Lesson 165 - Senior
Memory Verse
"Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it" (Jeremiah 30:7).
Notes
"Thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
"Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?
"Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it."
"For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.
"For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous.
"There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines.
"All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased.
"Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee" (Jeremiah 30:5-7, 11-15).
"And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book" (Daniel 12:1).
A time of terrible trouble is coming upon the world. This time of trouble is sent to the world as a time of judgement. But there is more to those eventful days than mere judgement for the sinners who are living in the world at that time. This is a part of God's great plan of the ages.
It will be a time of great trouble for some, but of great glory in mid-air for others. It will be a time when some will seal their testimony with their blood, and a time of rapture for others. No wonder the Prophet exclaimed with wonder and astonishment when he saw the days ahead, through the eye of the Holy Spirit: "That day is great, so that none is like it."
The time of Jacob's Trouble, or, as it is more commonly called, the Great Tribulation, is a small interval of time immediately preceding the Revelation of Christ and the beginning of the glorious Kingdom of Christ on earth. Its total length is thought to be no longer than seven years ([DAN:9:27]). At, or near, its beginning, the rapture of the Church will take place. We do not know how far the Church will go into the Tribulation. It may be that God will allow them to see a part of it ([2TS:2:1-12]). The conditions existing at the present time reveal to us the fact that its opening is very near, if not already upon us. And, naturally, that tells us also that the rapture of the saints is, likewise, very near. So, we who are Christians are looking upward, for our redemption is near at hand. The time when we shall go to be with the Lord at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb is close indeed. Perhaps He will come before these lines are printed to be read, or read to be taught, or received to be applied. We know not the time of His coming except that it is very, very near.
"And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
"And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
"And I saw one of the heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
"And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?
"And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
"And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
"And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
"And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
"If any man have an ear, let him hear.
"He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
"And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
"And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
"And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
"And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
"And he had power to give life unto the image of the beat, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
"And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
"And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
"Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six" (Revelation 13:1-18).
The Antichrist in the Great Tribulation
The dominating figure of the Tribulation will be the Antichrist, a personal being with supernatural, satanic powers. He will be a king, a monarch, whose power is obtained from Satan, for the dragon gives him his "power, and his seat, and great authority" (Revelation 13:2). He is going to take his seat at Jerusalem, "in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God" (II Thessalonians 2:4). All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the Book of life ([REV:13:8]). He will come into power through flatteries, peace, and a certain measures of prosperity, but will change his tactics during the Tribulation and become the most cruel and despotic ruler this world has ever seen. He will be a monster of iniquity, the greatest impostor that has ever appeared, and will deceive the nations of the world ([REV:13:1-18]).
"And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
"And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
"For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
"And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
"For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
"All these are the beginning of sorrows.
"Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
"And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
"And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
"And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
"But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
"When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
"Then let them which be in Judæa flee into the mountains:
"Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
"Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
"And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
"But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day:
"For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
"And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect's sake [the Jews] those days shall be shortened.
"Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
"Behold, I have told you before.
"Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
"For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
"For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together" (Matthew 24:3-28).
The full force of the Antichrist's fury will be directed against the Christians who are on the earth at that time, not having been raptured with the Bride of Christ, as well as against the Jews who have long rejected their Messiah. The outcome of this wrath and manifestation of evil will be the acceptance of Christ, as their Messiah, by a remnant of the Jews, at the Revelation of Christ ([ZEC:12:10]; [ZEC:13:6-9]; [ISA:66:7-8]; [EZE:20:40-43]; [ISA:36:24-28]; [ISA:39:27-29]; [JER:33:7-9]; [JER:50:4-5], [JER:50:20]). The Christians living in that terrible time will be martyred for their firm stand against the powers and forces of evil ([REV:13:6-8], [REV:13:16-17]; [REV:14:9-11]; [REV:20:4]).
"When the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understand-ing dark sentences, shall stand up.
"And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
"And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand" (Daniel 8:23-25).
"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gather-ing together unto him,
"That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a fall-ing away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
"Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
"Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
"And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
"For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [hindereth] will let [hinder], until he be taken out of the way.
"And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
"Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
"And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
"And for this case God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
"That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness" (II Thessalonians 2:1-12).
This man of sin, as he is called in the Scripture, is literally a lawless one. The name Antichrist signifies one absolutely opposed to Christ. It does not mean simply a system or organisation, but a person, a supernatural, diabolical being, in the form of a blasphemous man who will gain a great following in this world. The Antichrist will deceive the world by signs and lying wonders which he and the false prophet will have power to do, even to bringing down fire "from heaven" in the sight of men ([REV:13:13]). He will deny God and all that pertains to God.
The antichrist spirit has been at work since the days of the Apostles, for John the Beloved wrote: "Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world" (I John 4:3). John also further identify the spirit of antichrist in such a way that there need be no mistake in knowing who he is when he personally appears, or in identifying the forces he has set in motion to precede his appearance. "Many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist" (II John 7). We can see, then, that the Antichrist will be a lawless one who denies the deity of Christ.
