Tonight I want us to talk about the Tribulation Turning Point. The Tribulation Turning Point. And I want you to open to Matthew chapter 24 and we're going to do our best to cover verses 15 through 22 of the Olivet Discourse, which is the most expansive teaching by the Lord Jesus Christ on the end time prophecies. And we have had two messages, one was introductory and then we worked our way through the first 14 verses in our previous message. And tonight we're going to pick up in verse 15. But before we do, in verses 1-14 Jesus made it clear that the time of the Tribulation which is what we believe He's referring to in the Olivet discourse is going to be a time of global unrest. It's going to be a time of wide-scale famine and death. And it's going to be a time when there is a universal persecution against the believers who are living during the Tribulation. And if we believe that the church of Jesus Christ will be raptured before the Tribulation then we understand from reading the book of Revelation, there will be people who are saved during the Tribulation. Even if the church is not here our Bibles will be left behind and God will raise up by the power of His Holy Spirit gospel witnesses after the church is taken away. And so the Tribulation, although it will be filled with much ungodliness and hatred against Christians, the Tribulation is gonna be a time when the gospel is going to be spreading and sharing. And those who believe the gospel and confess their faith they're going to pay a price, but the gospel will go forth nonetheless. So, I want us to look at verse 15 because this is where we see what gives me the the basis for calling this the Tribulation turning point because he says, after moving from a general overview of the conditions of the Tribulation, he says this is something you're going to need to look for and you'll know this is a turning point in the Tribulation. Let's look at verse 15. He says, "Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place," and Matthew inserts here, "whoever's reading this, let him understand" and then Jesus continues, "When you see these things, let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the house top not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back home to get his clothes before he runs away. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!" Now, what we have to conclude from reading these verses is that there is a shift from general conditions of the Tribulation to a specific focus on Jewish people. And I'm going to show you why we draw that conclusion. Jesus is here focusing on what the Jews need to be prepared for during the Tribulation. Now in verse 15, you saw where Jesus made reference to the abomination of desolation. And what I want to do is, He said it was spoken of by Daniel the prophet. So Jesus is letting us know that He's reaching back into the pages of of Daniel's prophecy in Daniel chapter nine. And in verse 26 of Daniel nine, this is where Gabriel was speaking to Daniel about God's prophetic program for the Jewish people. So before we put it up on the screen, I want you to know we are in Matthew 24:15. Don't lose your place there. Don't get too bogged down in some of these details from Daniel chapter nine, but we're going to revisit Daniel chapter nine because that is the prophetic program for the Jewish people which Gabriel revealed to Daniel. And it was built upon that timeline of seventy sevens which we believe is 490 years. It specifically applies to Daniel's people who were the Jewish people. And here's Jesus quoting a phrase from the prophecy the angel Gabriel gave to Daniel in reference to the Jewish people. And when we display this in a moment, you're going to see that I have inserted in brackets interpretive commentary for me. So what you see in the brackets is what I am inserting just for explanatory purposes and not to add to the Scripture but just in light of what we've covered in our study of Daniel. The material I'm inserting in brackets is just for refresher purposes. Now, if you're watching tonight and you have not been a part of that Daniel study then some of this may be a little challenging but I want you to bear through it even if you don't understand all of this Daniel chapter nine stuff. I'm gonna try to fill in the blanks for you. But for those of you who were part of that, you're going to see why it's so important that if Jesus is quoting from Daniel chapter nine, and we know He is because that's where the mention of abomination of desolation occurs, then we need to see why did He go back there and quote from that in the Olivet discourse. So here's Daniel 9:26, "The angel Gabriel said to Daniel, 'Then after the 62 weeks'" and prior to this, he had already mentioned seven weeks. So you can really say after 69 weeks which is 483 years, that's 483 out of 490. He says, "After a 483 year progression, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing." That's a reference to the cross where Jesus died. Then Gabriel continued to Daniel. Remember this is 600 years before the time of Christ. He says, "And then the people," and we believe these are the Romans, they're the people of the prince who is to come. The Prince who is to come, is going to be the Antichrist. Gabriel told Daniel, "The Romans will destroy the city and the sanctuary." And we know that happened in 70 AD. Gabriel