End of Days

Time has arrived, I believe, to put together a postulation introspective on biblically prophesied things to come, in end of days scenario fashion--i.e., to offer, in a stream-of-consciousness way, based upon trends in today's news, a possible course the world might take while we trudge through the end of days toward Armageddon and Christ's second advent.

As always, when entertaining such thoughts in a public forum, I must state up front that these are nothing more or less than speculations on my part. However, the speculations are undertaken with considerable years of study, writing, and most of all, praying about matters foretold by Jesus and the Old and New Testament prophets. Although I have not received a "word of knowledge" or been given a vision or dream in the Old or New Testament sense, I do believe my thoughts are given here with Holy Spirit-directed thought and insight.

So, where do we begin? Well, maybe at the beginning, the moment when linear time seems to have been introduced for this marvelous story of God and man to begin its run through history. I say it is good to begin at that point, because we have" it is obvious to any student of Bible prophecy who is alert to present day goings-on" come to the point that the very one who created time for mankind is now under satanic attack as a liar and/or a lunatic. Jesus, you see, is the creator of this thing called time, of the being called man, of all that is. The Scriptures say:

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). Clear enough, right? God, not evolution, or any other method born of man's sophistry, brought this world into existence.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men" (Jn. 1:1-4).

About Jesus, the Apostle Paul wrote: "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist" (Col. 1:16-17).

Jesus himself said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (Jn. 14:6).

The Bible says that Jesus Christ is God, himself. He said that He and His Father are one. That is, they are the same. When the pious Jewish religious leaders asked Him if He was God, Jesus said: "Before Abraham was, I am" (Jn. 8:58). This refers to His being the God of His people of His promises " the Israelites, as seen in Exodus 3:6.

The world of entertainment, e.g., "The DaVinci Code" fiction, has been saying Jesus was a mere man who faked His crucifixion, living on to father a child with Mary Magdalene. Entertainment, under pseudo-archaeological auspices, is now telling us that they have found the ossuaries and even the DNA of Jesus' relatives, and possibly of Jesus himself in a tomb near Jerusalem. Jesus addressed this matter in part when He said during His Olivet Discourse: " Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be" (Matt. 24:25-27).

Matthew 24:25-27 is, I realize, Jesus" forewarning of false christs and false prophets that will deceive all but God's elect during the tribulation era. Just like in all other endtime signals of significance that are in view today, however, the lying--saying Jesus is not the soon returning God of Heaven--is already underway for setting up prophetic fulfillment to come.

The prominently observable fact that the deity of Jesus is under attack is, in other words, a profound signal that we are bumping up against the very end of this Age of Grace. The attack is scheduled, prophetically, to become even more hateful as we degenerate toward the end of days. Having laid the groundwork for showing that Jesus Christ's deity and God's veracity are under attack from our great enemy, the devil, and his supernatural and human minions, we will examine the many developments and what they portend for the future, so far as concerns Bible prophecy. Next , we will begin looking at end-of-days matters that are in our daily, even hourly, news--overlaid by God's always 100%-accurate Word, the Bible.

Again, I state that the end-of-days scenarios I lay out in this essay are speculation--postulation based upon my years of prayer, study, observations, and thought. I'm sure there are many who view things to come in a much different way, even among we who hold to the pre-mil, pre-trib view. So, I present this for your consideration, as, in my view, likely possibility, not as set in biblical stone.

First, let us look at the way the world is configured.

The United States of America is the world's lone superpower. Whether looking at military, economic, societal, technological, or whatever category we want to look at, America stands alone at the top of the nation-heap. I use the word " heap" because this world is built upon garbage" filth from the heart and mind of its father, the devil. Boy! I know how cynical that seems. But, God says there is none good but One: " And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? [there is] none good but one, [that is], God" (Mk. 10:18).

Since sin entered the world, man is fallen. Mankind must have redemption found only in God, the Son. People must be born again or they cannot even see the kingdom of God: "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (Jn. 3:3).

Jesus' words, here, have dual meaning to me: 1) those who refuse Christ by rejecting their need for a new, spiritual, birth will not go to heaven upon death; and 2) they cannot even understand heaven and things of God without the new birth into God's family. I base this latter assessment upon the following words of the Apostle Paul: " But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor. 2:14).

This is going to sound even more off-putting, but it is true nonetheless. Christians are the only "good" in this downward-spiraling world. Now, am I saying that I, in my fleshly efforts, am better than the one who does not claim Christ as Savior and Lord? No, absolutely not! I must say that in one regard, I am like Paul. But it is not his lovely Christian side, rather is the other. Paul said: "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but [how] to perform that which is good I find not" (Rom. 7:18).

Only through Christ is any Christian viewed as "good" in God's sight. Only through Jesus does a person become fit to inherit an eternal home in heaven. All humanly born and humanly-devised matters are due for God's judgment and for eternity apart from God because He cannot abide sin. Sin must be dealt with, and Jesus is the way sin is forever eradicated.

When it comes to the future, all hinges upon the person and presence of Jesus Christ as redeemer.

So, why all that, to get to the speculation of what will happen from here to eternity? Because Christians are the key, in my stream-of-consciousness unfolding scenarios for the end of days. God's final wrath and judgment will not begin falling until the only good there is in this world is removed. This Bible prophecy truth is found in the words of the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians: "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thes. 5:9).

When Christians are removed in the rapture (read 1 Cor. 15:51-55 and 1 Thes. 4:13-18), the things on Earth will change dramatically. We get a prophetic glimpse of that removal of Christians from the planet in Paul's additional words to the Thessalonians: "And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way" (2 Thes. 2:6-7).