But while the Tribulation is the tremendous series of events that follow the rapture of the Church, being the time when Satan's kingdom operates in full force, the period of time that follows the Tribulation is the great hope of all people of God and, in fact, the whole world. In that time Christ will set up His Kingdom on earth and rule in righteousness and justice.
The whole chain of rapidly moving events leading up to the establishment of this Kingdom is set in motion by the outpouring of the Latter Rain. The experience of the baptism of the Holy Ghost, given in the Latter Rain period as prophesied by Joel ([JOE:2:21-32]), which prophecy was interpreted for us by the Holy Spirit through the lips of Peter ([ACT:2:6], [ACT:2:16-21]), and experienced by many truly sanctified people since its first outpouring in Los Angeles in April, 1906, is one of the great preparations sent by God to make ready a Bride for His own Son, Jesus Christ. The Bride of Christ will be taken to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in mid-air. During this great time of joy and rejoicing at the Marriage Supper the judgments of God will be poured out upon this world, when men will suffer for their sins and rebellion, both from the despotic rule of the Antichrist and from the infinite punishment meted out by a righteously angry God.
At the conclusion of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb Jesus will come back to earth in His Revelation, with all the glorified saints who were resurrected at the time of the Rapture. The saints who were killed during the Tribulation, often called the Tribulations saints, will be resurrected and in glorified bodies, will rule and reign with Christ and the raptured saints ([REV:20:4]). The Jews will accept their Messiah, their nation being born in a day, and the Lord will cast the Antichrist and the false prophet into the lake of fire. Satan will be cast into the bottomless pit for a thousand years.
"And he [Antichrist] shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate" (Daniel 9:27).
The Jews and the Tribulation
The Jews have since been returning to their homeland in unbelief. They have been going back to secure and develop a land and nation where they hope to dwell in peace and safety. And, no doubt, a certain measures of peace and safety will be given them for a short time, as they will make a league with the Antichrist at a time near the beginning of his reign ([DAN:9:27]).
It will take awful suffering to bring the Jews back to the Son of God; the responsibility for the shedding of whose Blood they took upon themselves. Only one third of them will be left after the great attacks made upon them by both God and man, during the time of their great trouble ([ZEC:13:9]). The Jews do not know, as they go back to Palestine today, that they are returning to endure the last and most terrible persecution in their entire history.
The covenant, or league, which they will have made with the Antichrist, will be broken ([DAN:9:27]). The Antichrist will set up his image in the temple and will be worshipped as God ([2TS:2:4]); [REV:13:15]). The Jews will be purged from their unbelief and idolatry, for the Prophet said: "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purity the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old" (Malachi 3:3, 4). What a glorious day that will be when God will again be able to look upon His people with joy and pleasure, and when Jesus will rule the world in peace and equity!
All those who are on the earth and do not take the mark of the beast will not be allowed to buy or sell, for the Antichrist will have complete control of all the world's economy: commercial, political, and religious. He will be an absolute monarch, with the power of life and death over his subjects. And those who refuse to obey his edicts, preferring to stand firm for God and truth, will suffer martyrdom ([REV:12:1-17]; [REV:13:1-18]; [DAN:8:23-25]).
It is possible to sit under the light of the Gospel in this dispensation and then not be ready to meet the Lord at the Rapture. Those who have not enough of the grace of God in their hearts to stand for the truth of the Gospel now, will find little or no strength to stand face to face with the Antichrist and hear his stern, God-defying edicts. In fact, little hope can be held out by us for any who have not walked in all the light of the Gospel, to which they have had access.
If one does not have the spiritual hunger that will bring the fullness of the blessing upon him in this dispensation, when the Holy Spirit is restricted only by our unwillingness to receive Him, how can that person expect to endure the diabolical fires of opposition that will be unrestrained when the Holy Spirit is taken out of the world? There will be no influence for good then. It will all be gone. The mark of the beast will be literal, and those who receive it will seal their own doom (Revelation 14:9-11). To take the mark will be to accept him in place of God and Christ, and this, the Christian cannot do.
The Antichrist's Coming
It is no doubt that the Antichrist is alive today. Although not yet revealed, he is, no doubt, gathering his forces together in undercover operations. The great apostasy prophesied in Scripture has taken place ([2TS:2:2-4]). The Jews have begun their return to their homeland and they now have a political nation. But the nation of Israel as it now stands, is not the theocratic government desired by God; that -- will be made possible when the Jews accept Christ as their Messiah and He becomes their King. In the day that they accept Christ their nation will be truly born ([ISA:66:7-8]; [ZEC:12:10]; [ZEC:13:6-9]).
There is hardness in the hearts of men today that has known no equal at any time. They do not want the truth. They prefer lawlessness. They deny Christ, explain away His miracles, discount His authority, and limit His mission until it is to them practically a nonentity ([1JN:2:18], [1JN:2:22]; [1JN:4:1-3]). In short, they are accepting and sponsoring the spirit of antichrist even before the Antichrist is revealed! The stage is being set. The objections that have previously made the Antichrist rule impossible are being overruled, compromised, or arbitrated at an alarming rate. But the true believers are being drawn away from the world and closer to God, being purified, strengthened, and fortified for the days ahead.