continues, "And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined." Okay, I want us to just stop there and think about what we've looked at in Daniel 9:26. All of these are things we've talked about in the past, but the point of it is, Gabriel an angel from heaven prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the people of the prince who is to come. And from that, we know the prince who is to come is the Antichrist. He will come from the Romans. It was the ancient Roman empire that destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD, it will be a revived Roman Empire from which the Antichrist will emerge in the last days. All of this is bound up in Daniel chapter 9:26. And as we read a moment ago, Gabriel said desolations are determined for Jerusalem. Now this is 600 years before the time of Jesus. Now, do you remember when we were looking at the introductory verses the last verses of chapter 23 of Matthew before we got into the Olivet discourse, do you remember Jesus was weeping over Jerusalem saying, "I was here and you missed Me. I was your Messiah, and I wanted to gather you under My wings." And He pronounced upon them in Matthew 23:38, Jesus said to Jerusalem, "See here, your house is left to you desolate." And from that point, of course, He walks out and He goes across to the Mount of Olives where He gave this address. The reason I'm pointing that out to you is because in Daniel 9:26, Gabriel said desolations are appointed for Jerusalem. And here, 600 years later, Jesus Christ in the last week of His life stands looking out over Jerusalem and says, "You are given over. Your house is left to you desolate," same concept from Daniel chapter nine. So what was about to happen to Jerusalem was the fulfillment of the prophecy given in Daniel. Now, what I wanna do is to go back to Daniel nine again and take that next verse, verse 27. Gabriel said, "And he will confirm a covenant with the many," and the he in that verse is the Antichrist. The covenant with the many is a peace treaty with Israel. And the peace treaty will be for one week, and we believe it will be that last seven in the 490 years, which is the Tribulation or the 70th week of the 70 week prophecy. But in the middle of the week, which would be, if that last week is the seven year Tribulation; the middle of that week is the halfway point of the Tribulation. The Antichrist will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering, which means he's going to interrupt the life of the Jewish people. And we believe this means the Antichrist is going to break the peace treaty which will constitute a betrayal of his commitment to Israel, to the Jewish people. And then, the rest of verse 27 says, "And on the wing of abominations will come the one who makes desolate." This is what Jesus was quoting in Matthew 24:15, and who is the one who will make desolate or who is the abomination of desolation? That person is the Antichrist. And how long is he going to make desolate? How long is he going to make life miserable for the Jewish people until, and I've inserted here; the end of the Tribulation when a complete destruction, one that is decreed gushes forth on the one who makes desolate and simply put; this is a reference to when Christ returns and crushes the Antichrist. That is a decreed destruction God has foretold and declared will take place. So when we go back into this prophecy from Daniel nine, we know there will be a set that there's going to be a 483 year progression in the fulfillment of God's plan for the Jewish people. And we believe that started during the period when the exiles who were in Babylon were given the order to return back to their promised land. And from the time the clock started ticking, as the exiles returned until Jesus Christ went into Jerusalem for the last week of his life; there are historians who have calculated that, that period of time was 483 years. And then the Church Age happened and God's finger is still on pause. And according to Daniel nine, Gabriel's prophesy to Daniel is that there will be a final week, a final set of seven to make up the difference between 483 and 490. And that 70th week, it is still outstanding on the books, so to speak. That's the seven year Tribulation. And so what we're reading here is, that this abomination of desolation that is referred to in Daniel nine is the middle of that week, which is three and a half years in the seven; each the half way point of the Tribulation. Okay, so we're gonna go back to our passage in Matthew 24 because all I wanted to do was, I'm trying to be honoring to the text of Scripture when Jesus said there, "When you see the abomination of desolation," and Matthew said, "Let the reader understand." What Matthew was saying is, don't just read that and not know what the abomination of desolation is. I mean, underline it in your Bible, let him who reads understand, that's Matthew's exhortation to those who've read his gospel; the gospel of Matthew. Matthew is telling us, go back and figure out what Daniel nine was talking about because if Jesus referred to the abomination of desolation and you don't know what the abomination of desolation is, these valuable words of Jesus are gonna bounce right off our backs like water off a duck. We got to know what this means and that's why I took the time to go back and revisit the Daniel nine prophecy of 70 weeks. So just know from, from the context