clock concerns israel it doesn't concern the church at all this is what gabriel said to daniel 70 weeks have been decreed for who your people who is he speaking to daniel well who would his people be the hebrew people and to your city what city would that be the city of jerusalem he doesn't say 70 weeks which is another way of saying 490 years is for sugarland bible church or first baptist church of houston or second baptist church of houston or presbyterian this or methodist that the church didn't even exist when this prophecy was made the whole thing concerns the nation of israel and so 69 weeks past a 70th week yet future we're living in between those two in the age of the church but this is what christ is speaking of he's speaking of that unelapsed seven year period and what's going to happen right in the middle of it and what is going to be the shattering point for the jewish nation it's the abomination of desolation the desecration of the temple by the antichrist it's a shock to the system because now they're realizing this man is not our christ because he's betraying us and he's replicating what one of our ancient villains that we all know historically antiochus epipheonus already did now it's very interesting to me that the lord as he's explaining this in the middle of the olivet discourse he says let the reader understand because we're living in a time period today where people are saying well prophecy is so complicated and it's so difficult to figure out and nobody agrees on it why teach it and yet it's interesting that in probably one of the most intricate prophecies we have in the whole bible jesus says let the reader understand in other words god did not give us these things to confuse us that's why the title of the book of revelation is the apocalypse which means what unveiling it doesn't mean the veiling it means the unveiling in other words god has put these things out into the open for us to wrestle with to grasp and to understand and then you move out of verse 15 into verse 16 and you you see very clearly the jewish context here it says let those who are in judea now who are those in judea the not in fort bend county right let those who are in judea who would those be those would be the hebrews that just saw this event the desecration of the temple midway into the seven year tribulation period let those who are in judea or those who are in judea flee to the mountains and this is speaking of actual geography there's judea you have mountainous regions there sort of separating the nation of israel from modern day jordan the jews at this time when you look at other scriptures are going to flee to a place called petra where they'll be supernaturally protected by god for 1260 days you you see that described in a parallel passage in revelation 12 verses 6 through 17 but you see very clearly here that this has nothing to do due to the for the church i mean where would i flee to what mountains would i go to if this is the church this is speaking to a specific people living on a specific place on planet earth who just saw their temple desecrated and then if you drop down to verse 20 actually we've got to do verses 17 and 9 through 19 first don't we look at verse 17 matthew 24 whoever is on the housetop must must not go down to get the things that are in his house whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak but woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babes in those days why would he say that because if you're pregnant making the journey from judea to petra is going to be difficult now it's amazing how putting things in context saves you from a lot of false teaching i've heard so many strange teachings about how you know don't have too many kids as a christian couple or there should be a certain limit on how many kids you have or maybe don't have kids at all and they quote this verse as if that has any application to us in the church at all i mean the only people this has application to are the the jewish people living on the earth the moment the temple is desecrated and he says don't go back to get your coat don't go back to get your cloak don't go back to your house why is that because you've got to get out of dodge why you got to get out of dodge because the antichrist who has just betrayed you is now going to persecute you and you need supernatural protection from god then you drop down to verse 20 concerning this flight and the lord says to future israel but pray that your flight will not be in the winter or on the sabbath again that is a geopolitical geophysical concept that only makes sense if you understand who he is addressing randall price says this concerning the winter that the lord references here stormy weather comes with torrential rains randall price lived in jerusalem for many many years so he might know a little bit about it stormy weather comes with torrential rains that make crossing the wadies in the judean hills treacherous concern about the possibility of travel on the sabbath where rabbinic law prohibit prohibited going more than a sabbath day journey beyond the immediate vicinity of the city so when the lord says pray that your flight when this happens will not take place on the winter pray it happens during a time where you're not going to have to go through these these wadis and this torrential rain pray it happens during a time when the women aren't pregnant because that's going to make the the flight even more difficult and also pray that it doesn't take place on the sabbath because as randall price points out here rabbinical law prohibited a jew on the sabbath from leaving the city of jerusalem here they're supposed to not only get out of the city of jerusalem they're supposed to go all the way into jordan for supernatural protection from god now you'll notice verse 20 and if this doesn't communicate that this is not the church i don't know what will because he says in verse 20 pray that your flight will will not be in the winter or on a sabbath what is the sabbath the sabbath or the shabbat is the last day of the week that's when the nation of israel takes a break take a time of rest and they're supposed to be reflecting during that time period on the things of god they have celebrated the shabbat all the way back to the time of moses at mount sinai moses told them exodus 20 8-11 the reason god worked six days and