Through the Bible with Les Feldick
LESSON 2 * PART 4 * BOOK 6
FIRST FRUITS: GLEANINGS:
OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS: RESURRECTION
Daniel 12 & 9
Let’s get right into The Book where we left off. Remember, when we were back here in our study of Genesis, we had gotten as far as Abraham sending his servant into a far country to get the bride for his son. That’s what catapulted us into the New Testament for the last several lessons. We wanted to show you how clearly that was a parallel for God sending the Holy Spirit into the world to call out a Bride for His Son, which of course is the Body of Christ. And then, I didn’t feel right about just showing that, and going right back to Genesis without carrying on, at least a brief overview of the rest of the end time events as we see them coming up. The seven years of Tribulation, the return of Christ and the setting up of His kingdom. We’re going to cover that, not so much in detail like we would if we were in a verse-by-verse study in the Book of Revelation, but just to give a little bit of a glimpse of what is immediately, we think, ahead for this old planet.
Let’s go back to Daniel Chapter 9 where in our last lesson we saw 490 years in this complete prophecy concerning Israel. But, 483 years were fulfilled at the Crucifixion, which means there were seven years unfulfilled. And these seven years will have the time clock triggered by the signing of a peace treaty between the Anti-christ and Israel. And so this big push for peace in the Middle East, that we see now is not going to last, even if they sign some sort of a peace treaty. It’s just going to be a make-shift thing. But, the real peace treaty will be with this man, the Anti-christ, who I feel will come up out of the United States of Europe.
You want to remember in 1992, by the end of the year, they hope to have the whole thing put together so that all of Europe will be a federated United States of Europe, even as we are here in America. And then, out of those federated European nations, I feel the Anti-christ will come out of the revived Roman Empire (I know there are others who feel he’ll come out of maybe the Arab nations, the Muslim world). Now, let’s look at Daniel 9:27:
Daniel 9:27
“And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”
“He (this man Anti-christ) shall confirm (or sign) the covenant with many (speaking of many Jews who will be back in the land as they are even now) for (how long?) one week:” (or seven years). Now, the minute they sign that seven-year peace treaty, Israel is going to just lay down her defenses and feel so secure that this man with all of his charisma, and, seemingly, all of his economic and military power behind him from Western Europe, is going to be able to guarantee her safety and her borders. And so, Israel will almost think he is The Messiah. And he’s going to be benevolent. When he signs this seven-year treaty, he’s willing to give Israel permission to have Temple worship. And so if the Temple isn’t built by this time, it soon will be. And Israel will come back under the Law. I think they’ll go back into the sacrifices and the whole nine yards and if you’ll just read a little bit about the mentality in Israel today, you’ll read how more and more, the orthodox are gaining momentum over the secular.
So, this man will sign a seven-year treaty with the Jews, but let’s read on: “In the midst of the week,…“ In other words, at the mid-point, after 3 1/2 years, or 1,260 days, he suddenly is going to turn on the Jew and look what it says, “…he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” Now, if you don’t read that verse casually, but read it carefully, in order for something to cease, it has to start. So, what this verse is telling us is that, by the mid-point of the seven years, Israel will have been enjoying sacrificial Temple worship. And with the blessings of the man Anti-christ.
This is why Paul says in 2 Thessalonians that as soon as the Church and the indwelling Holy Spirit is taken out, then shall that wicked one be revealed. Now, he won’t be revealed to the world in general as the awful Satanic individual that he will be 3 1/2 years later. But, he is going to be revealed enough that he will be the one to sign this seven-year treaty with Israel. And it’s a seven-year treaty made in Hell. But, Satan is still lurking in the back ground. He’s prompting all this, but as yet he has not indwelt him (the Anti-christ).