The word " he" in verse 7 refers to God the Holy Spirit removing from His office as He interacted with mankind during the age of grace (church age " which is this present dispensation). The Holy Spirit, resident in the church during this present dispensation, will, in the moment of rapture, no longer work in exactly the same way as now. He will interact with the human creation much as He did during the time before the church was born at Pentecost (Acts, Chapter 2). (I know some believe the church was born on the shores of Galilee earlier, when Christ called forth the first disciples. I disagree.)

God the Holy Spirit, living within Christians, is the only "good" to be found in people. The rapture will take that "good" to be with Jesus Christ for eternity. All who are " born again" (see John 3:3) will go to the heavenly homes (dwelling places) Jesus has been preparing for them since He ascended to the right hand of God the Father (read John 14:1-3). These will include everyone" dead and living--who have accepted Christ for salvation of their souls. There will be no good people left on the planet " that is, none that are "good" in God's holy view.

With the Holy Spirit no longer acting to influence the consciences of humans in as powerful ways as He does at present, mankind's actions and reactions will be exponentially accelerated for the worse.

The rebelliousness of the creature called man is, in my view, manifest blatantly for the student of God's truth to discern in a recent news story. It involved media and the politically correct crowd's uproar over the U.S. chairman of the joint chiefs of staff making the comment " when asked his personal opinion-- that he thought members of the same sex in the military who engage in sex with each other are committing immoral acts was quite telling. The voracious feeding frenzy to start the drumbeat for having Gen. Peter Pace removed from his position in the Pentagon has fueled new vitriolic invective against those who hold to such "unenlightened" prejudices.

God, incidentally, is obviously included in our ranks. His Word, the Bible " the instruction manual for the creature, mankind, whom he made from the dirt upon which we stand'says about homosexuality:

"For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was [fitting]" (Rom. 1:26-27).

The Creator's Word against homosexuality is even more powerful in an Old Testament prescription for those who engage in that activity. (If it makes you angry, get mad at God, not me. I don'tmake the rules. He does.)

"If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood [shall be] upon them" (Lev. 20:13).

I know what will be one of the objections: This was for the Israelites, not today's people. Really? Well, in giving the prescription for living, God hasn" t changed for any people at any time. Jesus, we have established, is Creator of all things, and by His power holds all things together. This, God's Word says about the Lord of all creation: " Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever" (Heb. 13:8).

The problem is, as we've seen this week with this one issue, fallen mankind will not have the God of heaven rule on Planet Earth. Since the fall, man has determined to do what is right in his own eyes. This is an attitude for catastrophe. Human government is fatally flawed. These have tried to create a utopian earth for millennia. All efforts to do it their way "apart from God" have met with abject failure.

The earliest attempt of human government, which followed the flood of Noah's antediluvian era, was Nimrod's attempt to build the tower to heaven (read Genesis chapter 11). The Lord knew this would end in disaster for mankind, so He came down and separated the one-world builders by giving multiple languages, thus driving them to diverse places around the globe. But man has spent the millennia since that time circumventing God's intervention. The one-world drive is again being pursued in a concerted effort by the powers elite. When things reach a certain point of depravity, God always has intervened. A prime example was when He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. (Read Genesis, chapter 19 to learn about both the depravity and the Lord's intervention.) Which gets us to the thing about end-of-days scenarios I would like to explore.

Jesus himself set the prophetic stage for a future time when He will again intervene" catastrophically" into depraved man's playhouse of lasciviousness. He said: " Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all" (Lk. 17:28-29).

This is a description of a society, a culture, a generation going forward with business as usual. Jesus prophesied that it would be just like this, when judgment from heaven would fall, at the time of His end-of-days intervention. It is not, however, description of the tribulation era when Jesus comes physically to earth, as foretold in Revelation 19:11. At that time, as many as two-thirds of the earth's population will have died in the apocalyptic judgments. It will not be business as usual, like the Lord describes here. The things that transpire here, though not as disastrous as things will get later in man's last grasp to rule himself, will still be calamitous. And, the possible scenarios presented are mesmerizing. Let us look at my postulations, based upon the pre-trib view of the rapture, which, of course, we at Rapture Ready are convinced is the correct view, from God's perspective.

Jesus" description of Lot's being removed from that condemned city is almost certainly a picture of the rapture of the only good God sees on this earth" born again Christians" the church Jesus began building, and which was born at Pentecost (in Acts, Chapter 2). Lot, Abraham's nephew, although not a perfect example of living a godly life, was nonetheless considered a "just" man in God's eyes. That is, the Lord saw Lot as righteous, a believer " one who accepted Gog's governance over his life, accepted God's salvation plan. Lot and his family lived in a society that was" well" much like ours. It was wicked to its black core. Incidentally, homosexuality had, in that society, become accepted as, even expected to be, part of life in Sodom.

God removed Lot, and His wrath began to fall upon that wicked, ungovernable people. Jesus indicated that this is exactly what will happen near the time of His coming again. It will happen at the rapture --at least seven years before He comes back and touches down on the Mount of Olives. The first part of God's wrath, I'm convinced, will be His removal from the consciences of earth-dwellers. The people left behind will have rejected Gog's governance. Now, raptured saints will perhaps, from the balcony of heaven, be given a God's-eye view of whether the rebels' claim that they don't need God to govern them is true.

Millions will vanish in a millisecond " an "atomos" of time-- the prophecy tells us. This nation, the United States of America, which had at the same time more gospel light than any other nation of history and access to more filth and depravity than even ancient Rome at its decadent, orgiastic worse, will experience an implosion that, upon its contemplation, staggers the imagination.

We will have a look at how the endtime stage is set for the scenarios we will explore.

America is at the top of the food chain, so far as nations of Planet Earth are concerned. She is the richest, most materially blessed nation-state ever to exist. Her achievements in almost every facet of human endeavor are without peer in the annals of the ages.

