Glorious Appearing: The End Of Days (33 page)

“Well, maybe He expects us to know this material, hmm? Today we witnessed His victory ascent to Mount Olivet, also known as the Mount of Olives. We saw it split in two. He conquered the invading armies, slaying them with the Word of God. We were with Him for His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and we saw Him capture and judge demons, the False Prophet, Antichrist, and even Satan himself. And yet never once did He stop and say, ‘Beloved, you’ll find this on page so-and-so of your text, and it will be on the final. ‘

“These things happened as they were prophesied, and no explanation is forthcoming. That is much the same way Jesus taught and preached the first time He was on earth. Only occasionally did He follow a parable with an explanation. And when He did, it was only enough for those ‘who have ears to hear. ‘

“I suppose there were many in the crowd today who had little idea what was going on. They probably could have figured out who was who and what was what, and in the end they knew that Jesus had won again, conquering more foes. But they are probably wondering where He has gone, what He is doing. Well, gentlemen, the answers are in the Book, and if you are interested, we shall plumb the riches herein and see what we can learn. ”

Each enthusiastically expressed his interest, and Chaim began.

“I fear that many—and I confess this was true of me and most of the elders—believed that the Glorious Appearing ushered in the millennial kingdom, which, as you know, means the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth. Anyone here in that camp?”

Several nodded, Rayford included. He glanced at Abdullah, who was smiling. It was not the smile of the condescendingly superior, but of one who had apparently done his homework and knew what was coming. Rayford was most impressed that, despite this, Abdullah did not call out, “Not me! I know!”

Rayford raised his hand. “Chaim, I’ll bet Smitty knows what you’re talking about. He’s become quite the student. ”

“Is that true, Mr. Smith?” Chaim said.

“I am not well versed in it, ” Abdullah said, “but my studies, mostly with Dr. Ben-Judah, reveal that there is actually a gap between the Glorious Appearing and the Millennium, much as there was between the Rapture and the Tribulation. ”

“There was?” Razor said.

“Oh yes, ” Abdullah said. “You’ll recall that the seven years did not begin with the disappearances of the believers, but rather with the signing of the covenant between Antichrist and Israel. That came a couple of weeks later, but it could have come a couple of years later, and the signing, not the Rapture, would have been the start of the Tribulation. ”

“Excellent!” Chaim said. “That is indeed where I was going and what we will discuss this evening. From the Glorious Appearing to the actual beginning of the millennial kingdom, there is a seventy-five-day interval. If it took God just six days to create the heavens and the earth and man himself, imagine how much work Jesus must have if He has been allotted seventy-five days in which to do it. ”

“Where do you get that out of the Bible?” Rayford said. “I mean, I’m no great student or anything, but I’ve tried to read a lot. ”

“Good question. The answer is found partly in Daniel 12: 11-12. Listen to the first of those verses: ‘And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. ‘ Rayford, you remember when Antichrist defiled the temple?”

“Do I. ”

“That was the abomination of desolation. And that was one thousand two hundred and sixty days before the Glorious Appearing. So we are already talking about thirty more days. And the next verse says, ‘Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. ‘ That’s another forty-five days, giving us a total of seventy-five more days. ”

“What does the first thirty days refer to?” Rayford said.

“Well, the verse is talking about the temple sacrifice and the abomination, so I think it is fair to assume the first interval relates to the temple. I cannot imagine Jesus wanting to take the throne of David in a temple that has been defiled by Antichrist—at least not before He cleanses it. We know from Ezekiel 40-48 that the Lord will establish a temple during the Millennium, so I conclude that the first thirty days of the interval will be devoted to setting up the temple and preparing it for use.

“The other forty-five days are more open to speculation, but notice that verse 12 says that those who make it through that time will be blessed. If that is a personal, individual blessing, it indicates that the person is qualified to enter into the millennial kingdom. Matthew 25: 34 says, ‘Then the King will say to those on His right hand, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ”’

“That makes it sound to me as if the seventy-five-day interval is a time for preparation for the kingdom. So much of the globe has been destroyed during the judgments of the Tribulation, I suppose it should not surprise us that the Lord will take some time to renovate His creation for the Millennium. The beautification of Jerusalem was done in an instant with the elevating of the city from the splitting of the Mount of Olives, but imagine the work that needs to be done around the world. The mountains have been leveled, filling much of the seas. Islands have vanished. Surely God wants to put the earth back into its Edenic state for the enjoyment of those who will share it with Jesus for the next thousand years. ”

LEAH
ROSE
had come a long way from nursing supervisor at Arthur Young Memorial Hospital in Palatine, Illinois. How was she to know what would become of her when she first encountered Rayford Steele and the fledgling Tribulation Force nearly seven years before? She and Rayford had spotted each other’s seal of the believer, visible only to others of like faith. Otherwise, she might not have given him the time of day.

To think that since then she had been all over the world with the Force in a variety of roles, mostly medical but not exclusively. She had made new friends, seen them become Loved ones, and then seen them die. There had been times when she wouldn’t have given two cents for her chances to make it to the Glorious Appearing. At least not until she was assigned duty at Petra, where in three and a half years, no one had died.

Privileged, that’s what she called herself. Certainly nothing she had ever done had earned her the benefits she had enjoyed. It had not been an easy life. Hardly. No one who had lived through the Tribulation had it easy. That she had to live through it at all was her own fault—for having heard the message and ignored it for so long. She had not considered herself a rejecter. Leah had seen herself as an intellectual, a thinker, a ponderer.

Evangelists and evangelistic-minded friends had told her and told her that a nondecision was a “no” decision. She had argued. She wasn’t saying no, she said; she was still thinking. Well, one of her well-meaning friends had said, don’t think yourself into hell. Or into being left behind.

