Covenant Presbyterian Church

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Angels/Demons & the End Times -- Lesson #8

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We can’t see angels and demons, but they are real and active in the world. How do we know for sure? For one thing, Paul tells us in his letter to the Ephesians that a spiritual battle is taking place—the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Eph. 6:12-18). And yes, we can see Satan’s influence on the behavior of man. We can only imagine how bad it would get if God withdrew His angels who are literally restraining Satan’s demonic angels from their full fury.

I remember road trips when my kids were young, and a frequently asked question, ”Are we there yet?” As I watch the evening news—the destruction and looting, attacks on police, defacing and destruction of national monuments, I can’t help but ask myself that same question: Are we there yet? 

Have you read it? Did you struggle through it? Did you search the web for opinions? Did you search the Bible for related verses? Did you do all of the above? Many have done all of the above and still come to different conclusions. So who’s right? It is a book full of symbolism, and is not in chronical order, all of which makes it difficult to understand without a lot of digging and studying, and then some. What about the first century Christians, did they fully understand it?

Chart shows a brief overview of the Book of Revelation, chapter by chapter, with the principle message of each. The Great Tribulation appears in chapters 6-18. The only place the Apostle John sees part of the church in the Great Tribulation period is in chapter 7 but he sees it when in heaven; which helps support a pre-tribulation rapture but heightened the debate for others.

This study isn’t to promote any specific view over the others (why I haven’t mentioned mine). My intent is to explain each view with the information that is available. At times it appears that Scripture may be giving us a hint that favors a particular view. But if it was 100% conclusive, everyone would readily agree, but they don’t, so it isn’t. Expert opinions I have read, state that there are problems with all of the views. Again, if it was crystal clear, there would be one view and not three or even four. Nevertheless, most will tend to favor one view over the others, me too, which is to be expected. 

I have been researching this study topic for quite some time, and there are strong opinions for all of the views, with scriptural texts for each. As stated in the last lesson, our perception of what we read is based on a lot of factors, and some people are much more perceptive than others, and consequently make better detectives even in what the symbolism in Revelation means. So, who’s right??? Watching history unfold on the evening may provide clues… or not! 

Today’s news may very well be tomorrow’s history lesson. People living in John’s time, saw much of the contents of his letter as being related to the Roman Empire. Perhaps, as history and events unfold, and there are increasing hints of an emerging antichrist, people will slowly or suddenly recognize it as applying to our own times. 

What is the role of the Church in the eyes of God? Isn’t it to faithfully preach the Gospel of saving grace, and that we are sinners in need of a Savior, and that Savior is Jesus Christ? Our study of the End Times is God’s mystery that He will unfold in due time and at just the right moment. It should not be cause for discord in the Church—because all the evidence isn’t in yet—but it certainly is a time to be alert, which is what I hope for from this study. 

This chart highlights the 7 Churches that John records Jesus’ message to, in chapters 1-3. It lays it out from a historical perspective with a timeline and period for each of the 7 churches, and key theme for each. The chart equates today’s church with Laodicea because of its apostacy. The chart also includes other related historical events. Revelation is seen as a warning to the church, both then and now. Being a history guy, myself, seeing the Bible’s relevance to history is what caught my eye with this chart. I wouldn’t just sluff it off or rule it out as such.

We are seeing a great deal of apostasy in some mainline denominations who have abandoned the biblical gospel of saving grace, substituting a social message. They may be in the church, but certainly are not of the Church. The photos speak volumes about the state of the church in America (and Europe). 

This chart shows the pre-tribulation and mid-tribulation Raptures. I believe pictures do a better job in explaining something rather than hundreds of words. The pictures put the words into perspective making it a lot easier to grasp the message, regardless of where one inserts the Rapture. The Bible verses noted pertain to those particular events. Rev. 4:1 is John’s rapture to heaven, where he witnessed the prophesies written about in Revelation. 

When we think of the Rapture, this is what most envision. The Church isn’t of one voice on the End Time events. Are they real or just symbolism? One of the things that comes to mind when we hear “End Times” is the Rapture. The 2005 “Left Behind” TV series and a number of books depicting the Rapture brought it to the forefront of modern evangelical thinking. 

This points back to the opening slide. Are we closer than we think? Again, the state of affairs in America and the world are changing rapidly with the coronavirus pandemic and civil unrest in cities across the Nation, and even other parts of the world, which may very well be a hint, but just a hint for now. 

This chart separates Rev. 4:1 and 6:17, as the period of time leading up to the Tribulation, and puts the Rapture before Rev. 4:1—when John was called to heaven to witness the events he wrote about. The Church Age includes a warning in Jesus’ message to the church in Laodicea, the last of the 7 churches —seen in the previous chart—as a time of a great apostasy in the church. Which raises the question, are we seeing a similar apostasy in the contemporary church, and does it put us at the threshold of the End Times and a pending Tribulation? Rev. 6:17 announces the day beginning God’s wrath poured out on a sinful and unrepentant world.

This chart  explains each of four views held across the Christian world. It’s broken down in the next three slide for easier viewing. 

The key difference here is that three of the four views noted, only the Dispensational Premillennialism professes a separate Rapture. What does that mean? The other three views see the Rapture occurring at the second coming of Christ just prior to the 1,000-year millennium. 

The significance here is that only the two Premillennial views believe in the Great Tribulation, that Christians are raptured out of the world before the Great Tribulation. Amillennialism sees it as symbolic for every period of Christian persecution, including those persecuted by the Roman Empire. The Postmillennial view see it as the first century war between the Jews and the Romans.  