The European Union is developing rapidly into a colossus that will challenge the U.S. for the title of world champ, so far as superpowers are concerned. But Europe lacks one ingredient in order to achieve America's superpower status, no matter how economically strong the EU becomes. That one missing element is the military might" particularly the high-tech military complex, firmly entrenched and fortified by (likely) the most horrific thermonuclear capability and the most sophisticated means to deliver total devastation to any other nation foolish enough to initiate such conflagration.

Russia is again beginning to show signs of beefing up for super power military status. It, too, however, lags far behind in high-tech matters "things that prevent it from achieving the degree of hegemony over parts of the world formerly under the dictatorial eyes of the USSR. The Russian economy continues to be in shambles, and achieving the high-tech needed is thus impeded.

China is biding its time, building a strong economic base for one purpose: to attain a level of fiscal power that can buy and/or develop the high-tech sophistication essential to superpower status. The Chinese raw manpower capabilities unquestionably present potentially the greatest threat, in terms of sheer numbers, of any military force in human history.

All other nations are bit players in the scenarios we will examine. But, combined, they present massive--even insurmountable--problems for the prophesied frightening world of the perhaps not-too-distant future.

Israel is smack in the center of all this global chemistry. That nation will be " according to the very Word of the Creator of all things" the catalyst that will galvanize earth-dwellers into rebellion against Him, thus, will bring all armies of the world to Armageddon. Here is what the One who knows the end from the beginning has to say about Israel and all other nations at the time of the end of days:

"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" (Zech. 12: 3).

So, with the world stage set, as far as geopolitical matters are concerned, let's begin to try to look into the future, again with the crucial caveat that this is all speculation, though well-studied and prayed-over speculation on the part of yours truly. Daniel the prophet gave the endtime wrap up in one concise prophetic passage:

" And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate" (Dan. 9:27).

Will the consummation as foretold in that passage begin to rumble upon this judgment-bound earth something like this? Business will be going along at a dynamic clip, despite occasional blips, flare-ups, and glitches. Jesus tells us that in Luke 17: 26-29. The rich will be getting richer, the poor will be going further into poverty " despite the socialist-elites promises to the contrary. Terrorism will be pervasive, and increasingly so, just as Paul the apostle foretold when he said that men and seducers would grow worse and worse, and just as Jesus prophesied when He said things would be just like in Noah's day, a time when violence filled the whole earth (Gen. 6:11,13).

The Arab Islamic states, wanting--as they have for millennia--to erase the Jews from the earth, will be looking for ways to penetrate Israel's protective shell, fearful of direct assault because of Israel's lethal nuclear arsenal. The world of diplomats" the so-called international community" will, led by the American State Department" be looking for a way to placate the hostile Islamics. Israel's territory, as always, will be the offering on the altar of Mid-East peacemaking. This, while giving Israel little or no say in the offering.

Every major Mid-East terrorist organization, with headquarters in Damascus, Syria, will beat the drums of hatred against Israel as never before. Concern that Israel will take preemptive action will trouble the James Bakers of the times in this scenario. Even some who call themselves evangelical Christians will join with other religious entities to point a finger at Israel as the obstinate party in the growing threat to regional, maybe even world, peace.

We have seen that Jesus forewarned that the time of His coming again to Planet Earth will be " as it was in the days of Noah." That is, the characteristics of the endtime generation will be like in the days presented in Genesis, chapter 6. When we look at that chapter, we conclude that it must have been a terrifying time. This must have been true especially for Noah and his seven family members while the time just before the Flood surrounded them. But, the whole generation of earth-dwellers must have lived under threat of violence. Violence filled the whole earth, God's Word reports (Gen. 6: 11, 13). Even though business was moving along at a good, even accelerated pace, violence" terroristic activity--filled the earth.

Does this sound familiar? What did the president call the war declared upon an almost unidentifiable enemy following the 9/11 attacks? That's correct,he called it " the war on terrorism." And now the whole international community is uptight about the possibility of ramifications of the terror" the violence" that threatens to ignite war in the Middle East.

Every time such sparks begin to fly, members of the media begin to contact Todd and me, as well as others who have studied and expounded upon Armageddon and the " end of days," as media like to frame the endtime. Violence of the deadliest sort fills the world with terror, and the cry for peace and safety from media and government diplomatic types proves it.

Jesus also said in His Luke 17 prophecies that things of society and economy would be pretty much business as usual at the time of His return at the end of days. People will be eating and drinking. Men and women will be marrying, divorcing, just like nothing fearful was going on in their world. Daniel the prophet said in Daniel chapter 12 that great progress would be made in technology, travel, and communications at the time of the end.

Again, does any of this sound familiar? As we can see from the strength of the American economy, things are booming, despite the fact that we are now a debtor nation at an unprecedented level. The United States is inarguably the most materially blessed nation-state in the history of the world. The greatest king of Bible times lived at nowhere near the level of luxury and comfort as do even lower middle-class Americans today.

So, in that sense, business is going along, in this country at least, better than merely business as usual. It is just at such time as described that Jesus will step out on the clouds of glory and shout "Come up hither!"

Bible prophecy tells us that the day of the Lord will come (will begin) as a thief in the night. A thief suddenly breaks in. He doesn'tsay " Hey! I'm coming to break in!"That is how we can know that the thief-in-the-night-coming analogy is for another coming, not for the second advent " the time when Jesus" foot will touch down on the Mount of Olives, which will then cleave in half and create a rift all the way to the Mediterranean. Nearly two-thirds of the world's population will have perished in Gog's full-blown wrath by the time of that Revelation 19:11 coming back to Planet Earth. Everyone on the planet still alive will see Christ's coming to the earth's surface.

