Through the Bible with Les Feldick
LESSON 1 * PART 1 * BOOK 77
CONNECTING THE DOTS OF SCRIPTURE – PART 37
Genesis – Revelation (The Tribulation)
Okay, good afternoon for those of you here in the studio, and good morning or good evening or whatever it may be where you’re watching us on television. We want you to feel welcome to a simple Bible study. We’ve gone from Genesis to Revelation pretty much chapter and verse, and now we’re connecting the dots. Sort of an overview in a review situation, but we’re not covering it verse-by-verse like we did the first time.
Anyway, for those of you that may have just tuned in, that’s what we’re doing on the present programs. And again, we always want to thank our television audience for your prayer support, your financial help, and your encouraging letters. I’ll never stop thanking you for the encouraging mail time that we experience. It just always makes our day. And when the girls in the office read them and hear the phone calls, they’re just as thrilled as we are.
I’ve got most of the family here today! Over here Todd and Kim are back from Wisconsin on a little vacation, and they’ve got their kids with them. And in the center over here is my son Greg and his wife Janette and Jesse is with them, too, I see. Good deal. I don’t think Laura’s here yet, but she wouldn’t let me put the camera on her anyway. But Laura’s in town someplace. She’ll be here later this afternoon. So anyway, we just always thank the Lord that the family is such good support. And of course, never forget my precious wife over here – my honey. That’s the way people address us now, you know, Les and Honey. So, we’re all here as a family.
All right, as we’re still connecting the dots, we’re going to move on from where we were in our last program, which was in I Corinthians 15 verse 51. Where Paul wrote, “Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all die but, we shall all be changed,” speaking of true believers in the Body of Christ. We spent the whole program on the Rapture, or the out-calling of the Body of Christ.
I’m going to keep hammering away at the fact that nowhere in Scripture, except in Paul’s epistles, do you see the term The Body of Christ. It’s unknown to all the rest of Scripture. Peter, James, and John knew nothing of the doctrines of the Body of Christ. When they speak of His coming, it’s always associated with His Second Coming at the end of the Tribulation. Jesus knew of the Body of Christ, the true Church, but He didn’t reveal the secret, because it wasn’t time. His man for that job, the Apostle Paul, wasn’t on the scene yet.
So as I approach these things, I always have to emphasize and reemphasize – don’t look for anything pertaining to the Rapture, the Church, and the Body of Christ anyplace but in Paul’s epistles, because it’s just not in there. Everything else deals with God and Israel. And everything prophetically is looking forward to the Second Coming, which is preceded by the horrors by the Tribulation—which we’re going to be looking at pretty much in detail this afternoon.
Now, like I say so often at my seminars, I never know where I’m going to start until I get up here. It’s pretty much the same today. I’ve just sort of waited for something to gel. So for now, let’s begin a review of the timeline coming all the way from Abraham on up to Christ’s first coming—the First Advent, and His three years of earthly ministry. Then we have the Crucifixion, His burial, and resurrection. Next, He ascended back to Glory and turned everything He left behind here on the earth over to the Twelve. And they continued on with the same modus operandi that was placed here in the three years of Christ’s earthly ministry. But instead of Christ Himself being present, He passed all of the powers and everything over to the Twelve. But Israel continued to reject and reject until you get to the stoning of Stephen. At the stoning of Stephen we’re introduced, then, to the next major player; which dropped us down to this point in the timeline where we open up the Dispensation of Grace through the Apostle Paul.
Now, as soon as the Dispensation of Grace has come to an end, as we saw in our last program, God has to take the Body of Christ out and up to Glory. And the reason is because it will not fit up in the prophetic timeline. That’s why we are Pre-Trib in our theology, that the Church or the Body of Christ can have nothing to do with all of the prophecies concerning Israel. We finish the Dispensation of Grace, and now we’re going to come back to this top time line to where He went back to glory forty days after His resurrection. The seven years of Tribulation is the next event leading up to the Second Coming and the Kingdom.
I think a good place to start would be in Psalms chapter 2, as that chapter is just a brief outline of what I’ve just covered. We’ll start at verse 1.
Psalms 2:1
“Why do the heathen (That’s the Gentile.) rage, and the people (That’s the other category of the human race—Israel. You’ve only Jew and Gentile, remember.) imagine a vain thing?
Psalms 2:2a
The kings of the earth (In other words, the leadership. In this case, it turns out to be Rome.) set themselves, and the rulers (That is the religious rulers of Israel. They–) take counsel together,…” That’s why they brought about the crucifixion. It wasn’t the Jews, and it wasn’t the Romans. It was both of them.