rested on the seventh was he was trying to set up a pattern for the israeli work week the israeli shabbat is on the last day of the week the same thing is in exodus 31 15-17 the reason god worked six days and rested on the seventh is he was setting up a pattern for the israeli work week they are to work six days and rest on the seventh and today when you go to the land of israel which i recommend you do you'll go into various hotels on the shabbat and you'll walk into the elevator and you'll notice that all of the floors where the elevator goes you know up and down all the buttons have been pushed and your first reaction when you go in there and you see all the buttons pushed is you say one of those bratty kids got in here and pushed all the buttons and how do you know that because that's what you did when you were their age but then you remember well wait a minute i'm not in houston i'm not in los angeles i'm in israel and this is what is called a shabbat elevator where it's designed that way why because pushing the button allegedly is work on the sabbath so you have an elevator that just goes up and down and stops at every single floor without you having to do anything because it's respecting the rest principle you see that that's what's meant by the sabbath or the shabbat celebrated on the last day of the week right to this day in the modern state of israel now how in the world could that be the church because the church has its so-called sabbath in quotation marks not on the last day of the week but the what the first day of the week amen that's what you guys are doing here this morning hey man why don't why didn't you show up yesterday well we're living in the church age that's why i didn't show up yesterday because jesus rose from the grave not on the last day of the week but on the what first day of the week and then and the church going all the way back to the first century began meeting on the first day of the week acts 20 verse 7 you'll see the church meeting on the first day of the week paul when he's instructing the churches concerning raising an offering he talks about them coming together and contributing money not on the last day of the week but the first day of the week and so when the lord says pray that your flight will not take place on the winter or on the sabbath immediately a light should go off in your head saying well this can't be the church because the church doesn't celebrate its sabbath the way israel did and does so what i'm trying to get at is i'm trying to not go through this verse by verse but i'm trying to highlight the aspects of this that clearly communicate that this is not speaking of the church at all speaking of the nation of israel including verse 31 which we haven't gotten to yet which everybody thinks is the rapture including verses 40 and 41 yet which i haven't gotten to yet which everyone thinks is the rapture and then after describing what is going to happen at the midpoint of the tribulation period now the lord in the olivet discourse starts talking about what is going to happen to the nation of israel in the second half of the tribulation period so he's described the first half he's described the midpoint and now he's describing the second half and look at what he says there in verses 21 and 22 for then there will be a great tribulation such such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world nor ever until now rather nor ever will so he's describing how israel is now going to come under intense tribulation period tribulation i should say and one of the things to understand is when the lord describes this he's not describing it for the world he's describing it for israel because the whole world goes into the wrath of god immediately when the tribulation period starts not so israel israel for three and a half years is under the protective custody of the antichrist they're safe they're protected the world is experiencing god's wrath but now we're at the midpoint where the antichrist has double crossed them and now israel is about to experience the same wrath that the rest of the world is already experiencing you see that and so that's why the lord at this point talks about a time of unparalleled distress for the nation and it's interesting that a jewish person who's familiar with the old testament or hebrew bible knows these verses very well because the lord is not revealing anything new here this time of unparalleled distress has already been disclosed in at least two other passages one of them is joel 2 verse 2 which says there has never describing this time period there's never been anything like it nor will there be again after it sounds sort of like what the lord is saying here in matthew 24 21 and then over in daniel 12 verse 1 he says there will be a time of distress which has never occurred since there was a nation until that time almost the identical language that yeshua is using with the jewish people here as he's describing that second half of the tribulation period of course the clearest old testament passage that we have on this is in jeremiah 30 verse 7. where jeremiah said way back in old testament times in the form of a prediction alas for that day is great there is none like it it is a time of whose distress jacob's distress well jacob's name in the book of genesis i have the verses there in parenthesis if you want to look them up sometime genesis 32 genesis 35 jacob's name was changed to what israel so this is a time of distress not for sugarland bible church not for the first baptist church of houston second baptist church of houston methodist this presbyterian that i mean it's crystal clear that it's a time period of jacob's distress but but why is god bringing it but he who's he jacob will be saved from it now listen to me very carefully folks you are not jacob i am not jacob jacob is a term that only applies to the physical descendants of abraham isaac and jacob that term jacob is never applied to the church as a whole it is only applied to the jewish nation and that's why they're going into this time of distress in the second half of the tribulation period because god knocks us down so that we would look up this is the mechanism that god is using to bring his nation to saving faith and they already they already got a shock to the system didn't they when the antichrist betrayed them he talks here in