The Days of Vengeance

l The Days of God’s Vengeance i Omega Ministries

The destruction and restoration of Jerusalem and its significance in the last days

l The Days of God’s Vengeance i Omega Ministries

And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said, “As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” And they asked him, saying, “Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?”

And he said, “Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.(A) But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.”(B) Then said he unto them, “Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake. And it shall turn to you for a testimony. Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake. But there shall not an hair of your head perish. In your patience possess ye your souls. (C) And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.

Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.

For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.

But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” (Luke 21:5-28)

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n today’s world there are many ‘Last Days’ and ‘End Times’ preachers who proclaim messages as they claim to interpret Jesus words in the above and other passages, regarding what Jesus calls ‘the days of vengeance’.

Although not mentioned in this passage many believe that the ‘old temple’ of the Jews must be rebuilt to fulfil his prophecies Secondly they all say that an anti-christ figure must arise to rule in this newly built temple before Christ can or will return. Are they right and Jesus wrong?

In this brief message I intend to show that this form of dispensational ‘End Times’ teaching is both ignorantly misinformed and at worst deliberately deceptive, keeping many genuine believers blind to the reality of both our present day situation and of the past historical facts.

I will show by Jesus very own words and truthful recorded history, that the Gospel and apostolic teaching regarding the ‘day of vengeance’ mentioned by Jesus has already come upon Israel and thus were completely FULFILLED in the lifespan of the apostles, the last surviving being John.

Jesus said to his apostles, “Take heed that no man deceive you” (Matt 24:4). As a believer it’s important that you know these proven facts, so that you can avoid deception by ‘man’ in these final days of political world history and fully understand how to be ready for Christ’s return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

For some of you this is going to be a tough message to hear, but please take heed - your eternal destiny may depend on how you respond!

WAS ALL FULFILLED? Notice first that in the Luke text quoted above Jesus himself says that he is talking about ‘ALL things which are written’ being totally ‘fulfilled’. He is referring to ‘Old Testament Scriptures’ which prophesied

both his coming, death, resurrection, but also the final cataclysmic destruction of Jerusalem and Israel. He does not say that ‘some’ of the prophecy will be fulfilled, but ‘ALL THINGS WRITTEN’. This is an absolute statement that if shown to refer only to the first century experience (before AD 70 and so within the lifetime of the first apostles The Twelve) as now fully completed and as recorded history, then it would be incorrect to suggest that there is or should be a second fulfilment of these words now or at some future date.

Despite the mass rejection of the Messiah by Israel in the time of the Roman occupation, God had chosen those few who were faithful and did receive Christ. These few the Scripture always calls the ‘chosen’ or elected predestined ‘remnant’. In biblically judgements of the past the ‘remnant’ where those Israelites protected during the two exiles e.g. Daniel, Ezra etc.

We see that in Jesus time (AD 3-33) he chose the remnant (calling them disciples) in person to inherit a brand new covenant based on grace, as originally promised to Abraham. Previously when the remnant was restored back to the land after judgement was fulfilled the Jews were enabled to rebuild the temple (of Solomon) and revive the ordinances of law. However in Christ we see the final FULFILMENT that came through him as the promised Messiah to bring an end to the time of laws and sacrifices for justification. This would then usher in the end of the ages culminating in the return of Jesus in the clouds to judge the whole world. Jesus announced that the temple was now his physical body, that would be resurrected and eternal (John 2:21).

The timing of Christ’s first appearing was the mercy of the Father to reach, both the lost sheep of Israel, and all remaining nations. Why? Because the end of the heavens and earth was coming in 2 days (or 2000 years). Noah was given 100 years

The days of God’s Vengeance 3

to prepare the Ark to save both family and beasts, so too Christ came to prepare a body or holy nation (from every tribe) to escape the destruction by fire of planet earth and it’s sinful corruption! That day is approaching fast!

In the last 1985 years (approx) since Jesus was crucified we have seen the Kingdom of Christ (spirit within) grow by his faith throughout the kingdoms of the world, starting with Rome itself. Jesus said that this Kingdom of God would spread like yeast (leaven) hidden like three measures in dough as it is worked (Matt13:33). This is what has happened for almost two millennia despite many false apostate systems, occultic deceptions and opposition by unbelieving and violent men in the systems of the world. It is estimated that every ethnic group on earth will have heard the Gospel in their own language by 2025 aided by technology and dedicated mission.

During these 2000 years of history (since the crucifixion) the anti-Christ spirit has also been at work in opposition to the Gospel. All history is a manifest record of the spiritual warfare and opposition to the Gospel of the Kingdom that dwells within the hearts and minds of true believers. Now let’s consider what Jesus actually said in the Luke 21 passage: (A) False Christs After the resurrection and the day of Pentecost (a few months after) most of the Jewish community and the Roman society carried on as if nothing had happened, many would not have been aware of what had transpired. This is why Jesus told them that they would be his witnesses first in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria then to the ends of the earth. During this early point in church history we already begin to see many erroneous doctrines (teachings) emerge which the true apostles (including Paul) had to refute and put down. This was one of the reasons Luke decided to

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write a clear account of the life of Jesus (Luke 1:1-4; Acts 1:1). In the midst of some of these misinterpretations, legalism and the like we do see some characters around who the people wrongly venerated as gods.

One of these was Simon of Samaria who was known as a sorcerer. Despite this he converted but was later rebuked by Peter for trying to buy the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 8). There were other such characters who existed who tried to usurp the Gospel for their own benefit (as Jesus predicted) claiming to be Christ. This is confirmed by the first century historian Josephus researched by Kaufmann Kohler, H. G. Friedmann.

‘From Josephus it appears that in the first century before the destruction of the Temple a number of Messiahs arose promising relief from the Roman yoke, and finding ready followers. Josephus speaks of them thus: “Another body of wicked men also sprung up, cleaner in their hands, but more wicked in their intentions, who destroyed the peace of the city no less than did these murderers [the Sicarii]. For they were deceivers and deluders of the people, and, under pretense of divine illumination, were for innovations and changes, and prevailed on the multitude to act like madmen, and went before them in the wilderness, pretending that God would there show them signs of liberty” (Josephus, “B. J.” ii. 13, §; 4; idem, “Ant.” xx.

8, §; 6) Matt. xxiv. 24, warning against “false Christs and false prophets,” gives testimony to the same effect. Thus about 44, Josephus reports, a certain impostor, Theudas, who claimed to be a prophet, appeared and urged the people to follow him with their belongings to the Jordan, which he would divide for them. According to Acts v. 36 (which seems to refer to a different date), he secured about 400 followers. Cuspius Fadus sent a troop of horsemen after him and his band, slew many of them, and took captive others, together with their leader, beheading the latter (“Ant.” xx. 5, § 1).

Another, an Egyptian, is said to have

gathered together 30,000 adherents, whom he summoned to the Mount of Olives, opposite Jerusalem, promising that at his command the walls of Jerusalem would fall down, and that he and his followers would enter and possess themselves of the city. But Felix, the procurator (c. 55-60), met the throng with his soldiery. The prophet escaped, but those with him were killed or taken, and the multitude dispersed (ib. xx. 8, § 6; “B. J.” ii. 13, § 5; see also Acts 21:38). Another, whom Josephus styles an impostor, promised the people “deliverance and freedom from their miseries” if they would follow him to the wilderness. Both leader and followers were killed by the troops of Festus, the procurator (60-62; “Ant.” xx. 8, § 10). Even when Jerusalem was already in process of destruction by the Romans, a prophet, according to Josephus suborned by the defenders to keep the people from deserting announced that God commanded them to come to the Temple, there to receive miraculous signs of their deliverance. Those who came met death in the flames (“B. J.” vi.

5, § 3). (Kaufmann Kohler, H. G. Friedmann, http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/ articles/12416-pseudo-messiahs#anchor2).

So then we see that Jesus words to the apostles were indeed for them and for the days prior to the destruction of Jerusalem.

They certainly heard of “wars, rumours and commotions” as the Roman Empire was in a period of great turmoil plus many local Jewish rebels continually plotted to attack the Roman occupation. But Jesus says “the end is not by and by”, meaning of course that the ‘end of Jerusalem’ is not then. In fact none of the apostles witnessed the final destruction that eventually came during the war of AD 66-70 which lasted 3 and half years (42 months). Jesus then goes on to elaborate the kinds of things that will be happening before this final destruction comes. As already mentioned, “Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom”, “false Christs” arose.

