End Times

As we have seen, many of the main props are now in place on the world stage. The actors are taking their places and the final scene is ready to begin. The angel of the Lord told Daniel that seventy sevens are determined upon the nation Israel. Sixty-nine of those sevens have already been fulfilled.

The angel also said that the time span from the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to the coming of the Messiah would be exactly 483 years, but the Messiah would be cut off and receive nothing, and the Jews would be dispersed (Daniel 9:24-26). just as the angel told Daniel, Jesus the Messiah was cut off without receiving His kingdom, and the Jews were dispersed by the Romans in 70 A.D.

Since the crucifixion, God's prophetic calendar has stood still. One important seven-year period, the seventieth seven of Daniel, is yet to come. This will complete the entire prophecy of Daniel 9.

In His first coming, Jesus Christ accomplished reconciliation with God by dying for our sins. He made an end of our iniquities through His death on the cross. The later portion of that prophecy, which includes bringing in everlasting righteousness and His eternal Kingdom, the completion of all prophecies, and the anointing of the most Holy remains yet to be fulfilled. These prophetic elements will come to pass at Christ's second coming. During this last seven-year period, the man of sin, or the Antichrist, will be revealed. Jesus Christ referred to him as "the one who shall come in his own name" and whom the Jews will receive (John 5:43). This man of sin will arise from a confederation of ten European nations. The Antichrist, as we saw earlier, will establish a completely new economic system. Financial transactions will be accomplished completely through Electronic Funds Transfer. Everyone will be assigned a mark or number. No one will be able to buy or sell without this mark. This system was prophesied in Revelation 13 almost two thousand years ago, and today we see the development of technology that will make it a reality.

According to our government, every person in the United States will soon be assigned a new identification number. [1] Social Security cards are simply too easy to obtain; in fact, many people already have several: Because of the great number of illegal aliens that have flooded into the United States, the government has declared this new identification system necessary. The new identification number will be given to each citizen for life. The government plans to assign this number to each baby the moment it is born. This system will eliminate the present confusion in identification. However, as long as the number is on a card, whether paper or plastic, the possibility of forgery, theft, or simply borrowing someone else's number exists.

As a woman in the grocery store pulled her credit card out of her purse, she said, "Wouldn't it be nice if they could attach this thing to my body so I wouldn't lose it anymore?" This woman was on to something. "They" won't affix a credit card to your body, but there will be another classification system worked out. No man will be able to buy or sell unless he has his identification mark in his right hand or his forehead.

Today, this checkless, cashless economic system is technically possible. As we have already seen, international banks are using Electronic Funds Transfers. In fact, the amount of money presently transferred through the EFT System in the United States every week is greater than the amount of our national debt. As these developments progress, it seems inevitable that the new economy predicted in the Bible is on its way!

Russian Power

The Bible predicts a ten-nation European confederacy will rise to power and become the last world-governing empire. But as we noted earlier, the Soviet Union presents a major stumbling block to the EU's becoming a world-governing power. The EU cannot rise to predicted prominence as long as the USSR poses such a tremendous threat to the European continent.

Many of our military strategists believe that the Soviet Union, without the use of nuclear weapons, but just by the vast superiority of personnel and conventional weaponry, could conquer all of Western Europe in seven days. The situation is well in hand though, as God has a unique plan to take care of the Soviet Union.

How will God remove the USSR as a major military threat? How will ten European nations become a world power? And how will the Antichrist take over as the leader of these ten nations and bring the world under his power? The answers are found in the prophecies of Ezekiel.