You get to the mid-point, as we see here, at the middle of the week. He causes the sacrifices and oblation to stop and, “…for the overspreading of abominations.” Now, you know what abominations in Scripture are. Those are various human acts that God hates with no ifs, ands, or buts, about it. And this man is going to come in and he is going to defy God at every turn and, “…he shall make it desolate.” Now, again, you’ve got to be a good student of language. What’s the ‘it?’ The Temple! This Temple that Israel will have built and will have been using for worship, he is going to make that Temple desolate. How? “Even unto the consummation (or until the end of that seven years), and all that’s been determined (by prophecy)shall be poured upon the desolate.” or the desolator.
Now, we get from a previous portion of Daniel an historical act by a literal, historical, little king by the name of Antiochus Epiphanes . Now, Antiochus was not a great man as far as world history was concerned, but he was a great man in Scripture because he, like the man Anti-christ (when he over-ran the little Nation of Israel back there in about 200 or 300 B.C.) also decimated and defiled the Temple by sacrificing a sow (a hog) on the altar. And you know what that did to the Jew. It was just a horror to them. I think that’s what this man is going to do, as well. When he comes in to the Temple he will defile and desecrate it. He will perform acts of abomination and it will be epitomized by the offering of a hog on the altar there at the Temple in Jerusalem. Then, in order to pick up what’s going to take place at that mid-point, let’s turn over to Matthew 24. Now, remember, for the first three and one half years, after signing the seven-year treaty, Israel is going to have a relative amount of freedom to worship.
The man Anti-christ will, I think, still be up in his headquarters in Europe. The only thing that Israel is going to have happen, that is really going to put them in a bind for awhile, will be, what I think is the great Russian invasion of Israel. That’s found in Ezekiel 38 and 39. We won’t have time in this lesson to touch on it, except to say that I think the Red Horse of Revelation 6, will be that great Russian invasion. Now, I know a lot of you are probably looking at me and thinking, “But, Russia is all done.” Oh, no they are not! Don’t you believe it!
If you believe in writing to your representatives in Congress, you’d better write and tell them not to lay down our arms because of Russia. We’d better be more on guard than ever before. Now, just for an aside to make you think, and give you something to chew on, I’m always careful to say that this is my own speculation. I can’t prove it from Scripture, and don’t even pretend to. But, I’ve always asked my classes, when I’ve taught the Red Horse of Revelation 6 (I think it is the northern invasion of Ezekiel 38 and 39), I like to ask my class people, “If you were a Russian general or the chief of staff, and you saw that you were getting ready to invade the Middle East, and Israel in particular (as Ezekiel says he will), what’s the first move that you would make before you would do anything?” Well, I know what I would do. I would unload everything I had on North America, because they are the only ones who would have any means of counteracting me. So, this is what I think is going to happen.
I think that just prior to that great invasion of Israel, early, probably within the first year of the Tribulation, the Russians will unload everything they’ve got on America and we’ll be off the scene, because I can’t find America anywhere in prophecy. No where! Prophecy deals only with Western Europe, Russia, the Orient and Africa. So, I personally think, and it’s only conjecture (don’t say that I’ve taught it from The Bible because this is my own idea), that the Russians will still unload, and will wipe us off the face of the map. But, Ezekiel 39 says that, even though God destroyed those invading Russian armies on the hills of Israel, God will destroy them just like He destroyed the Syrians back under Elijah’s time.
God will destroy the Russian armies, but Chapter 39 says a fire shall fall on their homeland, and will annihilate the Russian homeland. Now, again just go back to common sense. If Russia unloads and destroys our North American continent, what have we got out there that can still retaliate? We’ve got a bunch of submarines and they’ll unload everything they’ve got on the Russian homeland, and that will be a mutual annihilation, leaving the Scripture prophecy open, and, I think, in perfect accord, that will transpire. So, don’t worry, if you’re a believer we won’t be here. But, if you’re an unbeliever, there’s a possibility you’ll be left into this seven-year period (I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night because it would scare me to death). Now, you talk about nuclear winter – I think it’s coming. I’m not a prophet of doom. I think I’m as optimistic as most people. But I can see what the prophetic word says. And I can see that certain things have to happen. And then you see, we’re not teaching Revelation, but the next course in Revelation Chapter 6 is the Pale Horse. And that Pale Horse depicts famine and pestilence.