When Peter and the other disciples were arrested and charged in front of the Sanhedrin, one of the more thoughtful priests, Gamalliel - a very skilled teacher with great knowledge of the Law and everything connected to it, who had actually taught the Apostle Paul, advised the Sanhedrin not to forbid or punish the disciples. “...A certain man rose in the Sanhedrin, a Pharisee named Gamalliel, a Law teacher esteemed by all the people, and gave the command to put the men outside for a little while. And he said to them: “Men of Israel, pay attention to yourselves as to what you intend to do respecting these men. For instance, before these days, Theudas rose, saying he himself was somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined his party. But he was done away with and all those who were obeying him were dispersed and came to nothing.”

“After him, Judas the Galilean rose in the days of the registration and he drew off people after him. And yet that man perished and all those who were obeying him were scattered around.” “ And so, under the present circumstances I say to you, Do not meddle with these men, but let them alone; because if this scheme or this work is from men it will be overthrown, but if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them; otherwise you may perhaps be found fighters actually against God.” (Acts 5:34) (B) Wars, Earthquakes, Famines Power

and

Plagues

battles

In the first century period BC 8 to AD 40 Palestine was reasonably peaceful, however elsewhere in the empire there were a number of wars in progress such as: Battle of the Teutoburg Forest – German leader Arminius ambushes three Roman legions under Publius Quinctilius Varus.

Battle of the Weser River - Legions under Germanicus defeat German tribes of Arminius.

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The Roman conquest of Britain (43-96) A brief reading the recorded history for this period shows an incredible range of wars that occurred even including the conquest of Britain by none other than Vespasian (AD 44-60) before he headed for Egypt and then to the Palestina problem on behalf of Emperor Nero!

Roman–Parthian War of 58–63 Britain – Boudica’s uprising (60-61) Also during this time there are many power shifts within the empire as emperors come and go. We see these also mentioned in the Scriptures. For example: Caesar Augustus (January 16, 27 BC – August 19, 14 AD) mentioned at Christ’s birth in Luke 2:1. He was superseded when Jesus was about 12 years old by Caesar Tiberias (September 18, 14 AD – March 16, 37 AD). His reign lasted right through Jesus life, he renamed the sea of Galilee to the Sea of Tiberias mentioned in John 6:1. After Jesus death and the day of Pentecost another Emperor came to power, the adopted grandson of Tiberias called Caesar Caligula (March 18, 37 AD – January 24, 41 AD). He was just 25 years old and reigned for barely 4 years before he was assassinated aged 28! Following on came Caesar Claudius (January 25/26, 41 AD – October 13, 54 AD). Claudius is mentioned in Acts 11 when there was a famine across the whole empire. After his 13 year reign came the infamous emperor Caesar Nero who reigned over Rome during the main expansion of the church in Paul’s latter years. He was the one who finally martyred Paul the apostle by beheading and he blamed the Christians for the burning of Rome. All this history occurred BEFORE the destruction of Israel and Jerusalem. In the middle of the wars in Israel emperor Nero committed suicide (68 AD) then four other emperors took power with Vespasian becoming the Caesar who authorised the destruction by his son Titus in AD 70.

The early Christians would have heard of all

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these wars and rumours of power shifts in the empire.

The Shaking Jesus also mentions that before the destruction of Jerusalem there would be “great earthquakes shall be in divers places”.

Did significant earthquakes happen near the time of the end in the first century?

Absolutely they did.

In the writings of the first century historian Tacitus we read a description of the conditions in A.D. 51 in Rome during the reign of Claudius: “This year witnessed many prodigies signs or omens... including repeated earthquakes.”

Prior to Jesus’ birth Josephus accounts that an earlier earthquake in Judea in 31 BC was such a magnitude that “the constitution of the universe was confounded for the destruction of men.” It killed more than 30,000 people affecting Emmaus and Caesarea.

He also wrote that earthquakes were “a common calamity”, and indicated that God Himself had brought them about for a special purpose. Then there is the book of Acts that records “a great earthquake that shook the foundations of the prison house” (Acts 16:26). There were earthquakes in Crete, Smyrna, Miletus, Chios, Samos, Laodicea, Hierapolis, Colosse, Campania, Rome, and Judea. Paul started churches at Colosse and Hierapolis. However, these two cities, along with Laodicea, suffered a great earthquake in approximately A.D. 61. Laodicea was rebuilt soon after the earthquake, but Colosse and Hierapolis were not.

The earthquake at the latter place was so destructive, that the emperor, in order to relieve the distresses of the inhabitants, remitted its tribute for five years. Both these earthquakes are recorded by Tacitus. There was also one in the same reign in Crete. This is mentioned by Philostratus, in his Life of Apollonius, who says, that ‘there were others at Smyrna, Miletus, Chios, and Samos

; in all which places Jews had settled.’ In the reign of Nero there was an earthquake at Laodicea. Tacitus records this also.

It is likewise mentioned by Eusebius and Orosius, who add that Hieropolis and Colosse, as well as Laodicea, were overthrown by an earthquake. There was also one in Campania in this reign (of this both Tacitus and Seneca speak) and another at Rome in the reign of Galba, recorded by Suetonius; to all which may be added those which happened on that dreadful night.

When the Idumeans were excluded from Jerusalem, a short time before the siege commenced Josephus writes; “A heavy storm burst on them during the night violent winds arose, accompanied with the most excessive rains, with constant lightnings, most tremendous thunderings, and with dreadful roarings of earthquakes. It seemed as if the system of the world had been confounded for the destruction of mankind and one might well conjecture that these were signs of no common events.”

On the 5th February AD 62 a magnitude 6 earthquake occurred in the Bay of Naples, Italy which brought down a large part of Pompeii and Herculaneum. It was just fifteen years later Mount Vesuvius erupted destroying Pompeii and surrounds (recent excavations confirm all these dates).

Food

shortages

All these signs occurred in Jesus’ and his contemporaries lifetimes. Of course we also read about the great famine that occurred in Judea and throughout the known world itself for which Paul and other apostles made collection and of which Agabus the prophet had predicted.

“And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar.” (Acts 11:28) (Claudius was a cruel Roman emperor from AD 41–54).

killing 30,000. With no medical solution to these viruses and other common diseases many thousands suffered and died with no hope. Slavery was also expansive as new lands and peoples were conquered by by the Roman legions.

All these events are recorded historical facts, events that really did happen during the first century, severe challenges that the early Christians faced along with persecution for their faith.

Signs

in the sky

Today end times preachers are saying that the signs in the sky predict the end coming, however we should bear in mind that astronomical signs have occurred and always will. What’s significant for us is that during the first century some incredible things happened which even the writer Josephus and the Romans considered as ‘Omens’!

Speaking of the Jewish rebels Josephus writes: “Thus were the miserable people persuaded by these deceivers, and such as belied God himself; while they did not attend nor give credit to the signs that were so evident, and did so plainly foretell their future desolation, but, like men infatuated, without either eyes to see or minds to consider, did not regard the denunciations that God made to them.”

Fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven Josephus writes: “Thus there was a star resembling a sword, which stood over the city, and a comet, that continued a whole year.”

Notice the cross motif on the reverse of this coin from Gadara. Titus is on the obverse.

The double cornucopias or perhaps shofars

On top of this Tacitus records a plague that hit Rome and environs in the autumn of 65

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are on the reverse. The cross symbol is surrounded by dots likely representing stars. This coin was minted in Gadara in the Decapolis in 73 AD after the Roman victory at Masada. Titus is obviously referring to the sword star mentioned by the 1st century historian Josephus which was seen during the siege of Jerusalem. The Romans as well as the Jews were looking for justification from the heavens for their actions on earth. This coin is yet another example the Romans were astronomically aware and that Josephus was correct in his writings.

There is an obvious Christian implication from the coin. The star is not a sword but a cross. One of the last heavenly signs seen at the Temple was a cross in the night sky. This was a last ditch plea from God for Jerusalem to accept the blood and sacrifice of His only Son Jesus Christ for transgressions of Israel.

The Jewish War had the unintentional effect of consolidating and enriching the Roman Empire after its civil wars. It is quite possible the Roman Empire would have continued to fractionate and fall apart if the Jewish Rebellion would not have occurred.

(Josephus, The Jewish War Book 6 Chapter 5:3)

Light Around

the

Altar

in the

Temple

Josephus writes again: “Thus also before the Jews’ rebellion, and before those commotions which preceded the war, when the people were come in great crowds to the feast of unleavened bread, on the eighth day of the month Xanthicus, [Nisan, April, about a week before Passover] and at the ninth hour of the night, so great a light shone round the altar and the holy house, that it appeared to be bright day time; which lasted for half an hour. This light seemed to be a good sign to the unskillful, but was so interpreted by the sacred scribes, as to portend those events that followed immediately upon it.”