Psalms 2:2b-3
“…they take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, (Which was the Messiah) saying, 3. Let us break their bands asunder, (In other words, we’re not going to have God interfering in our earthly affairs.) and cast away their cords from us.” Now, here’s God’s reaction.
Psalms 2:4
“He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: (not amusement – derision) the Lord shall have them in derision.”
All right, looking at the timeline again after reading those four verses takes care of all of human history from the time of Adam, past Abraham, right on up to the Crucifixion. When they rejected all of God’s offers, and in their own pride and circumstances they said we’ll run the earth our own way, God says in derision, oh, maybe you won’t. The next verse says:
Psalms 2:5
“Then (That’s always a time word. After they’ve rejected the Messiah, they’ve put Him to death, and He is ascended back to Glory–) he (that is God) shall speak unto them (That is the whole human race, Jew and Gentile.) in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.”
Now looking at the timeline again, you see that the Psalmist skips Paul and this Age of Grace that we feel is coming to a close even as we teach. The Psalmist knew nothing of this. Why? Because it’s spoken of as a secret. God has never revealed this to anyone in the Old Testament.
So, all the Psalmist could talk about is this timeline up here. Christ is put to death by the Jew and the Gentile, and they continue to reject. Then the next big event on the timeline is the wrath and vexation that we just read about in verse 5—which is going to be directed, as we’ll see in a little bit, primarily to the Nation of Israel. But it’s going to affect the whole world. He will vex them. The Tribulation is going to be awful. It’s beyond human understanding — “and He will vex them in His sore displeasure.” It’s going to be a time of death and destruction, as we saw in our last taping. But then what follows? Verse 6 is the next event on the prophetic timeline, and that is the Kingdom—the 1,000 year reign of Christ.
Psalms 2:6
“Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.” There’s the timeline in a nutshell. Everything came up leading up to His first Advent. They rejected Him. God called Him back to Glory. And then due to their foolishness, God in His wrath is going to come back and vex them in His sore displeasure—leading up to the Kingdom.
Now again, I’m going to repeat it. Nothing concerning the Church Age, the Body of Christ is my favorite term (the Church which is His Body); none of this is revealed in the prophecies concerning Israel. We have to start on that point—that you cannot find anything pertaining to the Body of Christ anywhere in the Old Testament. It is all a prophetic timeline leading up to the First Advent, the Crucifixion, the Tribulation, the Second Coming, and the Kingdom.
All right, now from there I think I will take you up to Jeremiah chapter 30. Because what we’ve got to do is identify these seven years primarily, not exclusively, as a seven year period of time where God is going to be dealing with His Covenant people. And that’s why I can’t understand how people can keep trying to put Body of Christ into the Tribulation. God doesn’t have a point of controversy with His Own Body. We’re blood-bought. He’s loved us. He’s given Himself for us. Why should He pour out His wrath on us? Well, that’s what Paul says.
I Thessalonians 5:9
“For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.” That wrath is for Israel primarily—because of their unbelief and their rejection of everything—culminating, of course, in the crucifixion.
Now, if you’ll stop at Jeremiah, then we’re going to go on up to Daniel. Stop at Jeremiah 30 and see how uniquely Jewish this whole period of time is. Jeremiah chapter 30 verse 4—because the first thing we always have to determine is not only who’s writing, but what’s the next one, Luther? Yeah, who to? Well, it’s to Israel. Jeremiah 30 verse 4. This is Jeremiah the prophet writing by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, of course. Verse 4:
Jeremiah 30:4
“And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.” Now stop a minute. Israel and Judah – that includes how many of the tribes? All of them.
Too many people today think the ten tribes disappeared. They’re gone, and all He’s dealing with is Judah and Benjamin. No. No. No. All of Scripture from the time of the captivities when they come back are still dealing with the whole nation. Don’t ever fall for that false lie that the ten tribes are lost and all we’ve got left is Judah. No way. And here it is so plain.
Jeremiah is writing around 500 or 600 B.C. That’s after the Ten Tribes, back in Kings and everything, were taken captive. So, don’t ever fall for that, that ten tribes were lost. The whole Nation of Israel is still intact, and it is as we speak. All right, so “And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.” So, who are we directing it to? Israel. Verse 5:
Jeremiah 30:5
“For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.” See that? That’s not a very comforting verse, is it? All right, next verse:
Jeremiah 30:6
“Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, (or in labor pain) and all faces (men and women) are turned into (What?) paleness.” Why? From all the mental pressures of the Tribulation!