In chapter 37, Ezekiel has a vision of a valley of dry bones. God asked the prophet, "Can these bones be made to live again?" Ezekiel said, "Lord, you know." Then he watched the valley as the dry bones came together - and formed a skeleton. Then Ezekiel saw flesh form upon the skeleton; muscles developed, and it stood upright. God prophesied to Ezekiel, "So I will make my people to live again, though they have been scattered. I will bring them back into the land, and they shall dwell there. I will put my Spirit in them, and I will plant them in the land. I will put flesh upon them, and I will put muscle upon them." God was speaking of how He would gloriously resurrect the nation of Israel in the last days (Ezekiel 37:14). Then in chapter 38, God said, "When I have brought them back into the land, I will put an evil thought into the minds of the leaders of Magog" (Ezekiel 38:10). Magog, throughout history, has been known as that vast area north of the Caucasus Mountains. Today it is known as Russia. God continued, "I will bring thee [Russia] out of the north quarters and all of thy bands with thee" (Ezekiel 38:6). God even listed the nations that would be allied with the Soviet Union. In most cases, the countries God listed are within the Soviet sphere of influence today. Iran has sided with Russia against Israel, in a newly formed alliance. Turkey or Togarmah of Ezekiel has elected a fundamentalist Islamic president who is looking to break ties with the West that Turkey might become allied with the Islamic nations. God then said, "I will bring thee forth with all your bands against the nation of Israel. I will put hooks into your jaw and I will lead thee forth" (Ezekiel 38:4). God is going to lead Russia and her allies into Israel for the slaughter. He declared, "When you have come in to the mountains of Israel, my fury shall arise in my face and I will turn thee back" (Ezekiel 38:18). God then describes the destruction that will fall upon this invading Russian army.

In chapter 39, God gives us the details of the overwhelming defeat. He will leave but a sixth of the invading Russian army: Five-sixths will be destroyed! The Israelis will spend seven years burning the implements of war. Seven months after the battle is over, professional men will begin burying the bones of the dead soldiers.

It is a fascinating point that Israel will not start burying the dead for seven months. It is also interesting to note that nobody will touch those bones but will wait for men hired specifically for the purpose of burying them to do the job. When a person sees a skeleton, he will place a marker by it so this troop of grave diggers can come and dispose of the carcasses that have fallen in the land of Israel. Remember this fact. Later on we'll examine the significance of this prophecy in light of the present nuclear potential of the Israelis.

God declared, "When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations, then shall they know that I am the Lord their God ... Neither will I hide my face any more from them." Notice the three important declarations here. At this time the Jews (Israel) would know that the Lord is God, God's face would no longer be hidden from them, and the Holy Spirit would be poured out on the house of Israel (Ezekiel 39:27-29).

This is a significant moment. We are told that God will again pour out His Spirit on the nation of Israel in the day He destroys the Russian army. Earlier in his prophecy, Ezekiel saw the glory of God depart from the temple in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 10:18-19). Jesus prophesied in Matthew 23:38 that their house would be left desolate or deprived of God's presence. When God again pours out His Spirit upon the nation Israel, His great time clock will be started once again. The world will be at the beginning of the last seven-year period.

The Russian invasion of Israel plays a key part in the total plan of God. This military invasion will actually trigger the beginning of the end. Once the last seven-year period is finished, Jesus Christ will come again in glory and will be anointed as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Then God's everlasting kingdom will be established upon the earth.

It is my very strong conviction that before God's Spirit is placed upon Israel, the Church will be taken out of the earth. The Bible says, "Blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in" (Romans 11:25). When God no longer blinds the nation of Israel, but has poured His Spirit upon His people, the church will be precluded from being here. Today the Spirit of God has been moving upon the Gentile world, drawing out a bride for Jesus Christ. But when that body of believers is completed, when the fullness of Gentiles has come in, then God's Spirit will deal with the nation Israel. God will take them back and acknowledge them as His people once again. The decisive defeat of the Russian army will give the European nations the opportunity to rise to immediate power. This confederacy will then be the unchallenged major power on the European continent. The Russian invasion of Israel appears to be the, next major event on the prophetic horizon.

Close Call

I would like to point out how close we came to the end of the Church age in October 1973. During Yom Kippur (the holiest day of the year for the Jews), Syria and Egypt simultaneously attacked Israel from opposite ends of the country. The majority of the Israelis including the regular army personnel were in their synagogues or resting quietly at home. Communication networks had been silent all day in respect of the holy day. Suddenly, sirens began to wail in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Radios immediately came alive with emergency code numbers for the nation's military troops.