Cow

gives

Birth

to

Lamb

“At the same festival also, a heifer, as she was led by the high priest to be sacrificed, brought forth a lamb in the midst of the temple.”

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The Eastern Gate “Moreover, the eastern gate of the inner temple, which was of brass, and vastly heavy, and had been with difficulty shut by twenty men, and rested upon a basis armed with iron, and had bolts fastened very deep into the firm floor, which was there made of one entire stone, was seen to be opened of its own accord about the sixth hour of the night. Now those that kept watch in the temple came hereupon running to the captain of the temple, and told him of it; who then came up thither, and not without great difficulty was able to shut the gate again.

This also appeared to the vulgar to be a very happy prodigy, as if God did thereby open them the gate of happiness. But the men of learning understood it, that the security of their holy house was dissolved of its own accord, and that the gate was opened for the advantage of their enemies. So these publicly declared that the signal foreshowed the desolation that was coming upon them.”

Miraculous Phenomenon

of

Chariots

in the

Air

“Besides these, a few days after that feast, on the one and twentieth day of the month Artemisius, [Iyar, May or June] a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared: I suppose the account of it would seem to be a fable, were it not related by those that saw it, and were not the events that followed it of so considerable a nature as to deserve such signals; for, before sun-setting, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armour were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding of cities.”

Sound

of a

Great Multitude

“Moreover, at that feast which we call Pentecost, as the priests were going by night into the inner [court of the temple,] as their custom was, to perform their sacred ministrations, they said that, in the first place, they felt a quaking, and heard a great noise, and after that they heard a sound as of a great multitude, saying, “Let us remove hence.”

Jesus

son of

Ananus: A Voice

from the

East

But, what is still more terrible, there was one Jesus, the son of Ananus, a plebeian and a husbandman, who, four years before the war began, and at a time when the city was in very great peace and prosperity, came to that feast whereon it is our custom for every one to make tabernacles to God in the temple [Sukkot, autumn, 62 CE], began on a sudden to cry aloud: “A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the Holy House, a voice against the bridegrooms and the brides, and a voice against this whole people!”

This was his cry, as he went about by day and by night, in all the lanes of the city.

However, certain of the most eminent among the populace had great indignation at this dire cry of his, and took up the man, and gave him a great number of severe stripes; yet did not he either say anything for himself, or anything peculiar to those that chastised him, but still went on with the same words which he cried before.

Hereupon the magistrates, supposing, as the case proved to be, that this was a sort of divine fury in the man, brought him to the Roman procurator, where he was whipped till his bones were laid bare; yet he did not make any supplication for himself, nor shed any tears, but turning his voice to the most lamentable tone possible, at every stroke of the whip his answer was, “Woe, woe to Jerusalem!”

And when Albinus (for he was then our procurator) asked him, Who he was? and whence he came? and why he uttered such words? he made no manner of reply to what he said, but still did not leave off his melancholy ditty, till Albinus took him to be a madman, and dismissed him.

citizens, nor was seen by them while he said so; but he every day uttered these lamentable words, as if it were his premeditated vow, “Woe, woe to Jerusalem!”

Nor did he give ill words to any of those that beat him every day, nor good words to those that gave him food; but this was his reply to all men, and indeed no other than a melancholy presage of what was to come.

This cry of his was the loudest at the festivals; and he continued this ditty for seven years and five months, without growing hoarse, or being tired therewith, until the very time that he saw his presage in earnest fulfilled in our siege, when it ceased; for as he was going round upon the wall, he cried out with his utmost force, “Woe, woe to the city again, and to the people, and to the Holy House!”

And just as he added at the last, “Woe, woe to myself also!” there came a stone out of one of the engines, and smote him, and killed him immediately; and as he was uttering the very same presages he gave up the ghost.

(C) The Persecution

of the

Church

The prophetic teaching given by Jesus and recorded in Luke 21 now begins to take on a clearer dimension that made it highly relevant to the first believers. Jesus was speaking specifically to his apostles and those who lived in that day. This is not a message to us in the last days of earth. He said to them “for these be the days” Having previously given a clear description of how beautiful ancient Jerusalem would soon be destroyed after some years of turmoil, as described above. He also mentions terrible persecution to come on them as his followers. As we know from the book of Acts, and recorded history, the apostles and many others suffered imprisonment, stoning, torture and martyrdom at the hands of the Romans and others.

Now, during all the time that passed before the war began, this man did not go near any of the

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How

the

12 Apostles

died

Peter and Paul Both martyred in Rome about 66 AD, during the persecution under Emperor Nero. Paul was beheaded. Peter was crucified, upside down at his request, since he did not feel he was worthy to die in the same manner as his Lord.

Andrew Andrew went to the “land of the maneaters,” in what is now the Soviet Union.

Christians there claim him as the first to bring the gospel to their land. He also preached in Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey, and in Greece, where he is said to have been crucified.

Thomas He was probably most active in the area east of Syria. Tradition has him preaching as far east as India, where the ancient Marthoma Christians revere him as their founder.

They claim that he died there when pierced through with the spears of four soldiers.

Philip Possibly had a powerful ministry in Carthage in North Africa and then in Asia Minor, where he converted the wife of a Roman proconsul. In retaliation the proconsul had Philip arrested and cruelly put to death.

Matthew the tax collector and writer of a Gospel, ministered in Persia and Ethiopia. Some of the oldest reports say he was not martyred, while others say he was stabbed to death in Ethiopia.

Bartholomew He had widespread missionary travels attributed to him by tradition: to India with Thomas, back to Armenia, and also to Ethiopia and Southern Arabia. There are various accounts of how he met his death as a martyr for the gospel.

James the son of Alpheus He is one of at least three James referred to in the New Testament. This James is reckoned to have ministered in Syria. The Jewish historian Josephus reported that he was stoned and then clubbed to death.

Simon the Zealot Simon ministered in Persia and was killed after refusing to sacrifice to the sun god.

Matthais He was the apostle chosen to replace Judas.

Tradition sends him to Syria with Andrew and to death by burning.

John John is the only one of the company generally thought to have died a natural death from old age. He was the leader of the church in the Ephesus area and is said to have taken care of Mary the mother of Jesus in his home. During Domitian’s persecution in the middle 90’s, he was exiled to the island of Patmos. There he is credited with writing the last book of the New Testament-the Revelation. An early Latin tradition has him escaping unhurt after being cast into boiling oil at Rome.

Apart from John’s experience all this persecution was BEFORE Jerusalem was destroyed. It was in the 40’s, 50’s & 60’s that many Christians were persecuted and fled to other places, such as Antioch, Cyprus and even Italy. Jerusalem was considered a very dangerous place for believers, even for the apostles who all eventually left on mission.

Paul dared to go back there and ended up being captured and imprisoned.

The Jewish

rebellion begins

The remaining Jews who rejected Christ now determined their own destiny still erroneously thinking that God would help them against the Romans and this led to the wars until AD130.

Jerusalem

surrounded with armies

Jesus said that just before the end Jerusalem

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would be compassed or surrounded by the armies of Rome, this is EXACTLY what happened. The following is a transcript of chapter 43 from the best seller book by Werner Keller from ‘The Bible as History’ First printed in 1974 describing the terrifying events of the end of Jerusalem and Israel.

The Destruction of the Jews

of Jerusalem and the failed rebellion

Jesus gave very clear instructions to the disciples or anyone who would remain in or near Jerusalem at this time. The window to escape the siege of Jerusalem would be a small one and anyone not taking him at his word would perish. Jerusalem and Israel itself was about to be wiped off the face of the earth by the wrath of God. Something never seen in history to that date.

“And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said, As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. . . . And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. . . . For there shall be great distress upon the land and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles. . . .” (Luke 21:5,6,20,23,24).

Countless royal palaces and castles, cities, mansions and temples, buildings whose foundations were laid in the first, second or even third millennium before Christ, have been wrested from the past. Archaeology has used its spades and the sharp wits of its experts to free them from the dust in which they have been buried at a cost of untold effort. But the city and temple of Jerusalem, whose importance for posterity cannot be rated too highly, have eluded the endeavours of the archaeologists: they have been blotted out for ever from this earth. For barely within a generation after the crucifixion of Jesus they suffered in

“the days of vengeance” (Luke 21:22) the fate that Jesus prophesied for them. Old Israel, whose history no longer included the words and works of Jesus, the religious community of Jerusalem which condemned and crucified Jesus, was extinguished in an inferno which is almost unparalleled in history—the “Jewish War” of A.D. 66-70.