Again, only the Premillennial views believe the millennium is a specified 1,000-year period; the Amillennial view sees it as symbolic, and Postmillennial sees it as representing an unspecified period of peace in the world. 

This describes the Tribulation period being divided into three eras. The first half of the Tribulation gives rise to the antichrist and his reign over the entire world system. His rise to power is described with symbolism in Chapter 13 of Revelation. It would take too many lessons to cover it adequately, and since its description is symbolism, other “opinions” would have to be brought in, some better than others, which places it outside the scope of this study. 

Shows Bible verses associated with each phase of the Tribulation. Either before or during the Tribulation, God removes all of His restraining influence on the world. Can you imagine a world, where all Christians were gone, leaving voids in all levels and orders of government and public safety (police and fire), etc. Think of such a world, including a justice system void of biblical values. 

Shows Bible verses associated with each phase of the Tribulation. Either before or during the Tribulation, God removes all of His restraining influence on the world. Can you imagine a world, where all Christians were gone, leaving voids in all levels and orders of government and public safety (police and fire), etc. Think of such a world, including a justice system void of biblical values. 

Suppose the Rapture doesn’t occur before the Tribulation. How will we know if or when it begins? A strong world leader would emerge center stage, making promises that sound good to the entire world population, and ones that address all the major world problems, like a cure for the a pandemic for instance; a Middle East peace proposal that is acceptable to all parties—Jews and Muslims—not only acceptable, but praised for its brilliance. 

Do you see similar practices associated with the antichrist happening today, right here in the USA? Suppose such a leader emerged with solutions for all the world’s problems, including a vaccine for COVID-19? He would emerge as a bold leader that can solve problems, BUT, and it’s a big BUT, that would only last for a short period of time. 

Can one man assume authority and power over the entire world system? Think about the power of government we are seeing right now under the COVID-19 shutdowns. Just a year ago, who would have thought this was possible. Government determines were we can go or not go. Christians are even banned from worshiping God or singing at worship services. We see one such example in recent history on the next slide. 

Adolf Hitler gained popular support by addressing Germany’s post-WWI problems, enormous war reparations debt and high unemployment. He promised the Germans relief, and created public work, jobs and empowered a defeated post-WWI Germany by increasing their military power, raised them to formattable superpower status. Then things changed and he declared himself Fuhrer with absolute power over the German nation and people. The Jews became the scapegoat and the German people went along with it. Even the religious leaders, Catholic and Protestant, praised him at first, and feared him later, enough to remain silent. Hitler shown with Roman Catholic and Lutheran religious leaders—both saluting him in recognition of his authority. A distinct pattern for the Antichrist. 

What about the cake baker who would not design a cake for a same-sex wedding? He would bake them a cake, but not one that highlighted same-sex marriage. He defended himself in court and lost and had to pay damages. What about churches being closed by governors and mayors, and singing being banned in the churches? All of which is unprecedented in American history. Those same kind of anti-Christian practices would emerge under the Antichrist. These are samples of the pressures we will see against individual Christians and churches. 

State of the Nation! Are we starting to see cracks in the Nation’s foundation? What has happened to “One Nation Under God”? Do you see spiritual warfare in any of this? Or is it just unhappy, discontent people who feel the odds are stacked against them?         1 Peter 5:8 tells us to “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” All of which is just a taste of what the Tribulation period would be like. 

Rev. 3:10 seems to state that Christians do not go through the full 7-year reign of the Antichrist and Tribulation. Jesus seems to be saying that the Church will be taken out of the world before enduring the worst part of the Great Tribulation—i.e., the worst part is when God pours His wrath upon a significantly evil world and everyone in it, all of whom reject and hate Him—nor do they ever repent of their evil ways, but defend their behavior as does Satan. 

We will close looking at the Amillennial view. Besides not believing in a literal Rapture, Amillennialism does not believe in a literal 1,000-year reign of Christ on earth. Their principle argument is that Christian theology and organized churches before 1830 believed the church would be on earth during the tribulation as did all the great Reformers, like Luther and Calvin. The next slide explains. 

Shows an abbreviated description. It can be Googled online for a more comprehensive explanation. They view the 1,000 yrs as a time when the Church evangelizes and influences the world. It also sees much of the Book of Revelation as symbolism and not literal. Satan is described as a red dragon in Rev. 12. In Rev. 13, the dragon gives his authority to the beast (the antichrist). Does it mean everything in Revelation is symbolic? Of course not, otherwise, what’s the point of the book? John wrote it for people, including but not exclusively for 1st century Christians. 

I believe images help convey things much better than words alone. Here the 1,000-year millennium is defined as the Church Period, which began at Pentecost. There is no rapture, no resurrection before the Great Tribulation, which all Christians endure. As I see it, there is one significant difficulty, that Christians suffer the wrath of God being poured out on a sinful world. Why then did Jesus warn us in Luke 17, using Noah, who was saved from the flood, and Lot, who was rescued before destruction rained on Sodom, as examples of escaping from God’s wrath before being poured out on a sinful world? Like the other views it also recognizes that at the very end there is a New Heaven and a New Earth—which we covered in our previous study—still posted on this blog. 

Pray is never wasted. 

It looks like it will be awhile before we resume our Heritage Lounge classes. All comments, favorable or unfavorable are welcome, since there is always room for improvement.

Just a reminder, our studies are diversified with an "eclectic" integration of Scripture, Church History, Doctrine and Current Events, seeing God in every aspect of life, with His Word being foundational in and through it all.

END OF LESSON #8