The call also went out to the people in the reserve to activate and defend themselves. The Syrians and Egyptians had launched what was intended to be the "war of annihilation." The Syrians attacked the Golan Heights with twelve hundred tanks in an initial assault over a twenty mile area. (When Hitler made his major invasion of the Soviet Union in World War II, he used one thousand tanks over a two hundred mile perimeter.) In the Sinai, Egypt attacked with three thousand tanks and one thousand pieces of major artillery. It was intended to be the complete destruction of the nation of Israel, and the Arab powers almost achieved their goal. Were it not for miracles which were greater than those that took place during the 1967 war, Israel would not be a nation today. Miracles as great as those in Bible days took place when this Arab confederacy attacked Israel with vast superiority in numbers and weaponry.

From this near disaster rose many stories of bravery and personal heroism. As Zechariah prophesied, some of the insignificant soldiers became as David (Zechariah 12:8). Consider the case of Lieutenant Zvi Greengold, a man who would come to be known by the nickname "Zwicka." Lieutenant Greengold was with his family at Kibbutz Lochamei Hagetaot when the war broke out. He immediately put on his uniform and hitchhiked to the headquarters at Nafech on the Golan front. He asked for a tank command and was told that two damaged tanks were coming in for repairs. With only one other operational tank available, he would head the Zwicka Unit on the Tapline route.

Lieutenant Greengold soon found himself in the thick of battle. He managed to knock out several Syrian tanks but in the meantime saw his own support tanks go down. He realized that he would have to leave the main road to survive, and began maneuvering from behind the knolls that parallel the highway. Zwicka would come up over a small hill, destroy one of the Syrian tanks, then race behind the hilly ground and repeat his action. He was knocking out so many tanks that the Syrians thought a whole Israeli tank brigade was facing them. Believing themselves to be outmanned, they retreated!

With odds of fifty to one against him, Zwicka turned back the Syrian attack that day. He kept radioing the headquarters that the Zwicka unit had destroyed another Syrian tank, leading headquarters to think that Zwicka was a whole armored unit. But this brave soldier was out there all alone, holding off the Syrian advance. His is only one of countless stories of David-like heroism to come out of the Yom Kippur War.

The Syrians easily poured through the southern section of the Golan Heights where Israeli defenses had been depleted. They came within one mile of the Golani headquarters of the Israeli Army. At the time the Syrians approached this base of operations, the Israelis had only two tanks and ten men to defend the headquarters. It seems strange that wave after wave of Syrian tanks moved in, but stopped a mile from this strategic outpost. Later the Golan Heights commander laughed and said the Syrians had an excellent view of the sea of Galilee and stopped to admire it. He confesses that he really doesn't know why they stopped their unrestrained advance.

It is speculated that since the Syrians weren't able to move through the northern sector, they may have suspected that the Israelis were letting them pour freely through on the south in order to trap them. The Syrians didn't know that on the first day of the war they could have moved all the way to Tiberias. They could have taken the whole Galilee region.

Down in the Sinai, the Egyptians were planning to take the Bar-Lev line within twenty-four hours. They took it in just five hours. They were so surprised with their quick success that they decided to wait there. They didn't have any contingency plans for moving further so soon. They were not aware that the only obstacles between them and Tel Aviv were ninety battered Israeli tanks. Mysteriously, both the Syrians and the Egyptians halted long enough to give the Israelis a chance to mobilize their reserve units and counterattack both in the Golan Heights and in the Sinai.

When the Israelis began their assault in the Golan Heights, they pushed the Syrians back until Israeli tank units came within twelve miles of Damascus. Israel then brought in its artillery units to bombard the Syrian capital. In a brilliant move in the Sinai, General Ariel Sharon crossed the Suez Canal with an assault force and trapped the entire Egyptian Third Army on the Sinai Peninsula. The Egyptians were totally dependent upon the Israelis for their food and medicine.

Just hours after the war had started, Soviet Premier Brezhnev cabled President Nixon and told him that the Soviet Union would begin unilateral action to bring an enforced "peace" to the Middle East. Ironically, Soviet cargo planes were on their way to the region before the war ever started. As early as October 6, 1973, Russian ships landed in Alexandria, Egypt, and in the Syrian port of Latakia with war supplies.