The coming as a thief reference is to the rapture. It will be sudden, it will be stunning, it will be catastrophic.

Let us look at the potential calamitous things that will likely immediately follow the twinkling-of-an-eye intervention into this humanistic, last-days world of earth-dwellers.

In the United States, a young mother, pregnant with her second, and with a small daughter riding in the basket, will be walking down an aisle in a supermarket. A truck driver will be steering a semi-tractor/trailer rig onto a superhighway in order to merge with the heavy traffic flow. A 757 captain will push the throttles to full power, headed down a runway at JFK in New York. A surgeon at a major hospital in Minnesota will begin to make the initial scalpel cut that will open a heart patient's chest for a bypass procedure. A funeral director will straighten a collar of the starched white shirt worn by a corpse, whose funeral is next on the services schedule.

In less than the time it takes for a neuroelectrical synapse firing in the brain to take place, the young mother's womb is empty. She sees her little girl vanish as she, herself, starts her fall to the floor from the shock of the physiological changes that are taking place in her body. The 18-wheeler is careening into the traffic, driverless, out of control, crushing and demolishing vehicles and their passengers, while raging ahead in its ungoverned course.

The 757 on the JFK runway is at full take-off speed, but the pilot and co-pilot are not at the controls, while the right wingtip dips toward the runway and catastrophe. The surgeon in Minnesota finds the scalpel cutting air, rather than flesh, because the patient is gone. The funeral director staggers backwards, astonished, because the burial apparel he has been making just right for presentation has collapsed, and the corpse is no longer in the casket.

Those snippets 'still-frame snapshots of the paradigm-changing dynamics of the rapture will geometrically burgeon from the instant this stunning event takes place. It will be the most powerful occurrence of human history since Christ's first advent intervened into the affairs of mankind.

Believers are translated, changed in an atomos of time" in a fraction of an element of time that cannot be divided. They now look into the holy, omniscient eyes of their Lord that are fathomless in the depths of God's love. He leads them through the portals of glory, to the city called heaven.

On earth, millions have vanished into nothingness before the stupefied eyes of billions of others. All earthly things that belonged to the departed ones remain behind, including clothing, jewelry, and prosthetics of every description.

I once heard a nationally known " reverend" 'so-called-- (I don'tlike the word " reverend" in reference to anyone on this fallen planet, because there is only one reverend, and He has just whisked all who are His into heaven for their eternal rewards) say something like this: " A rapture --if it were to be something that really happens" would mean that there would be unbelievable carnage upon the earth. God won'tlet that happen."

Hello, Reverend, but, what about the judgments for the end of days given by the Old and New Testaments? What about the Book of Revelation? The seals, trumpets, and vials don'texactly give us the warm, fuzzy feeling that the era of apocalypse will be a tiptoe through the tulips.

The "Kingdom Now" folks, with their replacement theology, however, see these things written in the areas of biblical judgments and Gog's wrath as allegory or symbolism. They spiritualize these prophecies, or treat them as already fulfilled. They preach and teach that the Church (Christians) will make this earth a better and better place until Christ can safely return to occupy His earthly throne. My dear Rapture Ready visitors and family--they are simply not looking at the same headlines as yours truly. And the headlines I'm experiencing each and every day coincide precisely with what God#39;s holy, inerrant Word has to say about the end of days "again" as the secular media like to call the end time.

"But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived" (2 Tim. 3:13).

Jesus himself prophesied for the very end of the tribulation: "And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days" (Mar. 13:20).

This world is in for a very rough ride, and the "reverend" was and is wrong in pronouncing that God would not allow carnage, thus a rapture is not in the future of mankind. Nothing could be more ludicrous.

The "thief in the night" prophecy is aimed particularly at the people who will be left behind after the rapture. That great event will certainly take most willfully ignorant Christians by total surprise, but it will not be like a " thief in the night" experience to them. We can know this from Paul the apostle's foretelling, when he writes to the Thessalonians " to all Christians of the Church Age (Age of Grace): " For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness" (1 Thes. 5:2-5).

Note Paul's use of the pronouns "they" and "them" versus "you," "ye," and "we." He is differentiating between unbelievers and believers during this Church Age. The rapture, for all Christians who are alive at the time, will be an entirely different experience than the "thief in the night" experience of those left behind. We see this in John 14:1-3, and in Paul's following comforting prophecy: "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13).

So, getting back to our earth-bound scenarios that we speculate will immediately follow the rapture, let us look at some dark probabilities.

The most immediate things that assault the senses, while people look around them, are the clothing and other things that fall to the ground, the pavement, the floors. The only evidence that those who suddenly vanished were ever on earth are the clothing and other personal items they no longer need. The prosthetic devices, too, of every sort, give the news pundits something to talk about on the programs that are dominated by one subject: the disappearance of millions.

But, in my speculative view, the most frightening, then, as the knowledge sets in, the most agonizing thing that will grip the world will be the fact that every single child who hasn'treached the age of accountability for his or her soul will be gone from the planet in that millisecond of time. Every womb, of every left behind woman who was with child at the time of the disappearances will be instantaneously empty. God, in that astonishing moment, will make a monumental, and unmistakable statement about His opinion of when life begins in the conception process!

Can we even begin to imagine the excruciating emotional explosion that will take place all over the world?

With the intimately personal cataclysms still raging, other just as staggering considerations flood the fear-filled thoughts of men and women left behind. Again, in America, Martial Law is immediately invoked. But, before the much-denuded military and law enforcement personnel can regroup to enforce Martial Law, looters of every sort move freely throughout decimated society, pillaging, destroying, and raping whatever and whoever they find in their rampaging paths.