Louder and louder grew the protests against the hated Romans. In the party of the “Zealots” fanatics and rebels banded themselves together, demanding incessantly the removal of the foreign power. Every one of them carried a dagger concealed under his cloak. Their deeds of violence disturbed the country. Autocratic encroachment by the Roman procurator heightened the tension.

More and more supporters flocked to the side of the radicals.

This mounting anger broke into open revolt in May 66, when the procurator, Florus, demanded 17 talents from the Temple treasury. The Roman garrison was overrun.

Jerusalem fell into the hands of the rebels.

The prohibition of the daily sacrifices to the emperor meant an open declaration of war against the Roman world empire.

Tiny Jerusalem threw down the gauntlet at Rome’s feet and challenged the great Imperium Romanum.

This was the signal for the whole country.

Rebellion flared up everywhere. Florus was no longer in command of the situation.

The governor of the province of Syria, C. Cestius Gallus, marched to the rescue with one legion and a large number of auxiliary troops, but was forced to retire with heavy losses. The rebels con-trolled the country.

Being certain that Rome would strike back with all its might, they hastened to fortify the cities. They repaired the old defence walls and appointed military commandants.

Joseph, later known as Josephus the historian, was appointed commander in chief of Galilee. On the Roman side, the Emperor Nero entrusted the command to General Titus Flavius Vespasianus, who

The days of God’s Vengeance 11

had proved himself a brilliant soldier and distinguished himself during the conquest of Britain.

Accompanied by his son Titus, three of the best legions in the army and numerous auxiliaries, he attacked Galilee from the north. The villages on the lake of Galilee, where but a few years earlier Jesus had been preaching to the fishermen, saw the first of the bloody butchery. The whole of Galilee was subdued by October 67. Among the crowds of prisoners marched Josephus, the commander in chief. He was put in chains and conveyed to head-quarters at Vespasian’s orders. From then on he saw the Jewish War from inside the enemy’s camp.

Six thousand Jews went as slaves to build the Corinth canal.

In the following spring the suppression of the rebels in Judaea was resumed. In the midst of the fighting news came which for the time being halted the campaign—Nero had committed suicide.

Civil war broke out in Rome. Vespasian awaited developments. One after another three insignificant emperors lost their thrones and their lives. At last the legions in the east stepped in. A year after Nero’s death the cry went up in Egypt, in Syria, in Palestine, throughout the whole of the orient: “Vivat Caesar”. Vespasian became master of the Roman empire. From Caesarea on the coast of Palestine, where the news reached him, he embarked without delay for Rome, leaving his son Titus to finish the last act of the Jewish War. Shortly before the full moon in the spring of 70 Titus appeared with an enormous army outside Jerusalem. Marching columns filled the highways and byways leading to the city such as Judaea had never seen before. They were made up of the 5th, 10th, 12th and 15th Legions, accompanied by cavalry, engineers and other auxiliary troops, almost 80,000 men.

The Holy City was swarming with people:

12

The days of God’s Vengeance

pilgrims had come from far and near to celebrate the Passover. Disputes between the extremists among the Zealots and the moderate party interrupted the devotions: the wounded and the dead remained untended.

Meantime the Romans moved into their camps in the environs of the city. A call to surrender was met with derisive laughter.

Titus replied with the command to attack.

The Roman artillery, “scorpiones”, quickfiring siege engines and “ballistae”, stone throwers, closed in. Every one of these heavy weapons could throw stones weighing a hundredweight a distance of 600 feet. On the north side the engineers were cracking open the Achilles heel of the fortress. On the south, east and west sharp precipices protected the ramparts.

The north side was however unusually

strongly fortified by three massive walls.

Battering rams and siege engines began to crack and thunder as they attacked the foundations. Only when an incessant hail of great stones came hurtling into the city, and when night and day the heavy thud of the battering rams could be heard, did civil war end within the fortress. The rival factions came to terms. Simon bar Giora, leader of the moderates, took over the defence of the north side, John of Gischala, leader of the Zealots, took over the defence of the Temple area and the Tower of Antonia.

By the beginning of May the siege engines had in the space of two weeks made a gaping hole in the most northerly wall. In

five more days the Romans were through the second wall. A determined counterattack put the defenders once more in possession of the wall and it took the Romans several days before they could recapture it. With that the northern suburb was firmly in Roman hands.

man to preserve—You obdurate creatures, more unfeeling than these very stones!”

Convinced that in view of this situation Jerusalem would surrender, Titus called off the attack. The grandiose spectacle of a great parade of his forces immediately under the eyes of the beleaguered people would surely bring them to their senses.

The battle began anew from the second wall and surged against the castle of Antonia.

The front was pushed forward through the streets of the suburbs to the Temple area and the upper part of the city. The engineers built ramps and auxiliaries dragged trees for this purpose from far and near. The Romans proceeded with all their tried methods of siege warfare. Their preparations were constantly being sorely hampered by the determined efforts of the defenders to upset them. Apart from wild sorties, no sooner were their wooden ramparts in position than they went up in flames. When darkness set in the Roman camp was surrounded by swarms of figures who had crept out of their hiding places or through subterranean passages or over the walls.

The Romans doffed their battledress and polished their full-dress uniform until it shone. The legionaries put on their armour, their coats of mail and their helmets. The cavalry decked their horses with the richest caparisons, and amid loud blasts from the trumpets tens of thousands of warriors marched past Titus and received their pay and ample rations in full view of the garrison. For four days from early morn till dusk the sound of the tramping feet of these unbeaten Roman columns echoed in the air.

It achieved nothing. Packed tight along the old wall, on the north side of the Temple, on every roof, the people spat hatred down at the Romans. The demonstration had been useless—the beleaguered garrison had no thought of surrender.

Titus made one last attempt to win them round. He sent their captive countryman Flavius Josephus, the Jewish commander in chief in Galilee, to harangue them under the fortress walls.

Josephus’ voice hailed them from below: “O hard hearted men, throw away your weapons, have pity on your country that stands on the edge of the abyss. Look round and behold the beauty of all that you are ready to betray. What a city ! What a Temple! What gifts from so many nations! Who would dare to let all of this be given to the flames? Is there one of you who can wish for all this to be no more? What more precious treasure could have been given to

In heartrending words Josephus reminded them of the great deeds of the past, of their forefathers, of their history, of the mission of Israel—his exhortations and pleas fell on deaf ears.

Titus ordered reprisals to be made against these half starved ghostly figures and against deserters. Anyone caught outside— deserters, raiders or foragers—was to be crucified. Mercenaries nailed 500 of them every day to crosses just outside the city.

Gradually a whole forest of crosses sprang up on the hillsides till the lack of wood called a halt to the frightful practice.

Tree after tree was sacrificed for crosses, siege ramps, scaling ladders and camp fires.

The Romans had come into a flourishing countryside. Now the vineyards had disappeared as had the market gardens, the wealth of fig-trees and olive-trees; even the Mount of Olives no longer provided shade. An unbearable stench hung over the bare and desolate countryside. The corpses of those who had died of starvation and of those who had died in battle, thrown over the ramparts by the beleaguered garrison, were piled beneath the walls by

The days of God’s Vengeance 13

the thousand. Who had the strength to bury them in the traditional way?

“No stranger who had seen Judea of old, and the lovely suburbs of its capital, and now saw this devastation,” mourned Josephus, “could have restrained his tears and lamentations at the hideous change. For the war had turned all that beauty into a wilderness. And no man who knew these places of old and suddenly saw them again could possibly have recognised them.”

To seal off the city hermetically Titus ordered the erection of a “circumvallatio”.

Working night and day they constructed a massive high wall of earthwork in a wide circle round Jerusalem, strengthened by thirteen fortified strong points and guarded by a close chain of pickets. If so far it had been possible to smuggle supplies and provisions into the city by night by way of secret paths through tunnels or ditches, the circumvallatio stopped even this last meagre reinforcement.

The spectre of famine haunted the city, which was filled to over-flowing with pilgrims, and death mowed them down in a dread harvest. The craving for food, no matter of what sort, drove men beyond all bounds and killed all normal feeling.

14

The days of God’s Vengeance

“The terrible famine that increased in frightfulness daily annihilated whole families of the people. The terraces were full of women and children who had collapsed from hunger, the alleys were piled high with the bodies of the aged.

Children and young people, swollen with lack of food, wandered around like ghosts until they fell. They were so far spent that they could no longer bury anyone, and if they did they fell dead upon the very corpses they were burying. The misery was unspeakable. For as soon as even the shadow of anything eatable appeared anywhere, a fight began over it, and the best of friends fought each other and tore from each other the most miserable trifles. No one would believe that the dying had no provisions stored away. Robbers threw them-selves upon those who were drawing their last breath and ran-sacked their clothing.