When God says "It is enough," then the Son will come, with the shout of the archangel and the voice of the trumpet of God, to take away those who are waiting for Him ([1TS:4:13-18]). Then the powers of evil in the earth will know no restraint and the forces of unbelief will be unleashed in all their filth, hatred of good, murder, oppression, and absolute, diabolical power ([2TS:2:1-12]). The Antichrist will have no obstacles to overcome when it is time for him to be revealed. He could very easily set up his kingdom now if the saints of God and the Holy Spirit were taken out of the world; so far as we know, these are the only things hindering him from doing so at the present moment.
Nebuchadnezzar, in the Old Testament, was a type of the Antichrist. He had an image made, and he declared the infamous decree: "Whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace" (Daniel 3:6). We have already stated that the Antichrist will have an image and will cause as many as will be deceived at this time and will take the mark of the beast and because of this will be lost forever ([REV:14:9-10]).
We see the combination of powers paving the way for the Antichrist: Socialism, Unionism, Communism, as well as every false system and merger of religion. The mystery of iniquity is now working. International pacts and alliances, as well as all different forms of evil, heresies, systems and many so-called good societies will at the last head up in one person, who will be none other than the Antichrist. Anything that opposes God, or that denies Christ in any way, form, or manner, is a strong and effective contributing tool to the lawless one. For this reason the true Christian, the full overcomer, will be careful to see that his full allegiance is given to God, to God's cause, and to God's people at all times ([1JN:2:15-17]).
Great plagues will be sent upon the earth during this terrible time. The cup of the world's iniquity is now about full. God destroyed the world in the days of Noah, taking His people out of it into the Ark that they might be spared the fury of the wrath of God ([GEN:7:1-24]). And just so will He take His people out of the world in the Rapture, to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, that they may escape the awful outpourings of sin ([ISA:26:20-21]).
The Book of Revelation, as well as Scripture's counterpart in the land of Egypt when God dealt with the Egyptians on behalf of His people, tells us of many plagues to be sent upon all the people of the world ([EXO:7:14-25]; [EXO:8:1-32]; [EXO:9:1-35]; [EXO:10:1-29]; [EXO:11:1-10]; [EXO:12:23-30]). That, which is set forth as literal in the Scriptural account cannot be spiritualised ([REV:22:18-19]). And that which is given in figurative language is done so because the fullness of the horror and immensity of the true description cannot be given in the language of men. We must realise that the facts being taught by pictorial, figurative language are even worse than the description indicate.
There will be wars, civil uprisings, riots, famine, death, pestilences, rending of the universe, earthquakes, and geographical upheavals, in that terrible time. There will be hailstorms when single stones will weigh about 56 pounds, a rain of fire mingled with blood, and a star from Heaven cast upon this earth; while at the same time the inhabitants will hear thunderings and see tremendous lightnings. The moon and stars that remain toward the end will themselves finally be rendered incapable of giving their complete light, and shortly after this the bottomless pit will be opened to disgorge, in a great cloud of smoke, a horde of locusts. These will be given power to hurt and torture all who have taken the mark of the beast. Men will seek death and will not be able to find it. These vicious tormenters will be shaped like horses prepared unto battle, completely armoured and equipped to torture men for five months ([REV:6:1-17]; [REV:8:1-13]; [REV:9:1-12]; [REV:16:17-21]).
In addition to all this, an army of 200,000,000 prepared ones, mounted on horses, will be loosed upon the earth to destroy the third of all men living, by fire, smoke, and brimstone that issue forth out of their mouths. Earth will have become like hell, because of the wickedness and darkness and torment ([REV:9:13-19]). But all these sufferings will not bring the people of the world to God. Instead, they will find no place in their hearts for repentance ([REV:9:20-21]) and will continue on in their ways of sin, evil, and idolatry.
The people remaining who worship the beast and have taken his mark will be afflicted with a terrible sore. The sea will become as the blood of a dead man. The rivers and fountains of water will become as blood also, thereby depriving men of necessary water. The sun is to be given power to emit great heat and to scorch men, but they still will not repent. They will, instead, continue to blaspheme the God of Heaven. The seat of the kingdom of the Antichrist will then be struck by God, and men will gnaw their tongues in pain and anguish. And near the consummation of the whole trouble-filled period unclean spirits will go forth from Satan and the Antichrist to lead men to fight the Lord Jesus Christ when He comes in His Revelation ([REV:16:1-14]).
Oh, the terrible consequences of not being ready for the First Resurrection! How insignificant all the paltry things of this world " if they were all given to each one of us in place of God and His favour -" when compared with the price we must pay for them! Eternity! Untold ages with the damned, the abominable, the unclean, the murderer, the fornicator, the liar, the defiler of men and women, the thief, the God-hater, and the Christ rejecter! ETERNITY!
"If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
"The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
"And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name" (Revelation 14:9-11).
How much better, instead, to be in the holy, Blood-washed group of blessed ones, which the Bible contrasts with this hopeless one."To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God."
"He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death."
"To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it."
"And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations."
"He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels."
"Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name."
"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne" (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21).
"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years" (Revelation 20:6).