verse 21 he says for then there will be great tribulation great tribulation for who israel or jacob not the world the world is already under great tribulation by this time the world's great tribulation began when the antichrist entered into the peace treaty with israel which launched the seven year countdown the world has already been under tribulation for three and a half years i mean you look at the initial seal judgments that the lord described in verses 4 through 14 and you see that they've already had the antichrist the world has world war famine death martyrdoms cosmic disturbances and when you read revelation 6 you get to the end of it and you see that a quarter of the world's population has been eradicated and who's causing it jesus is causing it through the opening of a seventh sealed scroll in heaven this is the things that are happening to the world tiny israel is in a state of security why because they've entered into a deal with the devil the antichrist who they think is their messiah so when christ is explaining all of these things he's explaining what exactly is going to happen to israel in the second half of the tribulation period because something very interesting is happening by the time you get to the midpoint you don't get this from matthew or the olivet discourse but you get it from revelation 12 verses 6 through 17 which is a parallel passage a parallel passage is a passage describing the same event from a slightly different angle by a different author and john in the book of revelation says while that is happening physically on the earth everything that we've talked about let me explain to you what is happening in the spiritual realm because once the temple is desecrated satan loses access to heaven which by the way he has right now did you know that satan has access to heaven the early book of job communicates that satan as a high-ranking angel once had a privilege in heaven of worshiping and serving he lost that privilege when he fell along with the third of the angels but it's quite clear when you look at job 1 verse 6 job 2 verse 1 that satan can still go into heaven not for the purpose of worshiping and serving as he once did as a high-ranking angel but for the purpose of communicating and accusing in fact in luke 22 i want to say around verse 31 jesus said to peter remember simon simon satan has requested permission to sift you as wheat remember that a statement that would make no sense unless satan had access to heaven which he has currently but what we learn in revelation 12 6-17 is that access is gone no more access to heaven no more privileges to heaven and revelation 12 6-17 portrays him as plummeting to the earth knowing he has but a short time what what does he mean by short time he's got three and a half years left on this clock to do what exactly to gobble up israel the woman clothed with the sun and the moon and the twelve stars which is imagery that comes right out of joseph's dream in genesis 37. if you know genesis 37 you know who the woman clothed with the sun and the moon and the twelve stars are it's a reference to the patriarch matriarch and twelve tribes of israel satan's got three and a half years left to do what to destroy israel so god cannot birth that's why these are called birth pangs god cannot birth his kingdom through israel and that's why israel has to be taken to petra to be supernaturally protected because if god did not supernaturally protect her the whole nation would be wiped out and let me tell you something when you look at zechariah 13 8-9 you know what you learned there that satan in that final three and a half year period almost succeeds in wiping out the nation in fact he succeeds in wiping out two-thirds of the nation one-third has to be protected that's the believing remnant through which god will fulfill his kingdom promises and so when jesus here is talking about this time of unparalleled distress unequaled from the beginning of the world until now that's what he's referring to it's part of israel's future now is that the church no because the church is not appointed unto what unto wrath this is speaking of intense wrath during this time period and it talks well let's flip down to verse 22. how bad is it going to get christ says unless unless those days what days the three and a half years left on this clock unless those days had been cut short no life would be saved in other words if this time period was allowed to go beyond its allotted three and a half years then the jewish people would be completely wiped out something god can't allow to happen because if they're wiped out who does he fulfill his promises to in the kingdom age and the whole population of the world would probably be wiped out and there's got to be survivors because we've got to have gentiles entering the kingdom and mortal bodies according to the sheep and goat judgment unless those days had been cut short no life would be saved now watch this very carefully but for the sake of the elect you see the word elect i can't tell you how much confusion there is on that term elect because most interpreters get to that word elect and they dump the context and they go into a big discussion about predestination and free will and isn't it great that we as the church are called the elect and i'm here to tell you that if you just keep the context those are foreign ideas that you have to insert into the context i mean if you want to have a discussion about election versus free will and all that stuff sure let's have it but not from this passage i mean are we the elect of god is the church gosh let's talk about that great great subject not here though this has nothing to do with that unless those days have been cut short no life would have been saved but for the sake of the elect israel those days will be cut short god can't allow it longer than its three and a half year period or the elect themselves israel would be eradicated the warfare is going to be so significant with satan eliminated or pushed out of heaven pursuing israel at this point i believe this that it's at that point when he loses access to heaven that he will go inside the beast when you study the end of revelation 12 and the beginning of revelation 13 you see very clearly that the beast or the antichrist has his power because of satan and there are only two people in biblical history that