This brief message is to bring to light a key element of the Bible. This is a general overview of a biblical foundation that is seldom, if ever, shared by most teachers or pastors. Basically, it’s to present what the Bible is really about.

The need for a message like this became obvious when the Verse-by-Verse Bible Study Ministry was teaching a prophecy study to 60 students with an average of over 30 years as Christians. A poll revealed that only one person in the group “thought” they knew what the Bible is about. Consider this group had a total of 1,800 years of collective individual Christian experience time. Taking it one step further, we assume that they had attended at least 40 Sunday services a year since they became Christians. If that were the case, then there was in this group a total of individual Christians who had heard 72,000+ sermons, and even after 72,000+ sermons, only one person thought they “might” know what the Bible is about. That number was very disturbing.

It then became apparent that what the Bible is really about is “The Missing Message” in the vast majority of the churches and Bible studies. This is really curious since it should be the most important and interesting message for believers today.

A recent check of YouTube videos found that there weren’t many that said they were going to tell you what the Bible is about. When I listened to at least the beginning of most of those videos, I discovered they were about the Bible structure, such as how many books (66), how many scribes (40), that there was an Old Testament and a New Testament, etc. Basically, what they told you was how the Bible was organized and who the scribes were. None of them covered the topic of what the Bible is about. So, that’s what triggered this document to give believers a general overview of what the Bible is really about.

So, what is the Bible about?? The Bible is a biography, not of a person, but of planet Earth. You Bible students are already aware that in Genesis Chapter 1, the earth is created, and in Revelation Chapter 21, the earth is gone. The Bible covers what happens on earth during that approximately 7,000 years and provides two additional chapters describing what happens after (Revelation 21 & 22). It is essential that we understand the big picture. The details and smaller pieces will not make sense until we do.

The Bible covers planet Earth from beginning to end. It tells us about the people on earth, from Adam to the last person alive on the planet in Revelation. It tells us how God deals with people during this whole time. It also tells us that God divides the people into groups; the first group is the nation of Israel. In Genesis Chapter 35, God changes Jacob’s name to Israel, his 12 sons become the leaders and names of the 12 tribes, and their descendants become the members.

The second group is the church, which was born on Pentecost, 32 AD, with the arrival of the Holy Spirit. It has the best blessings, too numerous to mention in an overview, and continues until today. In regard to Jesus, the Bible tracks His genealogy (approximately 4,000 years) all the way from Adam to when Jesus rides in on the donkey on the first Palm Sunday to be declared the Messiah of the nation of Israel but is rejected. Jesus then explains to us what’s going to happen next and starts teaching about the coming church era, which is what we have had for approximately the last 2,000 years.

The Bible covers nations and, in particular, describes the nations that have relationships with the nation of Israel, both good and bad. In Genesis 12:3, God tells the nations that He will bless those who bless Israel, and He will curse those who curse Israel. That continues to happen to this very day.

Every book or story needs a villain, and our book has the world’s best, Satan himself. The Bible describes what Satan does on earth, some of what he does in heaven, and his final demise into the lake of fire (Rev 20:10).

It is important to understand that God has a master plan and that He also has foreknowledge. He sanctioned prophets and apostles to bring that message to us, and, in most cases, those prophets and apostles paid with their lives to bring us these messages in the Bible.

To summarize, the major themes are:

o Planet – Creation to destruction

o People – From Adam & Eve to the last person born on earth

o Groups of people –

• Israel –Gen 35 – Rev 20
• Church – John 12 – Rev 22

o Nations – The nations of the world, but primarily those involved with Israel, from 1,500 BC to the end. Example:

• Gen 12:3 “And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse” (NASU).

o Jesus – His involvement in things on earth and in heaven

o Satan – His attempts to cause God’s master plan to fail on earth, from beginning to end.

Scripture defines God’s involvement in all of this from the beginning to at least 1,007 years into the future from now.

Some say, “I didn’t even know God had a master plan.” Folks, think about this: we are flying along on our little planet at 66K/MPH.

Someone better have a plan!!!!

If you have been considering what was previously written, you may have come to the realization that we are literally living this book. In fact, everyone on earth or has ever been on earth is living this book, whether they believe it or not. Therefore, everyone should be very interested in what it says about the time in which they are living and what will happen in their future.

So, scripture defines for us God’s involvement on Earth and His relationship with the people on earth from the beginning to the end. For us today, it’s most important that we understand what we need to do to be on God’s side during this period of time and the phenomenal future for those who are.

As a bonus, I am adding one of the great mysteries involving the Bible. That mystery is that very few people today understand what the Bible is about. In fact, there doesn’t appear to be a single leader of a nation or of a world organization today that understands what the Bible is about and that everything it says will happen in the future will happen just like it always has.

A prophecy that’s being fulfilled today is Matthew 24:37-39, which simply says how the time we are living in now will be like the days of Noah. The people will not know what is about to happen. For the people in the days of Noah, that would be the flood. For the people on earth today, it would be the tribulation period. Jesus himself declared the tribulation period will be the most devastating period of time since the beginning (Matthew 24:21). That is what is about to happen here on earth.

We’re told by the prophets and apostles that we will see the beginning of the events of the tribulation period while the church is still here. The evidence is overwhelming that it is happening now. God had prophets and apostles sacrifice their lives to get us this message. He obviously really wants us to know what is about to happen. The big mystery is, since we’ve been printing Bibles since the 1500s and practically everyone today has one, why don’t the majority of the people understand it, particularly the leaders?

Also, how about the pastors? It would appear that there are not many pastors that have this perspective or this understanding of God’s Word. Those that know, understand, and have belief, hope, and faith in God’s Word are the only ones who know peace as we approach the end of the church era and continually anticipate the arrival of His Son, an event known as the rapture of the church. The Bible-knowledge believer has total confidence in this since everything prophesied in the Bible has always happened exactly as stated.

Many of us who know Jesus as our Savior look for His appearing. We eagerly anticipate the day Jesus suddenly catches us up to meet Him in the air and takes us up to glory before the anti-Christ initiates the tribulation period here on earth (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11).

Those left behind will feel the full force of the troubles about which the Lord is graciously warning all those who will listen. The time is now to look up in anticipation of Jesus’ soon appearance, which is imminent. Please don’t fall for the lie that the Lord will not return until after you die. That is not the reality that scripture points us to.

If you have not yet put your complete trust in Jesus, please, please don’t delay; call upon Jesus while you may! Yes, many people will turn to the Savior during the Tribulation and receive eternal life. However, the vast majority of those who do will experience severe persecution and martyrdom. It’s far better to heed God’s warnings now before the full impact of the Tribulation becomes reality.

Today, we should be expecting the unexpected. We don’t know which of the tribulation events we will witness the start of; perhaps it will be all of them. Stay in the Word, the one thing you can rely on.

One thing to never forget, even though we are witnessing the decline of our nation: keep in mind that most of us have been privileged to have lived during its very best years. In addition, all of us born-again, Spirit-filled believers have the most incredible inheritance waiting for us of any who have lived on earth. We are blessed. Thank you, Father. This is most likely the best time to have lived on earth in the last 1,991 years.

I hope this general overview of what the Bible is about will help you in your understanding of God’s Word when you’re reading, studying and discussing the Bible, which I hope all of you do. I also hope this document is a faith-building blessing to those that desire to understand what is happening on earth and what God is about to do.

Remember, live every day in the full recognition of:

• Who God is
• Who you are
• Where you are in time
• What’s the plan

God bless you,

Gene Dahler

Verse-by-Verse Bible Study Ministry

genedahler@att.net

There has much buzz among prophecy watchers concerning the upcoming UN SDG Summit this September in New York. According to the UN’s own website, “It will mark the beginning of a new phase of accelerated progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals with high-level political guidance on transformative and accelerated actions leading up to 2030.”

In 2015, most countries’ leaders (including Israel) agreed to 17 SDGs to adopt by 2030 to tackle poverty, violent conflict, human rights abuses, climate change, and environmental degradation. We are at halftime, and the UN General Assembly is not happy with the progress thus far. Perhaps September will be a halftime pep talk to ensure they get the ball over the goal line before the clock runs out. The UN will be asking Heads of State and Government to recommit 7 years now of accelerated action to deliver on their promises of 2015 for 2030.

The mention of 7 years gets my spidey senses tingling when mentioned in the same breath as some global initiative, as it should yours if you are also watching for a 7-year covenant, as presented in Daniel 9:27.

“He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him” (NIV).

I’ve always found it curious that Daniel mentioned a covenant specifically set for 7 years. Many prophecy teachers will just explain that possibly this covenant, which “he” (anti-Christ) will confirm (or strengthen), won’t have a number of years attached to it but will end up being 7 years when Jesus returns after its confirmation. But for this instance of the September Summit, the UN is asking (or really requiring) that the nations commit to 7 years of accelerated action, as mentioned previously. And you know the US is on board.