of Daniel nine we know when we're looking in verse 15 we're talking about the halfway point of the Tribulation. To me, there is no escaping that Jesus is in this Olivet discourse. He's referring to the Tribulation. Verses one through 14 of Matthew 24 are the Tribulation in general. Verse 15 pivots to the turning point of the Tribulation which is the middle of the 70th week or the halfway point or the three and a half year point of seven years. So when we realize that's what he's talking about, we go back and read it again. Verse 15, "Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, whoever reads, let him understand, then let those who are in Judea flee of the mountains. Let him who's on the housetop not go down take anything out of the house. Let him who's in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to the women who are pregnant and those who are nursing babies and pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath." So all of these things collectively are referring the conditions with which Israel will be presented at the turning point, the halfway point; when the Antichrist breaks the covenant, betrays Israel, turns on them despite what he promised to give them. So, I want to do just throw some what I'm calling interpretive conclusions up on the screen for you, based on these verses that we have read. And the first one is this, the quote that Jesus made from Daniel nine confirms that Israel is His focus. There's no question. He wouldn't be talking about the church, going back to Daniel nine, He wouldn't be talking about anyone else because Daniel nine is exclusively about God's program for the Jewish people. So by quoting from Daniel nine, Jesus confirms that Israel is His focus. Not only that, but the context of that quote is that this is the halfway point of the Tribulation. The context we saw in Daniel 9:26-27 is that the abomination of desolation will occur in the middle of the week; the middle of the set of seven, the middle of the last seven, the middle of the seven year Tribulation. So the context from the quote of Daniel nine means this is the halfway point of the Tribulation. Not only that, but we just read in verse 16, the geographical reference Jesus made to Judea when He said, "Let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains." This confirms even more the intended audience is the Jewish people. I mean, who else is gonna be living in Judea except for the Jewish people? Not only that, but we just read it in verse 20, the reference to the Sabbath in verse 20 further confirms the audience. The Jewish people are concerned with the Sabbath and keeping the Sabbath law. And if you add all the things spoken from verses 15 to 20 the summary is this, Jesus is describing the horrific conditions Israel is going to face. So walking through that again, this quote from Daniel nine confirms Israel as the focus. The context of that quote from Daniel nine, Gabriel said in the middle of the week and that week he spoke of is the 70th week, the 70th seven, which is the seven-year Tribulation. So we're talking halfway point of the Tribulation. The geographical reference to Judea, we're talking to Jewish people. That's what Jesus had in mind. The reference to the Sabbath, it's a Jewish audience Jesus is speaking about. And two, in the Olivet discourse. And all of this is telling us the Jews are going to face horrific conditions from the midway point of the Tribulation through the end of the Tribulation; the last three and a half years. All right, so now I want us to go and look back at verse 15 and take a deeper look at verse 15. You say, well, how much deeper are you gonna go? What we got, we can't just gloss over this. Verse 15, Jesus said, "Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet," but what I want to hone in on here is, where will the abomination of desolation be? If the abomination of desolation is the Antichrist, Jesus said He will be standing in the holy place. Okay, so I just wanted to put that back. You've got it in your own Bible there, but underline there, standing in the holy place. This tells us that according to Jesus, the Antichrist will stand in the holy place at some point in the Tribulation, which according to Daniel nine is gonna be halfway in the Tribulation. So what is the holy place? Is the holy place Jerusalem in general as a city? And if it is, does this mean that when the Antichrist turns on Israel at the halfway point of the Tribulation, having pledged to them his protection and whatever else was involved in that covenant or peace treaty that Gabriel talked about in Daniel nine; will the Antichrist be in Jerusalem when he betrays Israel? Which could be referred to by standing in the holy place as Jesus put it. Or does it mean that this abomination of desolation, which is the Antichrist; does standing in the holy place mean that he will not just be in Jerusalem, but that at this halfway point of the Tribulation when the Antichrist, this human global leader, when he turns on Israel it's not just that he's in Jerusalem in general, but that when Jesus says he'll be standing in the holy place; this is a reference to the inner court of the temple which would possibly include the Holy of Holies. But if you've ever seen a diagram of the temple started with the tabernacle, which was a tent that Moses constructed and then Solomon made it permanent with a structure