Tracking Toward Tribulation – New Book
Tim Moore, head of Lamb and Lion Ministries and Christ in Prophecy TV, encapsulates the essence of my new book of compilation, I think. He mentions in his chapter in this new book, Tracking Toward Tribulation: And the Any Moment Intervention by Jesus Christ, the words of Dr. Adrian Rogers, the late pastor of Belleview Church of Memphis, Tennessee. So I guess I will give credit to Adrian Rogers, as well as to my great friend Tim for capturing my thoughts as I began praying and thinking about this volume as it progressed.
Tim writes the following in opening his chapter:
The storm clouds of the Tribulation are gathering. The signs of the times are increasing in frequency and intensity. Even those who are spiritually blind can discern that our world is hurtling toward a chasm.
For those who are awaiting Jesus Christ—our Blessed Hope—even these foreboding signs point to the imminence of His return. As Adrian Rogers once said, ‘It’s getting gloriously dark!”
Indeed, movement toward the time on earth the Lord Jesus Himself declared would be the worst of all human history is storming upon this generation. Jesus said about that coming era that if He didn’t intervene, no flesh would be saved; all of humankind would perish. But He added that for the sake of the saints–believers in Christ—the days of that terrible time will be shortened.
And this is, in fact, the essence of Tracking Toward Tribulation.
Tim Moore was agreeing with Dr. Rogers that the times are growing “gloriously dark,” meaning the Lord Jesus Christ has assured believers He will intervene so we who accept Him as our Savior and Lord will not perish in that coming time of unalloyed evil. And I am convicted that, in some sense, Jesus was referring to the Rapture of the Church as well as to the rescue of Tribulation saints.
It is glorious to think of the moment of Rapture when Jesus calls us into the clouds of Heaven’s domain to be with Him forever.
That promise, of course, is reinforced in the words given to John, the writer of Revelation, by the Ascended Christ:
“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” (Revelation 3:10).
This book is a bit different from my many previous books of compilation—compilation meaning a number of authors writing chapters. It is different in that, in the previous books, I assigned topics I requested each author to write. The chapters were based largely on each writer’s area of expertise and interest.
For Tracking Toward Tribulation: And the Any Moment Intervention by Jesus Christ, I asked each author to choose material they’ve recently produced, with the only direction from me, the general editor, being that they stay within the bounds of our basic title (Tracking Toward Tribulation). And our main thrust, of course, was implicit within my request. The glorious part about all the darkness in considering the time of Tribulation is the Heaven-guaranteed promise by Jesus Himself that He will suddenly interrupt that movement into the evil-spawned darkness by removing believers of the Church Age from this judgment-bound earth.
We taped television programs for this book at SkyWatch TV in Crane, Missouri. Defender Publishing, the publisher of this and many of my books, is, along with SkyWatch TV, a part of my great friend Tom Horn’s inspired and brilliant vision for a corporate Christian media entity that deals largely in matters of Bible prophecy. Preparing for the programs and actually doing them, I think, helped me to understand just how special this particular book effort is in covering where the world stands at this moment on God’s prophetic timeline.
The SkyWatch TV program’s host, Joe Ardis Horn, always manages to bring out in these interviews the most pertinent and fascinating information from among the authors involved during the tapings of the books Defender publishes. This was no exception. The book is one of the best volumes of its type of my experienced memory. And it’s due to the great writers and their acumen and expertise in God’s prophetic Word and in observation of prophetic import they see developing as this generation moves more deeply in the direction of the coming time of trouble described by Jesus and the prophets.
In my view, the Holy Spirit’s imprint is heavily on this joint effort. Each author, I believe this book validates, has been given special insight while addressing the topics they chose to present.
Anyone familiar with today’s writers, broadcasters, preachers, and teachers of God’s Word in general and in Bible prophecy in particular will recognize this line-up of contributors as God’s people, gifted to do His prophecy-oriented work. I believe the reader will agree this book is meant to be released in this late hour of this fleeting Age of Grace.
In addition to my own contributions, here are the authors of Tracking Toward Tribulation. I give them here in the order of their chapters as presented: Jan Markell, Brandon Holthaus, Jonathan C. Brentner, Mike Gendron, Dr. Nathan E. Jones, Pete Garcia, Donna Howell and Allie Anderson, Bill Salus, Tom Hughes, Daymond Duck, Tim Moore, Dr. Randall Price, Jim Fletcher, Wilfred Hahn, and Mondo Gonzales.
With the words, “And when you shall see all these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your head, for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28), Jesus, God Himself, gave the formula for knowing just how close is His coming to receive unto Himself those who believe.
The key in this statement by the Creator of all that exists are the words “all these things.”
There are many things to consider included within this framework given by Jesus Christ in answering his immediate disciples’ question: “What shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the age?”
We who have determined to enter this examination prayerfully look at each of “all these things” in order to give the reader of this volume an accurate as possible picture of where this generation stands on God’s prophetic timeline.
Most who observe these times as Jesus commanded—“What I say unto one, I say unto all, watch” (Mark 13:37)—agree. All these things we are to “watch” have accelerated significantly within the recent months, weeks, and days. The ominous foreshadows of the Tribulation–Daniel’s seventieth week—hang heavily above every point on earth.