Three days before hostilities began the USSR sent up spy satellites designed to photograph and monitor Israel. The Arab attack was originally scheduled for 6:00 P.M. on Yom Kippur, but satellite data showed the Israelis had begun to mobilize, so the attack was moved ahead by four hours. Soviet soldiers were manning some of the invading tanks because Syria didn't have enough trained personnel to do the job. Many Soviet soldiers driving Syrian tanks were captured by the Israelis on the Golan Heights, a fact which was later hushed up.

We were in Israel during the Yom Kippur War. On our way from Tel Aviv to our hotel in Bat Yom, we were talking to our cab driver. He was a lieutenant in the army and we were his last fare before he had to report for duty. We told him we'd be praying for him because this time it looked as if the war was really a tough one.

He said, "Yes, it is. We're fighting the Russians this time."

I agreed and said, "The Russians have moved in some advanced equipment. The SAM-6's are really potent missiles. You're fighting against sophisticated Russian weapons this time."

He said, "I didn't say Russian weapons. We're fighting against the Russians. We've already captured several of them in the Golan Heights."

The capture of Russian personnel in the Golan Heights was reported in Time magazine, then mysteriously hushed.

In a single air battle in the Sinai, five Russian MIGS were shot down. All five were piloted by Red Army personnel. The Soviets had moved a heavy cruiser with nuclear warheads on its decks into Alexandria. This was spotted by U.S. reconnaissance.

When Brezhnev notified President Nixon that the USSR would take unilateral action to bring peace to the Middle East, he was saying that they were preparing to invade Israel. The war had started to turn against Egypt and Syria. In fact, the Russian cargo planes that were bringing supplies were reassigned and were being loaded with Soviet paratroopers. The Red Army was planning to launch a paratroop attack against Israel.

When the Soviets took over Czechoslovakia during the rebellion in 1968, the first thing they did was to send in paratroopers to take over the airport. Once Red Army troops captured the airport and sealed it off, they immediately brought in their supplies and tanks and were able to move from the heart of the country to put down the rebellion. It's a typical Soviet tactic of warfare.

Therefore, when Brezhnev cabled the threat to Nixon, our president put U.S. troops on alert around the world. Kissinger began fast-paced trips from Israel to Syria to Cairo in an effort to hammer out a peace settlement and a quick cease-fire before the Russians moved in. For a moment, World War III was in the offing. We came close to seeing the end in 1973, but God had other purposes. He brought the war to a halt.

Looking back, the Israelis feel that they made a mistake in halting their advance. They were robbed of a full and decisive victory over the Arabs. They could have fired on Damascus with their tanks, forcing the city to surrender. General Sharon was pleading for permission to move against Cairo while he had the momentum going with him, and the Egyptian army trapped and helpless. But he was stopped by U.S. pressure, and the Jews were kept from a total victory. As a result, the Israelis feel today that they're right back where they started.

Syria has now doubled her arsenal of weapons compared to the beginning of the Yom Kippur War. Some sources say that it has even tripled its strength. Over twelve hundred Russian advisors have instructed the Iraqis in the use of thousands of tanks, planes and the now famous Scud Missile which the Soviets supplied. As the gulf war revealed, Israel is now easily within range of a number of hostile Arab powers. Russia has given tremendous military support to Syria, Iraq and the Arab states.

Again in 1982 it was apparent that the Soviet Union was planning to aid an attack on Israel. Many Israeli military officers believe that the move by the Israeli army into southern Lebanon in June thwarted a planned fall invasion. As the Israeli Army moved north in their Peace for Galilee operation, they were amazed at the vastness of the store of weapons they a discovered. Prime Minister Menachem Begin declared that even though Israeli Intelligence is one of the best in the world and knew that weapons were being stored in southern Lebanon, the amount of weapons captured was ten times greater than had been expected. It took over three months to transfer these weapons back to Israel, using more than a score of huge truck-and-trailer rigs operating twenty-four hours a day. Israel captured four hundred new T-62 tanks, the plans for the proposed invasion, and enough weapons to equip three army divisions. The only place to find enough trained personnel to use such a large store of weapons would have been the Soviet Union. Again it would appear that God had allowed us a little more time before the end.