on what we know is the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Well, if standing in the holy place in verse 15 means that yes, the Antichrist will be standing in the holy place of the temple in Jerusalem at the halfway point of the Tribulation; does this therefore not assume that a temple will have been rebuilt in Jerusalem on the temple Mount by the halfway point of the Tribulation. So, let me recap. If Jesus says the abomination of desolation which the Antichrist is gonna be standing in the holy place, if that means the holy place is a temple for the Antichrist to be standing in the temple at the halfway point of the Tribulation, there will have to be a temple there. And there's not a temple there right now. So, how could we go from there being no Jewish temple right now on the Temple Mount. If you go to the holy land, go to Jerusalem, there's no Jewish temple. It's all Muslim territory up on that sacred space. But I can tell you this, that Temple Mount is the most hotly disputed piece of real estate on planet earth. And you, and I know it belongs to Israel. It is the site where Solomon built the temple, the original temple. It is the place where Zerubbabel who led the first wave of exiles back from Babylon reconstructed a temple, although it was certainly just a shadow of its former self and King Herod of Rome renown rebuilt it from what Zerubbabel had attempted to do and it was restored to a status of the beauty that it had originally known under Solomon. And that Herod's temple is the temple that Jesus frequented. And of course that He prophesied would be destroyed which it was in 70 AD. But right now on that very Temple Mount where Solomon's temple was built, where's Zerubbabel tried rebuilding the temple, where Herod then expanded and remodeled and refortified it; there are two Muslim landmarks there. One is a shrine to Muhammad called the Dome of the Rock and it dates back to 685 AD and the other is the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Would it not be possible to envision that the Antichrist, this global political government leader, that the Antichrist at the outset of what we would call the Tribulation, that through his amassed concentrated power and diplomatic skills that he would be able then to offer Israel the protection of his power to allow them to reconstruct a Jewish temple on the Temple Mount. Or maybe even to help them with the resources to re rebuild a temple on the temple Mount. And by that offer and that accommodation, he would seal their allegiance to himself and they would say, "Look he helped us to get our temple rebuilt up on the Temple Mount." And I'm just wanting you to know, I've been on the Temple Mount twice in my life. It's the most uncomfortable feeling you can have because you literally feel this tension of dark forces lurking there. And you know that there have been times when tourism has been shut off to the Temple Mount because the conflicts can erupt so quickly up there because of the hostility between Muslims and Jews. And so having said all that, I will tell you it would take something like the power of an Antichrist in order to broker a deal that would allow there to be some reconstructed Jewish temple on that space either in the place of, but probably beside or next to these Muslim structures. But think about it. And we're just using our imagination. All I'm saying is, if the abomination of desolation spoken of in Matthew 24:15 refers to the Antichrist standing in the holy place of a temple and there is no temple, it means that from the time you and I are here studying this tonight, to the halfway point of the Tribulation whenever that is; there will have to have been a temple rebuild. Otherwise the Antichrist can't stand in a building that isn't there. So perhaps the Antichrist is going to work with the Jewish people to help them get a holy building built on the Temple Mount. And then at the halfway point of the Tribulation, he is going to turn on them, turn against them. And we are going to see how piecing Scripture together with verse 15, Matthew 24, with Daniel 9:26-27; we're gonna see how... What will happen is, he's not only gonna stand in the holy place but the Antichrist is going to set himself up as God to be worshiped in the holy place. And that's why it's called an abomination of desolation. Because if a temple is rebuilt, it's going to be rebuilt for the God of the Jewish people who is our God. And yet the Antichrist is going to go into that holy place and command that everyone worshiped him. Now, where am I getting all of this from? Well, Paul talked about it in 2 Thessalonians chapter two. And I want to display this on the screen for you. Speaking about the day of the Lord he said, "No one should deceive you in any way! For the day of the Lord will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed," and that man of lawlessness is the Antichrist, the son of destruction. And then he elaborates, the Antichrist is someone who is going to oppose God and he will exalt himself above every so-called God; every religious system, every object of worship so that... This is what the Antichrist is going to do, he will take his seat in the temple of God displaying himself as being God. And there you have it. So when you compare what Jesus said in Matthew 24:15, the abomination of desolation will be standing in the holy place at the halfway point