If you knock out the great agriculture areas of Russia and the great food production areas of our middle west, how much has the world got left? Not much. And, with those great areas of agricultural production off the scene, the remaining billions of people in the Orient, those in Europe and Africa, are going to be getting awful hungry. And so, the world, indeed, will come under terrible famine, terrible inflation, as the Russians are seeing now. It can happen when there is a shortage of something. You’ve got runaway prices and nobody can afford what little there is. Now, this is the picture of the opening days of the Tribulation, and like we said, Israel is going to enjoy the blessings of her Temple worship, but she is going to have to put up with this tremendous invasion and at tremendous loss of life.
I’ve had several who argue (friendly), “That just doesn’t fit because Ezekiel says that the Jews are going to be seven years burying the dead and cleaning up the residue of all the equipment that has been destroyed.” Now, to that I think I’ve got the answer. And that is that, all through Scripture, any part of a year (I don’t care if it’s only three days), in Scripture is considered a full year. So, when The Bible says that Israel will be seven years cleaning up the equipment and burying the dead. That tells me that this invasion could take place 10 or 11 months after the Anti-christ signs the treaty, and Israel, according to the Scriptural reckoning of time, would still have the full seven years to fulfill the cleaning up of the mess, and have it all done before Christ returns and sets up the Kingdom.
And so, that time frame doesn’t scare me. But, a lot of people say that it can’t happen in the Tribulation, that it has to be before; otherwise, there’s not enough time to fulfill the seven years. But, always remember that any part of a day, any part of a year, is considered a whole. Do you remember when Jesus gave the parable of hiring those workers for the vineyard? He hired some in the morning and they said they would work for so much. He hired some at noon and they worked for the same amount. And then he hired somebody about an hour before sunset, and how much did they get? The whole days wage. Why? Any part of the day is considered a whole. Any part of a year is considered a whole.
You see, the chronologists were having fits trying to reconstruct time back in the Old Testament because of this very thing. The Old Testament record may say that “so and so” reigned 10 years, and they knew that he only reigned a little over nine. But see, The Bible considered that little part of the tenth year as a whole year, and that’s all the way through Scripture. In fact, that’s my answer for Christ’s being crucified on Friday, and yet can be stated as having been in the grave three days and three nights. Because if He was crucified on Friday, He went into the grave before 6 o’clock that evening, and that was considered a day. Then He was in the grave all day Saturday, and then He came out of the grave after midnight on Saturday, and that fulfilled the three days and three nights. Now, you may not swallow that, but that’s okay. Go back to Matthew 24 and we’ll see what happens when the Anti-christ moves into the Temple in Jerusalem at the mid-point of the seven years:
Matthew 24:15,16
“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:…”
Jesus is speaking to the Twelve all through Matthew 24 and 25. And so, as He speaks to the Twelve, He is also speaking to the whole Nation of Israel then as well as when this happens. I maintain that all of Chapter 24 is Tribulation ground. Even the introductory verses, 1-14 are all Tribulation, that is, seven years. Now, it’s not the Great Tribulation (the last half), but it’s the first half and then, when you get to verse 15, He says, “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation…“ You remember what Daniel called it? The abomination of desolation! “…spoken of by Daniel the prophet…“ Now, there is proof that Daniel is legitimate because Jesus refers to him as a prophet: “…when you see him stand in the holy place,”that is in the Temple, “…whoso readeth, let him understand. Then let them who be in Judaea flee into the mountains.“ Why? Let’s look in verse 17:
Matthew 24:17-20
“Let him which is on the house top not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes, And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day….”
