F.M. Riley (13
Jan 2019)
"Rightly Dividing
Bible Prophecy..."
Rightly Dividing Bible Prophecy...
Part One
By Pastor F. M. Riley
January 12, 2019
"Come now, and let us REASON together,
saith the Lord: Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as
white as snow; Though they be red like crimso, they shall be as
wool," Isaiah 1:18.
"STUDY to shew thyself approved unto
God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, RIGHTLY DIVIDING
the Word of truth."
2 Timothy 2:15
"Trust in the Lord with all thine
heart: And lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge Him, And He
shall direct thy paths,
Be not wise in thine own eyes: Fear the
Lord, and depart from
evil."
Proverbs 3:5-7
Introduction
Early in the Lord's
ministry, I purposed in my heart, that I would receive the Word
of the Lord at face value for what it actually and literally
says, asking the Lord God in prayer for guidance as I STUDIED
His Word, John 16:13; 1 Corinthians 2:14. Being young in
the Lord's ministry, there were many things in God's Word which
I did not understand, but, due to what I had purposed in my
heart, the Lord patiently taught me the great truths of His
Word. I have always sought to ".....let God be true, but
every man a liar,....." Romans 3:4.
Dear readers, it is God's inspired Word
which "interprets" God's Word. God did not leave it up to
man to "interprete" His Word by applying their own silly
thoughts, ideas, opinions, and theories.
As a result of what I
purposed in my heart, I have never had a desire to inject my own
opinions, ideas, and theories into an understanding of God's
Word. Rather, I seriously ask the Lord in prayer, to
reveal and confirm the great truths of His Word, before I
attempt to teach and preach them as Bible truth. The
Lord has never failed me yet!
I know I am Scriptural in taking
this stand, for it was the Lord God who said, "Come now, and let
us reason together [God and man], saith the Lord." Also
King Solomon, one of the wisest men who has ever lived, was
inspired of God to write.......
"Trust in the Lord with all thine
heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding....".
Proverbs 3:5-7.
But how many today are taking these
instructions from the Lord to heart? I have never
previously seen a time, when so many who claim to be Christian
believers, and knowledgeable Bible teachers, and preachers of
the Word, are so Scripturally illiterate, substituting their own
ideas, opinions, and theories, in place of the truths of God's
Word. This is especially true on the subject of Bible
prophecy.
Therefore, this study will be
devoted to "rightly dividing" Bible prophecy, with the hope that
it will help our readers to become serious about committing
their life to Christ, and looking to Him for a correct
understanding of His Word.......
The Abomination of Desolation
What is the "abomination of
desolation"? In order to answer this question, let's
first determine the meaning of the word, "abomination," as it is
used in the Holy Word of God.
In Exodus 20 the Lord God first gave
the Ten Commandments of the Law to Moses to give to the nation
and people of Israel. The very first commandment the
Lord God gave is.......
"Thou shalt have no other gods before
Me, Exodus 20:3.
Then the second commandment given is,
Thou shalt not make unto thee any
graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven
above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water
under the earth:
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to
them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the
third and fourth generation of them that hate Me,
And shewing mercy unto thousands of
them that love Me, and keep My commandments," Exodus 20:4-6.
These first two commandments in the
Law, make it quite clear that God is "jealous" of His position
as God and the Creator of all things, and hates any false god
fallen mankind might exalt to replace Him.
This truth is further verified by the
Lord's statement in Deuteronomy 7:25.....
"The graven images of their gods shall
ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that
is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein:
for it is an ABOMINATION to the Lord thy God.
Neither shalt thou bring an ABOMINATION
into thy house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou
shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it
is a cursed thing."
In order to grasp the extent of God's
hatred towards these things, read Deuteronomy 13:6-7 and 13:17.
The word, "Abomination" Defined
The English word, "abomination," in the
Old Testament is translated from the Hebrew word,
"towebah." This Hebrew word literally means, "something
disgusting; abhorrent; to loathe; to detest; to abhor; to
stink." See Strong's No. 8441 and 8581.
The word "abomination" in the New
Testament is translated from the Greek word, "bdelugma," which
literally means, "detestable; disgusting; stinking;
abominable." See Strong's No. 946, 947, and 948.
Keep in mind that God commanded
the Israelites to offer blood sacrifices in their worship of
Him. Those sacrifices were to be anointed with a special
perfume, the recipe for it being given by God Himself, and
forbidden to anyone else. See Exodus 30:34-38.
When the sacrifices were then offered
in true obedience, love, and fear of the Lord God, the
Lord would smell the "sweet smell" of the sacrifices, and
would bless His chosen Israelite people.
But in direct contrast, when Israel went whoring
after other gods, even while pretending to love and serve the
Lord, the Lord would refuse to smell their offerings. See
Leviticus 26:31, I suggest reading this entire
chapter. In such cases their offerings had become
"abominable" to the Lord. In other word, they STUNK in His
nostrils. See 2 Chronicles 15:8, where this word is again
tied directly to "idols" or false gods.