These robbers ran about reeling and staggering like mad dogs and hammered on the doors of houses like drunk men. In their despair they often plunged into the same house two or three times in the one day. Their hunger was so unbearable that they were forced to chew anything and everything. They laid hands on things that even the meanest of animals would not touch, far less eat. They had long since eaten their belts and shoes and even their leather jerkins were torn to shreds and chewed. Many of them fed on old

hay and there were some who collected stalks of corn and sold a small quantity of it for four Attic drachmas.—But why should I describe the shame and indignity that famine brought upon men, making them eat such unnatural things?” asks Josephus in his history of the Wars of the Jews.

“Because I tell of things unknown to history, whether Greek or barbarian. It is frightful to speak of it and unbelievable to hear of it. I should gladly have passed over this disaster in silence, so that I might not get the reputation of recording something which must appear to posterity wholly degrading. But there were too many eye-witnesses in my time. Apart from that my country would have little cause to be grateful to me were I to be silent about the misery which it endured at this time.”

Josephus, whose own family suffered with the defenders, was not afraid to describe an inhuman occurrence which proves that the raging famine had begun to cloud the brains of the blockaded citizens.

Zealots were foraging through the lanes of the city in quest of food. From one house came the smell of roast meat. The men plunged into the house at once and were confronted by Maria, daughter of the noble line of Beth-Ezob in Transjordan, an extremely wealthy family. She had come to Jerusalem on pilgrimage for the Passover.

The Zealots threatened her with death unless she handed over the roast meat to them. With a wild look she gave them what they asked for. Aghast, they found themselves looking at a half consumed infant—Maria’s own child.

Soon not only the whole city learned of this, but the news also seeped out through the walls to the Roman camp. Titus swore that he would bury this dreadful deed under the ruins of the whole city.

Many fled from death by starvation under cover of darkness and ran into the arms of an equally cruel fate. The story had got around among the Romans’ auxiliaries

that fugitives from within the walls always carried gold and jewels, which they had swallowed in the hope of preserving them from being seized by strangers. If any of these unsuspecting people were caught they were felled to the ground and their bodies slit open in the endless quest for plunder.

In one night 2,000 alone lost their lives in this way. Titus was furious. Without mercy he got his cavalry to decimate an auxiliary unit. An order of the day made the crime punishable by death. But it was of little avail, the slaughter continued secretly.

Meantime day and night the battering rams were hammering on the suburbs of Jerusalem. New ramps were laid down.

Titus was in a hurry. He wanted to end this frightful nightmare as quickly as possible.

At the beginning of July his soldiers stormed the Tower of Antonia. The castle, on whose “Pavement” Jesus of Nazareth had been sentenced to death, was razed to its foundations. Its walls abutted on the north wall of the Temple.

It was now the turn of the Temple, that powerful and extremely well fortified complex of galleries, balustrades and forecourts. The commander in chief discussed the situation with his officers.

Many of them wanted to treat the Temple like a fortress. Titus opposed them. He wanted if possible to spare this famous sanctuary which was known throughout

The days of God’s Vengeance 15

the empire. For the last time his heralds demanded that the rebels should surrender.

Once more the answer was a refusal. Titus then finally embarked upon the attack against the sacred precincts.

An incessant hail of heavy stones and a rain of arrows showered down upon its courts. The Jews fought like men possessed and did not yield an inch. They relied on Yahweh hastening to their aid at the last moment and protecting his shrine. More than once legionaries on scaling ladders reached the perimeter wall. Every time they were thrown back. Rams and siege engines were powerless against these walls. It was impossible to shatter the vast stone blocks of which Herod had built the Temple. In order to force an entry Titus set fire to the wooden Temple gates.

Hardly were they consumed when he gave instructions to put out the flames and, make a passage for the legionaries to attack. Titus’ order of the day read “Spare the sanctuary”.

But during the night the fire had reached the inner court and the Romans had their hands full to put it out. The beleaguered rebels profited by this favourable opportunity to make a violent attack. With remorseless slaughter the legionaries drove the Jews

16

The days of God’s Vengeance

back, and pursued them through the courts.

In wild tumult the battle raged round the sanctuary. Carried away by excitement, “one of the soldiers, without waiting for orders and without any sense of the horror of his deed, or rather being driven by some evil spirit, seized a blazing torch and, hoisted on the shoulders of one of his comrades, flung it through the Golden Window that opened into the rooms which lay beside the Holy of Holies”.

These rooms were panelled with old word and contained, as well as highly inflammable materials for the sacrifices, jars of holy oil. The flaming torch found instantaneous and ample fodder. Titus saw the flames springing up and tried to check the spread of the fire.

“Caesar1 then commanded that the fire should be put out, calling in a loud voice to the soldiers who were in the thick of the fighting and giving them a signal with his right hand. But they did not hear what he said for all his shouting. . . .

And since Caesar was unable to restrain the hot rage of the soldiery, and since the flames were spreading further and further, he entered the Holy Place in the Temple together with his commander and viewed it and all its contents. . . . But since the flames had not yet reached the inner rooms, and were still devouring the rooms

that surrounded the Tabernacle, Titus, assuming, as was indeed the case, that the Tabernacle itself could still be saved, hurried away and made every effort to get the soldiers to put out the fire, giving orders to Liberalius, the centurion and to one of his own body guard, to beat the soldiers with staves if they refused and by every means to restrain them. But however great their enthusiasm for Caesar and their dread of what he had forbidden them to do, their hatred of the Jews and their eagerness to fight them was equally great.

“In addition the hope of booty spurred many of them on. They had the impression that all these rooms within were full of gold, and they saw that all around them was made of pure gold. . . . Thus the Holy Place was burnt down without Caesar’s approbation.”

In August AD 70 Roman legionaries erected their banners in the sacred precincts and sacrificed before them. Although half of Jerusalem was in the hands of the enemy, although ominous black columns of smoke rose from the burning Temple, the Zealots would not surrender.

John of Gischala escaped with quite a large band from the Temple area into the upper part of the city on the western hill. Others fled into the strong towers of Herod’s palace. Once again Titus had to deploy his engineers, artillery, siege engines and all his brilliant technical skill. In September these walls too were forced, and the last bastions conquered. Resistance was finally at an end.

Murdering and plundering, the victors took possession of the city that had so fiercely and bitterly resisted them and cost them so much blood and time. “Caesar ordered the whole city and the Temple to be razed to the ground. He left standing only the towers of Phasael, Hippicus, and Mariamne and part of the city wall on the west side. This was to provide quarters for the garrison that was to remain behind.”

The legion that occupied the garrison in this dreadful place for sixty long years

bore the symbol “Leg XF”, which meant “Tenth Fretensian Legion”. Their home station was on the “Fretum Siciliense”, the straits of Messina. They left behind them in and around Jerusalem thousands upon thousands of indications of their presence. Gardeners and peasants still find occasionally small tiles with the legion’s number and its emblems of a galley and a boar.

The loss of life among the Jews was unimaginably high. During the siege, according to Tacitus, there were 600,000 people in the city. Josephus gives the number of prisoners as 97,000, not counting those crucified or ripped open, and adds that within a period of three months 115,800 corpses were taken out of one of the city gates alone by the Jews.

Triumphal

march through

Rome

In the year 71 Titus paraded his great victory over Jerusalem in a gigantic triumphal procession through Rome. Among 700 Jewish prisoners John of Gischala and Simon bar Giora were marched past. in chains. Amid great rejoicing two other costly trophies of pure gold were borne in procession, the seven branched candlestick and the table of the shewbread from the Temple at Jerusalem. They found a new home in the Temple of Peace in Rome. Both these accessories of Jewish ritual can still be seen on the great arch of Titus which was erected to commemorate his successful campaign.

On top of these desolate and cheerless ruins, on which neither Jews nor Christians were allowed to set foot on pain of death, the emperor Hadrian2 built a new Roman colony: Aelia Capitolina. The sight of a foreign settlement on this sacred Jewish soil provoked yet another open rebellion. Julius Severus was summoned to Judaea from his governorship in Britain and smashed the last desperate attempt of the Jews to regain their freedom. But it took him three years to

The days of God’s Vengeance 17

do so. The emperor Hadrian then erected a race-course, two baths, and a large theatre.

A statue of Jupiter was enthroned above the ruins of the Jewish Temple as if in derision, and on the site which Christian tradition believed to be that of the Holy Sepulchre, strangers climbed the terraced steps to do homage at a shrine of the pagan goddess Venus.