The consciences of man are no longer under the governance of the Holy Spirit, as in time just before the disappearances occurred. Homes, empty of their vanished occupants, are open game, and the looters don't stop to give a second thought to the horrendous future mankind now faces. They think, as I heard Dr. Charles Stanley say, they have died and gone to their warped picture of heaven. We" ve only begun to explore, through our Bible prophecy postulations, what the left behind world will be like, and the likely dynamics that will rearrange Planet Earth for AntiChrist's appearance.

People have vanished all over the world in less time than it takes for light to enter the eye and strike the retina. The chaos is worldwide, but nowhere so profound as within the United States of America. Just a matter of time, however, will prove that the ramifications are geopolitically staggering " for one nation in particular, in addition to America.

The American government, at every level, soon analyzes that every child below" most likely" the teen-age years are gone. Every pregnant woman who was with child, and who remains, has suffered the loss of the baby in her womb. But some other things are discovered that are even more troubling to the officials, the politicos of the nation at every level.

Government is totally disrupted, and the powers-that-be quickly recognize that not even Martial Law is going to be able to reestablish the revenue basis for carrying on government as usual. A huge part of the tax base" a fatally proportionate one--is no longer here to provide the funds to carry on government as usual! Much of the workforce, particularly the most vital, skilled force that was the heart and soul of American industry and fidelity to the good work ethic, disappeared in that stupefying moment.

Carnage alone, caused by the many accidents and other disappearance-engendered problems, will require massive manpower and, in many cases, extraordinary skills to begin restoring order. These people are gone in great numbers.

Europe, on the other hand--while dumbfounded, even extremely worried, over the vanishings'seems to have suffered little infrastructure damage. Economy, well structured by the European Union Parliament, has only minimum glitches in keeping things running. Now, it is bidden by the upper echelon of the American government that is left to advise and assist in helping with things " especially with reestablishing America's economic base on sound footing.

America's particularly bad circumstances do not go without notice by others within the nation-states of the world. Russia and China take special notice. They assess how America's military complex has been affected.

Islamics who want their religion to rule the world are delighted. The great Satan has gotten its deserved punishment from Allah. Although Islamic children, too, have disappeared, the adults who remain in great numbers are still available to make war--and love, in order to replenish the children. The terrorist Islamic organizations are delighted, and immediately see jihad against their enemies " most particularly against the Jews of the world " and Israel.

Israel's governmental leaders come to two stunning realizations: 1) Their only ally, with the greatest thermonuclear deterrent in the world, is in chaos. The U.S. government officials who remain are doing all within their power just to make deals with the EU in order to 'somehow" regain their own power. There is no time, or even facility, to see to Israel's protection. And, 2) The greatest supporters of Israel and the Jews, in terms of people who supported Israel's right to exist " their best friends on the planet" are no longer on the planet!

While America's top leaders who are still around are coming to understand there must be a complete rearrangement of economy and monetary matters, Israel is getting reports of plans for attack by the Arabs, Persians, and other Islamics, who understand what has happened as an opportunity provided them by Allah--an opportunity to once and for all eradicate the hated Jew and the impostor state of Israel.

The Jewish leadership is intact, and the Jews "even those of the Labor Party and the most liberal" know the tiny nation stands alone. Even Mid-East oil exigencies are for the moment off the table for the powers of the west, the industrial nations that must reorganize, not send their troops on ventures into the sands of the Middle East.

What Israel determines to do, it must do quickly. Very quickly. The Israeli leadership realizes one thing beyond all others. They know their blood-vowed enemies will do everything within their power to wipe them " including the Labor Party and other liberal Jews" off Planet Earth. But, there is " the Samson Option," even the liberal Jews agree. The tiny state that is now in the cross-hairs of practically every Arab state still has perhaps the 3rd or 4th most lethal nuclear weapons force in the world. The Islamic fanatics " the entire world" must be shown that their vow " Never again!" is as strongly in the collective determination of the Jew as in the years immediately following Hitler's Holocaust.

We live in the last time. This is undeniable, if one accepts God's Word. It is indisputable to anyone who holds the Bible as truth. Proof is found right here: " Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time" (1 John 2:18).

So, this is the end of days, for sure. At least, that's how I read the Apostle John's words. It was already the end of days at the time he wrote his epistles and the Revelation. I'm aware some don'tbelieve that the same John wrote both. I profoundly disagree. And there are those who believe the reference here is to the "spirit of Antichrist," not to "Antichrist," as the beast of Revelation Chapter 13. I profoundly disagree with that assessment, too. John, here, is writing about BOTH the spirit of Antichrist and a specific man who will come on the scene at some point. He will both come posing as (the counterfeit of) Jesus Christ, and as against all that is Christian. He will be the worst man who has ever walked the surface of this fallen planet. We will begin to postulate how this beast might come to power while we continue with our hypothetical, though well-studied and scripturally-based consideration of things that will quite possibly happen from this point in time forward.

Following the rapture of all born-again believers, the leadership of Israel will look around to find its world support gone with the disappearance of millions of people. All who truly believe Israel has a God-given right to the land, based upon Scriptures in Genesis, will be missing. America will be in total turmoil, and desperately searching for ways to regain its national equilibrium. This can only be accomplished by reestablishing government that will provide structure for restoring order. The European Union, somewhat shaken, nonetheless will remain solid. All civilized parts of the western world will rush to the EU for help in trying to regain and/or preserve things lost in the greatest catastrophe in recorded human history.

The Islamics of the Middle East, who have for centuries held the people under their despotic thumbs, will not be cowered by the disappearances" even of all of their young children. Rather, they will be emboldened to look toward Israel and see an Allah-sent opportunity to once-and-for-all scour the Jew from the face of what they consider to be their land. This rumor of war will not escape Israel's leadership.