Now back to the question, "What is the
"abomination of desolation?"
No, the "abomination" is not the
anti-christ himself, even though he will demand to be worshipped
during the Tribulaion period. Rather, the
"abomination" is "the image of the beast," which will be
erected in the courtyard of the Jewish Temple. All
mankind left behind on the earth will be forced by "the beast"
[anti-christ] to worship "the image of the beast" during
the last half of the Tribulation period, under penalty of death
for refusing to do so. Read it for yourself in Revelation
13:14-15.
The erection of this image is what
causes the "desolation." The Jews as a nation and people,
learned during their 70 years of captivity in Babylon, the
tragic consequences of worshiping idols and false
gods. That was a lesson, that as a nation and
people, they have never forgotten. Even though they
rejected and crucified Christ, their true Messiah and Savior,
they still did not turn away from the God of Heaven, and go
after false gods. They have continued throughout this
present dispensation to give "lip service" to the true God of
Heaven.
It was for this very reason, in
70 A.D., when the Roman armies came into Jerusalem and erected a
statue of Jupiter [the chief god of the Roman Empire] in the
courtyard of the Jewish Temple, that the Jews fled from the land
of Israel, leaving the whole land desolate and empty. Many
readers do not realize that the fleeing of the Jewish people
from their homeland in 70 A.D. was the first "abomination of
desolation," and was a type of the future "abomination of
desolation" to occur duing the coming Tribulation period.
The Olivet Discourse
The Lord Jesus Himself used it this way
in His Olivet Diiscourse as recorded in Matthew 24-25 and Mark
13.
A careful study of Matthew 24
will reveal that the Lord warned His disciples of what was going
to happen in Jerusalem leading up to, and during the
"seige of Jerusalem," by the Roman army in 70 A.D. And
He graciously warned His disciples to flee, Matthew
24:15-20.
Our readers should keep in mind that
the Olivet Discourse was not a discourse which Christ preached
to the people of Israel. Rather, it was a private
discourse, given only to four of the Lord's chosen
disciples; Peter, James, John, and Andrew, Matthew 24:3; Mark
13:3.
Later, it was given to Matthew and
Mark, by the Divine Inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, 2
Timothy 3:16.
The Lord's Care For His Disciples
The Lord, in His discourse, was
especially taking thought for the safety and welfare of His
disciples, in view of what was to come. In 24:15, the Lord
told those four disciples to whom He was speaking,
"When ye therefore shall see the
abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet,
stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)."
This is not the exact same
wording of the Lord's statement which is recorded by Mark in
Mark 13:14. Carefully notice the difference.......
"But when ye shall see the abomination
of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where
it ought not, (let him that readeth understand), then let them
that be in Judea flee to the mountains:" Mark 13:14.
Do our readers see the difference in
the wording of these two Scriptures, both of which speak of the
same event? In Matthew 24:15 the Lord was giving a warning
to His disciples, and then in 24:16 a warning to the people of
Judea. But in Mark 13:14, the Lord was giving a warning
only to the nation of Judea. But this is not all the
differences in the wording of these Scriptures.
In Matthew 24:15 the Lord told His
disciples that when they saw the "abomination of desolation" set
up, they were to "stand in the holy place," and the Lord
explicitly gave to them the ability to understand the
warning. Dear readers, when the Roman armies surrounded
the city of Jerusalem and laid seige to the city, every gate in
the wall around ancient Jerusalem was closed, and there was no
way for anyone to go out or come in. This was Rome's plan;
to deliberately starve the Jewish people into submission.
History records that over a million of the Jews trapped in
Jerusalem, were starved to death in the "Roman seige" of
the city in 70 A.D.
However, when those four disciples of
Christ saw the approach of the Roman army, they spread the word
to every one of the Lord's disciples in the whole city to
assemble together at the "holy place" before the Jewish
Temple. They did what the Lord had insructed them to do;
"...stand in the holy place...." . Then when the
Roman army opened the gate in the wall next to the Temple, for
the purpose of erecting the statue of Jupiter in the courtyard
of the Temple, all of the Lord's disciples rushed
out of the open gate when it was momentarily left unguarded, and
thereby their lives were saved. Not one true believer
[disciple of Christ] perished in the seige of Jerusalem in 70
A.D. Not one!
Glory to God! Hallelujah!
Praise the Lord! What a merciful God and Savior we true
Christian believers have as our God and Savior. and ".....a very
present help in trouble," Psalm 46:1. Hallelujah!
How could any true believer not love the Lord God?