of the Tribulation. Paul said he is going to enthrone himself in the temple of God. This can mean nothing other than that there will be a rebuilt temple sometime between now and the and the halfway point of the Tribulation. Now, are you still with me? I hope you are. Now, what I want us to do is I want to think about what John saw in the book of Revelation that was gonna happen during the Tribulation period. And if you'll remember, those of you studied the book of Revelation with me, the Antichrist is going to have a sidekick called the False Prophet. He's going to be a religious leader who coerces the peoples of the earth to worship the Antichrist. There's going to be a personality cult around this global human leader called the Antichrist, and his religious leader is going to be called the False Prophet. And so when John describes the False Prophet for us in Revelation 13, he says, in verse 14 of that chapter, "The False Prophet deceives those who dwell on the earth by the signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast," who is the Antichrist. And how does he do it? Well, "Telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast," the Antichrist, "who was wounded by the sword and lived." There's that fabrication of a resurrection; Christ was truly raised and the Antichrist is going to simulate a resurrection. "And this False Prophet was granted power." John tells us to give breath to the image of the Antichrist, the statue, so that the image of the Antichrist should both speak. And the False Prophet is going to cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. So could it be that what John saw in Revelation where the False Prophet who builds the religious cult of the Antichrist during the Tribulation, could it be that this image that he constructs that supernaturally is empowered to speak; an inanimate statue is going to be able to speak as though it were living. And this is going to be the idle that symbolizes the personality of the Antichrist who will be a real person. But this image that the False Prophet is going to build that is going to have supernatural power, could it be that this image is going to be placed in the rebuilt temple at the halfway point of the Tribulation, where from the three and a half year mark to the end of the Tribulation, God's rebuilt temple for the Jewish people will become the cultic center of worship for the beast, the Antichrist. We're just having to put all this together and speculate. So, now when you read verse 15 you got a whole lot more to think about as you reflect on the words of Jesus. When you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place that is a mouthful and everything I've been talking about from the time I started tonight's message until now is explaining verse 15. And you're probably out there saying, "Well, I sure hope every verse doesn't require this kind of explanation." It won't. But I would have done an inadequate job of explaining verse 15 to just read it and skip over the rich context of Daniel nine on which it is based and the comparative witness of 2 Thessalonians and of Revelation as we just saw. Now, for a moment I'd like to interject something. The Antichrist is going to betray the covenant he makes with Israel in the middle of that week, at the three and a half year mark. And as I was thinking about that this morning, I don't know if you've heard, but speaking of betraying Israel; there is an official who is serving in the Biden Administration as of all things the climate czar, who also served as the secretary state in another administration prior to 2016. And according to news reports, he is said to have shared confidential strategic intelligence about Israeli military operations with an official minister of the most hostile national enemy Israel has, which is Iran. And if this be true, and we have no to believe it's not since it was based on leaked audio tapes of the conversation between this charlatan and this Iranian minister; this constitutes the betrayal of the worst kind by an American official against the nation of Israel. And it should be a wake up call for everyone. If you want to know how to interpret politics, if you want to know how to interpret the things taking place on the stage of world affairs, then you need to take to heart what we're hearing about this official in the current administration and his betrayal, his selling out of military secrets to a nation whose leaders, whose ayatollahs have sworn by their own life that their desire, their reason for waking up and getting out of bed every day is to see the extermination of the Jewish people and to wipe Israel all them out. And it just lets me know that this member in the current administration, he is simply one more member of a new global order. This administration is actually a harbinger of the characters of the end time global alliance into which our nation will eventually be assimilated. And so what's happening now, we are attacking our foundations as a country. We're going to pull out law and order. We're going to pull out our founding documents because our nation was flawed from its beginning. And if you can't see what's happening, there's an intentional effort to destroy the foundations of America, so America will implode. There is even talk now the attorney general of the state of Minnesota, who himself is Muslim by the way, has gone on record