While the Arab-Islamic forces gather in council of war, the military leadership of Israel will be given the top spot in doing whatever is necessary to insure the nation's continued existence. The liberals and woolly-minded who harbor delusional thoughts that peace is primary will be pushed to the margins. Israel must survive.

Gamel Abdul Nasser will be remembered in the councils of both Israel and her enemies who spawned that Egyptian warlord. Nasser gathered the combined forces of Arab nations and attacked Israel in 1956. He was in the process of again doing so in 1967, when the Israeli Defense Force pre-empted the Egyptian dictator's plans and thoroughly defeated that collective foe. The people who declare they will never again sit still while forces gather to destroy the nation will now be in charge in Israel. Dramatic action is called for; it will be taken.

Leadership of the major Mid-East terrorist organizations will gather at the one place they are all headquartered" the oldest inhabited city on earth, Damascus, Syria. Their drum beat of blood-vowed hatred will make the inevitable obvious to the Israeli hawks "most all within Israeli leadership. They will decide to cut off the heads of the hydra-headed serpent in one mighty blow. That blow will be delivered by the nuclear sword: "The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap" (Isa. 17:1).

One Israeli jet with a 15-kiloton bomb will cut off the heads, bringing much of Islam into confusion and immense rage. Then, there will be jihad of the most nightmarish sort. But, preparation for such jihad will take time. Much of the diabolical terrorists most proficient at planning such a holy war will have gone to their 72 virgins.

Now, America will agree to agree with EU brainstorming. Something, all agree in the western power sphere, must be done" immediately. World War III" that some have said has already begun with the War on Terrorism" will be about to get underway in full-blown fury. Israel will then sense the collective wrath not just of its Islamic neighbors, but of the entire world, including its former staunchest ally" the United States of America.

Israel, through its preemptive destruction of Damascus with a nuclear weapon, will have enraged everyone, who now looks at the tiny Jewish state as the number-one trouble maker on the planet: "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" (Zech. 12:1-3).

Israel will be friendless. Most all Jews will know they are doomed. There will be no choice but to invoke the Samson Option. They will bring all who come against them down with their own deadly fall.

But there will be one man within the hierarchy of the EU who wants to try a diplomatic tact others haven'tconsidered.

Damascus lies in nuclear rubble, completely cut off from ever becoming a city again. The major jihadist terrorist heads were cut off in Israel's pre-emptive strike. But, the collective wrath of the rest of the world's nations "led by the U.N. Israel-haters, surround the tiny Jewish state, figuratively, at least.

The Islamic hordes of every stripe are in full rage. The battle cries scream from every media and diplomatic venue, as well as in the streets of Europe and other nations where Islam's populations have grown exponentially.

Israel's leadership --particularly the military leadership" know that it is fight or die as a nation, as a people.

But, just as the Samson Option is about to be invoked (bringing the house of Israel and all of its enemies down with nuclear holocaust), a man from the EU steps from among his fellows, speaking great things of the diplomatic sort.

"And of the ten horns that [were] in his head, and [of] the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even [of] that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look [was] more stout than his fellows" (Dan. 7:20).

This European leader tells Israel that he is their friend. Almost the only friend they have among the voices of the U.N. and the newly developed superstate, thanks to the rapture of the Church, and America coming under the European umbrella, bringing with it the most powerful and sophisticated nuclear weapons arsenal on the planet.

He may be but one voice, but what a voice! No one would dare to make war with this man, who commands such awesome might. As a matter of fact, this man will one day be worshipped as a god. But not quite yet.

"And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who [is] like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?" (Rev. 13:4).

This leader promises Israel that he, personally, will guarantee they are not attacked, and that they are accepted by other leaders of the nations now threatening an all-out assault on the Jewish state.

He will begin with his wondrous works of convincing all the mesmerized world that he is the man of the hour. He is the ultimate negotiator " the great, longed-for peacemaker.

He even promises Israel they can build a Temple on the most sacred spot to religious Jews" atop Mount Moriah, the Temple Mount.

But, in exchange, Israel must agree to put down all of its defense, especially its great nuclear arsenal. Israel must agree to rely totally on him to be their national protector, their savior. They once rejected their true Messiah, but will readily accept this great leader's overtures of peace. Jesus prophesied about this: " I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive" (Jn. 5:43).

Although Israel and the world have been forewarned, this proud, arrogant, nefariously ambitious man will invoke his peace. It will" ultimately-- produce catastrophic results.

However, he will appear at first to be a miracle worker of unprecedented magnitude: "And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify [himself] in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many" (Dan. 8:25).

He is called the man of sin, the son of perdition, Antichrist, the beast, the king of fierce countenance, the prince that shall come, and other names. But, interestingly, he is called " the Assyrian."

I recommend that you get a book by my great friend, Phillip Goodman, The Assyrian Connection, to read about the Bible's reference to this man. He and Antichrist seem to be one and the same in terms of considering the future tyrant that is referred to as the beast most prominently in Revelation, chapter 13.

Antichrist, though coming out of the geographic area of the ancient Roman Empire, based upon Daniel 9:26-27, will nonetheless be of Middle Eastern extraction.

I will let you read Phillip's much-studied thoughts on the whys and wherefores surrounding this postulation, but suffice it to say that " in my view, at least" the following prophecy seems to reference, to some extent, the beast's ethnic origin: "Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all" (Dan. 11:37).

Who is this "God of his fathers?" If this most terrible tyrant of history is Assyrian, based upon ethnic and/or religious history considerations, the "god" referred to might be the " god" of Islam. However, the "God of his fathers" could refer to God Jehovah, Abraham, and Abraham's predecessors. The God of Heaven. The use of the capital G in God makes it almost certain that this refers to the one, true God.

