God recently honored me with an invitation to speak at a church on the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24).

Last week, I shared my understanding on the “beginnings of sorrows” (the Jewish name; equivalent to the Church Age; a preparation or stage-setting for the birth pangs also known as the Tribulation Period, Seventieth Week of Daniel, etc.).

I want to give you more from the presentation this week and let our readers know that I will be away from my computer several days in the next two weeks (visit our son and his family; then have surgery).

I am telling you this because I am preparing the articles ahead of time, and to let you know that I do intend to get back to current events soon.

Anyway, Jesus mentioned an event in the Olivet Discourse that will happen after the beginnings of sorrows (Matt. 24:6-8).

He said, “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:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains” (Matt. 24:15-16).

The Jewish Temple will have to be rebuilt for the abomination of desolation to stand in the holy place (also called the Holy of Holies).

The Holy of Holies was behind the veil that tore in two when Jesus was crucified.

In Old Testament times, God dwelled behind that veil in the Holy of Holies.

The only person allowed behind that veil was the High Priest, and he could only go behind it once a year on the Great Day of Atonement after taking a bath, putting on a clean High Priest’s robe, offering a sacrifice and having his sins forgiven.

The Jews put little bells on the hem of the High Priest’s robe so other priests could hear him moving around behind the veil.

They tied a rope around the High Priest’s ankle so they could drag him out if the bells stopped ringing and they decided that he had died in the presence of God.

The abomination of desolation is mentioned 5 times in the Bible (3 in the book of Daniel, once in the book of Mark and once in the book of Matthew).

It refers to an image (or a statue) of the Antichrist that will be set up in the Holy of Holies in the rebuilt Jewish Temple at the middle of the Tribulation Period.

The root word for abomination means to make foul or to stink.

The Antichrist will be a Satan worshiper from the Bottomless Pit.

Paul said he will sit in the Temple and say that he is God (that is blasphemy; II Thess. 2:3-4).

John the Revelator said the False Prophet will command people to worship the image of the Antichrist (that is idolatry; a violation of the Second Commandment; Ex. 20:4-6).

Putting an image of a Satan-worshipping, blasphemer and idolater in the Holy of Holies where no one but our Holy God and the cleansed and forgiven High Priest are supposed to be will be a repugnant, foul, stinking insult to God and the Jews.

It will be so repugnant that it will cause the Jews to abandon the Temple and let it become desolate.

In the gospel of John, we read that Jesus was in a controversy with some Jews.

He said, “I 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).

Some prophecy teachers believe Jesus was telling those Jews, “You rejected me as your Messiah, but you will accept the Antichrist as your Messiah.”

The Antichrist is being restrained today by the Church and the Holy Spirit.

The Antichrist can’t appear while the Church is here.

After the Rapture, the Antichrist will confirm or sign a peace treaty that will give Israel permission to rebuild the Temple.

At the middle of the Tribulation Period, the Abomination of Desolation will be set up in the Holy of Holies.

That will be a turning point for Israel.

The sight of that repugnant, foul, stinking image of the Antichrist in the Holy of Holies will cause the Jews to finally realize that the Antichrist is not their Messiah.

It will ultimately contribute to the salvation of many Jews.

Jesus said when you see that, let them that be in Judea (not all Israel, some on the West Bank) flee into the mountains.

The Book of Revelation says the Jews in Judea should flee into the mountains because the Antichrist will try to kill them during the last half of the Tribulation Period.

Today, there is a great effort by some Jews to rebuild the Temple.

A rebuilt Temple will pave the way for the Abomination of Desolation to stand in the Holy of Holies.

We are literally witnessing the beginnings of sorrows (preparations for the birth pangs, also called preparations for the Tribulation Period, the Church Age, etc.).

Praise God for the Rapture.

Prophecy Plus Ministries, Inc.
Daymond & Rachel Duck
duck_daymond@yahoo.com

 

Lately, it seems like I have had more than I can do; and something that I spent much time on was an invitation to teach on the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24).

Because I am so covered up, I decided to pass on some of my notes from that presentation.