now; he's saying he wants to invite international courts to audit the jurisprudence system, the judicial system of the United States of America. International courts to come across our borders and audit and review the justice system of America. Now, when you add all of this with this betrayal by current administration official turning his back on Israel and selling out military secrets to the most hostile enemy that Israel has. You say, why would you speak about political matters? I'm gonna tell why, because all of it dovetails with what the Scripture teaches is going to happen. In the time that I've been a pastor when I've addressed matters like this, you always get responses and the truth is, I just don't care. I don't care what you think about what I've said. I'm telling you when Jesus talks about the betrayal of the Jewish people in the last days and you see it happening right in front of your eyes as recently as yesterday's news, it calls us to heightened alert to say, sit up, stand at attention. Don't miss what's going on. Combine it with everything else going on in the country, the signs of the times are ripe for all these things to take place. Okay, that said, let's review the conditions Jesus talked about for the Jewish people; the need to flee to the mountains, to hide and take refuge. He talked about that in verse 16. The need to evacuate their homes without taking time to pack. In the day that Jesus spoke of this Jewish homes had flat roofs and there was an external stairway to the top and it's sundown and into the evening hours Jewish people would recline on the roofs of their homes. And He was using that to say, you're going to have to flee from your home. Don't even pack once this turning point in the Tribulation comes. Verse 18, He said those who are in the field don't even go home and change clothes when you realize that the abomination of desolation is standing in the holy place, when you realize the wrath of the Antichrist is now turned against Israel despite the fact he pledged to be for Israel. He said don't come home from where you're working. Don't come home from the office. You need to be lining out into the wilderness to find a hiding place. He said, woe unto the women who are pregnant or nursing because you're going to have to be hoofing by foot out into the desert regions; in the Judean wilderness, perhaps out into the desert down to the Negev, around the Dead Sea; all of those places that are very bare now. And he said, there's going to be hardship if you're traveling in winter because in Israel it can get very cold, especially at night during winter months. And then he talked about the hardship of traveling on the Sabbath. What could that refer to? Well, among the Orthodox in Judaism there are restrictions on the length of a trip you can take on the Sabbath day. And it could be that those Jews who be fleeing on the Sabbath could be opposed by their fellow Jews for violating Sabbath travel restrictions simply because they're running, fleeing for safety and refuge realizing the tide of a favor has turned from the Antichrist in his global order against the Jewish people in their Homeland. You see we could just delve into this so much more than I'm doing. But we got to get back to the passage. Verse 21, "Four then," Jesus says, "there will be," say it with me, "great tribulation." And I want you to underline that in your Bible just as I'm showing it underline. And Jesus says about this great tribulation that it will be a time such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time no nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened. So if you want to know why we call the seven year period after the rapture and before the return of Christ; that 70th seven of Daniel chapter nine, if you wanna know why we call that the Tribulation but why we only call the last half of it, the great tribulation it is from verse 21; the lips of Jesus. Jesus gave the last half of the Tribulation, the designation of the great tribulation. It's all going to be Tribulation. But the last half is the great tribulation, the most intense part of it. And if you think about that last half, which is what we're calling the turning point of the Tribulation; this is referred to, in different ways in other places of Scripture but the same period of time even though it's described differently. For instance, do you remember there was a vision that John saw about a woman in Revelation who was gonna give birth to a male child. And we interpreted that woman is Israel because Israel gave birth to Christ figuratively. Well, in Revelation 12:5 John says, "She bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her child Jesus was caught up to God and His throne. Then the woman," we believe this woman figuratively is Israel, "the woman fled into the wilderness." And remember, Jesus talked about fleeing into the wilderness in the passage we're studying. The woman is going to flee into the wilderness where she has a place prepared by God that they should feed her there for 1,260 days. And the formula for that comes to three and a half years, okay? So I just wanted you to see in the vision John had about the woman fleeing into the wilderness to find refuge from the wrath of Satan. That 1,260 days, if you do the math on that is three and a half years based on a 30-day month times 42 months, it's 1,260 days; three and a half years. Same