I recently saw a cartoon which depicted a little gray-bearded, robed man carrying an "end of the world is near" sign past the Pentagon as two high-ranking generals were emerging. One general turned to the other and remarked, "I thought that was classified information." We know though, that the end is near and we see it coming even closer as we watch the situation in the Middle East.

Israeli Attitude Changing

It is very interesting to notice the Israelis' change of attitude since the 1973 war. The Israelis used to have what was called "the Masada complex," the belief that suicide is preferable to slavery.

When the Roman general Silvanus was making his final assault against the elevated city of Masada in 72 A.D., the 960 inhabitants saw that a tremendous ramp had been built toward the rear of their fortress. They knew that in the morning the Romans would attack and they would not be able to hold off the assault. Ben Eleazar called the people together in the synagogue and announced that they would either see their wives ravaged before their eyes, or they could take the honorable way and commit mass suicide. The people decided on suicide rather than slavery.

Each man gathered together with his family. The men were chosen to go through the city of Masada and systematically kill the children first, then the wife, and then the husband of each family. The husband and wife kissed their children good-bye, and the husband kissed his wife. Then they laid down on the floor and their throats were slit. The ten remaining men gathered in a room. They drew coins numbered one through ten to choose who would be the last to die. As nine men lay on the floor, the man chosen to die last slit their throats. After he made sure they were dead, he then committed suicide.

The next morning the Romans broke into the city of Masada. To their horror they discovered that the city's inhabitants were all dead, with the exception of one old lady and a few children who had hidden in a cave. It was an empty victory for Rome.

Until just recently, Jewish cadets were taken to Masada for their graduation exercises. The leaders would recount the story of Masada and then the whole group declared together, "Masada shall not fall again." In other words, they too feel that suicide is preferable to slavery. They'll fight until they die.

However, the Masada complex is being replaced in Israel by a new attitude called, "the Samson complex." Samson also committed suicide, but when he did, he took his enemies with him. When he knew it was the end, Samson had a little boy lead him to the pillars that were the main supports of the temple of his Philistine captors. When he reached the pillars, bowed with all his strength, and as the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, he pulled the pillars together so that three thousand Philistines were crushed along with him (Judges 16:26-30). Today some Israeli leaders say that if they have to go, they'll take the world with them. They feel, and with good reason, that the world has let them down.

In the Yom Kippur War, after ten days of fighting, the Israelis almost ran out of ammunition. The United States could not help them because Germany, England, Italy, and France would not let U.S. supply planes land and refuel on their soil. Finally after ten days Portugal opened up a base on the Azores for refueling. U.S. planes were soon landing almost nose-to-tail at the Ben-Gurion airport, resupplying the Israeli army just in time to keep them ahead in the war.

Israel feels that Europe has deserted her. She says, "If we fall, why should we care if the world also falls?"

General Ariel Sharon, who led the brilliant counterattack across the Suez Canal, said to a U.S. senator visiting Israel that if another war erupts in the Middle East, the United States won't have to worry about an Arab oil embargo. He pointed out that Entebbe (where the Israelis completed a successful commando attack) is two thousand miles from Tel Aviv ... but Riyadh is only nine hundred miles away. General Sharon said that his men would "take care" of the oil situation if there was another war.

The Israelis are planning to go all out in the next war. They have declared that they will not stop until every arm lifted against them has been destroyed. They intend to take over or destroy the Saudi Arabian oil fields. Saudi Arabia has been allocating one billion dollars annually to the Arab states for the next conflict. The Israelis feel Saudi Arabia should not go unpunished. It is the Israelis' full intention that the next war will remove any chance for enemy advances. Their sole goal is a decisive victory.

What will such a decisive commitment bring? When Israel begins to exercise the advantage in the next conflict you can be sure that the Russians will try to stop them by force. As soon as Russia moves against Israel, the final countdown will begin. We will then be at the scene that God described in Ezekiel 38 and 39. Russia's invasion of Israel is the first event that will trigger a sequence of events during the final seven years: the emergence of the ten-nation European power, the rise of the Antichrist, the Great Tribulation during the last half of the seven years, and then the coming of Jesus Christ with His Church in power and glory! Finally, the world will see the establishment of God's Kingdom bringing in everlasting righteousness.