He rejects the true God of Heaven. (And, I don'tmean that he will be a Jew. Abraham "and Abraham's fathers before that great patriarch-sired many, many people who are not Jewish. The whole of the Arab nations, for example, have Abraham as their Gentile father-progenitor.

This man, the son of perdition, who stands above all others of like mind " to rule the world, by hook or by crook" is out of the geographical area that comprised the old Roman Empire. While he is a prince who comes forth out of territories encompassed by the ancient Roman Empire, his ethnic origin is from people (his fathers) of Middle Eastern extraction.

He honors the "god of forces." This is a most interesting proposition. And, there are other fascinating factors and considerations in pursuing this line of conjecture.

The prince " in our end-of-days scenario--has come forth from the people (the Romans) who destroyed the city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary (the Jewish Temple) just as foretold by Daniel the prophet (Dan. 9:27). He comes guaranteeing a peace that has already been negotiated, and through great, swelling words aggrandizes himself in the eyes of many peoples throughout the world (Dan. 7:20).

Daniel 11:38: "But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things."

The Assyrian beast magnifies himself above all. He has attained godhood in his own inflated opinion of his abilities. He manifests the prideful arrogance of all of the great kings, princes, and tyrants of history in one ego-maniacal, supernaturally empowered man.

The great leader, at the same time " according to Daniel 11: 38" is in league with the " god of forces," and heaps riches upon a god his fathers would have no part of worshipping. These are a couple of fascinating foretellings about the prince who has come forth. He casts his lot, at least initially, with a couple of interesting " gods." The first god referenced is a god that invokes aggressive, militant, and deadly action to achieve its way. The prince who has come uses this god and its forces to accomplish great things " for himself, of course.

The second god spoken of indicates a religious system, whose love of the riches of life is at the center of all worship. The former " god" fits the profile of Allah, whose holy book, the Koran, demands that all who do not bow the knee to Islam be dispatched from this life. The latter "god" is further described in Revelation chapter 17. The false religious system that seduces the kings of the earth is both Catholic and Protestant apostate religionists, all rolled cozily together with ecumenical entities from the various religions of the world. Antichrist will, the Scriptures say, turn on both the god of forces and on the god his fathers " Abraham and his predecessors-- would not worship. He will " ultimately" abide no worship other than of himself.

While Islam grows more fanatic, and proliferates through birth rate that far outstrips any other militant ethnic people, the great leader from the EU and other western powers combine and turn against the " god of forces." Islam has gotten too threatening to the technological democracy the latest and greatest Fuhrer wants to institute. Islam will not adjust. These forces " whose god commands them to remain pure in Islam's draconian ways, recede, and reconnoiter in regions native to their hordes. They join with powerful allies north of their comfort zone. The revived Russian military force is led by a leader who has special mention in end-of-days Bible prophecy.

" Gog," which means " leader," looks with lust toward the south and all of the oil-based riches of the Middle East. Economic and other factors make the Russian Gog think an evil thought. The Islamics, unwelcome in their interference with the Assyrian leader of the newly forming one-world plan, hitch their ambitions to the Russian leader's evil thought to rule the petroleum fields " and to thereby destroy Israel. Destroying Israel is at the heart of Islamic thinking. The Jews must forever be eradicated from the land they proclaim belongs to them.

The great western leader eyes the great eastern leader. The supernaturally saturated prince of Bible prophecy will " in our scenario" know that Gog is about to get his come-uppance. The western leader, directed by the same " god" as the eastern leader, knows what is about to happen. He bides his time.

Israel sits, without means to defend herself. The Jewish nation's leaders have given their complete trust to the western leader, who has personally guaranteed their peace and safety. But, the great western leader, in spite of his watching the situation develop, isn'tquite confident in his assessment of what Bible prophecy has to say about this moment in human history. He's not certain developments are necessarily in his favor.

His own kingdom Is still under construction. While he won'tmove until he fully consolidates his unstoppable power, he watches Gog and the Islamics gather for assault on the Middle East. His time will come. He will move, then, as no other leader in history has ever moved--in all-out aggression.

" But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many" (Dan 11:44).

But, it will be another force that deals with Israel's great enemy at this particular moment.

Israel, in our ongoing end-of-days scenario, has agreed to all stipulations the western international community " under inspiration of a great world leader" has required of the Jewish state. Key to getting the leader to assure Israel's security " its peace" is the requirement that Israel give over her nuclear arsenal to the still-forming, growing superstate. God's prophetic Word has two things, basically, to say about this action by Israel:

1. The first involves not only Israel, but all who embrace this "peace" spawned by the western superstar and the nations that back him. The world will get its much-desired, then ballyhooed, " peace and safety," but it will come at a tremendous price. It will, of course, be not a true peace at all, but a horrific war.

2. The second thing God says about this attempt at peace is exclusively directed at Gog's chosen people " the Jews " and the nation Israel: " Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves" And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it" (Isa. 28:15,18). " For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape" (1Th. 5:3).

Jesus, speaking to the nation Israel, prophesied that Israel would accept this Roman prince's overtures, while rejecting Him, their true Messiah: "I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive" (Jn. 5:43).

Israel sits now " in our scenario" like an ungated community. It doesn'teven have a local constabulary to protect it. It depends totally on the great Roman prince's promises of peace and safety. It is just at this moment that the other leader of supernaturally-infused power " the eastern leader to the north of Israel--realizes all of the Middle East is ripe for the pickings, while the western coalition is still consolidating power.

" Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land" (Ezek. 38:10-12).

The only response of the prince and his cronies out of the west to the hordes they see coalescing in war-like configuration that surrounds Israel and the oil fields of the region seems wrapped up in the following prophecy: 'sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?" (Ezek. 38:13).