Remember I said not too long ago, I don’t remember where or when or how, but the horrors of the Tribulation are going to be mental as a much as physical. It’s going to be beyond comprehension—the mental pressures that are going to come on the human race as a result of these plagues and these woes and these judgments.
Now, you know the “feel good” religion people don’t want to hear that, do they? Naturally, you’re not going to get the multitudes to come in and hear these kinds of words. That’s why they’re ignorant of it. They don’t want to hear it. They’ve got their heads in the sand. But see, the Scripture is so blatant. It’s coming, see? I think I said it over and over in the last taping – If God’s Word said it’s going to happen, it IS going to happen! We’re getting closer every day, but we don’t know how close. God’s wheels turn awfully slowly. But it’s coming.
All right, so it’s coming to the place where “every face will be turned into paleness.” Now verse 7:
Jeremiah 30:7a
“Alas!…” Now remember these words when I get up into Matthew 24 later this afternoon. The words of the Lord Jesus when He puts it this way – “For then shall be great tribulation such as never has been seen on the earth before or up ‘til now.” Now lock all those up into your computer, because this is the beauty of Scripture—that it all fits together. Now verse 7, again:
Jeremiah 30:7a
“Alas, for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of (Who’s trouble?) Jacob’s trouble,…” Well, in Scripture who’s Jacob? Israel. This is going to be seven years of God dealing primarily with His Covenant people.
Now, I know the first thing that every one of us is prone to ask is one word. Why? Why such horror on His own Covenant people? Well, I think we can answer it the same way I answer when people say why do you think America is going to face such a serious judgment? Because to whom much is given, much is required.
Now look, God has been dealing with the Nation of Israel since 2,000 B.C. plus another two thousand. For 4,000 years, one way or another, God has been dealing with His Covenant people. Even to this very day, the very rank and file of the Jewish people is belligerently in, what’s the word I’m looking for? Unbelief! They will not buy into this. So one day He’s going to come down in His wrath unto those poor people like we cannot even imagine.
All right, so the point I’m making is that this is all part of the Jerusalem, or the Jewish prophecy. It has nothing to do with the Church Age. Nothing. This is all God dealing with Israel and preparing them for His Second Coming and the Kingdom, when finally all the blessings of God will be poured upon the Nation like they have never had before.
Jeremiah 30:7b
“…it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.” Now, we have to be careful. The whole nation is not going to be saved, but one third. I think that’s in Zechariah chapter 13. Here are two perfectly fitted portions of Scripture. They fit just like a jigsaw puzzle. It’s going to be the time of Jacob’s Trouble, but he shall be saved out of it. Not all of them, but a remnant. And God has always dealt with Israel on the basis of the believing remnant. Always! Now, we get the remnant in a mathematical term. Zechariah chapter 13 and drop in at verse 8. We’re dealing with the same seven year period of time—the time of Jacob’s Trouble.
Zechariah 13:8a
“And it shall come to pass, (Will it? Absolutely!) that in all the land, (That is the land of Israel.) saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die;…” Now that’s a horrible statement, isn’t it? But it is God’s Word. It’s going to happen—that two thirds of the Jewish people are going to lose their lives in this seven year period of time.
Zechariah 13:8b-9
“…but the third shall be left therein. (God’s going to protect that third, and He’s going to bring them through so that they can come in and enjoy the glories of the Kingdom.) 9. And I will bring the third part through the fire, (That is through those seven years of hell on earth and then some.) and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try (or test) them as gold is tested: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: and I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.” Now, that will be the remnant of Jews that will come through the Tribulation and come into the glories of the Kingdom.
All right, now in the eight minutes we have left in this half hour, since we’re back in the Old Testament, I’m going to take you up to Daniel chapter 9—which I’ve always called, as you well remember, the benchmark of all Old Testament prophecy. Daniel chapter 9, where, if you remember correctly, we have the time frame of 490 years. Now this is to establish, again, these two portions of Scripture that we just looked at as being a seven year period of time just as real as seven years would be today. Beginning in verse 24, the total prophecy is 490 years. Now, we’ve looked at this over and over.
Daniel 9:24a
“Seventy weeks (or 490 years) are determined (That is decreed by God Himself.) upon thy people (which would be Israel) and upon thy holy city, (Jerusalem) to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, (Now that’s the work of the cross. Then the next event that is listed here is–) and to bring in everlasting righteousness,…” Which, of course, is the Kingdom.