have the name son of perdition one of them is the antichrist second thessalonians 2 verse 3 and the other one is who judas john 17 verse 12. what do both guys have in common satan actually went inside of them they weren't demon-possessed satan possessed is what they were and satan went into judas john 13 verse 27 for the betrayal and he at this time once he loses access to heaven i think he goes right into the antichrist the antichrist is not demon possessed he's satan possessed and he is pursuing israel and trying to wipe them out during this final three and a half year time period that's why the lord is telling them leave jerusalem get out of town go to pella where you're going to have supernatural protection now the reason why it's unacceptable to read the elect into this passage as the church by the way if you look at verse 22 you'll see the word elect verse 24 you'll see the word elect verse 31 you'll see the word elect the reason it's inappropriate to read the church as the elect of god into the passage is because the chosen of god is israel and any hebrew conversant with the old testament or hebrew bible knows this very well deuteronomy 7 6 and 7 what does the lord say concerning israel for you are a holy people to the lord your god the lord has chosen you to be a people for his own possession verse 7 of deuteronomy 7 the lord did not set his love on you nor choose you that's election they were chosen as a nation not because you were more number than any of the peoples for you or fewer or fewest of all the peoples jot down these verses psalm 135 verse 4 and i'm explaining how you fill up the word elect in verse 22. you fill it up with these passages not things paul's going to write about about the church psalm 135 verse 4 for the lord has chosen that's election jacob for himself israel his own possession jot down isaiah 41 verse 8. but you israel my servant jacob whom i have chosen jot down isaiah 44 verse 1. but now listen o jacob my servant and israel whom i have chosen i mean part of our problem is we're reading this with gentile eyes you have to put yourself in the position of a jew who is conversant with hebrew bible to understand this you got to take the gentile glasses off you got to take the paul line glasses off and if you do that you'll see exactly what he is speaking of jot down isaiah 45 4. for the sake of jacob my servant and israel my chosen one jot down isaiah 65 verse 9. i will bring forth offspring from jacob and an heir of of my mountains from judah even my chosen ones who are the chosen ones jacob or israel even my chosen one shall inherit it jot down isaiah 65 22 which i have there on the screen concerning israel in the millennial kingdom they will not build in another inhabit they will not plant and another eat for as the lifetime of a tree so shall be the days of my people and my what chosen ones will wear out the works of their hands in fact if you're a king james version reader you'll be happy to learn that the king james version calls israel the elect of god quite frequently here is isaiah 45 and verse 4 in the king james version for jacob my servant's sake and israel mine elect here is isaiah 65 and verse 9 in the king james version it says i will bring forth a seed out of jacob and out of judah an inheritor of my mountains and mine elect shall inherit it and my servants shall dwell there so my goodness you're reading the olivet discourse and you're seeing this jewish context and you see the word elect verse 22 you see the word elect verse 24 you see the word elect verse 31 and you fill it up with the meaning of prior scripture where the nation of israel over and over again in hebrew bible is called the elect of god the chosen of god the nation of israel was intentionally divinely selected by god to be his vehicle or vessel of blessings to the whole world that's what he means by elect here and in the process of this intense warfare he says you know jesus says i can't allow this time period the lord can't allow this time period to go beyond three and a half years because if it goes beyond three and a half years the elect will be wiped out the warfare will be that intense satan's upper hand on the two-thirds which he kills if it goes beyond 42 months he's going to kill everybody and if he kills everybody then there won't be any believing remnant left for me to fulfill my covenants through and there have to be believing jews left on the earth at least a third or some we learn from zechariah that will be a third because that doesn't happen then my goodness my covenantal promises going all the way back into the old testament and kingdom promises through a nation can never be fulfilled that by the way folks is an explanation of the hatred for the jews do we understand that it's spiritual and that warfare really reaches its peak in the second three and a half years of the tribulation period so what's going to happen well you got to come back next week to find out but to make a long story short yeshua or jesus as that remnant is now in faith having believed in the messiah is going to return not in the rapture rapture the church has already happened at the end of the 70th week to rescue the elect who would the elect be israel from the wrath of satan and from the wrath of the antichrist and that's what verse 31 is speaking of not the rapture even though it mentions the trumpet you all know god can have more than one trumpet i mean every the problem is when people see the word trumpet they think it's always the same trumpet i think god can have more than one amen all right i want a few minutes over so we'll let's pray father we're grateful for the truth and how understanding the bible contextually saves us from a lot of confusion so help us as we try to present this material in our rapture series we'll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory we ask these things in jesus name and god's people said amen happy intermission you

Channel: Andy Woods

Views: 19,575

Rating: 4.8955612 out of 5

Keywords: bible study, Andy Woods, Revelation, prophecy, Pastors point of view, dispensationalism, Rapture, Kingdom, Millennium, coming kingdom, sugar land bible, church and state, salvation, christian, bible, verse by verse, Jesus, end times, worldview

Id: pPDyK2Uny3g

Length: 63min 13sec (3793 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 25 2020