Jesus sat down on the Mount of Olives and started talking about a period of time before the end of the age that will experience deception, many false Christs, wars and rumors of wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes (Matt. 24:4-8).

He called that period of time the “beginnings of sorrows,” but why? (Note: KJV says beginnings of sorrows; RSV says beginning of the birth pangs; ML says early pains of childbirth; etc.)

The first mention of sorrows in the Bible was when Satan tempted Adam and Eve to sin in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:1-6).

God put curses on Satan, Adam and Eve.

His curse on Eve reads, “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children” (Gen. 3:16).

The word that is translated “sorrow” means birth pangs, labor pains, travail.

Because of sin, a woman will have birth pangs when she bears a child.

One of the names of the Tribulation Period is the “birth pangs.”

It will be destruction like a “woman in travail” (I Thess. 5:3).

Other names include the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble,” the “Seventieth Week of Daniel,” the “Great and Terrible Day of the Lord” and more.

So, the period of deception, many false Christs, wars, famines, etc. that come before the end of the age are the “beginnings of sorrows” (the beginnings of the birth pangs).

And the period after that is the Tribulation Period or the actual birth pangs.

Jesus called that period of time the “beginnings of sorrows” (KJV), but Christians call it the Church Age, the Age of Grace, etc.

In the Old Testament, God was talking about Israel’s enemies on earth, and He said, “Before she (the earth) travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things” (Isa. 66:7-8a)?

It is normal for a woman to have birth pains before her baby is born, but this verse reads, “Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered.”

For clarity’s sake, God was saying the nation of Israel will be born before the birth pains (the nation of Israel will come into being before the Tribulation Period).

“Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered.”

God asked, “Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things?”

Today, it might not be unusual for a woman to have a baby before she has birth pains, but in Old Testament times, women had birth pains before they had a baby.

People never heard of a woman having a baby before she had birth pains.

If that happened, it would be unusual; a miracle; an act of God.

So, God asked two questions: “Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once” (Isa. 66:8b)?

Should God cause the earth to bring forth a nation in one day (should God cause Israel to come forth at once)?

The implied answer is that it would take a miracle or an act of God for a nation to come into being in one day.

Guess what? Israel came into being as a nation in one day on May 14, 1948.

Israel’s birth was a miracle because so many nations opposed it; but for some unexplained reason, several nations changed their vote at the last minute.

This is the point: God revealed that Israel would become a nation in one day before the birth pangs (before the Tribulation Period), and that has literally happened.

Here are two reasons why Israel came into being before the Tribulation Period.

One, Israel came into being before the Tribulation Period because Israel has to go through the Tribulation Period (through the seventieth week of Daniel; Dan. 9:24).

Two, Israel came into being before the Tribulation Period because there are other prophecies that require the existence of Israel (Israel will sign a peace treaty that begins the Tribulation Period).

Don’t underestimate the significance of Israel becoming a nation.

It signifies that other things are coming (Tribulation Period; covenant, etc.).

One, birth pains are a reminder that God judged Eve for sin.

Two, birth pains are a reminder that God has appointed a time to judge the nations for sin (Zeph. 3:8).

Three, the things that we are seeing today are indications (reminders, forerunners, signs) that the real birth pains or the real agony is coming (false Christs: reminder Antichrist is coming; wars: reminder Battle of Armageddon is coming; earthquakes: reminder that greatest earthquake ever is yet to come, etc.).

Why did Jesus caution people about false Christs, wars, famine, pestilence, earthquakes and deception?

We have these things in the “beginnings of sorrows” (Church Age) today, but the ultimate false Christ will be the Antichrist; the ultimate war will be the Battle of Armageddon;  the ultimate famine will be the third horseman of the Apocalypse;  the ultimate pestilence will be the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse; the greatest deceivers will be the Antichrist and False Prophet, etc.

The “beginnings of sorrows” (Church Age) is almost over (the Rapture is near), and the most important thing that any of us can do is to be ready and to try to help others be ready.

God willing, I will share more of the talk in another article.

Prophecy Plus Ministries, Inc.
Daymond & Rachel Duck
duck_daymond@yahoo.com