But Daniel is speaking here. He has not brought in the Tribulation as yet. He’s just simply showing that 483 years would take place from the time of Nehemiah’s going back to Jerusalem to rebuild the city wall until the time of the crucifixion. So, that left seven years of the 490 that were not fulfilled. All right, so God stops His time clock. Then we come down to verse 26.
Daniel 9:26a
“And after threescore and two weeks (483 years) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: (Not because of anything he had done.) and the people (Now, here’s one of the clues for the basic Tribulation thing. It is that the anti-Christ will come. That’s the prince that’s referred to here.) of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;…”
Now, we know from A.D. 70 history, that it was the Roman Empire that destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. So, out of that Roman Empire will come this prince which we refer to over and over as the anti-Christ. Never lose sight of that. Today everybody thinks he’s going to have to come out of the Muslim world just because of the news. Well, I’ve got news for you. He’s going to come out of the Old Revived Roman Empire, although he may be Muslim. Europe is just about totally Muslim anyway. So that’s no problem. He could very well be Muslim. He could be a Jewish Muslim. He could be a Syrian Muslim. He can be just about anything. But he’s going to come out of the European Union. He will be one of those government officials of whom we will never be able to establish his identity, because that’s going to happen after we’re gone.
All right, now verse 27. This prince that’s coming, and he’s going to come out of the Old Roman Empire or what is today called the European Union, this prince that shall come–
Daniel 9:27a
“And he shall confirm (Or make a covenant, or I like to use the word treaty.) with many for one week (seven years):…” Well now, it’s obvious from all of our news for the last forty years, who are the many people in the world that are looking for a peace treaty? Well, the Arab world and Israel. So this super individual, he’s going to be very human, but he’s going to have supernatural power—because we now enter into God’s timing, again, of the supernatural. He will have the supernatural ability to actually bring the Palestinians and the Arab world into a peace with Israel. It will have to be supernatural. No president on earth could do it. No empire could do it. But God will do it.
All right, so this man is going to make a peace treaty with the Middle East, Jew and the Arab world, for a seven year period of time. It’ll be a seven year peace treaty. Now here’s the kicker.
Daniel 9:27b
“…and in the middle of the week (or in the middle of those seven years) he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,…” Now, I’m always trying to get people to analyze every word and ask questions. Now, if we’re going to have a supernatural peace treaty with a length of seven years between Israel and the Arab world, and now the Scripture says that the temple worship will be brought to a stop. Before you can stop Temple worship, what do you have to do? Well, you’ve got to start it.
There’s no Temple worship today. So again, just by using common sense, what will this seven year peace treaty bring in? Israel’s permission to rebuild her temple. And it’s going to be such a supernatural, mind-boggling thing. I’ll even stick my neck out. They’re going to be able to build it right next to the Golden Dome of the Rock up there on the Temple Mount. I really think that. I think that Temple is sitting in a warehouse in Israel all prefabbed and ready to be hauled out with a couple of semis. They’ll have it up and going in no time flat.
Okay, so now coming back to the timeline. Once this seven years opens up for the first three-and-a-half years, Israel is going to have Temple worship—by virtue of the anti-Christ’s guaranteeing them permission to rebuild their Temple and going back under the Mosaic Law. Everything will be pretty much, as much as you can hook up with antiquity, as it was back here in the three years before the crucifixion. Israel is going to have Temple worship. They’re going to have a priesthood. They’re going to have peace. They’re going to have prosperity. They’re going to be on a euphorian kick, if I can call it that. It’s just going to be more than they can handle.
All right, this is where it all opens up. That now, once this first three-and-a-half years has gone by, this man anti-Christ will suddenly turn on Israel. Read the rest of the verse.
Daniel 9:27c
“…and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate,…” This newly rebuilt Temple. Now remember, it won’t be a big gold edifice like Nebuchadnezzar destroyed. Or Solomon’s Temple. It won’t even be a Temple like Herod’s Temple, but it’s going to be functional. They’ll be able to practice their animal sacrifices. They’re already talking about it in Israel. But in the middle of that seven year treaty, this man anti-Christ, the wicked individual that he really is, will turn on Israel and cause the oblations and the sacrifices and all that to stop.
Okay, I’ve only got a matter of seconds left, so I don’t want to go into another detail. But always remember, that as soon as these seven years opens up, it’s the unfolding of prophecy like we’ve never seen before. And it’s going to be under a supernatural umbrella. We have to understand that.