The Lord's Care For Israel
While the passage in Matthew 24:15 was
a warning for the Lord's disciples, it is just as evident that
the passage in Mark 13:14 was a warning for the people of Israel
[Judea at the time]. There is no doubt that some of the
Jewish people took heed to the warning and fled from the Holy
Land, leaving the land desolate and empty. But over a
million of the Jewish people ignored the Lord's warning, and
rushed to Jerusalem, thinking they would be safe within the
walls of Jerusalem; surely the Roman army would not destroy the
beautiful city of Jerusalem. Bad thinking and bad choice!
The Roman army surrounded the city,
allowing no one to enter and no one to leave. Within a few
weeks all of the food in Jerusalem had been consumed, and the
Roman army prevented any more food from
being brought into the city.
How bad did it get? It
became so bad that some Jewish people ate the dead bodies
of those who had just died, and some even ate their own babies
and infant children. No, I'm not making this up. Such is
clearly recorded in the history written by Josephus, and such
was clearly prophesied in God's Word to occur long before it
came to pass, Jeremiah 19:9; Lamentations 2:20.
When Will the "Abomination" be Set Up?
When we look at Daniel 9:27, it is
evident that the anti-christ will make, or strengthen, a
covenant with the nation of Israel for seven years, then after
three and one-half years have passed, he will violate the
covenant. In other words, for the first three
and one-half years of the future seven year Tribulation period,
the anti-christ will "pretend" to be a friend of Israel. The
prophetic Scriptures in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 clearly reveal his
intention to enter the Temple and proclaim himself to be
God, Therefore, since he intends to proclaim himself to be
God, he may even help the Jews to rebuild the Temple during the
first half of the Tribulation. It should be obvious to our
readers that it is only when the anti-christ violates his
covenant with the Jewish people at the middle of the Tribulation
and declares himself to be God, that he will then set up the
image of himself in the courtyard of the Temple. These
truths are explicitly confirmed in Revelation 13. So the
"abomination that maketh desolate" [Daniel 11:31] is set up at
or just after the middle of the seven year Tribulation
period. According to Revelation 13:5 he continues to rule
the wicked, unbelieving world for "42 months." That
calculates to be 1,260 days or three and one-half years.
At This Time We Are Still Living
in the Dispensation of Grace
The resurrection and rapture has not
taken place! No seven year covenant has been made or signed!
Therefore the seven year Tribulation is still ahead for those
left behind on the earth, when the rapture does occur.
The Lord Jesus repeatedly warned His
disciples to "beware" of false prophets and deceivers, many of
whom would come under the guise of being dedicated
"Christians;" "ravening wolves" dressed in "sheep's
clothing," Matthew 7:15, 24:4-5, 24:11, 24:24, and many other
New Testament Scriptures. Take heed!
Just this week I received an email from
a religionist attacking and railing against Brother John Tng,
the manager of the Five Doves website. According to
the man's own email, Brother Tng refused to post some of the
man's unscriptural garbage about a three and one-half year
Tribulation, and the Lord's Second Coming in 2023.
Praise God for Brother Tng, and his
stand for the truth of God's Word. I ask our readers to
pray for Brother Tng and Five Doves.
Obviously this phony religionist
doesn't believe John's vision in Revelation of a seven year
Tribulation. I have no choice but to presume the man
believes the Lord Jesus lied when he gave His vision to John,
for the Lord certainly taught a seven year Tribulation period in
Revelation.
The last time I calculated it, 1,260 days for the ministry of
God's Two Witnesses, as clearly stated in Rev. 11:3, and 42
months for the reign of "the beast" [anti-christ] after he has
killed the "Two Witnesses" as clearly stated in Rev. 13:5,
adds up to seven years.
The resurrection and rapture hasn't yet
taken place, and therefore the Tribulation period hasn't yet
begun. And this is the year, 2019. But this phony
religionist is claiming the Second Coming of Christ will occur
in 2023. 2019 until 2023 is only five years.
Unless this religionist can figure out how to squeeze seven
years into a five year period of time, I have no choice
but to believe he is a false prophet, a deceiver, and a liar!
Is this stated clearly enough? Matthew 7:15.
Conclusion
I truly hope this study has been of
some help in demonstrating to God's people, how to "rightly
divide the Word of truth." STUDY God's Word, and believe
what you study. And pray for the guidance of God's Holy Spirit,
John 16:13. This is the "key" to correctly understanding
and "rightly dividing" Bible prophecy, and all of God's Word.
I truly hope every reader is saved by
the grace of God in Christ. If any reader has doubts, then
read and believe John 3:3-7; 3:16-18; 3:36, 5:24, 14:6, Acts
4:12, 16:30-31, 20:21, Romans 10:8-13, Ephesians 2:8-10, and
many other similar Scriptures in regards to salvation.
May our gracious Lord God add His
blessings to this study.
<<<<<<<
O
>>>>>>>
My personal contact information:
POSTAL.......Pastor F. M. Riley, 14275 Co. Rd. 8120, Rolla, MO
65401
EMAIL.........francismriley34@gmail.com
PHONE.......573-202-6493
<<<<<<<
O
>>>>>>>