Where does this place the Church? When God's Spirit is again poured out upon the nation of Israel and the Soviets are decisively defeated, the door will be open for the emergence of the Antichrist. We have already seen how the Antichrist cannot arise until the Church has been taken out of the way. We will literally be out of this world.

Paul said, "Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). We do not know exactly when the Church will be taken away in relation to the Russian attack on Israel. The Church could be out before the Red Army ever invades Israel or during the time of the battle. We shall certainly be taken out by the time God destroys the Russian invasion force and again puts His Spirit on the nation Israel.

War clouds are still hanging over the Middle East right now. Syria has fully armed itself and its president is threatening to forcibly recapture the Golan Heights and the West Bank. The whole Middle East situation could explode again at any moment. Most of the Israelis with whom I've talked are anticipating conflict at any time.

If war breaks out, and it's certainly within the realm of probability, very soon we could be rejoicing around the throne of God in glory! Keep your eye on the Middle East. Things are getting more momentous there every day.

Israel's Nuclear Potential

The Israelis have indicated that they now possess nuclear weapons. In fact, during the very crucial moments early in the 1973 war, when it looked as if Israel would be defeated, reports are that they had begun activating some of their nuclear bombs. Israel has often declared that its greatest problem is that it can't afford to lose. In 1977 there were indications that Israel possessed a neutron bomb, a weapon the United States was still developing. The neutron bomb is that great "humanitarian weapon" that destroys people but doesn't destroy buildings or industries. It is designed to kill by ultrahigh radiation.

In his book Hiroshima John Hersey describes the effects of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Many people who were not killed by the initial blast died from the effects of radiation. He describes how eyeballs melted and poured down peoples' faces. Sores that would not heal broke out upon their bodies, and their flesh dissolved as a result of exposure to high radiation. [2] The effects of radiation on people from the bomb explosion in Hiroshima are identical to those the neutron bomb is designed to cause. The prospect of the use of this weapon is horrifying.

In this light Ezekiel 39 becomes intensely interesting. God specifically points out the fact that people won't touch the bones of the victims for seven months. Finally, professional buriers will be hired to bury the carcasses. Could the refusal to touch these remains be caused by fear mains be caused by fear of radioactive contamination? Ezekiel perfectly describes the results of death by radiation poisoning.

The Lord told Zechariah that His people would come back into the land of Israel, and Jerusalem would be inhabited again. Jerusalem would become "a burdensome stone" to all of her neighbors round about. Whoever sought to come against Jerusalem would be destroyed. Though the whole world gathered against her (which seems to be happening today) the Lord would defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the least of them "would be as David" (Zechariah 12:2-9).

Then the Lord said, "This shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth" (Zechariah 14:12). Twenty-five hundred years ago, God described a plague remarkably similar to the effects of the intense radiation of a neutron bomb. I can't say that's exactly how Israel will defeat the Russian alliance, but certainly the description in Zechariah raises some interesting possibilities.

We are living in the last days. At any moment the Middle East could erupt into a conflict that will escalate into the "war of annihilation." Israel will be going all out, which will undoubtedly prompt Russian involvement. Then the Lord will take us, the Body of Christ, out of the whole mad scene and into the heavenly glories of the Father where we will be sheltered until the wrath of God has been expended on the earth.

Jesus said, "When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh" (Luke 21:28).

It's later than you think! Now is the time to wake up from your lethargy and realize that the coming of the Lord is at hand. If you've been playing around with Christianity and your relationship with God, it's high time to realize you need a full-on commitment to Jesus Christ. There's no time to waste. The Bridegroom is coming. He's literally at the door, waiting to make His dramatic entrance onto the main scene. Now is the time to make sure you'll be ready when He comes.

If you wait until you read the headline, Russia Invades Israel;" you may have waited too long, because the Church may not even be here to see the invasion. I would encourage you now, while you yet can, to ask God for the free gift of forgiveness and eternal life He offers you in Christ. Submit yourself to God, and you too will rejoice at the appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.