period of time. Three and a half years is 1,260 days on the Jewish calendar. Not only this, but in Daniel 7:25, Daniel was being told about the Antichrist. And he said the Antichrist is going to speak pompous words against the Most High. He's going to persecute the saints of the Most High. He shall intend to change times and law. And then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time, that's one and times, that's two and half the time, that's one half. And when you add one plus two plus one half, it is three and a half and we believe it means three and a half years. Okay, so think about it. You've got the middle of the week, Daniel nine. You've got 1,260 days, Revelation chapter 12, three-and-a-half years. You've got a time, times and half a time in Daniel 7:25; that's three and a half years. We're talking about the last half of the Tribulation. And it's hard for me to talk about what Jesus said is going to happen from the turning point of the Tribulation when the Antichrist turns on Israel; sets himself up in the temple to be worshiped. From that time through the end of the Tribulation, when Christ will return; Jesus said, it's going to be the worst period of hardship the Jewish people will have ever experienced, will have ever experienced. And this is extremely difficult to comprehend in our day in time; living on this side of the 20th century after Stalin's Russia and Hitler's Germany. When you consider all the atrocities against the Jewish people through their history. But what will make this time unique; the last half of the Tribulation, is that even as I'm talking to you right now, Israel's current population exceeds 9 million in number. And we have every reason to believe this number is going to continue to grow between tonight as I'm talking to you and whenever the Tribulation begins and the halfway point of the Tribulation occurs. So in their history of hardships, such as when Nebuchadnezzar invaded them in the sixth century before Christ and they were deported into Babylon or when Antiochus Epiphanes came through in the second century before Christ and slaughtered over 40,000 Jews or even when Rome destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD. Israel's population never at its current number. Where it is now? 9 million and growing. And the 20th century Holocaust against them was while they were scattered and dispersed among the nations of Europe and throughout Russia. Jesus is here referring to an unprecedented plight while they are in their homeland. And this Holocaust from the halfway point of the Tribulation to the end of the Tribulation is going to be intensified because of the sheer numbers of the population of the Jewish people in their homeland during the Tribulation. Now, I wanna show you something from what God told the prophet Zechariah in the Old Testament about what was going to happen to the Jewish people in the last days. In Zechariah 13:8 the Lord said, "It shall come to pass in all the land, says the Lord, 'That two-thirds in the land shall be cut off and die. But one-third shall be left in it. I will bring the one-third through the fire, I will refine them as silver is refined. I will test them as gold is tested. And they will call on My name and I will answer them. And I will say, 'This is My people.' And each of them will say, 'The Lord is my God.'" So you don't have to pull out a calculator to know that Zachariah said in the final days of Israel's tribulation, two-thirds of their population will be given over to death. And only one third will be spared. This is going to happen in the final three and a half years or the great tribulation. And this is why these warnings were spoken by Jesus; those in Judea fleet of the mountains, those in the rooftop don't pack to run, those who are at work you better head on out because the wrath of the Antichrist is going to be fierce and unprecedented. Not to Jewish people scattered but did Jewish people who are concentrated; an easy target because they're all now living in the holy land in Israel. And this is what God said to Jeremiah when He referred to a period called Jacob's Trouble. He said in Jeremiah 30:7, "Alas! That day is great, so that none is like it; it is the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it." So I want us to look at verse 22 where Jesus says, back in Matthew 24, "Unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened. Now there's a lot of speculation as to what this means. Some have suggested this could mean unless the days of the last three and a half years had been kept where they are at three and a half years, unless that period had been shortened, meaning figuratively it could have gone longer; but unless it had been shortened knowing how at the end of the Tribulation with the global armies and Armageddon he says, "All flesh would be destroyed." No flesh would be saved. Apart from the return of Jesus, Armageddon could result in the complete nuclear annihilation of all of humanity on the planet, unless those days were shortened. But what many people believe is that, it's not just a figurative expression unless God had capped this great tribulation is three and a half years. What many people believe is he's talking literally about daylight hours in a day. So it could mean that during the great tribulation, the days will actually be shortened. Not that there will be less than 24 hours