That had been a laugh. While Leah had seriously considered the claims of Christ on her life, that He had died for her sins—of which she acknowledged there were many—the idea of His showing up in the clouds someday, in an instant so quick you could blink and miss it, well… come on now.

And then she had been left behind. Leah took care of that issue immediately. Then, while she floundered spiritually, looking for more, looking for truth, looking for answers, she believed God sent Rayford and the Trib Force into her life.

They were all in the same boat, of course, latecomers to the kingdom. But among them were men of the Bible, lifelong students like Tsion Ben-Judah, from whom she believed she had learned more than she had in nursing school.

And now here she was in Jerusalem, in the home of an elder. With friends who had become dear and who had experienced with her, firsthand, the fulfillment of prophecy in the presence of Jesus Himself. Leah had seen it with her own eyes, talked to Him, and met with Him personally. When He embraced her and called her by name and told her how much He loved her, she could not speak. And yet He heard her heart. He had been with her, known her since the foundation of the world, He said. Was with her all her life, at the high and low points, the turning points, loving her, waiting for her, longing to meet her.

Leah was so full of Jesus she hardly knew if she could stand it. And while others cowered and hid their faces and grimaced at the awful reality of Satan and his lackeys getting theirs, she would not turn away. This, she knew, was justice, and she wanted to see it.

Leah had been a victim of Satan, and of course she had suffered under the rule of Nicolae Carpathia. To be made an international fugitive simply because she loved the one true God and His Son was an unspeakable, unforgivable offense. Antichrist, indwelt by Satan, had exalted himself over God, and Leah’s lifelong sense of right and wrong—cultivated even before she became a believer—told her he would have to pay. And when the time came, gruesome and graphic as it was, to her it was fitting.

Leah had seen the physical ravages of sin, what war could do to the human body. When she tried to repair dying comrades she couldn’t help but lay the blame at the feet of Antichrist and his False Prophet. She didn’t avert her eyes from that carnage, and so she didn’t when Satan’s demons were put to death by the words of Jesus. And when Nicolae and Leon were sent to eternal torment. And especially when Satan himself was locked away for a thousand years.

Leah still didn’t understand that one. It was something she could ask Eleazar when he led the group in Bible study that night. Word was that the elders were all teaching the same stuff, wherever they wound up and with whom. She considered it another privilege to have landed in the lovely Tiberius home.

Naomi’s late mother’s touches remained, even after all this time. The place had been taken over by the GC, just like any home of some worth. The result of that could have been disappointing, yet when the ten of them settled in, unloading their haul of fresh meat and produce in the generous kitchen, no one was more surprised than Eleazar at the state of the place. It looked as if someone had been hired to make it perfect for their stay.

They had found their quarters—just enough space for everyone—and had worked together watching the children, setting the tables, preparing the food. They had prayed and feasted, cleaned up, and prayed some more. Jesus had spoken to them in three different languages simultaneously. Leah then helped Priss Sebastian get the kids to bed, and now it was time to study.

She found the teaching on the next seventy-five days fascinating, having never heard of it before. What Leah appreciated most about Eleazar was his own bright, inquisitive mind and how he didn’t pretend to know things he didn’t. “Some things,” he said in his jolly basso profundo, “are apparently unknowable, at least for now. Other truths are fascinating to ferret out of the Scriptures. ”

Leah asked her question about why Antichrist and the False Prophet were sentenced for eternity while Satan would be released at the end of the Millennium.

“The binding of Satan, ” Eleazar said, “restricts him from what he does best, of course. Revelation 20: 3 indicates that God’s goal in this binding is ‘so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. ’”

“Yes,” Leah said, “but it goes on to say, ‘But after these things he must be released for a little while.’ Why must he?”

“I once asked the same question of Dr. Ben-Judah, and I recently asked Dr. Rosenzweig, ” Eleazar said. “Neither was entirely sure, and neither am I, but they suggested some remarkable things I had been unaware of, and I’ll bet you have been too. ”

“That wouldn’t surprise me,” Leah said.

“Here’s the way I understand it, based on what I have been taught. Look at it this way: If God did not allow Satan one more chance to deceive the nations, all the people who are born and live during the millennial kingdom would be exempt from the decision to follow God or follow Satan. By releasing him one more time, all people are given equal standing before God.”

“Interesting.”

“But where it gets dicey is that those who reject Christ during the Millennium will all be young people, relatively. You will see when we dig into the Scriptures that anyone born during the Millennium who does not trust in Christ by the time he or she is a hundred years old will be accursed and die.”

“I thought you said young people.”

“Relatively. You see, those who do trust in Christ will live to the end of the Millennium.”

“So someone born today, who becomes a believer, will live to be a thousand.”

“Exactly.”

“But the unbelievers, whenever they are born during this period, will die at a hundred?”

“Now you’ve got it.”

“I don’t know what 1 have,” Leah said. “But it is interesting. If I’m figuring it right, what Satan will have to do at the end of the Millennium is try to organize all the people who were born at the nine-hundred-year mark or after—who haven’t become believers—and get them to make one last-gasp effort to fight Jesus. ”

“There you go.”

“Wow. And there’s Scripture for this. ”

“There is. Let’s read it together from Isaiah 65: 17-25: ‘For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.

“‘But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, and her people a joy.

“I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people; the voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying.

” ‘No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; for the child shall die one hundred years old, but the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed. ‘

“Let me just interject an explanation here, ” Eleazar said. “This is saying that a person who dies at a hundred will be considered a child, because everyone else is living until the end of the Millennium. And that the ‘child’ who does die at a hundred will die because he is a sinner. Now, let’s read on: