Matthew 24:
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
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42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
I believe "watch" means to watch for the signs of his coming. If you're pre-trib, how do you watch? Do you go outside and look up?
Here are the signs I'm looking for.
1. Wars and rumors of wars, famines, pestilences
Jesus mentioned this in Matthew 24:6-7 which is exactly what is described in Revelation 6. The 2nd seal is war, the 3rd seal is hyperinflation and famine, the 4th seal is death from hunger and disease.
2. Mass persecution and killing of Christians
In Revelation 6:9-10 is describes the mass killing of Christians:
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
4. A rebuilt Jewish temple
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
Here are the signs I'm looking for.
1. Wars and rumors of wars, famines, pestilences
Jesus mentioned this in Matthew 24:6-7 which is exactly what is described in Revelation 6. The 2nd seal is war, the 3rd seal is hyperinflation and famine, the 4th seal is death from hunger and disease.
2. Mass persecution and killing of Christians
In Revelation 6:9-10 is describes the mass killing of Christians:
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
In Mark 13, Jesus described what this will be like:
9 But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.
10 And the gospel must first be published among all nations.
11 But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.
12 Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death.
13 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
3. A mark for buying and selling that is in your right hand or forehead:
I believe that this could be some sort of implantable microchip. Credit cards are already starting to include an RFID chip inside and you can pay just by hovering the card over the card reader. That could easily be put in your hand. They could promote it by showing how convenient it is and how much more secure it is than a card.
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
10 And the gospel must first be published among all nations.
11 But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.
12 Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death.
13 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
3. A mark for buying and selling that is in your right hand or forehead:
I believe that this could be some sort of implantable microchip. Credit cards are already starting to include an RFID chip inside and you can pay just by hovering the card over the card reader. That could easily be put in your hand. They could promote it by showing how convenient it is and how much more secure it is than a card.
Revelation 13:16-18 plainly says that no man will be able to buy or sell without a mark in their right hand or forehead.
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
4. A rebuilt Jewish temple
In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, Paul gives us a warning that Jesus is not coming until the "man of sin" is revealed. He also says that he will claim to be God and will sit in the temple of God. I take that to mean that the Jewish temple from the Old Testament will be rebuilt.
1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
5. A one world government
In Revelation 17 and angel gives John a recap of some of the events that happened. In verses 11-13 he describes how the world came to be governed by the anti-christ.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
It sounds like in the future the world gets divided up into 10 sections that are ruled by 10 "kings", then those 10 kings give their power to the anti-christ because they are of the same mind.
6. The abomination of desolation:
This is the big event of the tribulation. Some people will probably deny that the tribulation is happening when it begins, but when the abomination of desolation happens, no one will be able to deny that it's the tribulation.
Jesus said in Matthew 24:15-18 that when you see the abomination of desolation, flee into the mountains:
15 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:)
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
In Revelation 17 and angel gives John a recap of some of the events that happened. In verses 11-13 he describes how the world came to be governed by the anti-christ.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
It sounds like in the future the world gets divided up into 10 sections that are ruled by 10 "kings", then those 10 kings give their power to the anti-christ because they are of the same mind.
6. The abomination of desolation:
This is the big event of the tribulation. Some people will probably deny that the tribulation is happening when it begins, but when the abomination of desolation happens, no one will be able to deny that it's the tribulation.
Jesus said in Matthew 24:15-18 that when you see the abomination of desolation, flee into the mountains:
15 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:)
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
Daniel mentioned the abomination of desolation 3 times, but didn't really describe what it was, but the book of Revelation does give some insight as to what it looks like:
Revelation 13:15:
15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed
15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed
It's hard to imagine what kind of image would cause those that won't worship it to be killed, but I'm sure it will make sense when it happens.
7. The anti-christ
The bible gives a lot of detail about the anti-christ in the book of Daniel. I'll write a separate post about it at some point, but in general, he is a man that will be the head of the one world government and the one world religion. He will be worshiped by most of the world, but Matthew 24 says that Christians will not be deceived.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
7. The anti-christ
The bible gives a lot of detail about the anti-christ in the book of Daniel. I'll write a separate post about it at some point, but in general, he is a man that will be the head of the one world government and the one world religion. He will be worshiped by most of the world, but Matthew 24 says that Christians will not be deceived.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
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