Facing Two
Tomorrows
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Dear Mr. Wilson:
Do you still think the
Great Tribulation will begin in 2011?
More and more, I feel uneasy about
the world conditions and my fear of
the future has changed my way of
life. My wife also believes the end
is near, but she wants to hurry up
and do everything that she has always
wanted to do before she can’t.
Other than dealing with our monthly
obligations and focusing on matters
that are short term, how do I look
ahead and make plans for the future
when I believe the end is imminent?
Thanks,
Jeff
Hello Jeff:
Thank you for your
email. You asked if I still believe
the Great Tribulation will begin in
2011. To be accurate, I must restate
your question. I do believe the Great
Tribulation could begin any
time now, including 2011. I do not
know when the censer will be cast
down. Please consider two facts:
First, there is a big difference
between time study and time setting
and second, a date of interest does
not necessarily mean it will become
the date of importance.
The books of Daniel
and Revelation produce an interesting
dilemma. Together, they contain
eighteen prophetic time periods and
every student of apocalyptic prophecy
is forced to put them somewhere on a
time line. Putting each time period
in its rightful place constitutes time
study. As you know, many
Christians avoid the books of Daniel
and Revelation. They say, “Bible
prophecy is a mystery and solving the
mystery is not essential for
salvation. All that matters is
having a relationship with
Jesus.” Of course, a
relationship with Jesus is important,
but how can a person have a great
relationship with someone he or she
does not know?
The book of Revelation
is a tell-all book about Jesus. The
book of Revelation reveals many
things about Jesus that are both
shocking and wonderful. When the
Great Tribulation begins, the
imaginary Jesus (the mental image
that worship due to their religious
mindset) will disappear and the real
Jesus will appear. This abrupt
transition will cause millions of
Christians to become bitter. The four
gospels do not give us a complete
picture of Jesus. There is far more
to Jesus Christ than His ministry on
Earth. For example, study the words
of Jesus to the seven churches
(Revelation 2 and 3). If He were on
Earth today, He would not fit in very
well with any Christian church.
Consider the description of the seven
trumpets and seven bowls in the book
of Revelation. Very few people
realize that Jesus destroyed the
world in Noah’s day and these
same Jesus will soon destroy the
whole world again. If we are going to
have a relationship with the real
Jesus, we need to understand that
Jesus has been given sovereign power,
and at this time, He rules on the
throne as Almighty God! (Revelation
11:17; 1 Corinthians 15:24-28) Christians
desperately need, as the late Paul
Harvey would say, “the rest of
the story,” and there is no
other place to get the rest of the
story about Jesus than in the books
of Daniel and Revelation.
Dates of Interest
Through the years, I
have openly discussed dates of
interest. Am I discouraged
because the Great Tribulation has not
begun? Not at all. Have I thought the
Great Tribulation would begin before
now? Yes! Like Peter, John, James,
and Paul, I thought Jesus would be
here long before now. Should I
be discouraged and angry with God
because dates of interest came and
went without becoming dates of
importance? Not at all. Like Thomas
Edison, who conducted more than
10,000 failed experiments to create
the light bulb, we cannot give up or
give in to discouragement. Faith is
the substance of things hoped for.
“Now faith is being sure
of what we hope for and certain of
what we do not see. This is what the
ancients were commended for.” (Hebrews
11:1, 2)
I think there are
several “signs” indicating
the end of the world is near. These
signs are not date specific, but they
are time related. First, nuclear
proliferation and massive military
armament by dozens of nations are
ticking time bombs. (Pun intended)
Second, Earth itself cannot sustain a
population of seven billion people.
Inevitably, war will break out
because there are insufficient
amounts of food and water. Third, the
nations of Earth are bankrupt (both
morally and financially). On small
nation in financial despair (like
Greece) can threaten the whole
economy of Europe, and if the
European Union falls, the
world’s economy will also
implode. It is interesting how one
significant domino can fall and cause
a chain reaction of a whole string of
larger dominos to follow.
Even though these
three matters are very serious, they
do not necessarily indicate that the
Second Coming is near. However, when
2,600 years of fulfilled apocalyptic
prophecy is combined with these
ominous signs, students of Daniel and
Revelation see harmony rising from
all the parts. World problems are
rapidly expanding, and soon, all of
the elasticity will be used up. This
old balloon called Earth will burst
and at the very moment, the whole
world will need a Savior and just at
the right moment, the censer will be
cast down. Seven trumpets will sound
because Jesus is on His way!
The essential
difference between time study and
time setting is caution. Consider
this: Our faith in Jesus and the Word
of God is not based on some date for
our Lord’s return. Our
confidence in bible prophecy does not
hang on a future date. Actually,
it’s the other way around. Our
confidence in Bible prophecy is built
upon many fulfilled prophecies that
have occurred over the last
twenty-six centuries. Because we live
in the twenty-first century, we have
the joy to examine the Bible and
observe the steady march of time
toward the return of Jesus. Even
though Christians have been watching
and waiting for the Second Coming for
2,000 years, there is no doubt in my
mind that Jesus will return very
soon. When He will return is a
question that is worthy of
investigation. (See 1 Peter 1:10-12.)