We don’t know what will come out of this summit, but perhaps a treaty or covenant of some sort will result! Then it would just take the “he” who may be waiting in the shadows to “confirm or strengthen” this so-called covenant. Wow! Could this be the year Christians have been waiting for?! Time will tell. It truly seems that this will be an opportunity for a swing for the fence.

I view the Abraham Accords instigated by #45 in 2020, signed by Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Morocco, and Israel, to also be a swing for the fence. Well, it turned out to be an automatic “swing and a miss” since 4 is not “many,” as required by Daniel’s prophecy of 9:27. The Church is still here, and the seals of Revelation have not been opened, but at least it was a swing! This UN swing definitely has some teeth to it since it involves all nations, basically, and there is a 7-year tag to it.

Now for the crux of this article. I want to suppose that this is the year that the tribulation of Revelation begins. This article is not about the Rapture. Christians may argue about the validity or the timing of it. I know both from what the Bible says and am at peace with it and so looking forward to it. What I want to do here is look at a possible date for the start of the tribulation.

The Bible does not say that people won’t know the day or the hour of Jesus’ 2nd coming. It can be calculated to the exact day from when the covenant is signed. We’ve already reviewed it in Daniel 9:27. It’s 7 years! Prophecy students and teachers understand that 1 year in the Bible is a lunar year, meaning it equals 360 days, not the 365 days of a solar year. The Hebrew calendar is based on lunar years. You can go down the rabbit hole yourself some time to study it if you are not aware. Therefore, the total amount of days between the signing of a future covenant and the return to earth of our Savior is 2,520. This is split into halves in Revelation, listed as 1,260 days or 42 months or time, times and ½ a time in Daniel. I will come back to this.

Something that many Christians may not be aware of the significance of is the 7 ‘designated times of Adonai’ or the Festivals of the Lord. The timing of these is clearly provided in Leviticus 23. We know them as Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, Yom-Kippur (or Day of Atonement), and Tabernacles. I encourage you to study the timing of these, described in Leviticus 23 versus the events of Jesus’ last days on earth, including Pentecost. You will discover that the Lord fulfilled the first 4 Festivals on the actual days given to the Israelites in succession – boom, boom, boom, boom!

Please don’t take my word for it – study it for yourselves. Because this is key to how I’ve come to an interesting proposal – for the beginning of the tribulation, not the Rapture. I see the convergence of all the end of days signs provided by the prophets, including Jesus, the greatest prophet. With this in mind and an upcoming swing for the fence by the UN, shouldn’t we be excitedly anticipating the things of the end? Christians should!

“When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” Luke 21:28 NIV).

I mentioned the Festivals of the Lord as a possible key to the timing of the return of Jesus and the start of the tribulation. I say this because it would seem logical that Jesus will return to Israel, picking up where He left off, meaning He will come back to earth at the Feast of Trumpets (again, not the Rapture). He will deliver the Jews from the oppression of the anti-Christ (and the nations) when He returns, and they will believe he is their Messiah.

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son” (Zechariah 12:10 NIV).

If Jesus returns on the Feast of Trumpets and fulfills the remaining 3 Feasts, it will be boom, boom, bang!

But I can only surmise. It’s what I do. I can’t wait to be with Jesus, so I look for rays of light in the clouds of darkness, lol. Please do not set your hopes on what I’m about to show. I do it in the spirit of standing up and lifting up my head as we are commanded to do. So here goes.

I’ve looked into the schedule of the 2030 Festivals days, and I found that the Feast of Trumpets falls on September 28th, the 1st day of Tishrei, 2030, or Hebrew Year of 5791. The calendar day begins at sundown the day before when 3 stars are visible in the sky. If it’s cloudy and stars aren’t seen, the 1st day of Tishrei falls to the next night. I say this because there is some wiggle room as to when the Feast begins (within a day or 2). When I back-calculate 2,520 days, as mentioned previously, I come to 11/4/23, give a day or 2. Will a UN covenant be confirmed by “he” on this date? At least now you can understand why there is much buzz concerning a UN Summit this September requiring a 7-year effort by the nations to meet the 17 SDGs by 2030 committed to in 2015.

When will another 7-year effort come around with global implications for another swing for the fence? God knows. He could do a reset with the UN (really Satan’s) goal of 2030 Global Governance tomorrow. I’m just looking at what’s before us today.

“But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober” (1 Thes 5:4-6).

Maranatha!

Jeff Hauck

jeffreyjhauck@yahoo.com