in a day but there will be much less daylight time, much less sunlight in a day. For instance, if that's the proper interpretation it means that the Jewish people will have more cover of nightfall in which to flee from from their pursuers; from the Antichrist in his global partners who will want to track them down like bloodhounds on criminals. Not sure but I do know this, and I want you to write this down; but part of the plagues of the Tribulation period foretold in Revelation have to do with extended periods of darkness during the Tribulation. For instance, just look at this chart. When the sixth seal is broken in Revelation six, it says the sun became black. When the fourth trumpet is blown Revelation eight it says a third of the day did not shine. When the fifth bowl is poured out in Revelation 16, it says that darkness filled the kingdom of the beast. So again, I don't want you to keep that up there. I just wanted everybody to understand that darkness is foretold in the book of Revelation. So when Jesus says, "Except those days are shortened," it may mean that the days of sunlight are reduced. But here's what I want us to wrap it all up on. He says, "But for the elect's sake." Did you see that in verse 22, but for the elect's sake. Now, this is the first time the word elect is used in the New Testament because Matthew is the first book of the New Testament. And this is the first use of that word. And the elect, probably refers to those of the nation of Israel who from the outset of the Tribulation have been marked out in God's mind as destined to receive Christ as their Savior. That the elect during the Tribulation, will be those who are saved from among Gentile nations. But in particular, the elect of the Tribulation are the Jewish people who will come to know Christ during the Tribulation. If it refers to Israel, it certainly is compatible with what God said in Isaiah 45:4 He said, "For Jacob My servant's sake and Israel My elect," do you see that? "I have even called you by your name; I have named you though you have not known Me." So God calls His people Israel His elect there in Isaiah 45. Now, I want us to look into the classic hallmark New Testament passage about God's plan for Israel which is in Romans chapters nine, 10, and 11. But in particular, I want us to close on Romans 11:25, where Paul writes, "Blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in." So there's a definite turning point, is it? And Paul says in verse 26, "All Israel will be saved, as it is written; 'The Deliverer will come out of Zion, He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.'" And then he says, "Concerning the gospel, the Jewish people are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election," there you have it, "they are beloved for the sake of the fathers." So if you put all of this together, remember Jesus said the Holocaust against the regathered Jewish people in the last half of the Tribulation is going to be unprecedented in its scope. Zechariah 13 God says, "Two-thirds of my people are going to be wiped away through death and destruction. One-third will be spared." And when Paul says, "All Israel will be saved," what we believe that means is the one-third who will be spared in the Tribulation will be the one-third who in their entirety as a collective remnant; they will constitute God's elect of Israel who will then call upon His name in their utter despair and hopelessness as they're about to be completely annihilated. And in the moment, just before their complete obliteration by the gathered armies in the Valley of Armageddon with the battle of Armageddon, that's when Jesus is going to come and save them and then usher them into His millennial kingdom. And we will be returning with Him when He comes and saves them. Oh, is this not rich? Yes, it is. So there's a lot we've talked about tonight but when Jesus says, "But for the elect's sake," in verse 22, He's referring to that preserved remnant who will be supernaturally marked out and protected from annihilation in the final stages of Tribulation. And it is to that protected elect remnant of Jewish people in Israel that Christ will return with us to restore the kingdom of God to Israel and out of which He will rule from there in Jerusalem for a 1000-year period of a millennial kingdom. Well, I know we've covered a lot tonight. Thank you for bearing with me. I don't like glossing over rich passages like this without really plunging the depths of each verse. And I know it gets complicated on a Wednesday night when you're probably worn out from whatever things you've been devoted to today; maybe work, maybe other responsibilities, maybe family, maybe kids tugging at your pant leg, maybe you've got dishes to do, or children to put to bed. I don't know, but I don't take lightly your investment in going with me to the depths of these Bible prophecies so that God can equip us to understand how all of this is going to play out. Father, thank you for teaching us tonight of these rich trues. Thank you for these prophecies that have by many people been misunderstood and sometimes just neglected altogether. But thank you for giving us the time and the willingness and the hunger to mind these truths out. And God, I just wanna thank you that You have made us your own and that we have nothing to fear because we are Your children and we pray it in Jesus name. Amen.
