THE END IS NOT YET!
These are the words of Jesus in Matt 24:6 “and ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet”. Mark 13:7 “And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet”. So for the end to happen there must not be any wars or rumors of wars, meaning Israel must be in peace. I know that this peace looks impossible, but it must happen for God’s word to be true. 1 Thessalonians 5:3 “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”. This is talking about the day of the Lord, which has not happened yet, since both “say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction” must happen around the same time. Both of these must happen to fulfill this statement, indicating before the day of the Lord they must be living in peace and safety. At this time I would like to point out that this sudden destruction is not a result of war, but the resurrection of the dead in Christ. If we look at the time Jesus rose from the dead in Matt 28:2 “And behold there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it”. Jesus is the first fruits of the resurrection with a great earthquake, how much more when a worldwide earthquake happens at the resurrection of the dead in Christ. This would definitely be sudden destruction up on the whole world.
Now to show the parallels of the resurrection of the dead in Christ to Ezekiel 38.
In 38:6 & 11 “brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. 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”. This shows that Israel will be at peace just as I Thess 5:3 indicates.
In 38:16 “I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes”. 38:23”Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord”. The resurrection of the dead is going to show the world that He is the Lord.
In Ezekiel 38:20 says that “shall shake at my presence” so we know that He will be present at this time which also in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first”. So in both scriptures it shows His presence to but not on the earth.
In Ezekiel 38:19,20 “For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground”. This destruction will be sudden and a result of a great earth quake when the dead in Christ rise from their graves. This sudden destruction will cause everyone on earth to shake during the resurrection of the dead. This sounds like a worldwide earthquake to me. How long will this shaking be for? In Revelation 3:10 it states “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth”. It seems to indicate the resurrection of the dead in Christ will take one hour. Those that are kept from this one hour of temptation will be the bride of Christ, not everyone that is in Christ. This will be all those who have not defiled their wedding garment and will walk with the Lord in white. Everyone that is in Christ will be raptured to heaven. Could this be the worldwide earthquake during the resurrection of the dead? It is written to the church, so we must be assured that it is not the seven year tribulation since the church is not here during that time! One more point about this shaking, if it was a result of war. What kinda fire power would need to be used to shake the whole planet and yet not destroy it? I don’t believe there is enough fire power in the world to shake the whole planet. Seems kinda silly, but interesting to consider!
David Blackman,