Our investigation into
the timing of Christ’s return
must involve prophetic truth, as well
as prophetic faith. There is an
important distinction between
prophetic truth and prophetic faith.
Prophetic truth is solid. Prophetic
truth is a proven fact. When an
element of prophetic is fulfilled,
that element becomes a fact. On the
other hand, prophetic faith is
“cautiously solid” if our
conclusions are built upon valid
rules of interpretation.
Since no one prove something true
that has not happened, prophetic
faith must be built upon self-evident
rules of interpretation that
consistently explains the past, the
present, and the future. Every
Christian should stand in awe at the
prophetic truths contained in the
books of Daniel and Revelation.
Looking backward, we see God’s
Word validated. Looking forward,
there is good reason to anticipate
the soon arrival of “the day of
the Lord.”
Noah and the Censer
Long ago, the Father
set future dates by His own
authority. (Acts 1:7) For example,
the Father set a date for the
commencement of the Great
Tribulation, but no one knows the
date. Jesus said, “No one
knows about that day or hour, not
even the angels in heaven, nor the
Son, but only the Father.
As it was in the days of Noah, so it
will be at the coming of the Son of
Man.” (Matthew 24:36,37,
italics and insertion mine) Many
people think this text concerns the
date of the Second Coming, but this
is not the case. Jesus is talking
about “the day of the
Lord.”
Look at this verse: “Now,
brother, about the times and dates we
do not need to write to you, for you
know very well that the day
of the Lord will come like
a thief in the night. While people
are saying, ‘Peace and
safety,’ destruction will come
on them suddenly, as labor pains on a
pregnant woman, and they will not
escape. But you brothers are not in
darkness so this day should surprise
you like a thief.” (1
Thessalonians 5:1-4, italics mine)
The phrase, “the
day of the Lord,” does not point
to some day of the week such as
Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday. This
phrase is used nineteen times in the
Bible and it refers to a span of time
that concludes with a physical
appearing of Jesus. This span of time
has several different names. For
example, it is called “a time of
wrath, distress, anguish, trouble,
ruin, darkness, gloom, clouds, and
blackness.” (Daniel
8:19, Zephaniah 1:15; Ezekiel 30:3)
It is also called “the appointed
time of the end” (Daniel 8:19;
11:35) and we are told it will come
unexpectedly like a thief. (2 Peter
3:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; Luke
12:39; Matthew 24:42) A time is
coming when the awesome authority of
Jesus Christ will be clearly seen and
everyone will feel His anger with
man’s decadent and degenerate
behavior.
In Matthew 24 and 25,
Jesus drew a parallel between the
commencement of “the day of the
Lord” in Noah’s day and in
our day. Why the parallel? In both
cases God’s wrath suddenly
begins. Clouds gathered and the rain
fell in Noah’s day. The rain
caught the distracted antediluvians
by complete surprise! In our day, the
censer being cast down will catch
even the ten virgins by complete
surprise! (Matthew 25:1-12) Remember
this; the day of the Lord will come
as a surprise – even for those
who anticipate His return!
The Second Coming
Will Not Surprise Anyone
While the day of the
Lord will come as a surprise, the
Second Coming will NOT come as a
surprise to anyone – even the
wicked! Here is why:
When the censer is
cast down (Revelation 8:5), the
righteous will count down the days
until the Second Coming because
Daniel indicates the Lord will appear
on the 1,335th day!
(Daniel 12: 11, 12) Gabriel even told
Daniel that he would be resurrected
at the end of the 1,335 days! “As
for you, go your way till the end.
You will rest, and then at the end of
the [1,335] days you will rise
to receive your allotted
inheritance.” (Daniel 12:13,
insertion mine)
The date of the Second
Coming will not catch the wicked by
surprise because the devil will tell
his followers the date of
Christ’s appearing. About twenty
days before the 1,335th
day, the sixth bowl will be poured
out. (Revelation 16:12) Demons will
be sent throughout Earth to rally all
the kings along with their armies to
make war on the soon appearing Jesus.
John wrote, “Then I saw three
evil spirits that looked like frogs;
they came out of the mouth of the
dragon [the devil*], out of
the mouth of the beast [the
devil] and out of the mouth of the
false prophet [the devil]. They
are spirits of demons performing
miraculous signs, and they go out to
the kings of the whole world, to
gather them for the battle on the
great day of God Almighty…. Then
I saw the beast [the devil]
and the kings of the earth and their
armies gathered together to make war
against the rider on the horse and
his army.” (Revelation
16:13, 14; 19:19) The wicked will be
armed and ready to make war against
Jesus! There is no surprise for
anyone, and certainly no ambush.
*Note: The
great red dragon (revelation 12:9),
the lamblike beast (Revelation 13:11)
and the false prophet (Revelation
19:20, Revelation 13:14) are the same
entity. John refers to Lucifer
as three distinct entities because
the devil is given three different
caricatures in the book of
Revelation. The devil’s
activities are divided into thirds so
that mankind might better grasp an
enormous picture – the
devil’s sophisticated efforts to
lead the world astray.)
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