The "protectors" of Israel offer only a note of diplomatic protest. The Russian and Islamic heads of Russia's Arab and Persian allies seize upon the perceived weakness of the west's leadership.

The questions that need to be considered here " at least in my opinion" are: Is the note of protest sent out of true weakness, or does the Roman prince realize what fate awaits the one called Gog and his Magog forces?

The demons, God's Word says, believe in God and tremble. The satanically-driven prince that shall come will certainly know the Ezekiel prophecies. He will be the most brilliant military strategist ever to inhabit flesh on the planet. Can there be much doubt that he will think " in advance" to take advantage of every possibility?

In our scenario, he takes a look at the gathering storm and sends his note of protest, all with a sly grin of belief in what Scripture says. He will let other forces take care of the insolent Russian and the deluded war lords of Israel's enemies.

His own authority is not fully consolidated. He will, along with his great titans of wealth backers, watch the Russians destruct upon the mountains of Israel while he, himself, prepares to fill the most fortuitous vacuum that is about to be created in the Middle East.

Gog, the prophesied leader of the Israel-hating coalition north of Jerusalem, has hooks in his jaws--put there by none other than the Lord God of all creation. Our scenario has that hook as lubricated generously with the black, liquid gold of the Middle East.

The dictator who rules Russia has watched, with Luciferian-inspired obsession, the whole international rearrangements following the disappearance of millions. He receives an "evil thought," and thinks to take "great spoil"--the vast oil supplies of the regions surrounding Israel.

It is the Tribulation era--Daniel's 70th week--the last seven years of human history that will culminate in Christ's second advent. Man has always claimed, in his humanistic pride, that he can make this world into paradise. This has been true since before the time of Nimrod and Babel (Genesis chapter 11). The leader of the newly formed super agglomeration of western powers has brokered the peace that the " prince" promises will make things heaven on earth for the world. Israel has bitten into the apple from the great leader's garden of promises. God Almighty takes His hand off Planet Earth to the extent He will now allow mankind to see if they can achieve their utopia. The Holy Spirit has withdrawn from acting as restrainer upon the consciences of human beings.

Gog knows the leadership of the western nations are consolidating their power. Once that is done, the forces of the reviving Roman Empire will be formidable" perhaps even impossible to defeat. They have the most awesome thermonuclear arsenal ever stockpiled. But, Russia, China, and even some of Gog's other allies have such weapons, too. Enough to destroy the world, as a matter of fact. The western behemoth that is gathering strength is quite unlikely" in Gog's self-inflated estimation" to use military power to try to stop his invasion at this point. Their weak note of diplomatic protest proves it in the Russian's mind.

Gog is inspired by one other profound realization. The West's true power has always been in its great technological capabilities "its fantastic, wealth-producing machinery that is far advanced of anything the humanity-oppressive regimes of the East have been able to match. The only true things achieved by the eastern world has been, for the most part, mere replication of things produced by the freedom-loving people of the West.

The Russian, in consort with his cohorts of the coalition he has gathered, knows that to take away the western powers" ability to run their machinery " thus their technological production" is to cripple them. He will claim all of the oil of the Middle East. The West " having long fallen prey to those who preached the ecological mumbo-jumbo, the political correctness that they were raping " Mother Earth" by drilling and refining petroleum" will be without resources to fuel their drive to dominate the world.

The leader who brokered the peace remains peaceful. He has sent his diplomatic protest. But, he believes in Bible prophecy. His knowledge comes from the father of lies, who convinces him that all of prophecy is true, except the part that says he" the prince that shall come" will ultimately lose to the returning King of all kings (Rev. 19:20).

The western leader watches the Gog-Magog forces gather. He is troubled, but bides his time.

While the beast of Revelation 13 watches, the beast of the East" Gog" doesn'tkeep his nemesis waiting long. The assault is quick, all-out, and, seen from satellite reconnaissance, looks like a massive storm moving southward toward Jerusalem. Israel sits, vulnerable, without defense. The leader squints from Brussels at the many monitors while awaiting to see if the things his special minion-mentors are telling him will play out on schedule.

He is not disappointed. Here is how Ezekiel, under God's direction, reported this battle thousands of years ago:

Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel: And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD (Ezek. 39:1-5).

Many, particularly the Jews within Israel, will believe that God has won the victory. And, indeed, there is no evidence to the contrary. God did it all. Even the great peacemaker from his proud perch has to say to himself " inwardly" that the Deity has done this marvelous thing. But, so far as he is concerned, it only means advantage to his ambition. All resistance has been crushed for him, paving his way to fill the power vacuum. All of the oil riches are his. Now he will truly be able to build his one-world kingdom. To him belongs the great spoil Gog foolishly thought would be his.

He rides into the region a conqueror. He has" in his more and more demonically possessed mind" correctly understood the " dark sentences" given him by his minion-mentors from the father of lies. Jerusalem, the very capitol of Jehovah on earth" is his for the taking. He, himself will be the god of this planet:

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God (2 Thes. 2:3-4).

Antichrist has revealed himself. He demands worship. The greatest holocaust of history will begin. It is the time of Jacob's Trouble: "Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it" (Jer. 30:7).

Jesus said of this time: " For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be" (Matt. 24:21).

So, we come to the last of this series. But, of course, the story is far from over. The beautiful part of this scenario " and it is God's scenario that really matters" is found in these last few words of the great old prophet Jeremiah: "but he shall be saved out of it."All of Israel " the believing remnant" will be saved out of this horrible holocaust. (Read Revelation, chapter 12.)

We at Rapture Ready pray that you will accept Jesus Christ as Savior now, before these prophesied end-of-days events overtake you and this judgment-bound world.

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Rom. 10:9).