Do you see how appropriate this is for a cross-section of Jews? Let’s go back and examine these verses. Verse 17: When the Jews of Jerusalem suddenly realize that the Anti-christ is come into their Temple and has defiled it, and has forced them to begin to worship him instead of Jehovah, Jesus said when you see that happen, flee to the mountains. Now, who is going to flee? This is not the 144,000. This is a cross-section of Jews in the area of Jerusalem and Judea. Who are they? “Let him who is on the house top not come down to take anything out of his house.”
Now, I like to ask the question, if you know anything about the Middle East at all, “What kind of people will have their patio on the top of their house?” Well, the wealthy, the retired, those no longer engaged in everyday work. And so here we have the older retired people with probably a little more wealth, and a little more time for ease. They’d better get down off his house top patio and not worry about any clothes in the closet. They’d better get out of town. Now, let’s look at the next one. “…Neither let him who is in the field return back to get his clothes…“ What age group and kind of people do you have doing the every day labor of field work, construction and “what have you?” Well, your younger people. I’m going guess their ages from 25 to 45 years old; men and women both. And they too, had better get out of town and not take time to go back and get their clothes. Let’s move on. Verse 19: “Woe unto them that are with child…“ Now, what have you got? You’ve got your young women – your young mothers-to-be.
And then in the next statement, you’ve got nursing mothers, carrying their little ones. Do you see what a cross-section of society we’ve got here. You’ve got retired people, working people, the young mothers, the mothers to be – it’s a complete cross-section of society. And then verse 20: You remember I told you Israel will be back under the Law? What had they better pray for? Oh, that this isn’t on a sabbath day, because Israel’s Law limited how far they could walk on the sabbath day. So he says, “…pray that it won’t be on the sabbath day.” so that you’ll be free to go that hundred miles or so into the mountains southeast of Israel. I think they will go into Moab. The red rock city of Petra is a distinct possibility.
Matthew 24:21
“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
Now, Jesus is speaking, and He knows what he is talking about. For He says then, (when the Anti-christ moves into the Temple and defiles it at the mid-point of the Tribulation),“…then shall be great tribulation (watch the language) such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” Listen, there have been some tremendous calamities in this earth’s history. Those of you who have heard me teach the flood, what was it? It was instantaneous cataclysmic destruction. It wiped out everybody. What have the Jews gone through in their history? The most recent, of course, was the holocaust in Hitler’s Germany. When you read some of the accounts of what those people were subjected to, you wonder how a human being could even maintain their sanity. But that was a Sunday School picnic compared to what’s coming. If I were a Jew, the last place I would go would be Israel. But, you see, they go there blindly, with no comprehension of knowing what is coming.
But Jesus said when this last Three and one-half years break, except for these, and I call them the escaping remnant; the group of people in Matthew 24 will flee to the mountains. And once they get there, God is going to protect them just like He did Israel in the wilderness under Moses. He’s going to feed them and protect them from all the ravages of the Tribulation, and they’re going to be there completely safe for three and one half years. But, I always point out that they go out in unbelief. Oh, they recognize the God of Heaven and that there’s a power beyond them, but they still will not recognize The Christ.
And so, they go down into that refuge in the mountains for three and one half years of God’s Sovereign protection, in unbelief. But, all the Old Testament, the Book of Revelation and other areas make it so plain that when they see Christ returning at His Second Coming, this group of Jews, and I have no idea how many it could be, will be saved. Perhaps several hundred thousand or more. But, when they see the returning Christ in all of His power and glory, the Old Testament says, “…shall a nation be saved in a day?” Yes! And that little Nation of Israel, the remnant of course, will suddenly realize that He was the one that they had crucified. Go back to Zachariah Chapter 12:
Zachariah 12:10
“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”
Zachariah 13:6
“And one (of these Jews in the protective area in the mountains) shall say unto him, ‘What are these wounds in thine hands?’ Then He shall answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.'”
Now, isn’t that plain? They’re going to see Him, and they’re suddenly going to have their spiritual eyes opened, and they’re going to believe Him, and the nation will be saved in a minute.