The greatest part of the population of the Promised Land, which was not massacred in the bloody Jewish War of 66-70 and in the Bar-Kokhba rebellion of 132-135, was sold into slavery: “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword and shall be led away captive into all nations”. Archaeologists have found no material evidence of Israel’s existence in Palestine after the year 70, not even a tombstone with a Jewish inscription. The synagogues were destroyed, even the house of God in quiet Capernaum was reduced to ruins. The inexorable hand of destiny had drawn a line through Israel’s part in the concert of nations. But by then the teaching of Jesus was well started on its irresistible and victorious journey, uniting and giving new life to the nations.

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The days of God’s Vengeance

1. Titus became Emperor in 79 2. A.D. 117-138

Vengeance

against Israel

& Judah

complete

As I have explained All this that HAS happened indeed fulfilled God’s vengeance upon the unfaithful Israel & Judah, the land was literally wiped clean of their existence!

Jesus had told them that this punishment was for the all the historical sins that Israel had committed against his prophets: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous

blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.”

(Matt 23:29-38)

As we have seen this judgement did come upon that generation. This condition of the promised land lasted for hundreds of years afterwards. The people of Israel who survived (and Christians) were scattered around the whole world, just as God had told them he would when he made his original covenants with them (Deut 29:2429). “for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”

It is an historical fact that Israel and Jerusalem no longer existed in the eyes of the Romans and indeed for subsequent rulers over the area. What is today known as the “Old City” was laid out by the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century, when he began to rebuild Jerusalem as a pagan city. In 130, Hadrian visited the ruins of Jerusalem remaining after the First JewishRoman War of 66–73. He rebuilt the city, renaming it Aelia Capitolina in 135 CE. Hadrian placed the city’s main Roman Forum at the junction of the main Cardo and Decumanus, now the location of the (smaller) Muristan. Hadrian built a large temple to Jupiter Capitolinus, which later became the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The middle east remained in turmoil and

subsequent conquering of the land by Byzantium (Europeans), Islam (Arabs), Egypt (Egyptians) and Persia (Iranians) did indeed trample the land until even the slightest Jewish mark was vanquished.

All this despite an early attempt to rebuild the temple in 361 by Alypius of Antioch commissioned by Julian the Apostate which failed due a massive earthquake and defeat at the battle of Samarra against the Persian rulers.

On the site of the old temple the Muslims built the Dome of the Rock an Islamic shrine located on the Temple Mount in what was the old city. It was initially completed in 691 CE at the order of Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik during the Second Fitna, built on the site of the Roman temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, which had in turn been built on the site of the second Jewish Temple, destroyed during the Roman Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE. The original dome collapsed in 1015 and was rebuilt in 1022–23.

Along with the Al-Aqsa Mosque this has kept the site from Jewish construction of a third temple as it’s regarded as one of the three most holy sites for Muslims.

The

return of the Jews

&

the times of the

Gentiles

fulfilled

Jesus said that, after the vengeance and dispersion upon the Jews was finished and the Jewish nation returned to Jerusalem and Israel re-established, there would be a new set of signs announcing his return. It’s notable that he switches from talking about

The days of God’s Vengeance 19

Israel’s land to the earth, global.

“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars;(D) and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(E) the sea and the waves roaring;(F) Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(G) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(H) And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”(I) (Luke 21:25-27)

These signs are the ones that indicate the end of the ages and which concern us now in this time.

(D) Sun, Moon

and

Stars

In Genesis Joseph’s dream provides a key insight in how to correctly interpret dreams and visions or prophecies. Dreams, visions and prophecy make up important sections of Scripture and are deliberately coded in parabolic language, so that those who do not know God by the Spirit get confused and his people alone can see and understand (Isaiah 6). Joseph’s second dream is the ‘first mention’ of Sun, Moon and Stars together in a heavenly vision. This ‘first mention’ is a key that unlocks the truth for us: “And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.

And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed?

Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?” (Genesis 37:9-10) Notice how the Sun and Moon symbolise Father and Mother (authorities) over the young Joseph, the firstborn of Rachel and Jacobs 7th son from his 2nd wife and his brothers are seen as eleven ‘Stars’ (making

20

The days of God’s Vengeance

him the 12th star). They all understood the parabolic imagery used in this way. They did not expect something to go weird with the real heavenly bodies in the sky, but knew this was only symbolic, because it was given in a ‘night vision’ or dream state. Jacob himself had experienced this in his own life at Bethel when seeing a ladder to heaven (see Gen 28). Of course there is no actual ladder in the sky. Although they immediately understood what Joseph’s dreams implied they incorrectly interpreted Joseph’s motives in sharing the dream, and their pride was offended by the young ‘dreamer’, especially as Joseph was Jacob’s favourite and youngest, the rest is history.

Joseph’s dreams and the understanding of subsequent dreams proved to be vital throughout his life (Gen 40). God’s big plan in all of this was to save Jacob (Israel) from a future famine and to prosper them in Egypt (Gen 15:13-14; 45:5). The priority with God was the preservation of Israel and his seed to come.

Therefore the correct understanding of the Sun, Moon and Stars is as parabolic ‘symbols’ that represent ‘authorities’ and as ‘first mention’. This understanding carries through into interpreting future visions and dreams in ALL Scriptures from Daniel to Revelation. So we see that the Sun, Moon and 12 Stars together in a ‘vision’ always symbolise the nation of Israel. Just as ‘clouds’ (symbol of heavenly power and glory) are always associated with the Lord ‘coming in judgement’. Most people, even Christians, massively underestimate the significance of Israel in God’s plans for the earth and world (Deut 32:8).

Signs

of the end coming

In 1948, after the second world war ended, incredible circumstances meant that Britain was able to allocate part of the ancient lands back to the Zionist remnant that had been pushing for a national home for many years. Due to the huge anti-semitic actions of Germany and Hitler the united nations agreed to the formation of the State of Israel under the Balfour Treaty. Although back in a portion of the land and living as Jews they still had many Islamic enemies seeking to destroy them.

Relations between Israel and its neighbours had never fully normalised following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. In 1956 Israel invaded the Egyptian Sinai, with one of its objectives being the reopening of the Straits of Tiran which Egypt had blocked to Israeli shipping since 1950. Israel was subsequently forced to withdraw, but won a guarantee that the Straits of Tiran would remain open.

While the United Nations Emergency Force was deployed along the border, there was no demilitarisation agreement.

The Six Day War

to Israeli vessels and then mobilised its Egyptian forces along its border with Israel.

On 5 June, Israel launched what it claimed were a series of preemptive airstrikes against Egyptian airfields. Claims and counterclaims relating to this series of events are one of a number of controversies relating to the conflict.

The Egyptians were caught by surprise, and nearly the entire Egyptian air force was destroyed with few Israeli losses, giving the Israelis air supremacy. Simultaneously, the Israelis launched a ground offensive into the Gaza Strip and the Sinai, which again caught the Egyptians by surprise. After some initial resistance, Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser ordered the evacuation of the Sinai. Israeli forces rushed westward in pursuit of the Egyptians, inflicted heavy losses, and conquered the Sinai.

Nasser induced Syria and Jordan to begin attacks on Israel by using the initially confused situation to claim that Egypt had repelled the Israeli air strike. Israeli counterattacks resulted in the seizure of East Jerusalem as well as the West Bank from the Jordanians, while Israel’s retaliation against Syria resulted in its occupation of the Golan Heights.

With this Israel was back in Jerusalem, if only in part, but essentially in control.

This has officially marked the end of the Gentiles trampling Jerusalem and has motivated the mass Aliyah of Jews back to Israel from around the globe. At the same time we have seen the nations of the world rise up against Israel, or in support of Israel.

The Arab / Israeli conflict has become one of the main political problems in the world

In the period leading up to June 1967, tensions became dangerously heightened.

Israel reiterated its post -1956 position that the closure of the straits of Tiran to its shipping would be a case for war. In May Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser announced that the straits would be closed

The days of God’s Vengeance 21

fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 12.

“The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.

Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God. In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.” (Zech 12:1-6) Now that Jerusalem has been reformed for 50 years and Israel established for 70 years many nations have been stirred up again to oppose Israel especially the Islamic nations that surround her. Anti-semitic activity has increased globally around the world resulting in an ever increasing number of Jews returning to Israel for peace and stability. Even as a secular society they honour the Sabbath day that God commanded them to keep in the land.

As a nation Israel is now leading in business and tech innovation as well as in military power, skill and security. As a consequence investment is pouring into the economy.

At the same time more Jews are coming to know Christ as their personal Lord and Messiah than at any known period in history since Jerusalem was destroyed.

Meanwhile Satan is turning the world political system against faith in the God

22

The days of God’s Vengeance

of Israel and Jesus Christ, trying in many cases to hinder the spread of God’s word by preventing free speech.

(E) The

distress of nations increasing

-

corruption

and crime

At the same time as Israel is reborn Jesus tells us that many nations of the world will enter a time of great distress. We see this with the wars and refugees that are now pouring out from many places. This is causing unprecedented problems and distress among populations. It’s also feeding the global human trafficking and slavery crisis resulting in crime and terrorism.

(F) The floods

waves roaring

-

hurricanes, tornadoes and

Also we see that man’s ‘civilisation’ has been damaging the environment since the industrial revolution bringing climate change. Not only is the ‘sea’ of nations in a great turmoil but climate change is now one of the major worries of the world’s politicians and environmentalists. The greed and exploitation of earths resources has led to unprecedented weather distortion and empowered storms. But what does God say to the nations?

“I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me” (Proverbs 1:26-28)

referring to Jesus casting out demonic spirits. This signifies ‘spiritual power’ as opposed to ‘powers of nature’. Paul uses this same phrase in his epistle to the Romans talking about potential hindrances to faith: “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8:38-39).

Pulling it all together we also see that in other Scriptures angels (good or bad) are often referred to as ‘stars’ and ‘principalities’ are most likely arch angels (archai) and ‘powers’ referring to demonic powers.

(G) Fearing

what is to come

Many are now fearing the end of humanity in what they are calling the ‘Anthropocene’, some giving the earth climate system just 12 years before total breakdown and the extinction of mankind as well as all life as we know it! Already many thousands are being displaced by the flooding and destruction of human infrastructures near coasts and now in major cities!

(H) Powers

of

Heaven

shaken

- Astronomical

and

spiritual changes

What are the powers of heaven that Jesus speaks of?

The Greek word for ‘powers’ is ‘dynameis’ and is translated in other Scripture passages as ‘miraculous works’ or ‘miracles’ mostly

How does this understanding affect our understanding of Jesus words? The reality is that what happens in the spiritual realm of heaven affects what happens on the earth and in the world system. We see this clearly revealed in a number of places in the Bible such Job, Daniel, Elisha and Jesus.

The unseen realm of the ‘spirits, influences human thought, feelings and beliefs to such an extent that it shapes experience and history. The good news is that because of his great victory Jesus is now seated far above all of these authorities (Eph 4).

“Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”

(Eph 2:5-7)

“Unto me, who am less than the least of all

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saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.” (Eph 3:8-12) “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” (Eph 6:12,13)

Since the day of Pentecost spirit filled believers have been battling with these powers of darkness in order to spread the Gospel message to those trapped in the darkness. Many have been saved by grace during this time, but many more have perished. The powers have shifted and moved around the globe as kingdoms form and fall in response to the Christian message and their treatment of the Jewish people. However we now find that national boundaries have become more established and settled than at any other time in history to the degree that we now have a fairly fixed map nations. This is significant because as we see from history nations and kingdoms fought and invaded each other all the time.

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The days of God’s Vengeance

This has dropped dramatically since the second world war and the formation of Israel.

Although death rates from wars have now dropped off dramatically it still remains that there are many conflicts. However, this is rarely about territory, rather it’s about control and resources.

Most deaths in the 20th century were caused by secular evolutionary atheists using communism, nazi-ism or budhism as a cover.

During the crusades it is estimated that 1.7 million died compared to 60 million in World War 2!

I’m sure you’ve heard it said that most wars have been caused by religion. This statement has been repeated so often that few question its validity. But even cursory research shows that it is not true. For example, one

researcher evaluated a list of wars published in Wikipedia and found that only 14 of the 126 wars listed were started for religious reasons. Another examined the horrific murders perpetrated by dictators during the 20th century and found that few if any of these despots were motivated by religion. In fact it was often anti-religion which opposed greed and abuse!

Of course, false religion has been the root cause in some wars and a contributing factor in others. But claiming that religion is the cause of most wars is simply wrong.

Making such a claim is often part of an effort to disparage religion in general and Christianity in particular. Thankfully, some authors are more careful with the facts. Note what anthropologist Scott Atran wrote in “God and the Ivory Tower” in FP magazine: The chief complaint against religion—that it is history’s prime instigator of inter-group conflict—does not withstand scrutiny. Religious issues motivate only a small minority of recorded wars. The Encyclopedia of Wars surveyed

The days of God’s Vengeance 25

1,763 violent conflicts across history; only 123 (7 percent) were religious. A BBC-sponsored “God and War” audit, which evaluated major conflicts over 3,500 years and rated them on a 0-to-5 scale for religious motivation (Punic Wars = 0, Crusades = 5), found that more than 60 percent had no religious motivation. Less than 7 percent earned a rating greater than 3. There was little religious motivation for the internecine Russian and Chinese conflicts or the world wars responsible for history’s most lethal century of international bloodshed.

Note also what Charles Phillips and Alan Axelrod wrote in the Encyclopedia of Wars: Wars have always arisen, and arise today, from territorial disputes, military rivalries, conflicts of ethnicity and strivings for commercial and economic advantage, and they have always depended on, and depend on today, pride, prejudice, coercion, envy, cupidity, competitiveness, and a sense of injustice. But for much of the world before the 17th century, these “reasons” for war were explained and justified, at least for the participants, by religion.

Note that what Phillips and Axelrod conclude from their study of history lines up with what we find in the New Testament concerning the root cause of war: What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions (James 4:1-3, ESV).

These human tendencies war against the “great commandments” of the Law of Moses to love God and to love people (Matthew 22:3640), and against the command of Jesus: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34, ESV). As Christians, we seek Jesus’ own love and his peace, not war. Jesus said this to his followers, “Peace I leave with you; my peace

26

The days of God’s Vengeance

I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you” (John 14:27, ESV). In his writings, Paul exhorted Christians to live Jesus’ way of love and peace: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21, ESV). “Always seek to do good to one another and to everyone” (1Thessalonians 5:15, ESV).

Before

his coming all Israel shall be saved

At some point in the near future Israel will be attacked, but although overwhelmed it will ultimately have a victory. This will come through Christ and the nation will know it was him and cry out to him for salvation.

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.” (Zech 12:9-14) Remember what Paul told us in Romans 11:25-29.

“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for

your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the father’s sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”

God himself paid for and therefore owns the Jewish people and he does with them as he sees fit to achieve his purposes in the earth.

That’s also a fact of history that we must acknowledge as Christians.

(I) The Glorious Return

of Jesus and erroneous

rapture theories

There are certain ‘ages’ that the Bible speaks of and Paul’s writing reveals that those who have existed since the work and resurrection of Jesus are in the ‘end of the ages’ (1 Corin 10:11, Heb 1). This means that we are experiencing something unique in human history - the last ages of all time and the fulfilment of all prophecy! This is further confirmed by the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews when he states: “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things...”

(Heb 1:1).

Paul also talks about the mystery that was hidden in ages past (Eph 3:5) and of the ages to come (Eph 2:7; see Rev 20:4) which from the beginning have been hidden in Christ who creates all things! (1 Corin 2:7).

So far this last age or ‘age of grace’ and of the ‘new covenant’ has lasted approximately 1,985 years (since the crucifixion). This sounds a long time, but when you consider that from Adam to Jesus there was 4,000 years it’s really not that long!

Parable

of the end

Jesus gave us the parable of the Wheat and Tares (Weeds) as an explanation of what will happen upon his return and the end of this final age. Through this parable we are given an explanation of the process of separation and judgement that will occur. Remember this is the Word of God himself:

“Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’” (Matt 13:24-30).

Notice the key players in this story; the man; the field; the wheat; the tares; the enemy; the servants; the harvest.

Now before the interpretation of this parable is given Jesus tells two other parables, the Mustard Seed and the Leaven (yeast). These two show the Kingdom of heaven to be something that: 1. Gradually grows big, and 2. Spreads unseen overtime.

The kingdom invisibly expands or grows to a large size within the dough (the world, field, people). It’s imperceptible to the world at large. However this process takes time to expand just as a large tree takes years to grow. (so far approx 1,985 years).

Jesus then brings the interpretation of the parable of the wheat to his disciples in private after sending the rest away: “He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man (Jesus). The field is the world, the good seeds [wheat] are the sons of the kingdom (believers), but the tares are the sons of the wicked one [anti-Christ]. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.

Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The

The days of God’s Vengeance 27

Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will remove out of His kingdom (earth) all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire (Hell).

There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father (millennial reign).

He who has ears to hear, let him hear! (Matt 13:37-43)

So that this parable is not subject to misinterpretation Jesus gives the understanding of it to the apostles (and us).