Yet the gathering darkness that closes in gives those who are in God’s family the opportunity to shine the light of His Truth that Jesus Christ alone is the hope for mankind. Christians are to be the light that reflects from our Savior’s heavenly luminescence. We are to be both salt and light to a decaying, darkening world.
We are to be looking up all the while for our redemption, which is growing ever nearer.
That moment—the twinkling-of-an-eye moment of Rapture—is indeed imminent!
There is one and only one way to go to Jesus in this glorious event when He calls—the one and only way of escaping the coming time of trouble such as people of the earth have never endured:
“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. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).
—Terry
Order Tracking Toward Tribulation: And the Any Moment Intervention By Jesus Christ at the ministry website of your choice, or at the following:
The Missing Piece
Unlike any other time in the church age, we see a multitude of signs telling us that the Tribulation period is rapidly approaching. However, like pieces to a jigsaw puzzle scattered about on a tabletop, we don’t yet fully recognize how they will all fit together to complete the biblical picture of the end times for Israel.
In one grouping of pieces, we see the world’s obsession with Israel and Jerusalem, precisely as the prophet Zechariah predicted for the last days (12:1-3). The purpose of the upcoming UN Conference on Palestine’ set for June 2-4, is to set in motion a two-state solution to resolve the Middle East conflict. The member nations hope to impose their seven or ten-year peace accord upon Israel during the UN’s celebration of its 80th birthday this coming September.
The UN initiative also calls for an immediate ceasefire of all hostilities in the region, with Israel giving up all the territory it acquired in the Six-Day War of 1967, including East Jerusalem.
Obstacles
While the upcoming meetings at the UN point us in the direction of Daniel’s seventieth week (see Daniel 9:27), they don’t quite get us there; something is missing. First, we notice at least two key obstacles that stand in the way of the UN imposing its will on Israel.
First, President Trump opposes the two-state solution offered by the UN. In addition, he has promoted the ideas of clearing all the Palestinians out of Gaza, settling them in other Arab nations, and creating a Palestinian State within the borders of Saudi Arabia. He has established a starting point for negotiations that’s far afield from the tried and failed solutions of the past.
Second, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will certainly refuse the UN plan. He has oftentimes rejected the idea of a return to pre-1967 borders, recognizing that such a solution would be suicidal for the Jewish people living in Israel, and he’s absolutely correct! With the backing of a popular and highly influential US President, Netanyahu stands on firm ground in his resistance to the UN plan.
The Antichrist Will Confirm the Covenant
Furthermore, the Bible tells us that the antichrist will confirm the upcoming peace covenant with Israel, which initiates Daniel’s seventieth week, the seven-year Tribulation for the world. Daniel 9:27 mentions the “many,” which suggests the inclusion of other nations in the deal. However, they are not the ones who will impose the prophetic peace accord upon Israel such as the UN intends to do later this year. The two prominent participants in the biblical peace accord will be the antichrist and Israel.
In Isaiah 28:14-22, the Lord admonishes Israel for entering into a future “covenant of death,” which is almost certainly a prophecy concerning the accord the nation will make with the antichrist. God will judge the nations for dividing the Land (Joel 3:1-3), but He will hold Israel’s leaders responsible for agreeing to the antichrist’s terms. In other words, Israel will agree to the deal that kicks off Daniel’s last week; it’s not something the nations will impose upon Israel apart from the consent of its leaders.
The Hidden Piece
The missing piece to all that we see happening with the UN, Israel, and Jerusalem is the Rapture. It’s the key piece that enables the completion of the puzzle.
It’s possible that the coming “man of lawlessness” is already involved in some way with the UN Conference on Palestine. However, he cannot take center stage on the world scene until after Jesus removes His church from it (2 Thessalonians 2:3-8). In the meantime, we might have guesses concerning his identity, but we cannot know for sure. Because the Lord is restraining him at the moment, he can’t lead the peacemaking negotiations until after we are gone.
The Rapture will also remove the US as a key obstacle to the UN plan. The ensuing chaos will instantly remove America as a world power and greatly limit its ability to defend Israel. I believe that the Gog/Magog invasion will happen after the Rapture as the participants take advantage of a greatly weakened US.
The radically changed landscape of the post-Rapture world will also give the antichrist the perfect opening to convince a war-weary Israel to agree to his covenant of peace. After the Gog/Magog war, he will be able to make his deal all the more appealing by allowing for the rebuilding of the third temple, which Israel greatly desires at the moment but won’t receive as a part of the UN Conference on Palestine, which will likely take away their access to the Temple Mount.
Of course, the current UN agenda for Israel and Jerusalem is prophetically significant. I always expected the Rapture would occur before I heard even any mention of a possible seven-year peace accord with Israel. The fact that the nations of the world are considering such a plan tells us we surely live in biblical times.
Until the Rapture occurs, the UN’s plan seems headed for failure. After that, however, the antichrist will be free to take control of the negotiations and make Israel an offer they will not refuse.
-Jonathan