Firstly and crucially, there is no mention of taking the wheat away from the tares before the judgement (i.e. NO secret ‘rapture’) in fact the complete opposite is true, the tares (non-believers) are first taken (or weeded) out of the earth by ‘reaper’ angels and thrown into the fire, thus leaving the sons of the kingdom to inherit the earth! Jesus had earlier preached this “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (kingdom of Father)” (Matt 5:5).

This is what Jesus calls the ‘harvest’ or ‘end of this age’ (and time), when the dead in Christ are also raised. Then the righteous will shine as the sun! A terrible yet glorious day of the Lord! There will not be many people left standing on that day.

History Repeats Itself As we read in Exodus, when Moses and Aaron came at Yahweh’s command to deliver Israel from the Egyptians, they were all still present there when the judgements came upon Pharaoh and his kingdom. The Hebrews were supernaturally protected (in Goshen) and they watched as Yahweh glorified His name by judging their enemies before their eyes! The Hebrews were unharmed by any of the destruction that came on the Egyptians and the land. Their leaders rebellion against God cost them dearly!

The final judgement upon Pharaoh and the death of his firstborn was a message to the whole world of how He would one day

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The days of God’s Vengeance

bring salvation by His Son’s own blood the Lamb of God. Yahweh used this judgement to make His name great as he had already revealed to Abram, His friend: “And he said unto Abram, ‘Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.” (Gen 15:13-14).

When the angel of death came through Egypt that night in the final hour, late at night, like a thief, the firstborn of the wicked died without mercy, even animals - they were taken by death. It was at this point that God’s people were told to be ready to exit (Exodus) and head for a new home after being protected by the blood of the Lamb.

This deliverance was a foreshadowing of what will happen when King Jesus returns to earth as judge upon the wicked.

This ‘marriage’ is not something done secretly, but publicly with witnesses and a celebration supper! Why would Jesus elope with his treasured bride in secret when He can defeat his enemies and plunder their goods as well!? This is when the kingdoms of the world become His (and ours) with it’s capital in Zion! (Rev 11:15) This is the process of the end according to Jesus himself and this must therefore be the cornerstone to interpreting and understanding all the subsequent teaching, visions and dreams of the apostles thereafter because he is both the cornerstone and plumb-line against which all truth is measured. When we now read Jesus other words regarding people being ‘taken’ in Luke 17 for example, we get a clearer understanding of what this means: “I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.” (Luke 17:34-36).

Make no mistake Jesus is not talking about people being raptured here, rather it’s about the opposite - people are taken by the reaper angels to eternal death in the judgements, being thrown into the eternal fire, confirmed by the concluding words of this parable: “Where, Lord?” they asked. He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.” (see also Isaiah 4).

Understanding 1 Thessalonians 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 is a section of Paul’s letter often misquoted as evidence of a Christian ‘rapture’, however if we now read this in the light of Jesus own teaching we see that it takes on a different meaning altogether!

“According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” (1 Thess 4:15-17).

Many of us have heard this interpreted so many times that it’s easy to miss the actual events here and how it links with Jesus words from the parable.

Notice the crucial sequence of events: 1. Paul talks of those believers who are ‘still alive, who are left’ after the judgements or persecutions of the beast have done their work. These Christians will be the final remnant and will not die physically.

2. Jesus and the Father return visibly to the whole world with loud noises and flashing lightning and not in secret. Those true believers who are STILL alive will NOT precede those who have already died in Christ (Rev 20:5). The raised believers do not fly into heaven (or disappear secretly) but stand again on the earth with new

bodies as Jesus touches the earth. He is the resurrection and the life. Everyone still alive on earth will see this! (Rev 1:7). So Jesus comes down to earth from heaven as promised by the angels in Acts 1:11: “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven”.

Just as those disciples watched Jesus go in a ‘glory cloud’ from the earth and then ascend up, believers will watch Him come down again to touch earth in a ‘glory cloud’ - wow! This heavenly cloud is the ‘barn’ that Jesus refers to. Just like the cloud that protected the Hebrews before crossing the Red Sea (Exod 14:20).

3. Paul then says ‘after that’ (v17) dramatic event ‘we who are still alive and are left’.

This implies that there has been previous judgements and perhaps a terrible persecution and some are left alive (see also Rev 13:10; 14:13-14), then these believers will be transfigured in the ‘blink of an eye’ into their new spiritual bodies as promised. (1 Corin 15:52). The event itself is not in a blink of an eye, but over a period on months, weeks, days and then a final hour.

4. This resurrection happens after the 6 major judgements on the wicked of the earth. All true believers, living and resurrected will then be ‘caught up’ or ‘snatched’ into the heavenly cloud of glory!

(Not into rain clouds high in the sky, see also Rev 11:12). This holy cloud is said to ‘cover’ those being transformed. This is a supernatural transformation at ground zero and not done secretly (as some may have thought) and happens just before the final 7th judgement of giant hailstones (Rev 16:21). Again we see this foreshadowed in the Exodus account.

The Greek word used for ‘taken’ is ‘Harpazo’ and is defined thus: harpázo – seize by force; snatch up,

The days of God’s Vengeance 29

suddenly and decisively – like someone seizing bounty (spoil, a prize); to take by an open display of force (i.e. not covertly or secretly).

Also the Greek word Paul uses for ‘air’ in Thessalonians 4:17 is ‘aér’ a completely different word to ‘sky’ or ‘heaven’ which is ‘ouranon’, and literally means ‘the lower air we breathe’ (aér) or air, that is the atmosphere on or near ground level!

Granted that once transformed into our heavenly bodies we will probably be able to fly rapidly to the cloud wherever Jesus is standing (on the Mount of Olives) The Transfiguration Evidence Perhaps you are thinking this sounds too far fetched?! However, as a prelude to the appearing of Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, consider the experience given to Peter, James and John during the transfiguration of Jesus on earth: “As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendour, talking with Jesus... ...While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” (Luke 9:28-36).

30

the glory of the Father from destroying the world. (see Exod 13:21).

Make no mistake when Jesus returns, like lightening in this same way, the whole world will know that the King has come for his own and they (non-believers) will be running to hide from the legions of reaping angels that will be chasing them down (like locusts). Then as well as this, down comes the 50kg hailstones of the last judgement falling as we are protected with Jesus in the cloud. So, He comes right down to earth in a cloud of the glory to take us by the hand shielding us from harm while He destroys the enemies that hide (Rev 7, Isa 13:9). There will be no escape and none of the wicked will ultimately survive His ‘sword’. Not a rapture, more like a rupture, all happening within 1 day and 1 final hour! (Rev 3:10; 14:7; 18:10). This is the TERRIBLE DAY of the Lord spoken of by the prophets and Jesus. It will be a fearful day of judgement for those who deny Him as King! For those who have known Him and have given up or fallen back from faith, or worse, use the church (his people) for their own gain it is an even worse ending: “The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.”

(Luke 12:46).

Wow! This is both awesome and revealing.

Firstly Jesus’ face changes like the face of Moses did before him (Exod 34:29) and he becomes like lightning in appearance, then he meets with two prophets who had died thousands of years ago - alive and well (whose bodies had already been taken (see Jude 1:9; 2 Kings 2:11) - then a ‘glory cloud’ from the Father covered them (not rain clouds) and finally there was the Father testifying that Jesus is the chosen one! Stunning.

“Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?” (Amos 5:18-20).

It’s pretty clear that the clouds spoken of at Jesus return are also glory clouds! It seems to occur when heaven meets earth shielding

“Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail

The days of God’s Vengeance

This dramatic and terrifying day is also revealed by John in the Revelation of Jesus Christ:

because of him. Even so, Amen.

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”(Rev 1:7-8) “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? (Rev 6:15-17).

We see clearly therefore that the return of the Lord is not in secret and takes place over a Day and also a final Hour and those who know Jesus by faith are changed in the twinkling of an eye into their glorious new body (they enter His glory cloud) and those outside are judged most severely.

“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.

“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

Further Reading This short encouragement is brought to you completely free of charge, because it was received by grace. if it has blessed you, helped you and inspired you please pass it on to a brother, sister or friend.

On the website you will find other free material to build you up in the powerful faith of Jesus Christ. www.omega-ministries.org. We pray that these teachings will inspire you to know Jesus personally through prayer and ever increasing meditation on his Word revealed in scripture and the prophetic writings of the apostles.

We also recommend other writers in our links section who have inspired and encouraged us in being obedient to wisdom and to the ways of the Lord, some of these may not be free. May God bless and keep you in his grace.

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Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

ISAIAH 40:28-31

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